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Advice and dissent
What the City of Springfield needs is people who will listen to good advice; it’s had people giving it good advice about how to revitalize downtown since the first of the so-called urban design assistance teams landed in the capital in 1979. That project focused on the preservation of downtown historic structures.

A baby step to improve chemical safety
In the aftermath of the explosion of a fertilizer storage facility in West, Texas, last year that killed 15 people and destroyed three schools and a nursing home, federal officials realized there are serious gaps in federal oversight authority of facilities that house dangerous chemicals.

Walgreens ploy to tax dodge
How would you react if one of your neighbors announced that while he obviously benefits from having clean water, highways, Medicare, police protection, parks, schools, and other public services, he was no longer going to pay his part of the taxes that make them available?.

LETTERS
Numerous facts suggest this recent so-called immigration crisis is, in fact, a humanitarian crisis with little or no connection to the policy changes in question. What does seem to correlate to the U.S., however, is that the uptick in murder, rape and other violence in these countries is fueled by America’s insatiable dru g demand.

Survey says: Transparency hurts Rauner and Quinn
A dangerously high 66 percent of women said the tax issue made them less likely to vote for the candidate, compared to a 49 percent plurality of men. 27 percent of men said the news actually made them more likely to vote for Rauner, compared to 23 percent who said it made no difference.

READERS ARE LEADERS
For kids, summer is a time for outdoor adventures, sleeping in and even part-time jobs. But when they get back to school, many kids exhibit what’s known in academic circles as the “summer slide,” a decline in classroom learning skills attributed to a prolonged lack of educational activities.

HOBBY LOBBY PROTEST
The recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court (Burwell v. Hobby Lobby) allowing that chain of stores to opt out of providing birth control coverage for its employees on religious grounds has stirred up considerable controversy.

Woman priest defies Catholic diocese
But to Bishop Thomas John Paprocki, head of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, Keldermans is a heretic. In May, Keldermans became ordained as a Roman Catholic woman priest by a group not sanctioned by the Catholic Church.

State police spying on smartphones
Long before Edward Snowden revealed the existence of a massive cell phone spying program by the federal National Security Agency, law enforcement agencies around the country were using devices capable of extracting data from cell phones, including the user’s precise location.

For the love of the game
Lawrence “Moe” Dampeer once was one of the nation’s most-coveted high school football recruits, receiving attention from the likes of UCLA, Florida State, Miami and Ohio State while starring on the defensive line for MacArthur High School in Decatur, where he graduated in 2003.

Summer weekend Milwaukee-style
For a summer getaway that combines art, culture and music, along with sunshine and cool lake breezes, head north to Milwaukee. On the shores of Lake Michigan, 280 miles from Springfield, this city of about 600,000 offers a fabulous lakefront, an art museum that’s a treasure, summer festivals and other delightful attractions for adults and kids.

All Shook Up is fun
“I vote for ‘Fat-Bottomed Girls,’” I hear someone say as I walk backstage at the Springfield Muni Opera. I look up and see director Anna Bussing caught in a brief debate with a member of her cast. They compromise, and moments later Queen’s “We Are the Champions” blasts from the speakers.

Saving summer’s bounty
Not so long ago, almost every family – rich and poor, country and city dwellers – preserved much of their own food. From late summer until first frost, kitchens were even more a beehive of activity than usual as cooks made jams, jellies, pickles, sauces and condiments and canned vegetables and fruits.

Begin Again a cure for summertime movie blues
Mark Ruffalo, never more disheveled, is Dan, a past-his-prime record producer whose tastes have not changed with the times. He finds himself out of step with the movers and shakers at the record label he co-founded and is soon ousted from it. This is just the latest indignity he’s suffered.

July jam gems
I’m glad I’m not in town this weekend (we’re playing the Belgium Beer and Mussels Festival at Schlafly’s Tap Room in St. Louis – personal plug!) only because the wide and wonderful music entertainment choices are too many and too good for my poor brain to take.

PUB CRAWL
Murder of Crowes with Whiskey Ben Pope – Summer Fest.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Cats on Holiday
The core group of Ted (Andon) Davis (guitar, vocals), Perry Zubeck (keyboards, vocals), Joe “T” Phegley (bass) and Ric Snow (drums) gets together occasionally to reunite the spark.

THE CALENDAR
on his new book “Tambora the Eruption That Changed the World” that took him around the world. Refreshments. Sponsored by Illinois State Historical Preservation Agency, Sangamon County Historical Society and The Illinois State Historical Society. Free underground parking till 8:30 p.

FESTIVAL | Be corny
But there’s so much more going on and lots of other food for purchase, such as ribeye and barbecue sandwiches. New this year is a craft beer wagon. Returning but always fun is the Illinois Championship Cow Chip Throw taking place Saturday starting at 1:30 p.

THEATER | Loveable con man
Theatre in the Park at Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic site opens with the Tony-award winning musical, The Music Man,.

FILM | Ice can be nice
There aren’t many young’ns who aren’t crazy about the Disney film Frozen.

ART | Edgy images
Fashion Afrique opens its doors for an art exhibit. Pieces.