With the state fair rush behind us and Labor Day weekend just ahead, this coming week feels like living in limbo. But never fear, there’s plenty in store for you as we peruse the local listings with verve and gusto. Sticking with Thursdays as our leadoff hitter, Al and Kathy Kitchen land at Mother Road […]
Newsletter – Event
Posted inArts & Culture
Robert Moore reflects on his life
To track Robert Moore’s life and career is to study one person’s successful journey in the Great Migration of the 20th century. To see this Springfield man’s connections to other major events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Civil Rights Movement adds a personal dimension that makes history feel more real. Born in […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Golden Seed
This Liturgical Arts Festival program will be a dramatic performance with musical interludes. The theatrical component, from playwright and director James Compton Bockmier, features three figures from Springfield’s history. An in-character “trialogue” will take place among Susan Lawrence Dana (played by Arlene Cooney), Frank Lloyd Wright (Patrick Foster) and Vachel Lindsay (Keegan Otwell). The trio […]
Posted inFall Guide
Fall Guide
The annual Fall Guide issue has info on family friendly activities, fall gardening, upcoming theater and art shows and an expanded three-month calendar of events.
Posted inSpecial Issues
Celebrating the life and legacy of Marsha P. Johnson
The Phoenix Center invites the community to a weekend of celebration in honor of what would have been activist Marsha P. Johnson’s 80th birthday. The festivities include a fundraiser dance party, an afterparty and a free film screening, all paying tribute to the life and legacy of one of the most iconic figures in LGBTQ+ […]
Posted inWatch Public Meetings
Student-led senior safety and city mowing costs
Students took the lead on a project that brought together generations —teaching internet safety to over 125 senior citizens and logging 600-plus volunteer hours. The board also broke down how grass cutting complaints trigger city action, why mowing a single lot costs $250 and why the city can’t always recoup those costs. A resident shared […]
Posted inWatch Public Meetings
Superintendent retirement and search process unveiled
: Big changes ahead for Springfield schools: The board heard a heartfelt retirement announcement from the superintendent after decades of service. The search for new leadership is about to be officially underway. Here’s what you need to know: – Details on the search process, including how it will be conducted – Information about the expected […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Weapons an unnerving look at missing kids, Red Sonja falls short
Weapons worthwhile despite questionable choices Zach Cregger’s Weapons is getting a great deal of press and it’s easy to see why. Not only did the film bring in nearly $43 million in its first weekend of release, an impressive number for a film of this sort, but its ending has left many viewers with a […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Scrumptious school lunches
Let’s be honest – packing lunches can be a drag. Whether it’s for a picky preschooler, a ravenous tween or just yourself, the daily grind of filling a lunchbox is not something many look forward to. The reality is, however, that eating fresh food prepared at home is one of the single most effective ways […]
Posted inArts & Culture
WWII Illiopolis ordnance plants
Thelma L. Ball, compiler, Illinois Munitions: A News Journal of the Oak & Sangamon Ordnance Plants, 1942-1950, Illiopolis, Illinois. Self-published, 2025. 350 pp., illustrations, newspaper list, index. Illiopolis today considers itself a village, with a population of 846 recorded in the 2020 census. It was even smaller in 1942 – about 700 people – when […]
Posted inMusic
More fair time music
Step right up as we consider the last weekend of the Illinois State Fair for 2025. Take a look around the area and generally go gallivanting anywhere and everywhere we can to search out the music-makers making music for you. With “no time like the present” as our motto, may I present to you my […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Traveling show prepares to dazzle capital city
Springfield, get ready for a circus like no other. Cirque Italia’s “Water Circus” is in town, featuring an international cast and crew of aerialists, jugglers, clowns, acrobats, contortionists and others performing a high-energy show with a custom-designed, traveling stage holding 35,000 gallons of water. The first show is 7:30 p.m. Friday. “We are not like […]
