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Suing the city
The script is usually bad, the bureaucrats, inevitably salaried, are always patient as they listen to the elected ask silly questions or loaded ones or no questions at all as they make their way to predetermined destinations. If there were any doubt about the outcome, they wouldn’t be meeting in the first place.

Tag-teaming history
Another Lincoln birthday month has come and gone, and this one was busier than most. We learned that the Mary Todd Lincoln that had looked down from an oil portrait in the Executive Mansion for more than 30 years isn’t the president’s wife after all.

Cooperatives over corporations
This heavenly institution, the HPCW explain, has such financial and political mass that it is the optimal force for organizing and directing our society’s economic affairs, including the terms of employment and production.

LETTERS
As they struggle to survive, many of these young people do what they have seen modeled while growing up. This might include selling drugs, stealing or other similar activities. Much of this is petty, small stuff, but it leads to an unproductive life that becomes a drain on the community.

Suing the city
As I write this, it is uncertain what will happen next. The right thing to do, and simplest, is for the committee to hold a public meeting and take another vote. But, when it comes to government, what is right and simple doesn’t always happen.

High marks for Quinn’s budget speech
Back when Jim Edgar was governor, reporters covering his annual budget speech would always approach Senate President Pate Philip as he descended from the House Speaker’s podium after Edgar’s address to ask about his fellow Republican’s proposals.

THIS KRAFTIG’S FOR YOU
the first town outside the St. Louis area where Kraftig beer is available. If you haven’t heard of Kraftig, you may be familiar with its creator, William “Billy” Busch. Yes, that Busch – the family that built America’s largest beer company, Anheuser Busch.

MINI-MARKETING
“The purpose of the business-card-sized folded mini-brochure is to empower every citizen of Springfield anywhere in the world to sell Springfield as a place to start a business or move a business to,” Gray said.

Man on fire
In 2003, the former Army infantryman, now 28, was badly burned by a landmine in Iraq. Martinez survived the injury and overcame the resulting depression to become a nationally-recognized actor, dancer and motivational speaker. Martinez visited Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield on Feb.

Masticating Medicaid
But what those cuts will look like remains to be seen. Quinn has appointed a Medicaid reform working group to find $2.7 billion in cuts, which will likely mean tightened eligibility, fewer options for program recipients and coverage for fewer costs and procedures.

Senators say nursing home rule not followed
The report also found that patients at majority white nursing homes often had care provided by registered nurses, or RNs, while majority African-American homes had only licensed practicing nurses, or LPNs, providing care.

Fourth District appellate judge rated ‘highly qualified’
In Sangamon County or counties outside of Cook County, an advisory poll is sent by mail to each lawyer in the circuit or district from which a candidate seeks election. Licensed lawyers who are not members of the ISBA may also request a ballot by contacting the ISBA.

Funeral finance fiasco
Alleged villains range from Merrill Lynch, which has agreed to pay $55.4 million to funeral directors who lost millions in the scheme, to Springfield corporation counsel Mark Cullen, the IFDA’s former attorney, who has agreed to pay funeral directors $1.

Funeral finance fiasco
By then, funeral directors who later became plaintiffs were worried. Their first inkling that something was amiss had come in the fall of 2007, when the comptroller’s office revoked the IFDA’s license, saying that it should never have been issued in the first place and that the trust needed to be in the hands of a properly licensed fiduciary.

Colorful Lorax delivers vital, hopeful message
I realize that there are many who feel that the works of Dr. Seuss are sacrosanct, that to adapt and expand them for the movies will somehow obscure the author’s themes, which separated his works from that of other “children’s” authors. Of course, one look at 2003’s disastrous The Cat in the Hat.

Skibbereen mixes in the green
In Springfield, our recent Celtic legacy has a vibrant history, including bands The Emerald Underground, Exorna and Fake McCoys, groups like St. Andrew’s Society and Ogilvy Studio, plus events such as the St. Patrick’s Day parade, Highland Games and Robert Burns dinner.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Guitar Town
The first Guitar Town event held in 2008 featured 13 of central Illinois’ favorite guitar players playing, songs they liked for fellow guitarists. With a backline of Mark LeVault on bass and Bob Young on drums with Ric “Skippy” Major running sound, 2012 continues the tradition.

PUB CRAWL
Our Lady, The Transatlantic, Bedspreads, Vince Aguilar.

THE CALENDAR
Chestnut, Mason City, 482-5233. Overcoming Stage Fright and Speech Anxiety.

ART | Great circles
Matthew Schultz’s newest body of work will be on display at the Springfield Art Association through March with an opening reception Saturday, March 3, from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

THE CALENDAR
SCIENCE Paul Mickey Science Series Lecture.

FOOD | Flavorful freebies
The 14th annual Illinois Products Expo at the Illinois State Fairgrounds is a great place to get introduced to foods grown and products made in this state. More than 70 companies will have free food samples and items for purchase, such as soy candles and agricultural-based soap and lotions.

DANCE | Grand jetés
Last year’s dance and musical extravaganza Men in Tights sold out, so get in on the action now by purchasing your tickets by phone or online from the Hoogland Center for the Arts. The Springfield Ballet Company once again has a new cast of local men who will perform for you Friday, March 2.

THEATER | Glam slam
If you’re a RuPaul’s Drag Race fan, you’ll love Springfield’s first ever Drag Race put on by the Phoenix Center of Springfield and Springfield PrideFest 2012. Six winners of the night’s performances will be featured at the May festival. The VIP party begins at 6:30 p.

THE CALENDAR
Orr Building. $5, kids 10 and under free. 524-3012. Illinois State Fairgrounds, 801 Sangamon Ave. Luau For Life.

PUBLIC NOTICES
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT SANGAMON COUNTY, ILLINOIS - IN PRO- BATE In the matter of the Estate of: MARGRET L. LEVELL-VARNER, Deceased. 2012-P- 42 NOTICE FOR PUBLICATION- CLAIMS Notice is given of the death of MAR- GRET L. LEVELL-VARNER of Springfield, Illinois.