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Big deals about little games
Finally. The Springfield High girls beat Glenwood at soccer the other night, after nearly a decade during which Chatham girls played Mike Madigan to the conference’s legislative rank and file. The win was especially good news to your favorite columnist, who is a proud uncle of the goal-scorer and a nearly proud alum of SHS.

Granny turns 100
I would like to introduce you to Ruth Mae Bollhorst. Ruth is an amazing woman who went to school, helped her parents around the family home, got married and left home. Why does that make her so amazing? Well, she was born in 1911! She will be 100 years old on March 29, 2011.

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Rich get richer with new Congress
A flock of tea party-infused Republicans has certainly changed the political dynamic there, and exultant GOP leaders are claiming that they are now the voice of “The People.” But most people won’t find themselves represented by this change, much less see it as progress.

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LETTERS
We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to editor@illinoistimes.com.

Pollutionpoem #4 March 31
hercules didn’t start it of course only publicized it — running a river through the augean stables’ filth so that all the dirt and droppings were swept downstream chicago was canny to send their fecal foulings to the mississippi via the sag canal...

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Jesse White may run again in 2014
Secretary of State Jesse White has been saying for at least the past two years that this fourth term would be his last. By the end of this term he’ll be the longest-serving secretary of state in the history of Illinois. It seemed like a good way to go out.

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TROUT TIME
On an overcast March day in Washington Park, a gaggle of excited children in winter coats crowd around a black bucket filled with writhing, slippery rainbow trout trucked in from Ava, Mo. Minutes later, about 300 of the green and purple fish slide from the truck’s holding tank through a long metal chute and into the park’s upper pond.

BOOK BY BOOK
As the city prepares to use the space at 1251 W. Washington for other agencies, the shuttered building is about to shed its essential elements. Books, music and videos are being sold to the public starting today. The sale lasts from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 31, Friday, April 1, and Saturday, April 2.

‘Health care is a civil rights issue’
“Health care is the civil rights issue of the 21st century,” Donna Christensen, a member of Congress, stated Monday evening at the SIU School of Medicine in Springfield. The congresswoman from the U.S. Virgin Islands spoke on “Ethics, Race and Class” to members of the medical community and others.

Delivering meals and smiles weekly, for 28 years
On Thanksgiving more than 30 years ago, Mary Link met a man who changed the way she thought about other people’s lives. Mary and her husband, Al, had finished serving hot Thanksgiving meals to the community of people who stopped by Kumler Ministries that day.

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Dodge gets five years for Ponzi scheme
Awaiting last week his sentencing to five years and three months in prison, James U. Dodge, a man once described by his former friends as exuberant, lively and inviting, sat still and stone-faced in his courtroom chair, moving only a thumb as he kneaded the back of his folded hands.

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Methodist distribution center in Chatham sends relief to Japan
The distribution center is one of seven distribution warehouses connected with the United Methodist Committee on Relief, an effort organized by the United Methodist Church, to send needed supplies to disaster areas around the world. The distribution center includes two warehouses, a dormitory, wood shop and kitchen area for volunteers.

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Two strong candidates vie for open school board seat
When Cheryl Wise this spring finishes her term representing Springfield School District 186’s Subdistrict 5, one of two accomplished women will take her place.

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Who will bring Springfield together?
Every day, the rusty steel rails of the 10th Street railroad tracks carry trainload after trainload of coal, manufactured items and raw materials through Springfield. But those tracks carry more than just freight trains.

Who will bring Springfield toether?
Department merger Stocks-Smith sees combining the departments as a way to better coordinate economic and community development, though some people question whether it would create a conflict of interest.

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Who will bring Springfield toether?
Kunz, who called himself the only candidate “who actually lives in a minority area,” said the racial divide “is not an everyday conversation with the people I live with. They’re more worried about their streets, their sidewalks, whether the police are going to show up or the fire trucks.

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Who will bring Springfield toether?
Small businesses would be a focus for Houston’s administration, he says, noting that about 85 percent of Springfield businesses are “small” businesses.

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Who will bring Springfield toether?
Budget reality And there is the crux of the problem: there is no money for much of anything. Under the direction of Mayor Frank Edwards, the city passed a budget in February with about a $1 million reserve.

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When Springfield went to the dogs
In the middle 1800s, animal control in Springfield, like much of America, was an oxymoron. Cows, hogs and especially dogs roamed the streets and wreaked a variety of havoc, from destroying sidewalks and fences to hurting people. Unfortunately, those injuries could be fatal.

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It’s time to grow spinach
Cool spring (and fall) temperatures are ideal for growing leafy greens. Spinach is a cool season crop which thrives when the average daily temperature is between 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. This cold hardy green can withstand temperatures as low as 20 degrees.

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Thoughts turn to Japan at cherry blossom time
It’s always lovely, but never more so than when the cherry trees are blooming. We always try to visit during blossom season. But this year our anticipation of a pleasant outing is suffused with sadness about the Japanese peoples’ suffering in the wake of the horrific earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

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Find Juliannes’ recipe for Miso - Marinated Salmon online at www.illinoistimes.com
Find Juliannes’ recipe for Miso - Marinated Salmon online at www.illinoistimes.com.

Chicken yakitori
Yakitori is traditional for Hanami, but it’s also classic street food. This recipe calls for boneless skinless pieces of chicken, but in Japanese yakitori stalls, skewers are also pierced with ground chicken meatballs, chicken hearts and livers, and other bits and pieces, such as tailpieces.

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This Wimpy Kid is not much fun
features. In the long run, most of the youngsters who see this will be entertained and won’t notice they’ve been sold a bill of goods. But they shouldn’t be made to settle for less when a more meaningful and intelligent product is possible.

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April Tomfoolery again
I had so much fun doing a column as an April Fool last year I’ve decided to make it an annual event. Part of the fun is in just getting the chance to be outrageous and the rest comes in hearing that some readers actually believe the nonsense.

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BAND SPOTLIGHT
Built around the exciting and refreshing concept of performing original songs as a form of personal expression through group participation, a day and a wake up clearly contain a vision of what a progressive band should be. The rocking quintet not only focuses on original music, they also possess a rather original configuration of band membership.

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

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

AUTHORS | Poetry and activism
April is National Poetry Month, and the Vachel Lindsay Association and Home State Historic Site sponsor the first local event of the month with well-known local husband and wife team, John and Peg Knoepfle. Once donned the Sangamon County Poet Laureate, John is perhaps the most successful living poet in the area.

THE CALENDAR
Dates, times and locations are subject to last-minute changes, so we suggest calling before attending the event..

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THE CALENDAR
Dates, times and locations are subject to last-minute changes, so we suggest calling before attending the event.

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LECTURE | Human rights
The UIS Speaker Series continues on April 6 with one of the most prominent anti-racist writers and educators in the United States, Tim Wise. Wise has lectured and trained teachers, corporate leaders and others all over the world, appeared on hundreds of radio and television programs, including being a regular on CNN, and is the author of five books.

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THE CALENDAR
Dates, times and locations are subject to last-minute changes, so we suggest calling before attending the event.

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THE CALENDAR
Dates, times and locations are subject to last-minute changes, so we suggest calling before attending the event.

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THE CALENDAR
Dates, times and locations are subject to last-minute changes, so we suggest calling before attending the event.

ART | Transformed trash
A month-long free exhibition runs through Earth Day, April 22, with a reception from 5:30-8 p.m. in the UIS Visual Arts Gallery. Artists Karen Bondarchuk and Terrence Campagna, co-winners of the 2010 Sustain.

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THE CALENDAR
Dates, times and locations are subject to last-minute changes, so we suggest calling before attending the event.

PUBLICNOTICES
CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SEVENTH JUDI- CIAL CIRCUIT SANGAMON COUNTY, ILLINOIS - IN PROBATE ESTATE OF: RUTHIE LEE KANU, Deceased. Case No.10-P-466 CLAIM NOTICE Notice is given of the death of Ruthie Lee Kanu. Letters of Office were issued on December 8, 2010 to Benjamin Rush whose address is 1821 Seven Pines Rd.

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NEWSQUIRKS
Police arrested Michael Trias, 20, after they said he broke into a home in Mesa, Ariz., and became stuck in a clothes hamper underneath the window he climbed through. The homeowner, who heard Trias trying to untangle himself from the clothes, restrained him and called police.

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AMY ALKON
Two years ago, “Beth,” this attractive woman I see around, gave me her number and mentioned three times that she hadn’t been asked out in a long time. I called to ask her out and…silence. She then said, “I can’t…as I think I may have something else to do.

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