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School discipline: A better way
On March 6, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights released data from a national survey of more than 72,000 schools, covering a range of issues that included school discipline. The data revealed startling racial disparities in suspensions, expulsions and arrests in districts and states.

Made in the shade
I think that I shall never see a car park lovely as a tree. Not in Springfield anyway. You’d have to travel to the Gobi to see expanses of treeless terrain to match the city’s larger parking lots.

The cry of Congress: ‘Free Wall Street!’
Hallelujah, Washington has finally heard the people’s cries for jobs! In an urgent bipartisan push, Democrats and Republicans have joined hands across the aisle to pass the JOBS Act.

LETTERS
COAL MINER’S DAUGHTER “Faith, hope and statuary” [by James Krohe Jr., April 5] was an overly tilted and in my case insulting piece of “work.” I admit that I have not personally seen the Washington, D.C., works, but I have seen many pictures and read pieces concerning them.

PAY UP
Rushton sued in January after a committee composed of city and union officials met behind closed doors to reverse an earlier decision, also made in secret by the same committee, to deny health insurance to civil-union partners of city employees.

BON VOYAGE, TAX DOLLARS
The airport last month committed $715,000 in public money to charter jets to replace flights to and from Florida that were canceled by Direct Air, which abruptly ceased operations and declared bankruptcy. To break even, the airport needed slightly more than 5,000 people to buy tickets.

Coal ash lawsuit could increase CWLP costs
Champaign-based Prairie Rivers Network joined the Sierra Club, Physicians for Social Responsibility, a Native American tribe in Nevada and environmental groups in six other states asking a federal court to override EPA’s classification of coal ash – the solid byproduct of burning coal for power – as a nonhazardous waste.

Getting kids ready for kindergarten
“Our hope is that we would be able to increase the proportion of children who are indeed ready for kindergarten, so that when they get to kindergarten, they’re not in a situation of having to catch up,” says Dr. Harry Berman, chairman of the Continuum’s steering committee.

New basketball league brings hoops to Springfield
When Steffen Spinks was a young boy growing up in Manteca, Calif., his mother didn’t want him to spend his time playing basketball. She encouraged Spinks to get involved in other sports because she worried that being a young, black basketball player came with a negative stereotype.

The computer ate the evidence
During a three-day hearing that ended last week, county employees who maintain the system testified that emails were automatically deleted after six months, and they didn’t know that emails generated by jail staff were supposed to be preserved as evidence in a lawsuit filed by Carlock’s widow.

Indoor art fair with plenty of room
Local artist Ed Martin is bringing a different kind of art fair to Springfield. More akin to a casual, multi-artist gallery opening, Martin’s “An Art Affair - Second Annual Juried Invitational Fine Art Show,” takes place in the Orr Building on the Illinois State Fairgrounds Saturday, April 14, and Sunday, April 15.

Lincoln, the tax-and-spend president
Tax Day is just days away. Nationally, April 15 is significant because that’s the traditional day when tax returns are due. This year we get a two-day extension, to April 17. Perhaps more locally, April 15 is significant because it’s Abraham Lincoln’s death date.

I bought a theater
“I would say buying real estate is an emotional decision,” says Scott Richardson. “It’s probably not the wisest move, but sometimes you follow the heart. So we bought a theater!” Not just any theater. The building in question, at 101 E.

I bought a theater
“It’s been fun to see the different kinds of folks who show up to various events,” says Richardson. There are a few different ways that shows make their way to the Legacy stage. Richardson’s production company, Roxy Theatricals, produces community theater, such as the upcoming Legally Blonde,.

Getting ready for my daughter’s wedding
But now, there are still porches to be painted, and the house is a disaster zone. The porch steps outside our primary doorway have been torn out; the walkway from there to the driveway is dirt, gravel and edging molds waiting for concrete to be poured.

Fishing will hook you
Where would we be without dreamers? Airplanes would never have been invented, the Golden Gate Bridge would never have been built and the hot dog would never have been made. Add Sheikh Muhammed (Amr Waked) to the list of visionaries. His dream is much more simple than those endeavors.

Hurricane-powered blues
Since we last talked with “Hurricane” Ruth LaMaster (NOW PLAYING, July 12, 2011) a lot has happened. A flurry of steady gigs elevated Ruth and band to winning a trip to the 2012 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, creating a new eight-song album The Power of the Blues… Feels like a Hurricane,.

PUB CRAWL
The Legendary Clampetts and Polarity.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | The Vile Impurity
Within the vast genre of modern metal bands, The Vile Impurity plays “tech-death metal” promising, as a lyric states, “Devastation which you will never forget!” From origins in 2010 when guitarist Miles Ellegoods joined forces with drummer Pete...

THE CALENDAR
Reception and signing follow. UIS Brookens Auditorium, One University Plaza, 217-206-6073..

MUSIC | Illinois River
University of Illinois Springfield - Sangamon Auditorium presents Listen to the River,.

NATURE | World of kindness
They’ll show you earth-friendly crafts, or more pointedly, how to turn trash into crafts. The zoo will also demonstrate how they use trash as treats for the animals. In turn, you’ll learn how you can do this with your pets at home. In addition, they’ll teach you about how you can help, and not hurt, animals that you might find in your backyard.

THE CALENDAR
Springfield/Central Illinois Film Commission Meeting.

ART | Indoor display
Enjoy a juried invitational fine art show in an indoor environment, free from the elements, in the Orr Building at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. Here at one of central Illinois’ first spring fine art shows you’ll find a casual setup like no other in the capital city.

THEATER | Heavenly humor
Direct from a record-breaking 19-year run in Chicago, the hit comedy Late Nite Catechism.

THE CALENDAR
More events, more details in our online calendar at illinoistimes.com..

PUBLICNOTICES
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE SEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT SANGAMON COUNTY, ILLINOIS IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF DAVID I. KILlMAN, Deceased NO. 2012-P-154 DEATH AND CLAIM NOTICE Notice is given to claimants of the Estate of DAVID I. KILlMAN, Deceased. Letters of Office were issued on March 28, 2012 to SUSAN J.