“Everything’s on the Web.” It’s laughably untrue, but there is still too much stuff for most of us to make sense of. Thus the debate now raging on the Internet – by which I mean a lot of people are talking out loud to themselves – about the rise of the online curator. Curators are […]
Illinois – James Krohe Jr
Posted inOpinion
Clio in the cornfields
Historians think nothing interesting happened here after the Civil War. PHOTO BY KERRI WESTENBERG/MCT Most towns of any size have history that is worth reading about, but surprisingly few have a good history in which they might read it. By “a good history” I mean a single-volume history for the intelligent and curious reader that […]
Posted inOpinion
Having fun saving the world
If we are to believe the hype – and of course we are meant to believe it – the proposed Kidzeum of Health and Science will save the earth, rescue our children from disease and invigorate the local tourism economy. I assume the staff will rest on the seventh day. Springfield got into the children’s […]
Posted inOpinion
Courting new fans
PHOTO BY DAVID HINE Is it entirely a coincidence that the Washington Park tennis courts, where the Springfield Park District offers lessons for young players, now are painted like a child’s bedroom? The courts were reopened in September after having been resurfaced, re-netted and painted blue and green, in the new approved U.S. Tennis Association […]
Posted inOpinion
Pennies and nickels
For a lot of people in Springfield, Decatur is just a place to stop when you get hungry on the way back from a U of I game. But people live there too – at least some still do; the city has lost nearly 20 percent of its population since 1980. And it’s going to […]
Posted inOpinion
Rodney Davis warns of disaster
13th District congressman Rodney Davis. PHOTO COURTESY US GOVERNMENT Usually, when I read Mad-Hatteresque pronouncements from members of the Republican caucus of the U.S. House, I am reminded of the works of Lewis Carroll. Reading the remarks by 13th District congressman Rodney Davis during his recent campaign announcement tour, I thought instead of James Fenimore […]
Posted inOpinion
Fixing the wrong problem
“Throw the bums out!” I say. Ah, if only we knew who the bums are. Bruce Rauner thinks he knows – they are public sector unions, public school systems and the politicians who enable them. To bring about the Millennium in Illinois, Rauner is circulating petitions to put on the ballot a constitutional amendment authorizing […]
Posted inOpinion
Old arguments
Ordinarily, I would be thrilled that so many people were discussing the merits of the ongoing historical restoration of the Illinois Capitol. Except they aren’t. They’re discussing “excessive flourishes,” $80,000 chandeliers and $600,000 ornamental doorways. They haven’t found any gold-plated toilet fixtures yet, but I’ll bet they’re looking. “They” is people like Chicago State Senator […]
Posted inOpinion
The people’s art museum
Soon, the West Wing of the Illinois Capitol will emerge after two years inside a cocoon of plywood and tarps. The structure was closed off, paradoxically, to make that part of the building both newer – by upgrading the building’s mechanical systems and making access and safety improvements – and older, by restoring it to […]
Posted inOpinion
Radical fellows
Champaign is used to naive people who overestimate their prospects of success at endeavors at which clearer-eyed observers know they will fail. Think of all those incoming freshmen, all those Fighting Illini teams, all those University of Illinois ethics panels. We must add to that list one David Green, a 63-year-old physics professor who is […]
Posted inOpinion
Three-way traffic
“A place for everything and everything in its place, I say, and a park is not the place for cars.” That was me, ranting in this paper in 1978. I promised then that it would be my last word on the subject, and it was for 35 years. That’s a long time for me to […]
Posted inOpinion
Another woman’s story
I recently spent a pleasant weekend in the company of a handsome widowed lady named Christiana. She did most of the talking, which was fine with me, as what she had to say was well-observed and often wryly funny. Besides, I couldn’t have interrupted her if I tried, she being dead for the past 141 […]
