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Keeping Springfield weird
much at all. And in 2002, the visiting Regional/ Urban Design Assistance Team observed that the Statehouse complex – the only part of town that many visitors see – was “dominated by appallingly ugly parking lots and desultory, boring, low-bidder office buildings.

Tired of budget shenanigans? Here’s an answer.
With the formal release of President Obama’s budget, the pieces are finally in place for a reprise of the Washington drama we’ve all come to know. There will be high-stakes negotiations, lines in the sand, and enough intrigue to keep Beltway insiders riveted by every piece of breaking news.

Saving our ravaged planet ... and ourselves
Both. The first step to any recovery is recognition of the obvious: Earth has a problem. In fact, beaucoup of them.

LETTERS
CLEARING CLINTON Jon Gray Noll’s complaint about Bill Clinton being picked for the Lincoln prize left me thinking “really?” (April 18, “Bill Clinton picked for Lincoln prize? Really?”) Specifically, in this forum’s limited space, two things come to mind.

Both sides sticking to their guns
During the House floor debate over the National Rifle Association-backed concealed carry bill last week, I was told by an intimate of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan that the Speaker wanted to make sure the bill received no more than 64 votes.

DOCTORS GIVE DOLLARS
The grants were given to organizations that provide: community vegetable gardens, parent and child cooking classes, hot meals to children after school, bullying awareness programs, parent counseling and support, medical care and prescriptions,...

School district seeks to rebuild trust
The Springfield School Board took the first steps on Monday night toward rebuilding parents’ trust in the district, following the leak of test data from a besieged middle school.

COP CRIB
days. On the heels of a beautiful new duplex on Fifth Street, built by Habitat for Humanity of Sangamon County to look like it was built a century ago, the Enos Park Neighborhood Improvement Association announced the renovation of a house on Eighth Street that will become a home to a Springfi eld police offi cer.

The manufactured crisis over Illinois pensions
The historical record of Illinois’ 1970 Constitutional Convention shows the state’s unfunded pension liability wasn’t considered a crisis when delegates included a clause to protect pension rights. Today, one person who participated in the convention says the modern hysteria over Illinois’ pension systems is unrealistic and unhelpful.

Chicago and Downstate live in two different gun worlds
Continuing gun violence in Chicago and the right to carry a concealed firearm are at the center of a heated debate in the Illinois House. Different social climates in Chicago and downstate Illinois have stirred up a political storm that has brought lawmakers to a standstill on the issue.

Keeping it real
From his rental house just off North Grand Avenue in Enos Park, the 54-year-old blind man talks about the advent of spring and the need to till the soil.

The goodness of granola
Granola has become mainstream, not just the province of whole-grain-eating back-tothe-earth hippies. But while some folks make their own and small-batch artisanal versions are frequently sold at local farmers markets, shops and cafés, the vast majority of granola consumed these days, whether cereal or bars, comes from food industry conglomerates.

Pines a haunting look at the sins of two fathers
Divided into three different stories, the first focuses on Luke (Ryan Gosling), a motorcycle stuntman who earns his living with a traveling carnival. While passing through Schenectady, N.Y., he’s reunited with Romina (Eva Mendes), a one-night stand from a year before, only to find out that their brief affair has led to the birth of his son Jason.

Kirwan, Foster and Lincoln
What do the songs “Oh! Susanna,” “Camptown Races” (“doo-dah, doo-dah”) and “Old Folks at Home” (“… way down upon the Swanee River”) all have in common? Other than most of you are now humming the tunes of these immensely popular songs, they were all written by the famed, mid-19th century American composer, Stephen Foster.

PUB CRAWL
Swaggerin Growlers, S.S. Web, Ghost Hollow Road, The Please, Please Me.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | CW Ayon
New Mexican bluesman CW Ayon (pronounced “I own”) began his adventure as a one-man band in 2008. Playing what he terms his “Hill Country Blues, Chihuahuan Desert, hook-laden groove,” on two bass drums, a rocking blues guitar and blazing harmonica with a gritty voice rising above it all, CW truly makes one very large sound all his own.

THE CALENDAR
Apr 28, True story of deaf actress and her hearing husband. $7. Illinois College Sibert Theatre, McGaw Fine Arts Center, Jacksonville, 245-3471..

ENVIRONMENT | Keen on green
Celebrate Earth Day with the City of Springfield at Earth Fair on Saturday, April 27. Activities will be held downtown this year at Union Station Museum and Park just west of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. Browse an array of vendors who will offer environmentally friendly products and services available in our area.

MUSIC | Rhythm and improv
Springfield Jazz Society’s Spring Brunch will be held Sunday, April 28, starting at 12:30 p.m. in Lincoln at The Maple Club. Featured along with a tasty brunch buffet is the Rob Killam Quartet with vocals by Nathan Carls.

THEATER | Mad genius
Springfield Theatre Center presents the four-person play, Proof,.

MUSIC | Celtic folk
Celtic duo Switchback performs at the Hoogland Center for the Arts on April 26. The musical group featuring Brian FitzGerald and Martin McCormack will play Americana and traditional Celtic tunes. One of the pair’s songs from their first album was used by Chevrolet to promote their Chevy Blazer.