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 […]
Politics
Posted inNews
The Show Must Go On
Capitol observers could be forgiven for feeling a sense of déjà vu. For the second week in a row, the Illinois House of Representatives ran legislation modeled after Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s agenda, and for the second week in a row, Republicans raised objections. Two weeks ago, a bill resembling Rauner’s proposed budget was brought […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Leading ladies
Makers: Women in Politics On Monday, March 30, at 6:30 p.m., join the Springfield branch of the American Association of University Women to view a documentary on groundbreaking women in politics, medicine and other fields that were previously closed to women. The 2013 documentary highlights the struggle for women’s equality during the past five decades. […]
Posted inNews
Ward 2 candidates support residency requirement
Candidates for alderman in Springfield’s Ward 2 say they would fight for a residency requirement and to make sure their ward gets a fair share of money from video gambling. The two candidates survived a six-way primary in February and now face off in the April 7 general election. Springfield NAACP president Teresa Haley and […]
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
Insult with wit
Left, Former Vice President Spiro Agnew and right, Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, Ill Spiro T. Agnew came to Springfield in September of 1970 to make a speech. To that approximately half of the public not yet born in 1970, I must explain that Mr. Agnew was a vice president of the United States, meaning he […]
Posted inOpinion
Wrong in principle
Quick – how big a part of Illinois’ population in recent years has consisted of unauthorized immigrants. Ten percent? Fifteen? Twenty? In 2012, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, it was 3.7 percent. Not exactly a teeming horde, yet President Obama’s recent executive order to prevent the unnecessary deportation of such people – humane in […]
Posted inOpinion
Adam’s off ox
One of the quainter rituals of any campaign, along with “debates,” is the newspaper editorial endorsement. It proceeds from three dubious assumptions – one, that anyone reads editorials besides the editor’s mother, two, that voters are swayable by argument and three, that a newspaper’s institutional opinion, being better informed than most, is thus automatically wise. […]
Posted inNews
Ad nauseam
U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, a Republican representing Illinois’ 13th Congressional District is running for re-election against Democratic challenger Ann Callis. pHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE Part 1 – 13th Congressional District: Rodney Davis vs. Ann Callis William Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It is famous for the line “All the world’s a stage, and all the […]
Posted inNews
Fracking fast track bill defeated
Illinois is taking too long to approve regulations for a controversial oil and gas drilling method, according to a coalition of businesses. They simply asked lawmakers to speed things up with legislation to circumvent the rulemaking process. The bill infuriated many environmental groups and ignited a flurry of calls to legislators that killed the bill […]
Posted inOpinion
Prince of demagogues
Stephen A. Douglas The prospect is in store of two rabble-rousing populists trading insults for the next seven months. Each will try to tap the deep vein of grievance that runs through a middle class convinced that privileged interests (unions or the rich, it hardly matters) have robbed them blind. It’s all too depressing to […]
Posted inOpinion
Shaking up Springfield
Illinois Governor Daniel Walker shakes hands at the Bud Billiken Parade, Chicago, 1973. PHOTO BY JOHN H. WHITE “To those who have grown rich on the public dollar, to those who have won secret grants and contracts, to those in government who put themselves first and the taxpayers second – to you I bring my […]
