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Riding into town on a rail
If you bend down and put your ear to a railroad track, you might be able to hear a faint clanging and banging. That’s the noise of far-off cities building new public transit systems that run on rails – the kind of transport that Springfield and most other U.

We need ERA now more than ever
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia just asserted for a second time that our Constitution does not protect women against discrimination.

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Playing with economic dynamite
By golly, America is still an exporting powerhouse. In fact, the good ol’ U.S.A. is No. 1 in the world in exports! Our corporate leaders, backed by Republicans and Democrats alike in Washington, are now routinely exporting America’s most precious goods – our jobs, factories, technologies and middle-class opportunities.

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LETTERS
Thank you, Bill Parker, for writing the article about my mother, Frances Richardson [see “Remembering the lives they lived,” Dec. 30]. Thank you to all who continue to remember what a remarkable woman she was. I was really missing my mom this week and with all the snow in Chicago I decided to go sledding down the local hill in remembrance of her.

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Democrats prepare for a game of mapmaking
It’s impossible to know exactly what will happen with the new maps since block-level census numbers aren’t yet available. That very specific, hyper-local data is plugged into computer programs so mapmakers can draw the new congressional and legislative boundaries.

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Former compulsive gambler speaks out
Jerry Prosapio watched Springfield this week as the General Assembly considered, but so far failed to pass, legislation to expand gaming. The proposal would have added slots to Chicago airports, a casino in Chicago for the first time in history as well as casinos in Park City, Rockford, suburban Cook County and Danville.

SANGAMON SCHOLARS
that tuition costs nationwide increased an average 9.3 percent beyond inflation in 2009-2010. Put simply, the cost of going to college requires more dollars even as those dollars lose their purchasing power. That makes scholarships like those administered by the Sangamon County Community Foundation all the more valuable.

TEACHER’S PRIZE
It’s those qualities, shown through service that goes beyond the usual, that the Horace Mann Educator of the Year Award seeks to recognize as it solicits nominations for its 2011 prize – cash and a crystal owl or apple.

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Schools ‘wrap’ troubled kids
Through PBIS, students are all screened for behaviors that may hinder their success at school. Those requiring intervention start with a check-in/check-out program, in which a student each morning receives reminders about behaving positively in class.

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Yoga blossoms in Canton prison
“Yoga is my sunrise,” says Marshawn Feltus. “I want yoga every day.” Quite a few others at the Illinois River Correctional Center agree with him. More than 150 prisoners attend yoga classes at the medium security prison every week.

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Coal ash disposal draws ire
Strolling along Macoupin Creek in October, environmentalists observed in the middle of the day flowing water the color of a moonless night sky.

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Weighed down
“What was happening was that they were losing touch with Springfield and its people,” the same former employee continues. “When GateHouse and Broadbooks took over, there was no respect for that relationship between the paper and the people. It was horrible to watch.

Weighed down
Since becoming a publicly-traded company in 2006, GateHouse has seen its stock plummet from about $21.60 in October 2006 to its current price of only 10 cents. The company’s revenues have also fallen drastically. According to filings with the SEC, GateHouse’s revenues fell by 13.8 percent in 2009 compared to 2008, putting their total revenue for 2009 at $585 million.

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Weighed down
“The GateHouse Media model of lots of monopoly newspapers under a single corporate umbrella … is a wonderful model, predicated upon the continued existence of monopoly markets in small towns – which the Internet is destroying,” Maurina says.

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Happy feet
Most of us use our feet all day, every day – for work, for play, to get to our car , to get a drink of water, to get ourselves to the bathroom. With all of this walking, it’s not surprising that there are more than 300 types of foot problems that can develop.

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Get your vitamins here
One concern with relying on supplements is the danger of consuming too high a level of a particular vitamin. The fat-soluble vitamins, A, D, E and K, can get stored in the body. Water-soluble vitamins, all varietals of B and C, are not stored in the body and must be replaced each day.

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Fitness at home
So the economy has you rethinking that gym membership, and now you’d like to start working out at home – but you don’t know where to put all that cumbersome exercise equipment.

How to Stay Fit on the Job
No time for an hour of cardio? You don’t have to be a gym rat to get active at work, especially when there’s exercise just waiting to be had around every cubicle. Try these suggestions from the American Heart Association and the American Council on Fitness: • After lunch take a brisk walk.

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Becoming Nana
My family has been keeping a secret for the last couple months. We haven’t done a very good job of it, in spite of lawyers and experts who cautioned us that it was the only wise course. But it’s hard to keep quiet when your heart is bursting with joy and love.

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Becoming Nana
“Adoption is a miracle. I don’t mean just that it’s amazing, terrific, and a wonderful thing to do. I mean that it is, as the dictionary says, ‘a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of divine agency.

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New collection brings Springfield poems to life
The late Pat Smith was a former Springfield resident, one of the three founders of Brainchild, a women’s writing collective that lasted more than 30 years and published a number of books. Now Pat Smith, who died in St.

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Country Strong weak where it counts
Attempting to get her career back on track after the meltdown of all onstage meltdowns, Kelly Canter (Paltrow) is still riddled with demons.

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Third Thursday phenomenon
Close to a year ago area artist Mike Mayosky extended his longtime outreach of art to the public by inviting other artists to display works in a free-for-all party of sorts that functioned as a downtown art show/music concert event.

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BAND SPOTLIGHT | Pete Sander
Here’s the idea: take four singer-songwriters, set them on stage then let them sing their songs and talk about the inspiration behind the tunes. Springfield songwriter Pete Sander participated in a Chicago round robin song swap before creating his Homegrown Folk Show.

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PUB CRAWL
Dates, times and locations are subject to change, so we suggest calling before attending an event..

PUB CRAWL
It Prevails, Betrayal, Volumes, Counterparts, Bermuda, Battalion, Unreckoned.

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Find more details and gigs in our online calendar at www.illinoistimes.com
Find more details and gigs in our online calendar at www.illinoistimes.com.

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THE CALENDAR
A Feast for the Eyes: An Evening of ASL Storytelling.

FILM | Intelligent indies
One of Springfield’s most popular annual events, the Molly Schlich Springfield Art Association Film Series, begins Jan. 16 and 18 and runs through April. Seven independent, international films cover the big screen each month at the Parkway Pointe Cinema.

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THE CALENDAR
nationally recognized local musician and school teacher. Donation: $10, $9 seniors, $8 members, $5 students, $25 for family. Abraham Lincoln Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 745 Woodside Road. prairiegrapevine.org..

HOLIDAY |
The Frontier International, Springfield Club once again hosts a Martin Luther King, Jr. breakfast with this year's keynote speaker The Honorable Thelma Wyatt Moore, retired judge of the Superior Court of Fulton County Georgia. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased by phoning 787-8373 or 529-0767.

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THEATER | Comedic spell
Springfield Theatre Centre presents their take on the Tony award-winning hilarious musical about six overachieving geeky adolescents, overseen by grownups who barely managed to escape childhood themselves, learning that winning isn’t everything and that losing doesn’t necessarily make you a loser.

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THE CALENDAR
Dayton Contemporary Dance Company.

Notable locals
The latest art exhibit of the Art Association of Jacksonville at the stunning David Strawn Art Gallery includes the work of artists Kevin Veara of Springfield and Toni Freesen of rural Scott County.

THE CALENDAR
Filipino American Historical Society Dinner Meeting.

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More events, more details in our online calendar at illinoistimes.com.
More events, more details in our online calendar at illinoistimes.com..

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PUBLICNOTICES
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE SEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT SPRINGFIELD, SANGAMON COUNTY, ILLI- NOIS IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF: ERROL NEEL WORKMAN, Deceased. No. 2010-P-715 DEATH AND CLAIM NOTICE NOTICE IS GIVEN of the death of ERROL NEEL WORKMAN. Letters of Office were issued on the 28th day of December, A.

NEWSQUIRKS
Curses, foiled again Police said two men making their getaway after an armed robbery in Orange County, Fla., tried to distract authorities from pursuing them by reporting a carjacking. The vehicle they described, however, was the same white Honda Accord they were driving.

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SEVENTH...
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT SANGAMON COUNTY, ILLINOIS MIDLAND COMMUNITY BANK, an Illinois banking association, Plaintiff, v. MICHAEL D. PIERCE, UNKNOWN OWN- ERS, and NON-RECORD CLAIMANTS, Defendants. No.

TO ADOPTION, YOU MAY LOSE ALL PARENTAL...
TO ADOPTION, YOU MAY LOSE ALL PARENTAL RIGHTS TO THE CHILD. UNLESS YOU appear at the hearing and show cause to the contrary, AN ORDER OR JUDGMENT BY DEFAULT MAY BE ENTERED AGAINST YOU FOR THE RELIEF ASKED IN THE PETITION.

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AMY ALKON
I’m a 40-something married woman with an unwanted admirer. Last year, an 80ish married man, a member of my literary club, called me, confessed his passion for me, and begged me to have a romantic dinner with him. I reluctantly made plans to meet “Romeold” for coffee, intending to let him down gently.

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