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Real patriots pay taxes
Actually, you already pay for their routine tax avoidance through the use of tax havens in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and elsewhere. These accounting acrobatics cost the U.S. Treasury $100 billion a year. Now they want Congress to pass a special tax holiday for money they “repatriate” back to the U.

Mr. Bureaucracy
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The unanswered question is, Why?
America’s long, long war in Afghanistan has drained more than 1,500 precious lives and a trillion dollars from our country. But, finally, this enormous outlay paid off this year with the capture and killing of that al-Qaida demon, Osama bin Laden, who attacked America and was the reason our military went into Afghanistan.

LETTERS
Year round gambling at the fairgrounds is a bad bet. Both racetrack casinos in Indiana have declared bankruptcy. Statistical analysis of racetrack casinos has shown that when slot machines are introduced at racetracks, betting on horses decreases 20 percent to 40 percent.

The counts they didn’t get Blago on
Jurors deadlocked on whether Blagojevich actually attempted to hit up Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s brother for a big campaign contribution in exchange for releasing funds to a school in Emanuel’s old congressional district. But this allegedly happened in 2006, long before the feds began bugging Blagojevich, so there were no tapes.

FREE YOUR FRIDGE
Is that old refrigerator in your kitchen, garage or basement sucking up gobs of electricity? If so, now is a good time to get rid of that inefficient appliance, save some money on your power bill, help the environment and get an extra little bonus for doing so.

Summer with the blind in Bolivia
Clesen, a 26-year-old teacher of blind and visually impaired students in Springfield School District 186, is spending part of her summer teaching kids with vision impairments in Cochabamba (Co-cha-bomb-ba), Bolivia, a city of more than 608,000 people situated in a valley within the Andes mountains.

Judging from start to finish
There’s something to be said about finishing what you start. As of June 1, associate judges in the Seventh Judicial Circuit Court will keep cases from the beginning to the end of a trial. Juvenile court cases will be managed by four judges who will rotate in and out instead of one.

Summit restores hope
The first “Summit of Hope” in Springfield invited more than 600 individuals on probation at the state and county level, and from Department of Corrections, to the Prairie Capital Convention Center for an all-day outreach event June 28.

Finely crafted verse
I first met Hugh Moore in Allen Ginsberg’s living room, which often served as an auxiliary classroom for Naropa Institute, home to The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. We spent a solid three hours discussing Ezra Pound’s poetics before going to the weekly poetry reading.

Inside Humphrey’s Market
The history of Springfield’s oldest surviving locally owned grocery store contains all those elements and more. Even though independent grocery stores nationwide have been declining in number for decades, Humphrey’s Market, which has been located at 1821 S.

Larry Crowne: An ode to the common man
Baseball manager Leo Durocher once said, “Nice guys finish last.” Well don’t tell that to Larry Crowne. He has his share of troubles but he never fails to approach each day with a smile and a positive attitude.

Marina V on the move
Lots of events are happening this weekend including the Taste of Downtown with the American Music Show, plus plenty of regular rigmarole at area bars, but whenever Marina V comes to town we stop the presses and see what our favorite Russian-born singer/pianist/songwriter has been up to lately.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Mathien
A guitarist and songwriter since his youth, Chris Mathien began playing as a solo act during his college years at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He hooked up with bassist Mike Schiff and drummer Aaron Bouslog then released the CD Head, Heart and Hands.

THE CALENDAR
Try a falafel sandwich from Holy Land Diner, homemade potato chips from Maldaner’s, cedar salmon with fennel chutney from Augie’s Front Burner, BBQ pork horseshoe with pepper jack cheese from Caitie Girl’s, chicken taco from Café Bio and so much more.

FESTIVAL | Morsels and melodies
Try a falafel sandwich from Holy Land Diner, homemade potato chips from Maldaner’s, cedar salmon with fennel chutney from Augie’s Front Burner, BBQ pork horseshoe with pepper jack cheese from Caitie Girl’s, chicken taco from Café Bio and so much more.

THEATER | Adventures of an American luminary
A dynamic look at Mark Twain portrayed by Cincinnati-based actor Bill Hartnett and directed by Eleanor Shepherd. Samuel Clemens lived a remarkable life—as a printer, riverboat pilot, silver miner in Nevada, gold miner in California, reporter, editor, foreign correspondent, lecturer and author.

AUTHORS | Historical scribe
Visiting the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum July 11 is world-renowned author Amanda Foreman. Award-winning historian and New York Times.

THEATER | Local character
A play about real people and true events that happened in Sangamon and Menard counties such as Springfield's phrenologist Madame Levante who diagnosed folk's troubles by feeling the bumps on their skull. Written by local author and playwright Tara McClellan McAndrew, who brought us the book, Stories of Springfield: Life in Lincoln’s Town.

PUBLIC NOTICES
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE SEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT OF ILLINOIS SANGAMON COUNTY, SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS IN THE ESTATE OF BETTY MARIE CROUCH, Deceased Case No: 2011 - P - 327 NOTICE IS GIVEN of the death of BETTY MARIE CROUCH of Springfield, Illinois and that Letters Testamentary were issued on June 13, 2011, to Kathleen Edwards, 1505 Ivywood Dr.