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Maximus to the rescue: The backstory
During debate, aldermen disagreed on whether the contract was designed as an efficiency study or a personnel-cutting study, but I think Bill McCarty, director of Office of Budget and Management, was pretty clear when he said the mayor’s budget plan was “predicated on cutting staff” and that this review was needed for budget development.

Two schools for the price of one
On Sept. 11, the District 186 board announced that it would cancel classes forever at Enos Elementary School. The board approved plans to demolish the aging building on the north side and replace it with a new building on the site. As was reported by our Rachel Wells (“Plan to preserve Enos Elementary,” Jan.

Let’s get real on jobs
Yeah, yeah, it’s true that the reckless global gambling schemes of Wall Street bankers are what wrecked our economy – and, yes, Congress and the Federal Reserve have used trillions of our public dollars to bail out miscreant bankers, while ignoring...

LETTERS
I was a MacArthur Park resident up until about five months ago [see “MacArthur Park’s Slumdog Millionaire,” by Bruce Rushton, Sept. 15]. I think that it is ridiculous for the blame to be put on the residents themselves or to blame Section 8. I was not a Section 8 tenant and my rent was paid on time and in full every month.

Maximus to the rescue
Being on the Maximus board of directors is also a pretty good deal. The Maximus website lists eight current directors, which include a very prominent Illinoisan – former Gov. James R. Thompson, Jr. While each director’s compensation varied in amount and type of compensation, weighted more in stock awards than cash, Thompson and his seven fellow board members received combined board compensation totaling $2,183,275 in 2010 alone. From 2007-2010, when the rest of the country was reeling financially, total combined compensation of these directors was $5,149,644.

Get smarter about a Smart Grid for utilities
Politically, this veto was a no-brainer for the populist Quinn. The governor never tires of recounting how he helped start the Citizens Utility Board, and that dovetails nicely with his repeated claims that the utility proposal “locks in” corporate profits.

NEW STORE USES LESS ENERGY
On Sept. 15 when computers turned on the energy-efficient T-8 fluorescents a half hour before opening time on opening day at the new Aldi grocery store, energy savings kicked in. The new store, off South Sixth St. near Walmart, is 2,500 square feet larger than the store it replaced at 1770 W.

False start to campaign for open primary
A Democratic candidate for the 48th Senate District, Clutter on Sept. 7 announced a petition drive to institute open primaries – preliminary elections in which voters would not be required to divulge their party affiliations – for General Assembly elections.

LEARN HOW COPS WORK
The course lasts 10 weeks, with threehour sessions beginning at 6 p.m. each Tuesday through Dec. 20. Enrollees must pass background checks, with applications available on the city’s website at http://www.springfield.il.us.

Will police torture set convicted rapist free?
Now, the state Supreme Court will decide whether the beating and subsequent forced confession is grounds for a hearing that could ultimately result in Wrice being set free after serving nearly 30 years of a 100year sentence.

Neighborhood sues owners of abandoned house
The Enos Park Neighborhood Improvement Association is suing the owners of a home at 1144 N. Sixth St., hoping for an injunction to either force the owners to bring the boarded-up house into compliance with city code or put the property into receivership.

State regresses in poverty goals
For the lowest income group in Illinois, the Great Recession might as well have been another Great Depression. Though 7.3 percent of higher income Illinois workers were unemployed earlier this year, the unemployment rate of lower income workers exceeded 25 percent, according to Illinois’ Commission on the Elimination of Poverty.

Lethal texting
Sometimes when 21-year-old Ian Tate is going for a drive and his phone lights up with a new text message, he’ll use one hand to reach for his phone, leave his other hand on the wheel as he reads the message, then text a response. Even though the Springfield native doesn’t really like to text, that hasn’t stopped him from taking his eyes off the road.

Lethal texting
Tina Knoles, mother of 15-year-old Nicole Knoles who was seriously injured in a car accident in November 2010, has been working with Springfield District 186 to raise awareness among students, parents and teachers on the deadly risks of texting while driving.

Lethal texting
inside vehicle (combination of eating food while driving, phone/wireless device, and passengers. Improper lane usage. Speeding in excess of postd speed limit.” Nicole told officers she remembered the driver sending a text as the drive began, and she recalled him trying to plug in his cell phone during the drive.

Lethal texting
The Illinois law that prohibits texting while driving became effective Jan. 1, 2010. The law bans the use of an “electronic communication device” such as a wireless phone or a portable computer for the purpose of reading, writing or sending an electronic message, according to the Illinois General Assembly website.

Lethal texting
In 2009, 26 percent of Americans ages 16 and 17 said they had texted while driving, according to a survey of 800 teens ages 12-17 done by the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project.

IT tries the new moonshine
Now, I know why. Moonshine is hot now, they say, the booze hound’s equivalent of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Cooked up by so-called craft distillers, it is even available in some Sam’s Clubs. Ole Smoky brand became available last month in Illinois. Naturally, I got in touch with the publicist, and a box arrived a few days later, straight from Gatlinburg, Tenn.

Fall 2011 garden events calendar
Illinois Living on the Land – Managing Pastures or Lawns and Weed Control.

Light your fire the eco-friendly way
It may look pretty, but according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the average emissions of fine particles into the air from one of the 22 million fireplaces in the United States are far greater (as much as 20 times greater) than those from a wood-burning stove, pellet stove, or oil or gas furnace.

A roadmap to kitchen remodeling
What doesn’t? Think about ways you prepare food now, or how you might in the future. Will you have more than one cook preparing meals at one time? Do you prefer cooking a special type of cuisine that requires more counter or storage space? The most effective design accommodates the way you actually work and live in the kitchen.

A roadmap to kitchen remodeling
6. Safety matters Safety should be a primary concern in the kitchen. Carefully consider the potential hazards in your kitchen design. An oven next to a hallway, for example, puts someone at risk for stumbling into an open oven door. Investigate some of the new “smart home” technology, such as ovens with lock-out features, and “universal design” products that are user-friendly across generations and for a range of physical abilities.

Fall is time to care for your tools
After the garden is cleaned up and put to bed for the winter, it is a great time to give your tools some attention. Ideally garden tools should be cleaned, sharpened and hung in the correct place after every use. However, I think most gardeners are like myself, use the tool and be happy that it ended up in the shed and not laying in the yard.

Plentiful pears
Pity the poor pear. Each autumn, apples get all the attention. It’s just not fair. Sure, pears show up in cooking publications, but they always seem to take a back seat to apples.

Drive has more than fast cars
Ryan Gosling, armed with perhaps 15 lines of dialogue and a sense of cool that will give you frostbite, is Driver (I told you it was barebones storytelling), a Hollywood stuntman and mechanic by day and getaway driver by night.

Tonguesnatcher Revue returns
If the name is not enough to suck you in, please believe me, Tonguesnatcher Revue is a must-see band. And seeing is an important part of experiencing this musical group, long disciples of the theatrical side of rock and roll music. Hearing, though, is believing with this bunch, since despite all the schlock, they always rock.

PUB CRAWL
Homegrown Folk Show w/ Pete Sander, Carissa Moore, Brian Steinhauer, Chris Maxey.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | The Stone and Biscuit Band
As founder, bassist and self-titled “senior member,” Joe O’Neill relates the beginning of the band as “almost by accident.” The 55-year-old musician hadn’t played bass ever and not played out live in 35 some years when he started looking to form a band.

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

THE CALENDAR
Prairie Land Heritage Museum Steam Show & Fall Festival Days.

FESTIVAL | Bumper crop of cars
Gear up and head downtown Sept. 23-25 for a weekend of music, food and cars. More than 1,000 classic cars and trucks in more than 40 CASI certified nationally-judged classes will be on display after kicking off the festival with a cruise through Springfield streets on Friday evening from the Capital City Shopping Plaza.

THE CALENDAR
Sep 24, 7:30pm and 9:30pm Sat, One of Springfield’s favorite acts. One night only. Donnie B’s Comedy Club, 2937 W. White Oaks Dr, 391-joke..

MUSIC | Singing sisters
Accomplished melodious siblings Karin and Kirsten Paludan present a multi-media musical memoir as they sing together for the first time in Springfield on Sept. 24 in the UIS Kitchen Sink Series at Sangamon Auditorium. Karin, of Washington, D.C.

THE CALENDAR
Oregon uses paper, illumination and natural materials. (Reception Oct. 21, 4:30-6:30pm), UIS Visual Arts Gallery, HSB 201, One University Plaza, 206- 6506..

THE CALENDAR
Sep 24, 4pm, Pot luck gathering at Shelter #4. Activities and games. RSVP by Sept. 22 to Tammy at 899-1001. Lincoln Park, Fifth St and Sangamon Ave..

FESTIVAL | Past power
Take a ride into the past at the Prairie Land Heritage Museum Steam and Fall Festival Days featuring Massey Harris and Massey Ferguson tractors and equipment and other horse-powered equipment, antique tractors, and gas and steam engines. Watch period demonstrations on baling, blacksmithing, threshing and more.

THE CALENDAR
Sep 27, 9:30am, Racially and culturally diverse ecumenical women movement that seeks to promote fellowship, prayer and world peace. First Christian Church, 700 S. Sixth St, 217- 528-3407..

PUBLIC NOTICES
NOTICE UNDER ASSUMED BUSINESS NAME ACT STATE OF ILLINOIS COUNTY OF SANGAMON TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: Notice is hereby given that on 13th day of September, 2011 a Certificate of Ownership of business was filed in the Office of the County Clerk of Sangamon County, stating that TIMOTHY J.

PUBLIC NOTICES
Dick Taylor Collision Services 2947 Old Rochester Road Springfield, Illinois 62703 (217) 525-0613 NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE OF VEHICLE Notice is hereby given that the following described Motor Vehicle(s) are unclaimed by the person or persons entitled to Legal possession of them for a period of at least thirty (30) days.

NEWS QUIRKS
Dionette L. Price, 26, jumped on the hood of a car in Kansas City, Mo., pointed a gun at driver Rayna Garrett and ordered her to “drive, or I will blow your head off,” according to Jackson County prosecutors. She headed to the Kansas City police station, nearly two miles away, and honked to alert officers.

THE ADVICE GODDESS
I am 19 and have been dating a wonderful 24-year-old guy for about a month. Some of his family members wish he were still with the fiancee he broke up with six months ago and aren’t too happy about him seeing me. His 19-year-old half sister actually contacted me on Facebook, told me to “watch my back,” and made some mean assumptions about me.