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Illinois may decriminalize small amounts of marijuana
The proposals come at a time when marijuana is becoming less threatening in the eyes of the public. Two states have legalized small amounts of the drug, and several other states have switched from arresting people for pot possession to simply writing tickets and collecting fines.

Telling voters what they don’t want to hear
Gov. Pat Quinn presented his annual budget address March 26 at the Capitol. In the 25-minute speech, Quinn emphasized his plan to stabilize revenues and prevent deep spending cuts in Illinois for the 2014-2015 fiscal year and future years. The crux of that plan is keeping the individual income tax at its present rate of 5 percent.

A gambling mecca
Springfield has, by far, the most video gambling machines outside casinos of any municipality or county in the state.

Images of Illinois
MacKenzie’s photo took first place in the Adult Professional – Place category, followed by second-place winner “Misty Morning” by John Maxwell Brodt of Springfield; third place “Shades of Lincoln Series Number Two” by Mark McCann of Dawson and...

The Pharmacy spreads its artistic wings
Started in 2011, the once-scrappy art collective known as The Pharmacy is preparing to mount its eighth group show this Saturday, April 5. Fittingly entitled “Metamorphosis,” the exhibit is a progress report on a grass-roots group in a continual state of growth.

Anderson in fine form
M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) is a man of impeccable taste who expects perfection from himself and his staff as he sets about running the Grand Budapest Hotel. He is a model of well-mannered austerity and young Zero (Tony Revolori), a new bellboy at the hotel, longs to follow in his footsteps.

Reading recipes
When I started teaching cooking classes, I was determined to write accurate, easily understood recipes. Cooking involves all of the senses, not just taste. I knew what I meant when I said “well browned.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Hooten Hallers
Formed in Columbia, Mo., circa 2006, as a duo of John Randall on gunslinger guitar and Andy Rehm on destroyer drums, The Hooten Hallers toured the country espousing the glories of modern hillbilly life through blues, soul, country and a whole lot of hootin’ and hollerin’ from all reports.

PUB CRAWL
Dates, times and locations are subject to change, so we suggest calling before attending an event..

No fooling around this April
Oh, how I wait for April Fools’ Day to fall on a Thursday again. But alas and alack, we have a few years left to go. So I won’t announce that Recycled Records has relocated to White Oaks Mall inhabiting the former Abercrombie & Fitch space. Nor will I get to proclaim that the Hoogland Center for the Arts will now be called the A.

SCIENCE | Libation creations
Illinois State Museum joins downtown First Fridays with an event for science, art, history, music and beer lovers. Art + Science Craft Beer is set from 5-8 p.m.

THE CALENDAR
Apr 4-5, 7:30pm Fri-Sat. One of the hottest comedians performing. $13-$15. Donnie B’s Comedy Club, 625 E. Saint Joseph Street, 391-JOKE..

MUSIC | Come together
Classic Albums Live is coming to the Sangamon Auditorium, UIS, Friday, April 4, to perform songs from the Beatles classic album Abbey Road..

ART | Contemporary media
The latest exhibition at Springfield Art Association is the new work of University of Illinois Springfield faculty. An opening reception is Friday, April 4, from 5:30-8:30 p.m.

No more backsliding
The reason, the report says, is that policymakers have ignored a “seismic shift” in American family life: Three-quarters of all moms are in the U.S. labor force, which is now half women – and half of them are their families’ primary breadwinners. This is especially true for women of color.

Please Mr. Postman
“We will go out and write poetry in red chalk on the State House walk, where he who runs may read. That will be a conjunction of planets, and a fine thing for the populace.” That was Vachel Lindsay in a 1913 letter to his “Excellent Rascal,” Sara Teasdale, a fellow poet from St.

The symbolism of one adjunct professor’s death
Vojtko had taught French classes for 25 years at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, earning high marks from her students. Their praise helped make up for Duquesne’s poor pay and lack of respect. Like most teachers there, Margaret Mary was part of the adjunct faculty – a group that now teaches more than half of all U.

LETTERS
The actions by the mayor should make it acutely clear that corruption is still endemic in the culture of city government.

Gov’s budget proposal
Both Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton offered their full support for the governor’s income tax proposal on Tichenor’s show, with Madigan saying he planned to move a bill forward this spring and Cullerton saying he’d let Madigan go first...

FRIENDS EXPAND LAND
In Springfi eld, the group maintains about six acres of property along Lawrence Avenue, known as the Robinson Woods. Additionally, the Friends have worked with the Springfi eld Park District.

WILD HOG HUNTING
According to information from IDNR, there were once more than 400 wild hogs in Illinois, but now that number is estimated at fewer than 20. IDNR and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are hoping to see the population completely eliminated within the next several months.

Illinois may end ‘planned abandonment’
Then, at the age of two, Dan was adopted by Toni and Jim Hoy of Ingleside, which is north of Chicago. For Dan, it was a blessing or a stroke of luck because he would soon need his new family’s tenacity in the fight to keep him from becoming lost in the mental health system as a ward of the state.

Another day, another lawsuit
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, Better Chatham Schools and Duane Sieren, president of the group formed last year, say that the school board has again violated the state Freedom of Information Act by withholding a draft lawsuit against Robert Gillum, the...