Why government fails, and what we should do about it
As election season approaches, I’ve been pondering a crucial issue about the role of government in our society. It’s that our government often fails – and that we need to address this. What’s odd is that while the frequent failures in government’s performance are very much on ordinary people’s minds, politicians don’t talk much about fixing them.

Merge, right?
There is no traffic situation so bad that drivers can’t make it worse, as I was reminded while driving on I-55 recently. Work on the Des Plaines River bridge required rerouting traffic onto one lane in each direction, resulting in the mother of all merge bottlenecks.

GOP’s ‘hell no’ faction
For starters, if you thought that, surely, partisan posturing by far-right congress critters couldn’t get any nuttier, you’d be wrong. Last month, the GOP claimed that all the talk about impeaching President Barack Obama is being led by – guess who? – Barack Obama!.

LETTERS
SILENCED BY VIOLENCE It may not seem important until you are one of 44 Springfield families that do not have closure in the senseless murder of a loved one. I am founder of Voice of Those Who Have Been Silenced by Violence and it appears the peaceful cries for help have fallen on deaf ears in our community.

Fair share for Edgar?!
Despite the fact that Edgar is a Republican, this was not an easy “get” for Republican gubernatorial nominee Bruce Rauner. I’m told it took weeks of careful wooing and negotiations through one of Edgar’s old cronies. Edgar backed state Sen.

Faith Coalition presses Quinn for rail jobs
In an East St. Louis church, just 12 miles from Ferguson, Missouri, where people are protesting the killing of a young black man by police, another group gathers in the name of social justice. Mourning and anger dominate the gathering on the Missouri side of the Mississippi River, while the Illinois side is celebratory and hopeful.

Settling affairs
The county, even if it had prevailed in court, could not possibly win a lawsuit filed by the family of A. Paul Carlock, who died after a struggle with jail guards on Nov. 16, 2007. That much was obvious to anyone who has been following the case. A trial would have lasted a month or so, adding to an already record-high legal tab of $2.

TAKING STOCK
While our colleagues at the State Journal-Register go without raises while toiling to deliver all the news that’s fi t to print, they can take comfort in the fact that they are helping make someone rich.

HEAR HOW PEORIA DOES NEIGHBORHOODS RIGHT
Should Springfield have a public official whose job it is to help revitalize neighborhoods? The Inner City Older Neighborhoods (ICON) coalition thinks so, and they’re hosting a public forum on Monday to talk about the idea.

Only in America
There were neither gun-control advocates nor concealed-carry proponents nor anyone from Ferguson last Thursday in the courtroom of Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge John Schmidt. Just an outof-town lawyer, a couple of prosecutors and Hamoud Hizam, the cousin of Ahmed Altayeb, a tried and convicted felon.

Missing history
As a supervisor in the department of state archives for the secretary of state’s office, Karl Moore makes a living by preserving records from courts and government offices throughout Illinois. His doesn’t have property records from Menard County for years prior to 1841, including two assessor’s books from 1839.

Being there
The passage of the Civil Right’s Act 50 summers ago has gotten lots of media attention this year, and rightly so. But there’s been little – at least that I’ve heard – of the 40 th anniversary of another milestone in American history.

Magic in the Moonlight
Having made most of his modern films abroad, it comes as no surprise that the south of France is the locale for this examination of how adhering to a doctrine of faith and certainty in relation to one of cynicism and doubt effects how one looks at the world and in turn goes through life.

Bass, blues, folk, fun
Here’s a snippet of Thursday events. Otis Gibbs, a bespectacled, bearded, Indiana native and one of America’s finest, folk singing composers, was passing through town and the Bedrock 66 folks got him a gig at Donnie’s Homespun. Drop by the Barrel Head for the Clayville Folk Festival pre-party for various forms of folk-er-cizing from 8 to 11.

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

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Micah Walk
From his prolific recording output to consistent live music performances in an array of combos, singer-songwriter, guitarist and bandleader Micah Walk is an integral part of making music around town.

THE CALENDAR
Dates, times and locations are subject to last-minute changes, so we suggest calling before attending events..

FESTIVAL | Great taste ’n’ tunes
Kicking off a fast approaching fall festival season, the ever-popular Old Capitol Blues and BBQS has great blues music paired with a food favorite, barbecue. Put on each year by Downtown Springfield, Inc. the festival has another amazing lineup.

COMEDY | Two nights of funny
22 and 23 with live improvised comedy theater. Get your tickets now by phone or online – these shows have been known to sell out. PRCC consists of five local performers who take audience suggestions and spontaneously act out a funny scene. If you like The Second City and “Who’s Line is it Anyway?,” this is definitely the show for you.

FESTIVAL | Things are looking up
A mere 30 minutes north of Springfield, the Lincoln Art and Balloon Festival, Aug. 22-24, combines small town charm with the magic of hot air balloons. The fun takes place at two locations, on the square in downtown Lincoln and at the Logan County Airport.