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Inquiring mind wants to go
Just about seven years ago, I moved here from Texas to find out whether I could still do journalism. I had worked for major mainstream newspapers in Dallas and in Anchorage (yes, Alaska), but I had been out of the business for nearly a decade, working as an investigator for a civil rights attorney, when I applied to a job with Illinois Times.

Biotech benefits patients and the Illinois economy
Biotech research is not for the faint of heart. Each mad scramble for the next blockbuster drug requires hundreds of millions of dollars and years of painstaking effort — all in the face of overwhelming odds of failure. Undaunted, these pioneers will spend nearly $1.

Free food can be yours for the picking
Years ago, a young, sorta-hippyish couple who lived nearby knocked on my front door. They had noticed that fig trees in my side yard were laden with ripening fruit. “If you’re not going to pick all the figs for yourself,” asked the couple, “could we harvest some of them?” Sure, I said, have at ’em.

LETTERS
The article points out the secrets of success when it comes to rehabilitation: the individual decides to change and there are compassionate people on the outside willing to support the person and are not enabling them to fall back into old habits. Prisons don’t rehabilitate anyone, they are warehouses behind razor wire and guard towers.

You call this a budget?
The budget — if you can call it that — which passed the General Assembly last week has as much as a $5 billion hole in it, borrows over $7 billion from Wall Street and state vendors, disguises huge cuts to some private social service agencies with 87 percent funding for others and sets up the state for a surefire disaster next fiscal year.

School bars autistic child and his service dog
Small miracles have come true since Chewey moved in with the Drew family. Six-year-old Kaleb Drew has autism, a developmental disability that affects social, emotional and communication skills. He was only sleeping three hours each night until Chewey, a nearly 2-year-old yellow Labrador retriever, climbed into bed with him.

Disability rights lawsuit heads in new direction
Advocates from Equip for Equality, a statewide protection and advocacy organization for people with disabilities, preferred a class action lawsuit that would have represented the majority of people with developmental disabilities in Illinois.

Union to Quinn: Don’t cut staff, don’t release inmates early
John Black, a correctional officer at Logan Correctional Facility in Lincoln, says he can sum up the morale among his fellow prison workers in just one word. “Sucks,” says Black, a member of American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees Local 2073.

Home-grown virtuoso
must have been scores of kids who, like Clayton Penrose- Whitmore, found themselves enjoying a snack in the Ethnic Village at the Illinois State Fair, just as a group of Suzuki violin students took the stage. And there must have been several whose parents, like Clayton’s, figured, “Hey, my kid could do that,” and signed them up for music lessons.

Muni’s Fiddler another solid production
For almost four decades, only two men (Jack Duffy and Barry Weiss) have played the lead role of Tevye at The Muni. This time, the part went to veteran local actor Steve Kaplan. Kaplan, who is on stage for almost each of the show’s 160 minutes, must set the tone and drive the production — and he does both jobs nicely.

Blurring the meaning of delicious words
“Education courses teach you words that say nothing.” I heard this bit of wisdom from my music teacher, Esther Duncan, when I was a teenager. In her day, she was a legendary figure in Springfield for her feisty character, the excellence of her Lanphier choirs and her aggressive driving.

Real Cuisine Recipe
For an authentic, gourmet dessert served in French bistros and homes, try making a clafouti. Somewhere between a custard and cake, it’s a simple, eggy batter poured over fruit and baked. The crisp outside and edges contrast with the more pudding-like interior.

Bruno is dressed to offend
You have to give Sacha Baron Cohen credit — the guy’s got nerve. While his critics are justified to be outraged by his brazen, guerilla methods of catching innocents off guard and using their shocked demeanor for comic effect, anyone who risks life...

Movie times
Kerasotes listings are for Friday, July 24 through Thursday, July 30. All times are subject to change. For updates on Kerasotes films, call 1-800-FANDANGO. For reviews of other films, visit www.illinoistimes.com..

Go! Tsunami mingles with Carillon
When planning this week’s column, I found we had two very deserving bands hosting CD release parties at the same bar on different weekend nights. Please welcome the odd pairing of Go! Tsunami and Carillon, bound together by nothing more than circumstance.

PUB CRAWL
Girard. 8:30pm-12:30am Go Tsunami Cd Release Party w/ Daikaiju

BAND SPOTLIGHT
Lead guitarist Robert Beam, an Atlanta, Ga., transplant who made a mark as a professional touring and studio musician over the last 30 some years, sets the tone for Bluesmattic, with bassist Greg Campbell and drummer Scott Henrikson laying down a strong blues foundation for the experienced and talented performer.

FILM
Hill Prairie Winery is the venue for an outdoor screening of a film shot in Menard County, produced by Petersburg natives Adam and Tom Galassi and Thomas Snyder and based loosely on the local legend of a boy, Raymond Colby, who claims he was carried off by a thunderbird to a magical place (recently highlighted on the Discovery and History channels).

THE CALENDAR
Submit calendar listings at www.illinoistimes.com.

MUSICAL
Catherine opens the show after their contentious divorce and moves backward, while Jamie starts with their joyous meeting and moves forward. The duo directly interacts only in one song where the timelines intersect. The production contains adult content.

PUBLIC NOTICES
NOTICE UNDER ASSUMED BUSINESS NAME ACT STATE OF ILLINOIS COUNTY OF SANGAMON TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: Notice is hereby given that on the 30th day of June, 2009 a Certificate of Ownership of business was filed in the Office of the County Clerk of...

Real Estate Foreclosures
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE 7TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT SANGAMON COUNTY-SPRING- FIELD, ILLINOIS DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST COMPANY, AS TRUSTEE FOR FIRST FRANKLIN MORT- GAGE LOAN TRUST 2005-FFH3, ASSET-BACKED CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2005-FFH3, PLAINTIFF vs.

NEWS QUIRKS
Police arrested Lisa Roshelle Myles, 40, at a Target store in Oklahoma City after employees said they saw her stuff Blu-ray discs in her pants and try to waddle away without paying. The Oklahoman reported that a search revealed Myles had 33 discs in her pants.

THE ADVICE GODDESS
My first wife and I married in our early 20s and broke up several years later. When we were married, she had very short hair, even though I wanted her to grow it long. She was not only adamant about keeping it short; she claimed she couldn’t get it past ‘the awkward stage.