Fletcher Farrar: Reporter at Large

I know parents who wish they had half as much information about the boys their daughters bring home as cattle breeders have about today’s purebred bulls. The 38th Annual Illinois Performance Tested Bull Sale, held Feb. 23 at the state fairgrounds, was a showcase of animal genetics. Most of the 111 boys sold that day […]

I wouldn’t have published the cartoons, but I wouldn’t have suspended the Daily Illini editors who did. And I wouldn’t have participated in violent protests over the cartoons. Neither would have Muhammad. Fellowship of Reconciliation, the peace group, tells a story from the Hadith (sayings and doings of the Prophet Muhammad) that Muhammad was with his […]

There is an air of unreality to the progressive but dishonest state budget proposed this week by Gov. Rod Blagojevich. It is hard to object to “Preschool for All,” the governor’s proposal to allow all 3- and 4-year-olds to enroll in state-funded preschools, and the big election-year capital spending program will buy some needed improvements. […]

Now comes an art show to complement Springfield’s rediscovery of design in its built environment. Architecture as Art, showing through Feb. 18 in the gallery of the Springfield Art Association, exhibits the art of local architects on two levels: first in the displays presented to clients, which are worth hanging on walls, and second in […]

You’d think that political scandals, inept disaster relief, a war going badly, and low poll numbers would be enough to humiliate politicians and the religious right out of claiming that God is speaking to them directly. Then along comes Pat Robertson, host of The 700 Club, suggesting last week that Ariel Sharon’s stroke was divine […]

At a recent party, a friend was way down. George W. Bush had ruined his Christmas. He was so upset about the state of the world that he could hardly function. There is so much wrong — how can people celebrate? The war in Iraq is wrong. The trade deficit is wrong. The government can’t […]

My tenant came by first thing this morning and turned in his key, just as he had said he would. He said that he had swept up as much of the broken glass as was possible and, again, that he was sorry about what happened. If he could be so polite and responsible about moving […]

Let’s keep working on this Salvation Army issue. There has to be a better location for a homeless shelter than the site the Army has picked, out by the airport. The Salvation Army keeps saying that because homelessness is a community problem, the community needs to find the shelter a home. But even though the […]

A veteran Springfield teacher expressed frustration as she left the Nov. 14 forum on “Closing the Achievement Gap”: “We’re already doing so much of what they suggested, but we’re not closing the gap.” A school official was defensive, claiming that the district is already doing what it needs to do to close the gap between […]

Sometimes it takes a defeat to get everyone’s attention and gather more resources to start building toward a victory. That is an optimistic assessment of the battle over the location of the proposed Salvation Army community center and homeless shelter. Fortunately, it is shared by both sides of the controversy. Here’s what we’ve learned so […]

As I read 1776, the best-selling introduction to the Revolutionary War by historian David McCullough, I kept hoping the American colonists and their British cousins would find a better way to settle their differences. When King George III made his case for war before Parliament, arguing that “the spirit of the British nation” is too high […]

Lately Springfield seems to be in a “Wouldn’t it be great if. . . ?” mood, as opposed to the “there’s no money” mood that prevails most of the time. It’s hard to explain, because there’s still no money. The president is bogged down in Iraq and Louisiana, the governor is both unpopular and unbeatable, […]