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Wise guys
Life is full of mysteries. Why would a beneficent god allow humans to invent ceramic cooktops? Why didn’t the Pyschedelic Furs sell more records? The public’s confusion is rich soil for the opinion-monger, which is why I have been able to make a living for 35 years telling other people what they ought to think.

Democracy isn’t kind to pension funds
Meanwhile, state support for children in the classroom – especially those most at-risk – as well as for human services, mental health, public health, for seniors and veterans, natural resources and environmental protection and everything else, will be crippled for decades as payments for past pension underfunding drain the state treasury.

The GOP Congress hates (except when it loves) federal spending
The majority leader of the GOP-controlled House has long been a whiney ideological brat who stamps his tiny feet in peevish anger whenever he can’t get his way on legislation.

LETTERS
It’s where the Springfield Area Arts Council recognized rappers/entertainers Scoobie and Tebe, just to name a few of the performers who appeared at Lincoln Library last year for First Night. My gratitude goes out to Torch and B.S.

Democracy isn’t kind to pension funds
But it’s not as if they stole the money. It went for worthwhile goals, like keeping school funding at a reasonable level and providing health care for the poor and shelters for battered women. Gov. James Thompson invested in state parks and natural resources.

Pay raise outrage reconsidered
Earlier this year, when it was disclosed that Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget director had handed out two pay raises to top staffers on the same day that the governor signed the income tax increase into law, Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady said the move was evidence of a “void in leadership.

Schools panel emphasizes efficiency, not just consolidation
That might be too many, says Jerry Harrison, a field representative for the Illinois Education Association and one of 18 members of the state’s Classrooms First Commission, formed earlier this year to issue recommendations for making Illinois education more efficient.

URBAN PIONEER HOUSE TOUR
Fixer-upper is an understatement for the seven properties Combs and other neighborhood activists plan to spotlight Saturday. The properties are among 42 parcels in the portfolio of Enos Park Development LLC, an entity controlled by the neighborhood association that has been battling blight for years.

THIRD IN CRIME? HUH?
“Outstanding – job security,” says the chief with tongue firmly in cheek. “I don’t know how they come up with these things. I can’t see how Springfield could compare to New York City or Pittsburgh or Detroit. I think I’d feel safer in Springfield than Chicago.

State repays bulk of seized charity funds
During the last fiscal year, Quinn, with authorization from the Democratic-controlled General Assembly, borrowed $1.176 million from charity “check-off” funds that appear on state income tax forms as ways to donate to causes including wildlife preservation, hunger relief and disease research.

City sues property owner to recover weed-mowing debts
Turner Properties and Discount Inn Retirement Plan, Inc., which share an address in Skokie, together own at least 54 Springfield properties, most apparently vacant.

Ready, set, GOvern!
“We should set the goals,” the alderman declared two weeks ago as the city council pondered Mayor Mike Houston’s request for $50,000 to conduct a personnel audit aimed at reducing head count at city hall. “We should know what the administration’s goals are.

Ready, set, GOvern!
“It’s when you walk into the building, when you see the people – the way they’re dressed, the way they operate,” the mayor says. “There’s not a formal dress code. But I think you’ll find on the second morning I was on the job there were a lot more people wearing ties than the day before.

Ready, set, GOvern!
The state and federal government last spring delayed a study showing that tracks should be moved to 10th Street at a cost of more than $300 million, and U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin has warned several times that there isn’t any federal money to move lines.

Ready, set, GOvern!
cent increase in the sales tax to be segregated and used only for infrastructure improvements,” Houston wrote. “I have indicated that the city not only needs to maintain what it is currently doing but it needs to develop a comprehensive infrastructure program with a specific source to fund it.

Ready, set, GOvern!
Houston smiles at the suggestion that city hall is an aircraft carrier. “It’s pretty hard, if you think about putting an aircraft carrier in Lake Springfield and turning it around – that’s a pretty apt description,” the mayor says. “That doesn’t mean it can’t happen.

Ready, set, GOvern!
“When I came into office in the city of Springfield, a fire chief had never been demoted,” Houston says. “I think that sent a message that change was taking place and we’re not simply going to do things because that’s the way we have always done things.

Losing her mind, the movie
Springfield multimedia artist David Cain was so inspired by Vigesaa’s portrayal of a Victorian-era woman lapsing into madness that he had to film it. “For someone to carry a thread of emotion for 50 minutes and have that control over the dynamics of the experience was just fascinating to me,” he says.

It’s alive!
A couple months ago, I lost something valuable. The value wasn’t monetary; it was precious because I’d created it and kept it alive for 15 years. Truthfully, I’d come to take it for granted, knowing that even if I neglected it for months, it would still be there whenever I needed it.

It’s alive!
Our kids grew up and moved out; I ceased giving cooking classes. Weeks, even months, went by. Silverton said the starter would keep for a week or two in the refrigerator, but I found that if I fed it just before refrigerating, it could live at least three or four months.

Ides tells familiar tale well
Clooney is Gov. Mike Morris, an idealistic candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination who’s so liberal his policy proposals might make even those on the far left blanch. Charming, handsome and a whiz with a sound bite, he is favored to win the upcoming Ohio primary, which will pave the way for his run to the White House.

Girl-A-Thon II
Formed in the fertile mind of Gwen Harris, the only female member of the Harris family of musical siblings (Bustin’ Loose when together and other entities separately), GAT gives the girls a turn to balance out the male-dominated Guitartown, Drumfest, Bassburg instrument events that cropped up over the last few years.

PUB CRAWL
Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band w/ Austin Lucas and the Bold Pary, Ol’ Red Shed.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Whiskey Tango
Wondering what exactly a Whiskey Tango might be? The four-piece group says, “it’s a hell-yeah, honky-tonk, roadhouse-type band, driven by harmonica, irony and keeping your x-mas lights up all year long.

PUB CRAWL
Jenny and Kelsey of Still Kickin’ w/ Gabe Marshall.

THE CALENDAR
A-Maze-ing Corn Maze and Festival.

FESTIVAL | Huge FALLowing
One of the premier fall festivals for families in central Illinois, Lincoln Memorial Garden’s Indian Summer Festival is the place to be the weekend of Oct. 8-9. Immerse yourself in the exhilarating smells, sounds and sights of autumn in the outdoors while supporting the garden.

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SCIENCE | Relishing relics
The Illinois State Museum is partnering with the National Park Service for National Fossil Day on Wednesday, Oct. 12, in hopes of raising awareness of the scientific and educational value of fossils. Dr. Jeff Saunders will answer questions on fossils in the Mary Ann MacLean Play Museum from 10 a.

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ART | Cut to perfection
Illinois State Museum, Prairie Art Alliance, Springfield Art Association, University of Illinois at Springfield and Robert Morris College have bound together to present a citywide exhibition, Partners on Paper,.

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ages 4-8 and families. Illinois State Museum, 502 S. Spring St, 782-6044..

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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.
Room 405 Sangamon County Building, 200 South Ninth Street, Springfield, IL 62701, on or before November 5, 2011, A JUDGMENT OR DECREE BY DEFAULT MAY BE TAKEN AGAINST YOU FOR THE RELIEF REQUESTED IN THE COMPLAINT. Anthony P. Libri, Jr. Clerk of Court Mark K.

PUBLIC NOTICES
rights you have with respect to the named child, including the right to notice of any future proceedings for the establishment of parentage of the child, may be terminated without any further notice to you. When your legal rights with respect to the named child are so terminated, you will not be entitled to notice of any future proceedings.

NEWS QUIRKS
Armed with a handgun and an assault rifle, Terry “T.J.” Newman, 25, and John “Pimp” Roberts invaded a home in San Antonio, Texas, and demanded money. Authorities said that when the homeowner’s son came out of a bedroom with his own assault rifle and started firing, the two robbers fled, leaving their getaway car idling in front of the house.

THE ADVICE GODDESS
My wife of three years complains that I’m not romantic anymore. In the beginning, I did romantic stuff all the time. I still love her very much, but I guess I’m subconsciously reacting to the fact that I’ve nabbed her forever. (There’s definitely something to be said about “the thrill of the chase.