Oil industry profits are good
These accusations are hardly accurate. Historically, when compared to other industries, big oil doesn’t actually pocket that much. In 2010, for every dollar of sales, the oil and gas industry earned just six cents. Across America’s manufacturing sector, the average profit earned was eight cents from every dollar.

Wanderings and doings
Yes, kids, I really did used to walk two miles to school. For the whole of my ninth grade year in 1962-63, I often walked from Washington Junior High at 21st and Jackson to our house near the Statehouse. I was not moved by any of the current faddish arguments for walking.

Newt Gingrich: The spawn of Citizens United
But the greatest surprise is the sudden surge of the Adelson campaign. Little-known until now, Adelson was the big winner in South Carolina, came from nowhere to a second-place finish in the Florida primary, and looks to have the political kick needed to go the distance.

LETTERS
One special occasion comes to mind when my wife contacted him last year to ask if he would consider donating some of his cartoons for a fundraiser. A group of us were planning the event for a good friend who was experiencing cancer treatment. Chris generously agreed and even colored in the cartoons for the occasion.

Quinn made a good speech, despite the grumbling
After more than a decade of extreme scandal and gross government mismanagement, far too many Illinoisans seem to be wallowing or even perversely reveling in our state’s embarrassing failures. Just try to point out a positive aspect of this state and you’ll be shouted down by all sides as a naive homer.

Does minimum wage boost help or hurt?
Increasing the minimum wage doesn’t cause job loss as commonly thought, according to researchers pushing for a higher minimum wage in Illinois. State lawmakers will likely consider a bill this month that could mean higher pay for 1.1 million low-wage Illinois workers.

Oil industry profits are good
Oil company profits drive stock prices and support dividend payments for shareholders. But it’s hardly only a bunch of tycoons who profit. It’s estimated that only 1.5 percent of energy stocks are owned by company executives. Most ownership is in mutual funds and IRAs owned by more than 100 million Americans.

Families and legislators left in the dark
Rep. Jim Watson, R-Jacksonville, said that he was shocked by both the lack of financial details that were provided in the report, considering Illinois’ current financial problems, and the lack of information that has been provided to the families or guardians of the residents at the JDC.

HISTORY OF THE FUTURE
hosting a plethora of history- and diversitythemed events throughout February at 801 N. Rutledge St. Check out a handful of historical movies like Birth of a Nation (12 p.m. Feb. 15 in South Auditorium), Miss Evers’ Boys (12 p.m. Feb. 22 in Lincoln Conference Room), or 500 Years Later (12 p.

PINK BLUES
CAP Hockey has a reputation as a pretty CITY tough game. Any sport in which referees let the players fight until someone ends up on the ice isn’t for the weak. (At one Boston Bruins game in 1979, Bruins players climbed over the glass at Madison Square Garden and fought several New York Rangers fans.

Consolidating townships may not save money
According to the report, which uses 2009 data from the Illinois comptroller’s local government database, expenditures per capita were the lowest ($162) for smaller units of government with less than 1,000 residents when compared with units of government with larger populations.

Black marshals get their due
Bass Reeves once single-handedly arrested 19 horse thieves. A deputy U.S. Marshal from 1875 to 1907, Reeves made more than 3,000 arrests and even once arrested his own son who was wanted for murder. But despite his reputation as a fearless and skilled officer, Reeves wasn’t mentioned in the U.

The selling of the 16th president
Tour site operators, store owners, the National Park Service, textbook publishers, politicians, academics, etc., all work to present corporate “Lincoln” images. The images they present are digestible images of President 16 that can make money and can help justify the existing arrangement of society, so that no one’s peaceful slumber is disturbed.

The war on weed
He was just 19 when police in Woodford County found a bag of pot in Spyres’ car and arrested him for possession. Less than a year later, he was arrested again and charged with cannabis trafficking in Macon County – his mother had shipped 38 pounds of pot to him from California via United Parcel Service, with police intercepting the package.

The war on weed
“They were going to show that it was pretty harmful,” says Dan Linn, executive director of Illinois NORML, who noticed in high school that pot smokers on his school’s track team ran just as well, if not better, than teetotalers. “It showed the opposite.

Food for love 2012
The association of food with love and making love is as old as, well, food and love themselves. From Marc Anthony feeding grapes to Cleopatra, to the Aztec Emperor Montezuma drinking 50 cups of chile-spiked chocolate each day to keep his 200 wives...

Big Miracle: Feel good for a change
Inspired by the true story that made the world’s two major superpowers temporary allies, the film recounts the struggles of three California Grey Whales that were stuck in the ice in far north Barrow, Alaska, and the strange bedfellows who banded together in an effort to free them.

Weekend news for you
I’m writing from the road over the next few weeks, sending you this missive from the home of New Mexico scholar and poet Kendall McCook, now located in Fort Worth, Texas.

PUB CRAWL
Open Mic w/ Sam Draper and Kortney Leatherwood.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Dog Of Panic
In a Macomb dorm room circa 2008, a struggling college student dreamed of leaving the academic world behind to write and play music. Dog of Panic began when Dan Rohde wrote 15 songs in that lonely room, left school, moved to Springfield, found a job and began the tedious process of forming a band.

DANCE | Thrilling tumblers
The international sensation Cirque Du Soleil brings its acrobatic and dramatic magic to the Prairie Capital Convention Center in Springfield for the first time ever in eight spell-binding shows for the entire family.

THE CALENDAR
Behind the Hits: Songwriters for St. Jude.

ENVIRONMENT | The dirt on soil
The Central Illinois Composting Symposium takes place Wednesday, Feb. 15, beginning at noon in the Trutter Center. “Composting for a Sustainable Community: From Backyards to Farms” is this year’s theme.

MUSIC | Fantastic folk
The UIS Kitchen Sink Series continues Saturday, Feb. 11, with the impressive talent of soloist and multi-instrumentalist Ruth Moody in UIS Studio Theatre. Although best known for her role as a founding member of the internationally renowned, Billboard-chart.

THE CALENDAR
Children’s Corner Super Saturdays at the Museum.

THE CALENDAR
2009 pennies. Mt. Pulaski Courthouse, 113 S Washington St, Mount Pulaski..

THEATER | Winning number
Get ready for some bingo! Professional actors Shane Partlow and Rowan Joseph play two guys playing two crazy elderly sisters in the hit comedy, The Queen of Bingo..

PUBLIC NOTICES
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT SANGAMON COUNTY, ILLINOIS In the Matter of the Estate of Darlene D. Walker, Deceased. No.: 2012-P-10 NOTICE TO HEIRS AND NOTICE BY PUBLICATION OF CLAIM DATE Notice is given of the death of DARLENE D. WALKER, of Springfield, Illinois.