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Keeping things clear
[Note to readers: The snow has gone, as snow does, but it will be back – probably in July, given how wacky the weather has become. Time now, while memories of the drifts are fresh, to ponder how best to cope with them a few months from now.] To most people, a deep snowfall is a nuisance, a maintenance cost, a hazard.

Moving on
A booklet published by the developer described the area as having “wide winding drives...well-planted shrubbery...a correct system of lighting designed to meet the needs of heavily shaded roads...all protected from deteriorating influences by rigidly maintained restrictions.

Subsidizing corporate crime
Even the corporate crimes that produce horrible injuries, illnesses, death, massive pollution, consumer rip-offs, etc. are routinely settled by fines and payoffs from the corporate treasury, with no punishment of the honchos who oversee what amounts to crime-forprofit syndicates.

LETTERS
RECENT RESIGNATIONS I would like to address recent events that concern me and many others with whom I have spoken. These events are the three recent resignations of local elected officials in the middle of their terms of office.

The hidden cost of child care cuts
But, in reality, by pulling those payments which are designed to help low-income parents go to school and work their way out of poverty, “grandma” could lose her income and may very well have to find a different part-time job, meaning the parent then has to search for another provider and the state saves no money.

State police just don’t get it
This being Sunshine Week, when journalists are supposed to decry secrecy and call for open government, I thought that it would be a good idea to praise those who follow the law in Illinois and point out those who treat the Freedom of Information Act...

RADIO WAVES
The union that represents newsroom employees at the State Journal-Register has turned to radio to ratchet up pressure on management to agree to a contract that includes raises for workers who haven’t seen bumps in pay since GateHouse Media bought the paper in 2007.

JOBS GALORE
Who says there are no jobs available? The Greater Springfi eld Chamber of Commerce is hosting employers from Springfi eld and the surrounding area for a Job and Career Fair next month, showcasing the jobs available here and the talent Springfi eld has to fi ll them.

Off the rails?
Reenactors are concerned that a replica of Lincoln’s funeral train will not be part of a re-creation of the funeral procession from the downtown train station to Oak Ridge Cemetery. Instead, the replica of the train car that carried Lincoln’s body from Washington, D.

The wrong guy
Were it not for his 1979 Cadillac sedan, Gonzalez probably would have never become a suspect in a 1994 rape at an apartment complex in Waukegan. Gonzalez spent nearly 21 years in prison for the crime, until DNA evidence proved his innocence earlier this month.

1950s food fun
I’ll be writing about Jones’ memoir and new book in upcoming weeks. But it’s worth revisiting what the state of American home cooking was like before Jones. Below are excerpts from my 2008 column.

Movie magic in Cinderella
Though it’s hardly a fairy tale existence, it would be hard to imagine a more perfect life for young Ella (Lily James). Her father (Ben Chaplin) is a very successful merchant and her mother (Hayley Atwell) is kind and dotes on her as they live an upper-class life that many would envy.

Happy blues birthday
The Illinois Central Blues Club started some 29 years ago when a group of blues aficionados joined forces to create one of the first area societies aimed at appreciating, supporting, enjoying and empowering blues music.

PUB CRAWL
Captain Geech & The Shrimp Shack Shooters.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Iron Orchard
Claiming to come from a “downtrodden region of Illinois known as Forgottonia” that others might call Western Illinois (Macomb to be more specific), this hard-hitting quartet is out to set the woods on fire by taking inspiration from the land where they live and turning it into heartfelt, hell-bent, heads-up, countrified, rocking music.

THE CALENDAR
BOOKS & AUTHORS An Evening with Illinois Author Taylor Pensoneau.

THEATER | Skate, spin, sparkle
The Springfield Figure Skating Club’s annual Spotlight on Ice.

MUSIC | Magnificent “Messiah”
This Saturday, March 21, at 7 p.m., join the Springfield Handel Society for a performance of the Easter portion of Georg Frideric Handel’s “Messiah.” Written by G.F. Handel in 1741-1742, the Baroque-era oratorio remains one of the most well-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western history.

LECTURE | Studying the sex trade
On Tuesday, March 24, at 7 p.m. join the University of Illinois Springfield’s ECCE Speaker Series for a Women’s History Month presentation on the exploitation of girls and women via sex trafficking.