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BGA invites Rauner to ‘begin the conversation’
Illinois residents also deserve a broader discussion about taxes in general – what the state can realistically expect to collect each year, and how the burden should be balanced among the individuals and businesses that pay income, sales and property taxes.

Stone magic
It was August and the ripening corn stood taller than we did. The field was bounded by the old Illinois Terminal tracks, South Grand, Cook and the 66 bypass, as it then was still known, Everett Dirksen not having done anything to merit it being renamed in his honor.

Election 2014: The rise of a stealth oligarchy
Indeed, these were not the candidates listed on your ballot, but shadow candidates that are not even people. They are corporations that have been empowered by the Frankensteinmajority on our Supreme Court to exercise the political rights of us real human-type persons.

LETTERS
MORE BIKE LANES As one who would do a lot more riding, how about putting bikes lanes all over town, not just downtown? Like on the overpass between Sangamon Avenue and Ridgley Avenue (North Grand). This is a major link to shopping and jobs on the east side.

Money, message, mug vital to Rauner victory
Bruce Rauner out-performed his fellow Republican Bill Brady’s 2010 gubernatorial election performance in every region of the state last week. As I write this, with less than half a percent of the vote yet to be counted, Rauner has a big five-point margin over Gov.

FAST-TRACKING ALPLM
Abraham Lincoln and the state lottery go together like, well, let’s face it. They don’t go together at all.

GREEN TREES
Roy Green loves trees. The New York state native is director of stewardship and sustainability at materials company Gunlocke, and he says growing up around his grandfather’s heavily forested estate made him realize forests are “special places that need to be preserved and protected.

Fracking rules approved as environmentalists cry ‘foul’
A panel of state lawmakers approved controversial regulations for high-volume hydraulic fracturing on Nov. 6, prompting environmental groups to level allegations of secrecy and undue influence by oil and gas interests. One environmental group has filed a lawsuit to challenge the rules, claiming the state didn’t follow its own rulemaking procedure.

Please speak louder into my lapel
The circumstances behind the recording aren’t clear from the transcript, but it appears to memorialize a face-to-face conversation. The transcript shows that Gool and the woman knew each other prior to her husband’s arrest, but the relationship between the two isn’t clear.

A city divided
Turner is in her second two-year term as chairwoman of the Sangamon County Democratic Party, so she knows that her party’s base is mostly concentrated in Springfield’s northeast quadrant. Republican candidates averaged more support than Democrats in 147 of Springfield’s 180 precincts in the Nov.

Rauner, shaker-upper in chief
You would never have guessed the election was over, with Rauner winning by a bigger margin than most pundits and pollsters had predicted, if they had envisioned a Republican win at all. Three days after the polls closed, the governor-elect spoke at Café Moxo against a backdrop of campaign signs tacked to a wall.

Punk paradise in Southtown
“We needed a place for kids to go in Springfield,” says Kevin Bradford, 31, cofounder of all-ages music venue Black Sheep Café, located near the corner of 11 th Street and South Grand in the Southtown neighborhood of Springfield. “It came, for me, from more of a spiritual place.

The harvest of a lifetime
At the center of these lives stands the Round Barn. On its silo, Jackie’s grandfather, W.S. Dougan, has painted “The Aims of the Farm.” 1. Good Crops 2. Proper Storage 3. Profitable Live Stock. 4. A Stable Market 5. Life as well as a living. The first four tenets are accomplished by intelligence and hard work.

Kitchen gift-giving made easy
Those names on your holiday gift list are more than just people – they’re personalities. This simple shift in perspective can go a long way to help narrow down gift selections. Become a great gift giver by paying attention to the broader personality traits of your gift receivers.

Reduce your carbon footprint this holiday season
The holiday season is typically one when everything is done bigger and better. Excess may run supreme, and for those who are concerned about how their actions impact the environment, such excess can clash with their ideals.

Ten ways to de-stress Thanksgiving
You can have a memorable Thanksgiving meal with delicious food, a beautiful table and appreciative guests, but with a fraction of the usual work. If you pare your to-do list to emphasize the season’s bounty and at the same time streamline food preparation, you’ll enjoy the celebration as much as your guests do.

Cast brings life to familiar Lights
Prince-Bythewood plants the seeds of her heroine Noni’s (Mbatha-Raw) dissatisfaction early on as we see her as a sweet 10-year-old who’s forced by her domineering, single mum Macy Jean (Minnie Driver, hissing and raving with relish) towards being a successful singer, whether she likes it or not.

Chef, the movie
Boehm understands chefs and restaurant life. And he was right. Most professional kitchen film scenes sacrifice reality to plot necessities. There are exceptions. Oddly, the best depiction of professional kitchens and workers is the Disney cartoon, Ratatouille.

PUB CRAWL
Jazz and Jambalaya Open Jazz Jam with Frank Parker Group.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Fireside Relics
Starting out as mainly a cover band in 2009 after members met at an open mic, by 2013 Fireside Relics had undergone a few personnel changes while setting a new direction toward original music.

Weekend workings
Friday is shaping up to be the night of many challenging choices. At Marly’s Pub, the Lazer Dudes make a stunning comeback to the local scene. On hiatus as members pursued other projects, the LDs are back, and quite possibly that special glove returns as well.

THE CALENDAR
Spoken Word Springfield Poets and Writers Open Mic.

THEATER | Compete for cash
Come on down to Sangamon Auditorium on Monday, Nov. 17, at 7:30 p.m. for The Price is Right Live, an interactive production of the hit TV game show by the same name. This high-energy stage show has been touring nationally for more than nine years and has given away more than $10 million in prize packages to date.

NATURE | Save our species
Celebrate the biodiversity of Illinois at the Illinois State Museum on Saturday, Nov. 15, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. This free event is designed to raise awareness for the wide variety of plant and animal species in our state and highlight those species that have made a triumphant return from near-extinction.

FESTIVAL | African arts for Ebola awareness
On Saturday, Nov. 15, from 5-7 p.m., join Africans in Central Illinois and Grace United Methodist church for a night of African culture, fun and support of a worthy cause, the Doctors Without Borders Ebola Fund.