Search for purpose drives Roofman Between 1940 and 1944, writer-director Preston Sturges produced a string of classics that were, and remain, an unprecedented success among Hollywood filmmakers. The Lady Eve, Sullivan’s Travels and Hail the Conquering Hero were among the movies made during this period, each of them featuring a plot conceit the director returned […]
Illinois Times
Posted inCommunity & Lifestyle
Haman, hatred and a hangman’s noose
The seeds that men plant bear their own fruit. Hatred is one of those seeds. Enter Haman. The Persian kingdom was under the reign of Ahasuerus, who, for whatever reasons, had appointed Haman over all of the nobles and princes of Persia. Now Haman was a descendent of Agag, the king of the Amalekites, whose […]
Posted inRich Miller
AFL-CIO move a surprise
The announcement last week that the Illinois AFL-CIO was withdrawing from the “agreed bill process” at least 40 years after its inception took almost everyone by surprise, but nobody was really shocked. For years, whenever the group engaged in carefully constructed negotiations with business interests on workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance, labor leaders would grumble […]
Posted inCommunity & Lifestyle
The voice within
Hello, my name is Dr. Roxanne Casey. As a child reared in the inner city of Chicago, I overheard women often talking about the constant inequalities due to society limiting them to domestic roles, submissive wives and mothers. I lacked understanding as a child regarding their conversation, but I recalled their conversation when I was […]
Posted inFilm
The Lost Bus carries warning, canine star rescues Good Boy
Bus a gripping, vital cautionary tale On the morning of November 8, 2018, a powerline from a tower owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. broke during a windstorm and fell to the ground in northern Butte County, California. Having gone without rain for 121 days, the area was a tinderbox waiting for the slightest […]
Posted inRich Miller
Energy bill lacks key union support
One of the reasons a giant energy-related bill failed to pass the Illinois General Assembly last spring was because organized labor remained neutral. At least one union opposed the bill, but overall, the unions weren’t helping to move the ball forward – and they have a whole lot of much-needed legislative muscle. That’s why the […]
Posted inCommunity & Lifestyle
A season for self-reckoning
This week, Jewish communities around the world are celebrating the advent of a new year, 5786, according to our calendar reckoning. Rosh Hashanah, the new year observance (occurring this year from sundown on Monday, Sept. 22nd to sunset on Wednesday, Sept. 24) inaugurates a 10-day season which concludes with the solemn fast day of Yom […]
Posted inRich Miller
Edgar’s contributions won’t be forgotten
Jim Edgar ran a brilliant campaign for governor in 1990. He set the template for every winning statewide race since then by focusing on the importance of independent suburban women. The Republican Edgar defeated a Catholic Democrat – Neil Hartigan – in that race, with a boost from the National Abortion Rights Action League’s endorsement. […]
Posted inFilm
High and Low overstays its welcome, star power makes Murder Club
Lee, Washington tackle the great divide in Highest Using the Akira Kurosawa classic High and Low as a starting point, Spike Lee delivers a searing examination of the ever-expanding class divide in Highest 2 Lowest, his fifth collaboration with Denzel Washington. Like so many of the director’s films, he casts a wide net regarding the […]
Posted inMusic
Hot dang music
Ashley Riley plays at 3 p.m. on Saturday in downtown Springfield for WUIS Bedrock 66 Live! during the Bacon Throwdown. Is it hot enough for you? If I hear that phrase one more time … Anyway, onward to the music, please. In the parade of weekend festivals that comes each July in our community, the […]
Posted inOpinion
Many more “heroics” may be required
PHOTO BY ALAN SOLOMON/TNS Nobody, and I mean nobody, ever thought that Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration could ever keep state operations running for a year without an actual state budget. State and federal courts have ordered about 90 percent of state spending since the General Assembly’s Democrats and the Republican governor deadlocked on a budget […]
Posted inOpinion
Is there an iota of courage in the GOP?
Jim Hightower PHOTO BY LARRY D. MOORE This year’s freakish presidential election has now devolved into an ethnic brouhaha between two foreigners: A Mexican and a German. The “Mexican” is Gonzalo Curiel. He’s a federal judge who was actually born in Indiana, raised and educated as a Hoosier, and is presently presiding over a U.S. […]
