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The college game
I know only two lawyer jokes. One is Rod Blagojevich. The other one is this: In a nation that already has more lawyers per capita than any other nation on earth, U.S. law schools are churning out many more lawyers than the economy needs.

Pull the plug on Hunter Dam
In December 2008, federal and state regulators told city officials (for the third time) that Hunter Dam was a turkey. They demanded yet more information about the supposed need and the claimed insufficiency of alternatives. Advocates for the dam claim that donothing, unreasonable bureaucrats have this wonderful project tied up in red tape.

These Perry Tales may keep you awake all night
Once again, the Texas-governor-whowants-to-be-your-president is flitting hither, thither and yon – spreading little “Perry Tales” about his record. The bonny prince is trying to make it to the big White House in Washington.

LETTERS
NONPROFITS STAND TO LOSE Every nonprofit in our area that uses the bulk mail service in Springfield will suffer if the post office closes the mail sorting operations in Springfield. The great service provided by our local postal workers means that mail presented today is delivered the next day or the day after.

Pull the plug on Hunter Dam
Regulators forced CWLP to comply with the law and study alternatives to the costly and destructive dam; as a result, we now know of better ways to get plenty of clean water to secure our future at far less cost. Old figures for the yields of the gravel lakes show “only” 4.

Reform legislative scholarships, or end them
If you look at the roster of losing Democrats in 2010, you’ll see a bunch of incumbents who became invisible in their districts, or let things slide. That’s not a 100 percent hard and fast rule, of course. Nothing approaches universality in the political business.

FIGHTING HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Messimer’s mission in Belgium will be to help prevent the trafficking of girls from Thailand who are lured to the country with promises of modeling or nanny careers but instead are forced to work in one of about 130 brothels fronting as massage parlors.

A supermarket may be coming to MacArthur Boulevard
The bombshell came Tuesday, when Hy- Vee, an Iowa-based supermarket chain, filed plans for a grocery store with the Springfield- Sangamon County Regional Planning Commission. The company wants to build both a grocery store and a convenience store on the parcel between Cherry Road and Outer Park Drive.

FLASHBACK TO 1993
The U.S. Census Bureau released the 2010 state-level numbers earlier this month, listing Illinois’ median income at $50,761. Adjusting for inflation, that’s the lowest point for Illinois since 1993, when the median income was $48,820, and well below the 1999 high point of $60,625.

A journey in genders
Tall and thin with long blonde hair, trim eyebrows and manicured fingernails, Shayla Thomas feels feminine. Given a passing glance, the Springfield resident, engineer, parent, two-time divorcee and friend, might look it too. But give her a closer look, and her face and body give away the fact that Shayla, according to genetics, is a male.

Dealing with behavior problems of youngest pupils
In past years, the district has housed an alternative education program for students in third through fifth grade, but it wasn’t defined in teachers’ contracts.

SJ-R gets a sour Apple from GateHouse
“We are not looking to dominate the world,” Reed wrote. “But, we are looking to remain the most dominant local media franchise in each of the markets we serve and a turnaround just as impressive as Apple’s is something to which we should all aspire.”.

Hip-hop in the Heartland
I found myself at Bar None one evening in the spring of this year watching local hybrid punk-metal cover band Fast Orange. While standing among the typically sparse crowd at Bar None, my eye was caught by a postcardsized flyer announcing that Raekwon the Chef would be performing at the tiny downtown watering hole on that following Tuesday.

Hip-hop in the Heartland
Tomas first moved to Springfield from his hometown of Chicago in 1995, after having left Tuskegee University and finding things a little rough back in the Windy City. “A lot of the guys that I grew up with were getting involved in…a lot of different things and I just felt like I needed a change of scenery,” he recalls.

Hip-hop in the Heartland
Tuesday if it were not for the passion and dedication of Torch himself. But the lifeblood of this scene, like any other, is the talent of the artists who storm the Bar None stage each week.

Hip-hop in the Heartland
“Cornbread was the one who first approached me about recording,” he says. “I had gotten some buzz doing freestyle cyphers and battles at house parties in town. I wasn’t sure I was ready, but I guess he saw the talent there and convinced me to take it to the next level.

Hip-hop in the Heartland
In spite of this ritual, Torch and charismatic longtime Tuesday host Bis (who has only very recently been replaced by a new MC, Southside, as a result of Bis’s increasingly busy schedule as a teacher and coach with District 186) have assured me that nearly every one of these commandments finds itself broken on a regular basis.

Hip-hop in the Heartland
that was a deterrent for any of the riffraff that might come associated with this type of scene. I mean, music is music,” he adds, “but sometimes, there’s a culture that comes along with it, and sometimes people fear what they don’t understand, so,...

Brown is beautiful
One of the main reasons restaurant food tastes so much better in America than home cooking,” renowned chef Mario Batali often said on his Food Network show, “Molto Mario,” “is that chefs aren’t afraid to really brown things.” It’s a mantra he repeated on any show in which he browned anything.

Brown is beautiful
Pulled it off again! So why do well-browned and caramelized foods taste so good, and why do so many cooks not take advantage of them? I’m not certain about the answer to the second question, but I suspect that it involves a combination of lack of experience or knowledge; that “chicken” factor – safer underdone than overdone, even if the result is not as tasty. The only other factor I can think of is the outdated (at least it should be outdated) notion that pale food is somehow more refined and elegant than food that’s earthy brown.

Moneyball, a fascinating look at baseball economics
Coming off a successful season in 2001, Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane was faced with a daunting task. Having made it to the playoffs but losing his best players to free agency soon after, he was charged with replacing their production with far less cash than his competitors.

Helping horses and Kickstarter
Steve Alexander began caring for abandoned horses in 2003 with 31 horses fostered and 27 off to good homes to his credit since. In 2009 he formed the Central Illinois Horse Rescue (www.cilhorserescue.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Tom and Gretchen Show
Wow, what a chance to see two modern legends of country and Americana songwriting under one roof. Ed Becker, Mount Olive resident and longtime program host on KDHX, the community radio station in St. Louis, befriended Tom Russell many years ago and whenever possible brings this amazing songwriter to town.

PUB CRAWL
Open Jam and Hipbone Sam CD Release Party.

PUB CRAWL
What Thou Will, Target The Messenger, Witness It All, All Eyes Upon Adelaide, Soy City Stranglers.

MUSIC | Inventive instrumentals
Five-piece Canadian ensemble ScrapArtsMusic brings reused items and industrial waste fashioned into instruments and innovative percussion and drumming music to Sangamon Auditorium, UIS. An energetic mix of metal and movement powered by muscle is sure to get your adrenaline pumping or interest piqued.

THE CALENDAR

THE CALENDAR
Tish Cook and Cindy Ladage and get their books during October Fest at cafe. Morning Star Mercantile and Cafe, Route 97, Salisbury, Salisbury, 217-626-2022..

THE CALENDAR
evenings. Lessons start at 7:30 p.m. The Doghouse, 2937 W. White Oaks Drive, 836-1438..

THEATER | Melting-pot musical
Joshua Ratz, Mary Kate Smith, Doug Hahn (standing), Gerrah Caldwell and Joel Tinsley-Hall (seated) are just a few of the dazzling local talent in a cast of more than 50 performing the Tony-award winning musical Ragtime.

THE CALENDAR
remove invasives (weather permitting). Tools provided. Gloves available. Adams Wildlife Sanctuary, 2315 East Clear Lake Ave. Springfield Civic Garden Club.

THE CALENDAR
Oct 01, 9pm-1am, “Getting the Most from Your Digital SLR Camera and Lenses” with former UPI photojournalist Dick Adorjan. $25-$30. Register online or 529-1111. Lincoln Memorial Garden, 2301 E. Lake Shore Dr. Signature Chef’s Auction.

NATURE | Warm fuzzy good time
What a warm fuzzy good, fall-time activity to take the family to. The Henson Robinson Zoo offers free admission during its popular autumn event, Fur, Feather, Fin Fall Fling. The day is filled with animal programs, turtle races, kid carnival games, special animal treats and organizers promise even more.

THE CALENDAR

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
Gaudencio P. Soares, Loneth M. Soares, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. as nominee for First Franklin a Division of National City Bank of Indiana, Home Loan Services, Inc. as servicing agent for Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc.

NEWS QUIRKS
Boston police reported that a man walked into a bank and handed a teller a note that read, “Give me all your money.” The teller refused, informing the would-be robber the window was closed. He moved over to the next teller, where a customer scolded him for cutting in front of the line.

PUBLIC NOTICES
Permanent Index No: 14-34-410-003 TRACT 7: Legal description of tract: Block 11 Lot 4 Eastman’s Addition, Springfield, Illinois Commonly known as: 917 S. Fourteenth, Springfield, Illinois Permanent Index No: 14-34-435-014 TRACT 8: Legal description of tract: N 5’ L6 & all L7 B15 Eastman’s Addition, Springfield, Illinois Commonly known as: 1014 S.

THE ADVICE GODDESS
I met a really great girl before deploying to Iraq. We’ve gotten as close as two people can while physically separate, but she is sexually frustrated to the max and wants to have an unemotional hookup. She suggests we each have a “last fling” before we start our relationship (when my deployment ends in 60 days).