Feature

Mention the name Joe Wilkins to a dozen different people and you get a variety of responses. Some know him as the charismatic and beloved college professor who has been a guest lecturer at some of the most prestigious universities in the world. Others know him as a valued asset to any Democratic campaign. Most […]

As a 13-year-old goalie for the Springfield Kings, Barry Friedman’s job was to turn people away and deflect their shots. He did it well enough to win a college scholarship. Now, as owner of three of the city’s oldest nightspots–Norb Andy’s, Two Brothers, and the Alamo–the poles have switched. Instead of turning people away, Friedman […]

FOURTEEN The Fairmont Hotel was at the very end of Wilshire Boulevard, high on a bluff above the coast highway. The woman behind the front desk said she’d be delighted to give me an ocean view. When the bellman parted the drapes a few minutes later, there it was, the biggest pond in the world, […]

When out-of-town developers called Joe Gooden, Springfield’s building and zoning administrator for the last eight years, they’d usually ask for the city’s landscaping code. But up until two years ago, Gooden says, Springfield didn’t require builders to plant trees or to landscape their projects. “I used to have to tell them we didn’t have any […]

Believe it or not, Bulgaria may be responsible for the most common carnival ride at any state fair. “Pleasure Wheels”–powered by strong men cranking large wooden rings with riders sitting on attached chairs–were created in the 17th century, according to Scott Webel, curator of the Museum of Ephemerata in Austin, Texas. Antonio Manguino, a Frenchman, […]

Seeds of changePrisoners take pride in their fancy foliage Next year, when he comes to the Illinois State Fair, Trinity Payne plans to eat ice cream and caramel apples and try “that big slide.” Justin Hartmann hopes to sample the ribeye steaks and “walk around—like I can’t do now.” “Aw, c’mon, be honest,” their supervisor […]

Reggie is a Democrat. He was working at the Illinois State Lottery when Governor Jim Thompson took it away from the Department of Revenue in 1986. He says it’s always been a pleasant place to work, but especially for the politically connected. The 29-year-old enterprise has always provided cushy jobs for folks like Joan Fawell, […]

Take Oakland Avenue south out of Petersburg, past the park and the water tower, then down into the valley, where cattle graze on the tender new grass along the creek bottom. Go up a hill on the far side, and there sits Oakland Cemetery, where the old souls of Spoon River Anthology are said to […]

An elderly man in a white shirt, soaked in sweat, stares intently at a metal pole in the ground. He steps forward and flicks his wrist in a Frisbee-like motion, sending the metal object in his hand flying through the air. “Ringer!” the man yells, as the horseshoe lands squarely around the pole. The surrounding […]