Page 1

Gravel pits won’t get the job done
Considering the Hunter Lake issue, I would like to bring up some points I believe other people may want to think about. [See also commentary by Reg Davis, “Say yes to Hunter Lake,” published Dec. 31, 2008, at illinoistimes.com.

Looking back
Satchel Paige wisely advised us, “Don’t look back: Something may be gaining on you.” He’s right.

Corporate elites still doing a job on American workers
In this week of Labor Day, our country is engulfed in deep economic anxiety, and no doubt you share my heartfelt concern for those Americans who’re suffering the worst of these uncertain times. I refer, of course, to millionaire corporate chieftains and big bankers.

LETTERS
PINCHIN’ PENSIONS For the most part, the story on pensions was balanced [see “Pinchin’ pensions,” by Rachel Wells, Sept. 1] although I would like to have seen more emphasis on the full funding by the employees and the partial funding on behalf of the state.

Gravel pits won’t get the job done
If we are going to do it, why would we spend the money to build something that may supply us with about half the water capacity? This seems shortsighted to me. I also can’t foresee a lot of recreation and tourism from some operating gravel pits and dozens of wellheads in the river bottoms that flood periodically.

Anti-tax Republicans move in for the kill
Last year, the state Senate Republicans tested anti-tax messages in their campaigns without much success. While almost all Senate Democrats had voted for a large income tax hike along with an expansion of the sales tax to services, the Republican message just didn’t work because the tax bill the Democrats backed never became the law of the land.

PRIMARY PRIVACY
Bill Clutter, a Democratic candidate for the 48th Senate district, is heading the charge for change and aims to garner about 500,000 petition signatures in favor of open primaries. The Illinois State Board of Elections requires 298,400 signatures before the question of open primaries can be put on the November 2012 ballot, Clutter says.

ENGLISH 101, CALCULUS 203, A TRIP TO PARIS?
Chris McDonald, a political science professor, is planning a nine-day trip to France for next year’s spring break, thus the course title of “Springtime In Paris.” Both students and folks who just want to be smarter than they are now are welcome on what the professor calls a “whirlwind immersion in the center of Europe.

Springfield’s police review board has stalled
The Springfield Community Police Review Commission held its first meeting in 2006, but has handled just a handful of cases, according to the commission’s former chairman, who resigned two years ago, and the most current chairman, whose term expired in May.

State’s new definition makes crowded prisons sound OK
In the summer of last year, corrections officials created a new category in quarterly reports to the legislature. First called “bed space” and more recently dubbed “operational capacity,” the category states the percentage of available beds occupied by inmates.

Veteran receives care and wants others aware
Before having extensive dental work, Kirby Carlson would cover his mouth when he talked to hide his teeth.

Barrel Head closes
Davlin didn’t pay the bar’s property taxes last year, and property taxes due Sept. 2 also have not been paid, according to Sangamon County records. Chantilly Lace, another bar owned by Davlin, closed in 2009 and remains for sale.

9/11 blind
After witnessing the first jetliner crash into the Twin Towers on that Sept. 11 morning, a friend of mine’s wife and 7-year old daughter fled to their nearby Manhattan loft and ran to the roof to look around. From there, they saw the second plane explode in a rolling ball of flaming fuel across the rooftops.

9/11 blind
These territories include not only Muslim majorities but also, according to former Centcom Commander Tommy Franks, 68 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves and the passageway for 43 percent of petroleum exports, another American geo-interest that was heavily denied in official explanations.

9/11 blind
Among the most bizarre symptoms of the blindness is the tendency of most deficit hawks to become big spenders on Iraq and Afghanistan, at least until lately. The direct costs of the war, which is to say those unfunded costs in each year’s budget, now come to $1.

9/11 blind
The more we know about the Long War doctrine, the more we understand the need for a long peace movement. The pillars of the peace movement, in my experience and reading, are the networks of local progressives in hundreds of communities across the United States.

9/11 blind
In the end, the president decided to withdraw 33,000 American troops from Afghanistan by next summer, and continue “steady” withdrawals of the rest (68,000) from combat roles by 2014. At this writing, it is unclear how many remaining troops Obama will withdraw from Iraq, or when and whether the drone attacks on Pakistan will be forced to an end.

Making Springfield a compassionate city
Long, long ago, Rabbi Hillel, an older contemporary of Jesus, was challenged to teach the Torah while standing on one foot. Hillel responded, “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor.” He went on to tell his challengers that this statement alone sums up the teachings of the Torah and that all the rest is commentary.

Celebrating history through the arts
The event, “Celebrating Sangamon County History Through the Arts,” is sponsored by the Sangamon County Historical Society (SCHS) and will feature a visual arts competition, exhibition and demonstrations, as well as performing artists. Much of the art reflects a Sangamon County historical theme.

No supernova, but the star party goes on
The sighting comes as the University of Illinois Springfield is revving up it its own campus observatory for public star parties. From 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 9, UIS will have its first star party this fall, offering close glimpses of the moon, star clusters and other stellar sights.

Homegrown and Handmade
“When I was pregnant with my first child, I really thought that a fast food cheeseburger and fries was a complete meal. After all, there was meat, dairy in the form of the cheese, bread in the form of a bun, the tomato and lettuce were vegetables, and so were the fries.

Homegrown and Handmade
For many – probably even most – people, such a degree of sustainable self-sufficiency seems overwhelming. Not everyone has the ability or the interest to tackle such a lifestyle. Niemann-Boehle knows that. For her, it’s a labor of love, something she’s willingly chosen and that gives her great personal satisfaction and fulfillment:.

Intensity in Warrior doesn’t obscure clichés
To be fair, it would hard to come up with anything fresh where fight movies are concerned (which begs the question, “Why make them anymore?”) but the film does help itself by choosing as its arena of dramatic conflict the world of mixed martial arts, where a bored millionaire puts together a single-elimination tournament with a $5 million purse.

September stuff
Whew, what a summer of goings on it was. I’m all worn out from the excitement of fairs and festivals, and I’m supposing you are as well. Now things slow down a bit, but plenty of upcoming shows are on the calendar for the next few weeks and on into the fall.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Deke Dickerson and the Ecco-fonics
Hailing from nearby Columbia, Mo., Deke Dickerson has toured the world as an entertaining guitarist and developed an international career as a journalist/historian in the arena of American roots music.

PUB CRAWLL
Hushpad, Betty, Josh Kuhl, Living In The Moment.

PUB CRAWLL
Listener, Hushpad, Christin Nelson, The Transatlantic.

THE CALENDAR
South Jacksonville Centennial Celebration.

DANCE | Moving to the music
Here’s a chance to see the dancing of the Springfield Ballet Company in a different light, or should we say sound, as they team up with the St. Louis rock band Downstate, instead of the orchestra, and move to the music of Dave Matthews Band, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin, Fleetwood Mac, Adele and more.

THE CALENDAR
Volkmann, “Susan Lawrence: The Enigma in the Wright House.” Dana- Thomas House, 301 E. Lawrence, (217) 782-6776..

THE CALENDAR
Peaceful Pieces Exhibit Sep 08-09, 12-16, 8am-4pm Mon-Fri, Exhibit of quilts and poetry by children’s author and illustrator. (Reception Sept. 14, 4:30-6:30 p.m. Menard Hall, room 2209.), LLCC James S. Murray Gallery, Upper level, Menard Hall, 786-2432 .

FESTIVAL | Tasteful combo
This craft beer and oyster festival at The Inn at 835 features more than 50 local and nationally-recognized craft beer vendors such as Flossmoor Station Brewing Company sampling Rail Hopper IPA, Pullman Brown, Stationmaster Wheat; and Springfield’s Prairie Schooner Brew Club sampling Maple Wheat, Mt.

THE CALENDAR
Science Evening Science Series Lecture Sep 14, 7-8:30pm, “Pottersville: Home of American Alkaline Glazed Stoneware.” Free. Illinois State Museum Research & Collections Center, 1011 E. Ash St, 785-0037.

THE CALENDAR
Institutions of Good Will in Richards Treat University Center. Millikin University, 1184 W. Main St, Decatur, 424-6353 ..

BOOKS | Susan’s story
Construction at the Dana-Thomas House continues, but the historic site’s Sumac Shop remains open. That is the site of a book signing by Roberta Volkmann, author of a new biography, Susan Lawrence: The Enigma in the Wright House..

PUBLIC NOTICES
Circuit Court of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, Sangamon County, Illinois Estate of MARGARET L. POANI, Deceased No. 2011-P-456 CLAIM NOTICE Notice is given of the death of Margaret L. Poani. Letters of office were issued on August 16, 2011, to Ricardo A. Poani, 4730 Bachman Dr.

PUBLIC NOTICES
Section 15-1507, the purchaser shall pay to the person conducting the sale pursuant to Section 15-1507 a fee for deposit into the Abandoned Residential Property Municipality Relief Fund, a special fund created in the State treasury. The fee shall be calculated at the rate of $1.

NEWS QUIRKS
Canadian federal prison officials confiscated 2,444 forbidden items during searches of nine British Columbia prisons, ranging from homemade weapons and intoxicants (including fermented ketchup) to a new Michelin snow tire and a crab trap.

THE ADVICE GODDESS
My boyfriend lives in Germany, and I’m in Switzerland (a one-hour plane ride away). His close female friend is getting married, and I’m not invited to the wedding. Last spring, when we were broken up for three months, he had a fling with the bride’s friend.