Jeff Cordes With a winning smile and a pocketful of songs, Springfield-based singer-songwriter-entertainer Jeff Cordes brings on the music. Born in the capital city, raised in Lincoln and a graduate of Illinois College with a degree in philosophy, the introspective songsmith spent plenty of time elsewhere traveling and learning, but credits a mysterious “small town […]
Lincoln
Posted inOpinion
Lincoln’s Union problem
The Quartet by Joseph Ellis Bells in Springfield – church bells, hand bells, even cell phone ringers – rang at 2:15 p.m. on April 9 to mark the 150th anniversary of the end of major Civil War fighting. Except, as I explored in part in “Naming rights and wrongs” (July 9, 2015), the Civil War […]
Posted inOpinion
A cautionary tale
For those who don’t know the story, here’s what happened. Politically connected Springfieldians undertake to put more of the city’s long-hidden Lincoln legacy on display to new generations of visitors. They envision a new building that will invigorate tourism, restore downtown, and put Illinois on the tourism map. The idea is pushed by winds blowing […]
Posted inOpinion
Going for the fences
Woman of the Year, the 1942 movie starring Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn: Sportswriter Tracy invites the Hepburn character to her first baseball game, at Yankee Stadium. She arrives in the sixth inning or so; told that the score is 0-0, she says, “Good, I haven’t missed anything.” What is wonderful about the moment is […]
Posted inOpinion
Unionizing moms and dads
Pamela Harris won her case, and the U.S. Supreme Court won another skirmish in its war against the liberal consensus. What Illinois’ disabled and dependent citizens won is less clear. Chicago-area resident Pamela Harris is the mother who cares at home for her 25-year-old son who’s had severe intellectual and developmental disabilities from birth, with […]
Posted inOpinion
Squabbling over the inheritance
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, front, and museum, rear, feature large rotundas in Springfield, Illinois PHOTO BY BILL HOGAN/MCT That nice Mr. Madigan, I’m sure, just wants to help. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency have not been getting along. Friends of both have offered their advice, but […]
Posted inArts & Culture
First-class bells
PHOTO BY ANITA STIENSTRA The International Carillon Festival returns to Washington Park June 4-8. Touted as one of the world’s most important and prestigious carillon events, this year’s carillonneurs are Robin Austin (USA), Geert D’hollander (Belgium), Frans Haagan (The Netherlands), Claire Halpert (USA), Caleb Malamed (USA), Eddy Marien (Belgium), James Rogers (USA) and students Annie […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Payne and Dern find modest nobility in Nebraska
Bruce Dern as Woody Grant and Will Forte as David Grant in Nebraska. PHOTO COURTESY PARAMOUNT VANTAGE’S NEBRASKA Director Alexander Payne knows that it’s hard to find fulfillment in what Hollywood pejoratively refers to as the “flyover states” – that vast part of the country that stretches from east to west from Missouri to Utah […]
Posted inNews
Bringing people back downtown
When Jasper Madonia started working in downtown Springfield in 1939, the downtown was a different place from today. He describes a bustling place so busy that he had to push his way through the crowds of people during his lunch breaks. His favorite memory of working downtown is the Fannie May chocolate store that used […]
Posted inNews
State suspends doctor, finally
When Jasper Madonia started working in downtown Springfield in 1939, the downtown was a different place from today. He describes a bustling place so busy that he had to push his way through the crowds of people during his lunch breaks. His favorite memory of working downtown is the Fannie May chocolate store that used […]
Posted inOpinion
Mostly educated
A while back, in “Teaching idiots,” I ventured the view that it has never been easier than it is today to give oneself an education. I did not however settle the question of whether is might be wise to do so. The self-taught tend to have patchy educations. This can be bad, it can be […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Rhythm and improv
Springfield Jazz Society’s Spring Brunch will be held Sunday, April 28, starting at 12:30 p.m. in Lincoln at The Maple Club. Featured along with a tasty brunch buffet is the Rob Killam Quartet with vocals by Nathan Carls. Playing mainstream jazz and classic big band hits, the group consists of Curtis Atchley, keyboard; Michael Kennedy, […]
