Upon Further Review

Reading through the recently approved state capital plan is a bit like going on a 362-page Easter egg hunt. Roof repairs. Window replacement. Wastewater infrastructure improvements. Road construction. Creation of endangered bumblebee habitat. Huh? Well, bees are important, as are birds, which is why lawmakers from both parties set aside $200,000 for the former and […]

I like kitsch as much as anyone, but I’m not digging the Lincoln-and-some-guy statue freshly installed at the entrance to Abe World. It’s not an uncommon reaction to the works of J. Seward Johnson, whose family made zillions via the Johnson & Johnson Co. while leaving him to follow his artistic bliss. Critics say the […]

If Gov. J.B. Pritzker and lawmakers who back legal pot have to wait until next year, it will be their own fault. And we might be better off. With less than a month left in the legislative session, Pritzker unveiled a trial balloon, a bill most everyone acknowledges needs tweaks. Tweakers likely will start by […]

It was fitting, really, that I was handed an advance copy of Springfield’s Celebrated Horseshoe Sandwich in a McDonald’s parking lot. They don’t serve horseshoes at the Golden Arches, of course, but comparisons with artery-clogging burgers are inevitable, as demonstrated in a 2010 Wall Street Journal article that revealed a deep-fried version packed five Big […]

It is, at once, the world’s most famous road and our most mysterious. Lesser thoroughfares such as Bourbon Street or the Champs Elysees are easy to find. But Route 66 is more like the Silk Road, an ancient path that hasn’t existed, at least officially in Illinois, since 1977, the year that Elvis died and […]

With fewer than 1,000 students, Quincy University isn’t big. At nearly $41,000 a year for tuition, room and board, it isn’t cheap. And with 19 sports in a break-even athletic department that runs on more than $6 million a year, the school isn’t immune from sports scandals. The university, according to a pending federal lawsuit […]

My first motorcycle was a 1975 Honda Goldwing, unless you count the summer when I occasionally rode a 1973 Honda CL350 that didn’t always start, which wasn’t a bad thing, given I had no driver’s license at the time. The Goldwing, purchased from my father, was a heavy slug of a bike, reportedly developed so […]

Tree care at my house is easy. In the front yard is a dogwood, which largely takes care of itself. Not too big, not too small, grows slow and perhaps fools passersby into thinking some thought was put into its planting. In the backyard, a big tree once existed, species uncertain, which I discovered whilst […]

As keggers go, a shindig last Saturday at the Pasfield House was fancier than most – no Solo cups or loud music, and the kegs were pressurized, so no pumping. But some things never change. Dozens arrived early, each paying $100 for all they could drink and eat, with the menu including horseshoes, pasta, shrimp, […]