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Editor’s note
Gov. Pat Quinn has suggested that Illinoisans spend a few moments at their Thanksgiving table discussing the state’s pension problem. They might even set a place at the table for Squeezy, the Pension Python, the creature on the governor’s new website, thisismyillinois.

Death penalty’s dying days
I sat back and watched the debate that unfolded in the Illinois House Judiciary Committee. Prosecutors from across the state each spoke and put their best arguments forward as to why lawmakers should vote to defeat the bill that would ultimately abolish the death penalty in Illinois.

Draining the pool
Making one’s address a condition of employment is one of those latent viruses that reside in the American body politic, and which flares up in full-blown symptoms every few decades.

Billionaires crap out in 2012 elections
“They” are the far-right corporate billionaire extremists who tried to become America’s presidential kingmakers this year.

LETTERS
Annual comprehensive eye exams are necessary because optometrists can prevent health care costs from rising in the long term by identifying health problems early on. We are often the first medical professionals to diagnose chronic diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Fahner goes too far trashing pension reform
When Fahner ended up siding with the House Democrats back in May and endorsing their pension reform plan, including shifting costs to school districts, the House Republicans were furious and very disappointed.

Case closed
“ ‘I’ve got a doozy for you,’” Magnuson recalls a Springfield police sergeant saying during a wee-hours phone call on Mother’s Day in 1996, just five months after he arrived in Springfield after two decades as a Cook County prosecutor. “I thought it was a three-o’clock-inthe-morning joke.

CHEWING GUM
The truth, as we all know, is much different. Those spiky balls that fall from sweetgum trees throughout Springfi eld clog storm sewers while roots tear through sidewalks, and they taste terrible to boot. The only things worse than sweetgum trees are, well, no trees at all.

POOR PAT
Gov. Pat Quinn can’t catch a break these days. He’s hounded at nearly every public appearance by angry union workers because of his efforts to cut union pay, renege on contractual raises and close state facilities like the Jacksonville Developmental Center.

Sounding praise and alarms
Asians, Hispanics, women and voters younger than 30 were the key to Barack Obama’s reelection, said Durbin, who professed himself surprised that the percentage of Asians who voted for Obama surpassed the percentage of Hispanics who supported the president.

Skin City
Thanks to athletes, celebrities and TV shows, tattoos have gone from taboo to typical over the past 20 years. What started as a form of rebellion in the United States has become more of a personal fashion statement and, despite Springfield’s reputation as a holdout against style, this city is well stocked with both the inked and the inkers.

U game?
Nintendo is back to change the gaming experience with its latest console, the Wii U, arriving this month, just in time for the holidays, for $299.99. The company lured gamers off the couch with the release of the Wii in 2006, spearheading the motiongaming segment that now includes Kinect for Xbox 360 and PlayStation Move.

Go ahead, wax nostalgic
In Santa Claus, Ind., – yes, there is such a place! – the Santa Claus Christmas Store is skipping traditional candles in favor of the flameless, battery-powered variety, which they call luminaria. “This year we’re seeing more of the winter wonderland look, which is our silvers and whites and ice,” says manager Holly Xanders.

Community wish lists
M.E.R.C.Y. Communities provides housing and supportive services to homeless and at-risk women and children. MERCY started in 1999, serving 10 transitional families and has grown, with our Permanent Supportive Housing, to 30-plus moms and 55-plus children. The children’s ages range from infants to 17 years old.

Thanksgivings past spur thoughts on race, present and future
Little of my family’s Thanksgiving celebrations have changed throughout my entire life, largely because we’re a relatively small group: my mom and I are both only children, and my dad wasn’t close to his family, so there weren’t troops of relatives vying over who’d host the dinner or what to contribute to the feast.

The Sessions survives narrative oversight
You’d have to be a hardhearted individual indeed not to be moved by Mark O’Brien’s story. Having contracted polio at the age of six, the writer spends most of his time confined in an iron lung, a prison he’s dependent on for up to 19 hours a day. Yet, this hardly proves to be an impediment to his mind.

Thanks for Thanksgiving Eve
As reported in this column for the past several years, for those of you who care, the night before Thanksgiving is known as the biggest party of the calendar year for the live music/ bar scene. Even lacking a proper name like St.

PUB CRAWL
Hey Brother with Josh Catalano and the Dirty Thoughts.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Geoff Turner
Singer-songwriter Geoff Turner returns to his native Springfield from his current home base of Nashville, Tenn. on a mission to introduce fans, family and friends to his new EP CD. Winter Songs,.

THE CALENDAR
Nov 27, Governor Duncan Association with dinner and entertainment. $30. Hamilton’s, 110 N. East St, Jacksonville. 243-5390..

HOLIDAY | Serving the community
For the 27th year, Central Baptist Church will serve free Thanksgiving meals to the public on Thanksgiving Day. On the menu is all the tasty classic fare: roasted turkey breast, homemade dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, cranberry sauce, bread and dessert.

FILM | Interactive showing
Warm up your vocal chords, cut up those chintz curtains and parade, bike or skip on down to the Hoogland Center for the Arts for the Sing-a-Long-a Sound of Music. On Nov. 23 and 24, watch the classic film on the big screen and interact with the movie under the direction of Johnny Molson, morning cohost on ALICE-FM.

MUSIC | Tuning in to others
Lincoln Land Community College presents Hootenanny.