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‘Modern family’ law is not modern enough
Senate Bill 57 recognizes today’s “modern family” by allocating parenting time and decision-making between both parents (see “Lawmakers move to update divorce, child custody law,” March 5).

Back on the roads again
It is unclear exactly where Illinois’ new CEO wants to take this state, but we have indications in his proposed budget how he would like us to get there. If approved, his budget would spend slightly more of the public’s money on motorcycle safety and on new roads.

GOP gang of Supremes attack Obamacare
Look out – the Supreme Court’s black-robed gang of far-right ideologues are rampaging again! The five-man clan is firing potshots at Obamacare – and their political recklessness endangers justice, the Court’s own integrity, and the health of millions of innocent bystanders.

LETTERS
WISHING HOUSTON WELL I can’t understand why the “shredgate” issue, in the news for 18 months, suddenly became again newsworthy a week before the election.

King Rauner wants carte blanch trust
Gov. Bruce Rauner has met with dozens of state legislators both individually and in small groups since his election. By all accounts, every meeting has been cordial and he has scored lots of points with legislators who aren’t accustomed to this sort of gubernatorial attention.

Sweeping up ‘broom closet’ gambling
You can find them in gas stations, golf courses, restaurants, liquor stores and even a TV repair shop. More than 19,000 video gambling machines had spread across the state by the end of 2014, turning thousands of businesses and other establishments into what one lawmaker calls “mini casinos.

MICROWAVE JUSTICE
Testimony lasted barely three hours, the jury was out less than an hour and Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy Travis Koester emerged victorious Tuesday from a lawsuit in which he stood accused of wrongfully tasering Paul Mariconi during a 2009 bar fi ght.

CLERICAL ERROR
Bishop Thomas Paprocki this week summoned reporters to refute a recent suggestion made by Survivors Network Of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) that pedophile priests from Chicago might have been assigned to the Springfi eld diocese in the 1990s.

Rising child poverty makes it a bad time for budget cuts
On March 5, Voices for Illinois Children released its annual Illinois Kids Count report, detailing a sharp increase in poverty among families with children thanks in large part to the Great Recession.

Ward 2 candidates support residency requirement
Springfield NAACP president Teresa Haley and Capital Township Trustee Herman Senor III both say they would vote for a requirement that all city employees live within city limits, but both would favor grandfathering in people who already work for the city and live outside it.

In his own words
Having finished third in the Feb. 24 primary, Mayor Mike Houston is finished as mayor. But he isn’t categorical about running for elective office in the future, nor is he shy about defending his record as mayor, both this time around and for two terms from 1979 to 1987, when he failed to win a third consecutive term.

A murder mystery set in the Quad Cities
Reading mystery novels on a regular basis brings to mind the observation that “it’s not the wand that pulls the rabbit out of the hat, it’s the magic of the magician.” After all, there are only so many ways to murder a victim and perhaps fewer ways to solve the commission of the crime.

Head to the Quad Cities to quadruple your fun
Trekking to the cities straddling the Mighty Mississippi and nearby communities can lead you to guns used in the Battle of Little Bighorn, a lock and dam on the river, some of the world’s largest farm machinery and the History Channel stars’ stomping grounds.

The hills are still alive
This month marks the 50th anniversary of an extraordinary number of notable events. There were the three historical Selma-to-Montgomery marches in Alabama.

Business fun, despite its flaws
There are some films that get past your better judgment. These are called “guilty pleasures,” movies that you can’t really defend from a critical point of view yet you enjoy despite the fact that you know you’re watching isn’t what is usually labeled “good.

St. Pat’s party
Of all the designated drinking events on the American calendar, none contains the unabashed sanction of society more than the Irish celebration known as St. Patrick’s Day. Thanksgiving Eve may now be the official number one night to party and New Year’s Eve long ago turned into amateur night, but only one holiday is a “day,” not an “eve.

PUB CRAWL
The Historians, Panzys, Arcade At Midnight, Bad Banshee, Fel Fae.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | The Emerald Underground
Of all the Celtic-influenced bands now in the Springfield area, The Emerald Underground was the first on the scene way back in 2002. Then called Stone Ring Circle, the group debuted 14 years ago at Marly’s Pub during the St. Pat’s Day Marching Band Parade.

THE CALENDAR
Patrick’s Day parade featuring marching band competition, prizes for best fl oat and local music. Free, $1 per wristband to drink. Downtown Springfield..

THEATER | Who will solve the mystery?
Join the Springfield Theatre Centre March 13-15 and 20-22 at the Hoogland Center for the Arts for an interactive fundraiser dinner benefitting the STC. For an unknown reason, Albert Doornale, an esoteric millionaire, has invited his closest friends and family to his estate.

FAIRS AND FESTIVALS | A man with many jobs
This Friday, Saturday and Sunday, join host Evan Mitchell and The Garbage Shop for a celebration of one of the world’s oldest art forms – the one-man band. The first two nights of this first-time event will feature regional, national and international acts.

ART | Night at the museum
If you enjoyed the Illinois State Museum’s First Friday events in 2014, you will love 2015’s Second Fridays. It’s the same location, same concept, held on the second Friday of the month to honor the second year of this popular event.