Feature

Rearing up nearly 800 feet above sea level, above the flat land all around, Elkhart Hill stands guardian over a place where geography, nature and human history converge. It was here, on her wooded slopes, that an early white settler stood on the lawn of the house he’d built and had a vision of a […]

When Ann Bova first began the Cabin Concert music series, the idea of friends playing songs in her home and then inviting other friends to come listen seemed a given, a very natural thing to do. From a childhood immersed in acoustic music and a lifetime of performing, listening and absorbing all kinds of music, […]

Some guys hunt, some guys golf. Brent Bordenkircher plays football. He’s not just talking about throwing the pigskin around the backyard or calling up some buddies for a ragtag round of flag football in the park. He’s talking about competitive semi-professional eight-man football, right here in Springfield. The Capital City Outlaws, founded in 1991 as […]

Last summer, while William Ferguson was working as a junior counselor at the Urban League’s Freedom School, a child fell and broke his arm. Ferguson used two sticks and a bandana to fashion a makeshift cast, to keep the child’s arm immobile until paramedics arrived. It was one of many skills he never dreamed he […]

Dennis nearly lost the lower portion of his right leg when the trencher he was working with unexpectedly hit a metal beam in the ground, causing the blade to jump up, catching the bridge of his foot and slicing his leg all the way up to the knee. In the five-and-a-half years since his accident, […]

Alexander Harris-Taylor deftly navigates his city-issued red sedan through the network of streets and snug alleyways in Enos Park, finally stopping in front of 315 E. Rafter. Bundled in a bulky North Face jacket, he braces against the 4-degree wind-chill and strides toward the rear of the two-family rental house. He whips out a small, […]

Noted historian and author of the best-selling Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin, says that Lincoln’s days in Illinois were “the root of his political education.” Kearns is one of many Lincoln scholars interviewed for WILL-TV’s new documentary, entitled Lincoln: Prelude to the Presidency. The one-hour program, which features interviews and reenactments, examines how the […]

“So how was the inauguration?” If you had asked Lisa Madigan that casual question on Barack Obama’s third day in office, you would’ve been treated to a 15-minute rhapsody on the joys of having a seat on the platform looking out over the podium and onward toward the estimated 1.5 million well-wishers thronging the mall. […]

A decade before taking the stage at the Kodak Theater to accept Oscars for Best Writing, Best Directing, and Best Picture for No Country for Old Men, Joel and Ethan Coen were making a different kind of movie. A movie about Jeffrey Lebowski, a pot-smoking Los Angelino whose favorite rug is stolen by thugs that […]

Here is a sampling of organizations in Illinois supporting the alternative foods movement, and one in neighboring Wisconsin. The Frontera Farm Foundation, [www.rickbayless.com/foundation]. Reputedly chef/owner Rick Bayless’ restaurants, Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, are Barack Obama’s favorite Chicago restaurants. Bayless says that for small farmers trying to make a go of growing and raising food sustainably, […]

Dear President Obama, Congratulations on your election and inauguration! Though condolences seem almost as much in order as kudos. Just thinking about the challenges you face makes me want to brew a cup of tea, curl up in a chair and watch cheerful ’60s sitcoms. (Like your wife, Michelle, I love the “Dick Van Dyke […]