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In memory of lives lost to war
The last Monday of every May is devoted to the memory of an estimated 3.5 million (according to the U.S. Census Bureau) Americans who have fought and died for this country.

Taking to the streets
A people’s willingness to walk determines the shape of their towns – and their towns have a lot to do in determining the shape of the people who live in them.

What’s inside Big Oil’s head?
In a time of $4-a-gallon gasoline, stratospheric rises in petro profits and a federal budget deficit severe enough that Republicans have called for killing Medicare, the spark that exploded the public’s fury at oil giants was the revelation that the...

northfifthstreet poem #16
people drive their kids to school these days even when they live nearby guess they feel they have to streets are too risky too dangerous cars line up before my house it’s next to the schoolyard the pounding bass of their music shakes the pavement a...

LETTERS
Since 1990, the continual proposals for a Chicago casino and more electronic gambling machines/slot machines (EGMs/slots) have demonstrated that history repeats itself.

In memory of lives lost to war
Our country’s past has been tumultuous and bloody; we are continuously engaged in a state of warfare, either internationally or here at home. This Memorial Day, as we meditate in silence, we will remember the millions of brave American soldiers who have died for this country.

Too much mapmaking mischief
This year is no different. The Democrats control both legislative chambers and the governor’s office, so they can pretty much draw any map they want as long as they follow federal and state voting rights laws which protect minorities and other “communities of interest.

CALLING ALL COUNTRY SCHOOL KIDS
The stories, coming from those aged 66 to 99, are too rich to let disappear, the Douglas County Museum director says, explaining her ongoing call for firsthand accounts of life in one- and two-room country schools. “We’re going to use the whole year 2011 to search out those stories,” Brown says.

GIVE TO JOPLIN
Items needed include toys, a TV, DVD player, children’s DVDs, denture products, paper plates, peanut butter, jelly, bean bag chairs, laundry soap, hair and skin products, canned goods, duct tape, all kinds of dry good foods, sheets, pillows and pillow cases.

District 186 wants to limit ‘Public School Choice’
With four themed magnet schools and one charter school drawing students from across the city regardless of attendance boundaries, School District 186 prides itself on offering “choice” to Springfield families who want to put their children in unique educational settings.

Springfield goes Dutch
She can still remember not knowing what to say when her college roommates asked, “What’s your cultural heritage?” Cheryl Wycoff, a Springfield resident of 25 years, identified as a “farm girl” from central Illinois growing up, but didn’t know much about her ancestry.

Defenders of the innocent
On May 16, almost five years after her release from prison, Harper stood in front of a crowd of people and tightly hugged Fanning, who she calls her hero. Fanning was one of four people honored for contributing to the defense of the wrongly convicted at the Downstate Illinois Innocence Project’s 10th anniversary banquet.

Smart grid or smart grab?
Commonwealth Edison, which delivers electricity to about 70 percent of the state’s population, is pushing legislation that would allow them to skip the ICC’s approval for automatic yearly rate increases – in exchange for building a modern electricity “smart grid” that the utility says will save consumers money in the long run.

The summerlong guide to fun in central Illinois
Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site Flag Lowering Ceremony.

ONGOING EVENTS
The Magic School Bus Takes a Dive. Growing Up Wild: It’s a Hoot. The Magic School Bus Taking Flight. Kids Discover Bats. The Magic School Bus in a Bee Hive. Recommended for ages 3-8. Illinois State Museum, 502 S. Spring St, 782-5993..

Juneteenth Celebration
June 19, 1865, was the day that slaves in Galveston, Texas, were released into freedom. Since that time, June 19 was declared African-American Emancipation Day and it has been observed around the world since to commemorate African-American freedom and emphasize African-American education and achievement.

Illinois State Fair
This year’s Illinois State Fair theme is “We’ve Got a Good Thing Growing.” Illinois flourishes with more than 28 million acres of farmland, 76,000 farms and some of the premier livestock in the nation. Celebrated almost every year since 1853, the159th fair is one of the largest agricultural fairs in the country.

JUNE EVENTS
Haunted American Midwest Conference.

JUNE EVENTS
www.ilsymphony.org/support-us/garden-tour.

Taste of Downtown and American Music Show
July 8 and 9 taste the sounds and hear the yums. Or taste the yums and hear the sounds. You won’t be able to tell where one starts and the other ends or in which order they make their way to your stomach and ears if you visit one-of-the-most popular events held in downtown Springfield, the Taste of Downtown and American Music Show.

Mount Pulaski Founders Day Festival
Richie Hammel Fore on the Floor Car Show.

Old Capitol Blues & BBQs
This sizzling downtown event is a marriage of heaven and heaven. Sound and taste come together in an explosion of sensory pleasure. Downtown Springfield, Inc., and Illinois Central Blues Club fire up a night and a day of great blues music and some of the best barbeque you’ve ever tasted.

JULY EVENTS
(Sunday night), multiple stages for music and lighted boat parade. 422-5911. Nelson Park, Decatur..

Mount Pulaski Founders Day Festival
School students get a free day off from studies each year in March for a state holiday called Casimir Pulaski Day. Well, Mt. Pulaski was named in 1836 after Count Casimir Pulaski, a Polish brigadier general who gave his life in the Revolutionary War.

JULY EVENTS
Stoneman Sprint Triathlon and Iron Abe Triathlon.

Lincoln Art and Balloon Festival
The Lincoln Art and Balloon Festival is one of the most strikingly beautiful and colorful festivals in central Illinois.

JULY EVENTS
Decatur Park Singers 40th Anniversary Concert.

Old Capitol Farmers Market
It isn’t only the fresh, locally grown vegetables and fruits that draw droves to this outdoor market on Adams Street between Fifth and Second — it’s the ambiance. Market manager Ann Fresura of Downtown Springfield, Inc. notes, “The market has become a social destination, especially on Saturdays.

SEPTEMBER EVENTS
Historic Marbold Farmstead Association Ice Cream Social.

Visit Benton and the Shawnee National Forest
You can find information about almost any kind of history in the small town of Benton. This is where Charlie Birger, the Prohibitionera criminal, was the last person to be hanged in Illinois, as well as the town where the first Beatles record was heard stateside.

The farm that McCormick’s Reaper built
Thinking about gardens and summer and checking out new sights and sounds? Why not head north this summer and check out St. James Farm? For years the locals only saw the gate of the lovely farm where the McCormicks, descendants of Cyrus McCormick, inventor of the commercial reaper, lived and worked.

A rich season of summer theater
We are fortunate in central Illinois to boast of an exceptional theater offering Shakespeare with the Illinois Shakespeare Festival.

School’s out, but there’s plenty for children to do
For at least a few students, the countdown to summer vacation began last August. Others maybe waited until January, by which time the bitter cold and recent memories of semester finals started giving way to daydreams of summer sunshine and three months of test-free bliss.

Illinois winemaking on the rise
More than 100 years ago, Illinois was the fourth largest wine-producing state in the nation. Now the Treasury Department holds Illinois responsible for just a fraction of the 40 million gallons bottled each month. Other states may have passed Illinois in production, but wineries and vineyards continue to sprout all across the Land of Lincoln.

Illinois winemaking
While information sharing can work, hired specialists and official seminars speed the industry’s growth. “The wine industry is very good about helping its new people, but we don’t want to go back to that model exclusively,” McCartney says.

‘Ultimate Frisbee’ offers fitness, fun and community
A game of “ultimate” is like soccer but is played with a flying disc and an edge of competition. The game has no referees, and players can even call a foul on themselves if they make contact with another player or run with the disc.

Swim, bike, run for fitness and fun
Maybe it’s the obesity epidemic that has so many people worried about their waistlines. Or maybe it’s the ongoing recession that has people looking for low-cost extracurriculars. Whatever the cause, it’s clear that Americans are more interested than ever in getting fit.

A Springfield author’s likeable murderers
We’re aware of the likeable murderers from the start, but the likeable detective is vastly puzzled. Morgan Holiday needs to solve the case of the sniper killings for more than her job; the narrator lets us know her personal life and problems. This creates a dilemma.

Al fresco dining in Springfield, 2011
I was surprised but also intrigued. I’d actually been toying with the idea of food writing for some time, but toying was all I’d done: I had no idea how to get anything published. So it didn’t take me long to accept. Klose and I settled on a trial period and word limit.

A worthy adventure
The film’s first half hour features the franchise staples of daring escapes and hard-to-follow sword fights as our hero, Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), needs to escape execution. Once that’s dispensed with, he finds that someone claiming to be him is putting together a crew to search for the Fountain of Youth.

Cures for the summertime blues
All the festivals and fairs have their charms, but I still prefer the outdoor bar gigs as a favorite summer delight. Café Andiamo continues with an early evening acoustic show every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 5 to 7, and if you’ve yet to go, man oh, man, you’re missing out on a good thing.

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

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Sleepwalker
Sleepwalker cohorts Keith Dunlap (guitar, vocals), Kortney Leatherwood (drums, vocals), Rusty Koehler (bass, vocals) and Ted Russell (guitar, vocals) describe the group as “four friends, good music, good times” and prefer the intimacy and excitement of the bar scene for shows.

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

MUSIC | Four-decade magic
The 70s classic-rock band America plays at Sangamon Auditorium, UIS on Friday, June 3. Popular for their first #1 song, A Horse With No Name,.

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

THEATER | Star-crossed lovers
Theatre in the Park, Over the Moon Productions and Lincoln Land Community College present the classic Shakespeare play about love gone wrong in the outdoor amphitheater at Lincoln’s New Salem State Historical Site for two weekends.

THE CALENDAR
0702. Erin’s Pavilion, Southwind Park, 4965 S. Second St, 217- 753-0702..

ART | Tapped into technology
On this First Friday downtown, June 3, visit Gallery II for its opening of a new exhibit based on the Internet and hypercontemporary art. The name of the exhibit is an Internet term derived from missing the caps lock key when typing “omg” and instead hitting the “z” key.

THE CALENDAR
Citizens Club of Springfield Policy Breakfast.

FILM | Flick fun
Here’s a club that might interest you. The Movie Geeks Club meets the last Tuesday of every month at Capital City Bar and Grill to screen a classic, independent or foreign film that you might not see at the theater. Each month members vote from a number of films on the one they want to see.

PUBLICNOTICES
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT SANGAMON COUNTY, ILLINOIS Estate of John Sisti, Deceased. No. 2001-P-264 NOTICE OF PUBLICATION OF WILL AND CLAIMS Notice is hereby given of the death of John Sisti.

Decatur, IL 62525 Telephone: (217) 422 1719 I355589
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE 7TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT SANGAMON COUNTY, ILLINOIS In the matter of the Petition of CLEMITH PETFIGREW For change of name to CLEMITH ESKRIDGE Case No.

NEWSQUIRKS
When Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton received a text message from a Helena, Mont., teenager asking to buy marijuana, Dutton realized the boy had misdialed his drug dealer’s number. He directed the texter to meet a detective posing as the dealer.

AMY ALKON
I met an amazing guy – the kind I swore didn’t exist: thoughtful, caring and incredibly secure. He seemed to love me. We were together exactly nine months when he called and suggested we go dancing. Ten minutes after I arrived at the club, he broke up with me.