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Road to nowhere
Capitol Avenue’s progress toward becoming the capital city’s Champs Elysees has hit a pothole. Completion of the latest phase of rehab work will soon leave the stretch from Seventh to Eleventh improved, but the roughly $17 million that will be needed to finish this prairie Pennsylvania Avenue is nowhere to be found.

Save adult education. It saved me.
I grew up hard-working, and started at the age of 15 to supplement my family’s income when my father became very ill and required surgery. I stopped going to school in order to sustain our family, and would go on to work at the same job for 37 years.

Real competition can stop health insurance gouging
Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama is all for the congressional effort to produce health care reform — as long as the legislation we end up with doesn’t contain any actual reform. Indeed, the senator gets fainting spells at the mere mention of Barack Obama’s proposed reforms, gasping that they add up to socialized health care.

typopoem #1
“herbicides are chemicals that kill weeds use only as a last resort any misuse can potentially lead to serious health problems with your plantings, yourself, your children, your poets, and wildlife.

LETTERS
I was Seaman 2nd Class on the USS Bountiful (AH-9) hospital ship during World War II. God, Jesus and all of the angels were with me and the crew of 232. We were 275 miles away from where the first atomic bomb hit Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945.

Drowning in red ink
Moments after members of the Illinois State Board of Education voted to cut the board’s budget by a net $180 million last week, an activist group called Voices for Illinois Children sent out an urgent e-mail to supporters.

KITTY KORRAL
Happy is the home with at least one cat, or in this case — dozens and dozens of cats. The Forever Home Feline Ranch, a new central Illinois nonprofit organization, wants to provide a no-kill, no-cage sanctuary for all homeless, feral and special needs cats.

CASH FOR COLTS
How would you like to own a mustang for just $25? That’s right! While the federal government’s so-called “cash for clunkers” rebates, which provide people with a $4,500 incentive to replace their old gas guzzlers with more efficient newer model cars, get all the press, few people know about a cheaper — and even greener transportation program.

Mayor changes direction, cuts library workers
Mandy Magill, a 29-year-old mother of two, started as a library assistant at Lincoln Library in August 2004. She was one of 15 employees recently laid off as part of Mayor Tim Davlin’s plan to reduce city spending by $3.2 million.

Tattoo inspections to benefit blood centers
Three years after a new Illinois law went into effect requiring registration and yearly inspections for tattoo and body-piercing establishments, the state is finally prepared to begin inspections.

Personal windmill
Being laid off didn’t stop Linda Norbut Suits from doing what she and her husband, Duston, felt was necessary. After a tornado three years ago ripped through Loami, where the couple lives with their two daughters, and destroyed their barn, Linda and Duston decided renewable energy should be part of the rebuild.

Springfield medical leaders join national health care debate
As legislators on Capitol Hill work to develop a $1 trillion national health care reform package, two leaders of the Springfield medical community identified problems with the current health care system and strategies for fixing these problems. They spoke at a public policy briefing hosted by the Citizens Club of Springfield on Friday.

New urbanism the Springfield way
Springfield is bursting with new urbanists. While the phrase “new urbanism,” coined in the 1980s, often frightens people who think that new urbanism entails mandating an organic arugula garden on every rooftop or forcing folks to trade in their cars for a pair of Crocs, the concept is much more simple than that.

Compact, climate-friendly, competitive
“This is one of those moments to step up and articulate what urbanism is worth to America.” That’s how Scott Bernstein, president of the Center for Neighborhood Technology, summed up the call-to-service at CNU 17, the 2009 Congress for the New Urbanism, June 10-14 in Denver.

Zucchini wars and other garden memories
We fought over them for years, my grandfather and I. Zucchini. He wanted them big and I wanted them little. And when I say big, I mean really big — at least as big as a forearm. I understood why. To Papa, it was free money. Just by waiting a day or two, those little zucchini grew tenfold — and brought 10 times the price.

RealCuisine Recipe
Zucchini in various forms and varieties are found in cuisines around the world. Zucchini pancakes are a Turkish tradition. Every cook has his/her own variation, so don’t be afraid to add a bit more or less of the feta or any of the herbs to your own taste.

Ugly can’t describe Truth
If you’re a woman and you want to find true love, don’t be too successful or too smart or too reserved. To bag a man, you can’t make more money than he does or be wiser than he is. Being a bit of a slut is a prerequisite to keeping him interested. Unlock your innertramp and he’s all yours.

Orphan: An adoption agency’s worst nightmare
Grieving over the stillbirth of their third child, John and Kate Coleman (Peter Sarsgaard and Vera Farmiga) decide to adopt an older child to help them heal. They’re immediately taken by Esther, whose artistic sensibilities and maturity make her seem a perfect fit for their family.

Movie times
Kerasotes listings are for Friday, July 31 through Thursday, August 6. All times are subject to change. For updates on Kerasotes films, call 1-800-FANDANGO. For reviews of other films, visit www.illinoistimes.com..

Slaid’s back with a new record
That may not be the most exciting headline ever printed for a Now Playing column, but fans of Slaid Cleaves will find the news thrilling enough. Not only does Cleaves hold an avid fan base in Springfield, more than five years have elapsed since the release of Wishbones,.

PUB CRAWL
NIL8, Renae, D’coi

BAND SPOTLIGHT
When it came time to seek a band direction, The Backliners decided to “play great rock songs, both classic and new, that we would like to listen to ourselves.

FOOD
Saturday sizzles with the day-long outdoor World Horseshoe Cook-off in conjunction with the 100 th Anniversary NHPA World Horseshoe Tournament running through August 8. Here 1,500 horseshoe pitchers compete for $170,000 in prize money and the title of world champion.

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

JAZZ
This semi-formal soirée opens with a reception/cash bar at 5:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 6 p.m. After a commemorative program at 7 p.m., Jazz by Footprints featuring Virgil Rhodes fills the same corners of the rooms with music as the late Kenneth E. Barton Sr.

SCULPTURE
Rochester artist Jeff P. Garland’s sculptures perk up the park with life until Aug. 23. Go and visit with your very eyes what the artist calls a “celebration of the very thing that brings the prairie to life: the wind, rain, sun and animals.” These works of art located outside the Botanical Gardens are also for purchase.

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 9th day of july, 2009 a Certificate of Ownership of business was filed in the Office of the County Clerk of Sangamon County, stating that CRAIG A.

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.

NEWSQUIRKS
When Tammy Nuttelman called 911 because some cows had escaped from her farm near Juneau, Wis., she began swearing at the dispatcher who told her escaped cows weren’t an emergency.

THE ADVICE GODDESS
I’m 34; my husband of a year is 28. We didn’t live together or have sex before marrying because I have a child and didn’t feel this was appropriate behavior to model. We did discuss sex to figure out whether we’d be sexually compatible. He was fairly inexperienced, but sex is now all he wants and talks about, and he’s constantly groping me.