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We face real challenges to democracy
For starters, it’s hard to make American representative democracy work. Our country is large, growing and astoundingly diverse by every definition of the term. To govern it, we rely on a bewildering array of branches and units of government, which means that to solve a problem you have to navigate a slow, untidy system.

Home is where the boss is
Well, looks like we got taken again by a big out-of-town jasper. The Omaha-based processed food giant Con-Agra – parent of Chef Boyardee, Swiss Miss and other take-in fast foods – is moving its 700-person corporate headquarters to downtown Chicago. The Tribune.

Thieves get richer the old-fashioned way
With the 2016 presidential campaigns in full swing, the burdens of the working middle class have taken center stage. And believe it or not, there is bipartisan support from the front-runners on a key issue brought up over and over again. Donnie Trump is for it.

LETTERS
A TOP-HEAVY 186 I support Springfield Public School District 186 – I always vote “yes” on bond issues for schools. However, 5.3 percent of our budget spent for administration is not “slightly more” than 3.3 percent statewide (“Balancing school books,” Patrick Yeagle, Sept.

A Statehouse divided
The House has 71 Democrats, the exact number of votes required to overturn a veto in that chamber. So, while the Senate Democrats can be missing a few people or have some folks who don’t want to go along, they can still override the governor on partisan votes.

Supporters defend Lincoln papers project
The association has provided financial support for the project since the 1980s. Oct. 8 could prove a critical day, as it is the project’s deadline to apply for a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, a division of the National Archives that has helped fund the project in the past.

Mautino nominated for top auditor
By all accounts, Illinois Auditor General William “Bill” Holland made the leap from a Senate Democratic chief of staff to his current role as a fiercely independent auditor with ease. He adamantly avoids injecting politics into the audits his office conducts, and he rarely even expresses personal opinions about anything publicly.

LIGHTS ARE ON, BUT...
While a panel of state legislators acted quickly to pick a replacement for retiring Illinois Auditor General Bill Holland (see article this page), another high-level investigative offi ce in state government has been vacant going on six months.

OOPS
Folks who work in prisons aren’t supposed to be criminals. And then there is Dr. Arthur Davida, erstwhile medical director at Stateville Correctional Center. Davida was once in private practice in Bloomingdale as an employee and part-owner of Home Care Physicians.

Visa flap could affect thousands of immigrants
The perceived transgression was giving certain highly skilled immigrants from China and India false hope of moving closer to citizenship, only to revoke that hope after many people had already spent thousands of dollars in preparation.

AUTUMN 2015 BREW REVIEW
Absent the blast furnace of summer, we become more finicky, less willing to shotgun can after can from 18-packs that dip below 10 bucks when the temperature shoots past 90 degrees and humidity strains our ability to do anything except, well, drink beer.

Pâté à choux
Pâté à choux, or – as my grandmother called it – cream-puff dough, dates back to at least the 16th century. Choux is the French word for “cabbages”; apparently they think that’s what baked choux goods resemble.

CuisineScene
Freddy’ s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers.

Girls, gardens and grooves
With all kinds of crafts, vendors and kids activities along with the finest of central Illinois entertainers on a nice outdoor stage, this weekend the Lincoln Memorial Garden presents their annual Indian Summer Festival. The music starts at 11 a.m. and goes until 4 p.

Meandering Walk ultimately rights itself
There’s no question that Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a breed apart. This young Frenchman, who as a teenager became enamored with high-wire walking, has said that such a job is not courting death (a word he never uses) but living life to its fullest.

Filmmaker shines a light on Malala
News of this incident swept the globe, prompting international outrage and condemnation of the act. Rather than going into hiding, Yousafzai took advantage of the fact that she was front and center on the world stage, becoming a symbol of resistance and an advocate for women’s rights, particularly those of teenagers and young girls.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Dave Alvin, Phil Alvin & The Guilty Ones
Here’s a record with a story to tell, not only in the songs recorded but in the recording of the songs. After Brian Zilm finished tracking his latest album in Springfield at Frequincy Recording with owner-operator Quincy Watson, the local singer-songwriter decided to call in a long shot.

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

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

HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS | From funeral home to graveyard
The Terror on the Square scare squad takes haunting to a whole new level in this year’s Terror in the Graveyard event.

HISTORY | A Sunday stroll through history
This Sunday, a popular walking tour returns to Oak Ridge Cemetery after a seven-year hiatus. The public is invited to enjoy a guided stroll through Oak Ridge Cemetery, during which they will learn about historical figures from Sangamon County. Costumed actors will be stationed at noteworthy grave sites to tell the stories of the people who lie there.

BOOKS | Gender in the world of Hogwarts
This Tuesday, enjoy a UIS ECCE Speaker Series presentation that features analysis and discussion on the gendering (masculine, feminine, androgynous or gender bent) of characters in J.K. Rowling’s beloved books, supplemented with excerpts from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.