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Chili with a Touch
When I was young, Springfield was a great chili town. We had Al’s Chili, the Dew, Scully’s, Franny’s and Lawsons, among others. There was even a plant manufacturing chili. One of my field trips in grade school was a visit to the Ray’s Chili plant on South 15th.

Thriving on disturbed ground
The dread of the invader runs deep in every human. The savage acts on it unthinkingly, by reaching for a club; the civilized man and woman is no less vulnerable to it but considers it disreputable, rooted as it is in ignorance and racism, and tries to calm it with reason.

Why the GOP’s fence fantasy is a farce
That land was the USA. It still exists as a place, but these days Republican candidates don’t even have to be qualified – much less sane – to run for the highest office in the land.

LETTERS
INSPECTOR GENERAL There has been a lot of discussion in recent months about how to handle 15 citizen complaint files which a temporary inspector general firm out of Chicago opened a year ago. The firm’s contract ended in February 2015 and there has been no action on the files since then.

New year, new attitude
After accusing Mayor Emanuel of being “afraid” to take on Madigan, Rauner said the reason for this was self evident: “The Speaker has been the most powerful politician in the state of Illinois for decades. It’s the main reason we’re in such big trouble as a state.

Education reform leaves states in charge
Understanding the new law requires understanding what it replaces. The federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, enacted in 2002, established a goal of all students nationwide being proficient in reading and math by the end of the 2013-2014 school year.

Slowing down for dinner
Slow Food proposes “that the quality of product, strengthening of local economy, and superior nutritional content makes it well worth breaking away from chains like Applebee’s, McDonald’s and Papa John’s,” said Karen Hine, leader of Springfield’s Slow Food chapter.

Mum’s the word
Trustee Jeffrey Richardson wants Green to return money he made in deals with Parsons for a Panther Creek home and a boat. Parsons paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to Green, much of it in silver coins, for the luxury home and boat.

Plenty of passion at Bernie Sanders rally
“Bernie Sanders is not afraid of the consequences of standing and speaking truth to power, and that takes extreme courage and vision,” said Urbana city councilman Aaron Ammons during a press conference held at noon Jan. 6 at the Capitol, to coincide with the official signature filing for U.

Updates to biofuel mandate bring costs for Illinois
Illinois farmers are disappointed with the final ruling of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s update to the corn ethanol mandate. The federal government recently called for more ethanol in the nation’s gasoline supply, but not enough more to please farmers.

Streamlining or steamrolling?
Illinois Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti led the Local Government Consolidation and Unfunded Mandates Task Force, which issued its final report to Gov. Bruce Rauner Jan. 4.

SHIPWRECK
The matter did not end there. Mizeur has prompted a stunning reversal in a federal lawsuit against Holland America, a Seattle-based cruise ship line, filed by James Hausman, former president of The Gold Center. Hausman sued after he was struck in the head by a sliding glass door aboard a Holland America ship in 2011.

Groundhog Days in Woodstock
The festivities begin this year on Jan. 28 with a dramatic awakening of the Groundhog on the balcony of the Woodstock Opera House, which served as the Pennsylvanian Hotel in the movie. Over the weekend you can attend the Groundhog Day Dinner Dance, participate in a Groundhog Day.

Foreign comfort
Decades later, it still makes me laugh. I was in third or fourth grade at what was then Ball Elementary School. Whatever grade, it was the first time I’d encountered world history at school. One of our first homework assignments was to bring a newspaper clipping from a foreign country to class.

Stunted Forest fails to thrill
Not sure why early January has become the time for low-budget horror films to be released, but it’s become a bit of a tradition, at least where the last five years are concerned. And while quality is not always guaranteed, the profits have been solid enough to continue this practice what with The Devil Inside.

Music delights
For those of you in the know about Greg Brown, Iowa’s treasure of a folksinger appearing at UIS in the Studio Theatre on Jan. 22, you should be aware that Bo Ramsey, Brown’s longtime partner in music, is scheduled to play along with his old buddy. As Greg is with words and melody, Bo is on slide guitar and musicianship, making them a spectacular team.

PUB CRAWL
Josie Lowder, Deep Hollow, Tom Irwin and The Raolougies.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Angela Perley & the Howlin Moons
Hailing from Columbus, Ohio and hitting towns all over the Midwest since 2009 with the sound and the fury of a modern American rock and roll band on a mission, Angela Perley (vocals, electric guitar, musical saw), Chris Connor (lead electric...

THEATER & COMEDY | A comedy of bad manners
Beat the winter blahs by taking in a hilarious comedy of bad manners set in a 1920s English country house. Hay Fever.

THE CALENDAR
Year. $12.50. mclimits.com. Mason City Limits Comedy Club, 114 E. Chestnut, Mason City, 482-5233..

THEATRE & COMEDY | A play about pursuing a deam
Join the Springfield Theatre Centre at the Hoogland Center for the Arts Jan 15-17 and 22-24 for their presentation of Tick, Tick… BOOM!,.