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The melting pot boils again
Consider this nightmare scenario. Thousands of religious refugees whose beliefs are radically outside the mainstream, acting with the connivance of compliant politicians, establish a theocracy within the borders of the Illinois commonwealth. Believers vote the way their prophet tells them to and establish their own courts.

How race affects presidential elections
The media have often stressed the importance of the minority vote in determining presidential elections. Some pundits have even gone further, contending that black and Hispanic support has been the prerequisite for a victory. How could a small electorate exert such powerful political influence?.

Let’s get on board with high-speed rail
Japan, Canada, France, Russia, India, England, Morocco, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Italy, China, Mexico, Poland, Spain, Brazil, Germany, South Africa, Turkey and more. But not us, the wealthiest nation, with dozens of cities dotted across a continent with millions of people who need fast, convenient rail connection.

LETTERS
Illinois may be in a budget impasse. We may have trouble paying our state bills but, by comparison, we have more money than neighboring states and Springfield has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state of Illinois. In other words, Springfield is an ideal place to start life over.

Divided they could fall
As you probably already know, the deal cut with Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office by state Sen. Toi Hutchinson (D-Olympia Fields) and others to mostly restore the draconian Child Care Assistance Program cuts Rauner made this past summer involved not voting on a bill which would’ve fully restored the governor’s cuts.

The price of honest government
The city has spent $79,000 on a consulting firm that last year recommended that an independent office be set up under contract to receive and investigate complaints. The consultant, Hillard Heintze of Chicago, says that it has received 15 complaints since setting up an interim inspector general’s office in January.

WHEN THE CAT’S AWAY…
The General Assembly is spending most days at home, mired in a weird war of attrition with the governor as Illinois prepares to celebrate the holidays without a state budget that was due before the Fourth of July.

HOLIDAY NUMBERS
The Illinois Chamber of Commerce released its 2016 Annual Holiday Survey this week, providing a glimpse at how Illinois employers will handle paid holidays in 2016. The survey of 483 fi rms showed that employers will offer slightly fewer paid holidays next year than last year – on average 8.

Woman pleads guilty to embezzling $2.5 million
Susan A. Satterlee of Springfield pleaded guilty on Nov. 5 to wire fraud, embezzlement and income tax evasion that occurred while she worked at a Springfield consulting firm. The prosecution in her case alleges Satterlee continued her misdeeds for several months after being confronted.

Illinois Innocence Project adds Latino focus
Angel Gonzalez spoke almost no English in 1994 when he became the prime suspect in a rape at an apartment complex in Waukegan. Gonzalez was wrongly convicted of the crime, imprisoned for nearly 21 years and finally freed earlier this year with help from the Illinois Innocence Project.

Letters to the future
World leaders from more than 190 countries will convene in Paris during the first two weeks of December for the long-awaited United Nations Climate Change Conference. Will the governments of the world finally pass a binding global treaty aimed at reducing the most dangerous impacts of global warming? Or will they fail in this task?.

History of a holiday
In the beginning there were Pilgrims and Indians, more or less like we learned in school: after a successful harvest in November 1621, the governor of Plymouth Colony organized a thanksgiving feast and invited members of the Wampanoag Indian tribe to the celebration.

Boys’ Girls’ Kids’ toys
Over the last few months, so shoppers don’t “feel frustrated or limited by the way things are presented,” the retailer has eliminated many of the gender-based labels in their stores, including in the toy section.

CuisineScene
Cuisine Scene continues next week with listings starting where this week’s listings left off..

Turkey bone gumbo
This is the third column in four weeks that I’ll have written about the food and people of Southern Louisiana. The first two were in response to culinary news: the passing of Paul Prudhomme, who was – literally and figuratively – a figure of immense importance in the evolution of America’s own culinary identity.

Beautiful Brooklyn a love story for the ages
The time is 1952, and young Eilis (Saoirse Ronan) is about to undergo a lifechanging experience. Wanting to provide more opportunity for her sister Rose (Fiona Glascott), she has arranged, through Father Food (Jim Broadbent), who lives in New York City, to come to the United States.

Thanks for music
As we prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday and ensuing weekend, please remember to add music to your list of items to be thankful for this year and all the time.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Captain Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters
Winners of the Rock Band award in our “Best of Springfield” poll for 2015, this band has steadily won a “Best of” category in music for the last several years.

PUB CRAWL
Hurricane Ruth LaMaster and the Big Bad Blues Machine, Mary Jo Curry & Tombstone Bullet.

THE CALENDAR
Fresh Evergreen Wreath Making Workshops.

CHILDREN’S CORNER | The journey of the season
Don your jammies, present your ticket and hop aboard the Polar Express! This weekend, The Legacy Theatre hosts four showings of The Polar Express,.

HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS | A 26-year tradition
Memorial Medical Center’s Festival of Trees is celebrating its 26 th season as a central Illinois holiday highlight. The goal of the festival is twofold: to bring holiday cheer to all ages and to raise money for community programs and outreach. Since 1989, Memorial’s Festival of Trees has raised more than $3.

MUSIC | A sacred oratorio
Join the Springfield Choral Society for its annual performance of Handel’s “Messiah,” the English-language oratorio originally intended as a thought-provoking work to be performed around Easter and Lent, but ultimately became a staple of the Christmas and holiday season.