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Bridging the racial divide takes building relationships
Eugene Robinson’s recent commentary following the shooting deaths of five Dallas police officers is profoundly insightful: “Black lives matter. Blue lives matter. Both statements must be made true if the heartbreaking loss of life in Dallas is to have any meaning.

Wasted
An old rule of thumb among business owners holds that half of all the money they spend on advertising is wasted. The problem is no one knows which half. The question of waste in government spending is much easier for most taxpayers to answer: government “waste” is any money spent on any program or service they don’t need.

It’s getting hot in Indianapolis
The proud Steelworker union members thought maybe they’d been called to the factory floor to hear about new orders for their quality products. After all, sales at parent company United Technologies were zooming – expected to jump at least $2 billion to $58 billion in 2016.

LETTERS
There is a correction that needs to be made to your letter on roundabouts with an accompanying photo (“Letters,” July 7). The roundabout at 12th and Capitol is not the first or only roundabout in Springfield. That honor goes to the roundabout in Park South, east of Black and Company.

Finally, a message with substance
Gov. Bruce Rauner has been touring Illinois to talk about his new “messaging.” He’s quite excited about his “messaging” plans, telling one reporter that if he could do anything differently about his tenure so far it would be to improve the way he gets his message out to voters.

Judge dismisses lawsuit over “racial profiling” traffic stop
One evening in November 2013, Samuel Johnson of Springfield was returning home from Bloomington on Interstate 55 when a Springfield police cruiser began following him. The two officers in the cruiser pulled Johnson over on East Clear Lake Avenue for failing to properly signal a lane change.

HEARING DELAYED
Attorneys for former employees of Jeffrey “I’m Broke” Parsons, who made and lost a fortune buying and selling precious metals and other valuables, may not read IT, but judges apparently do.

COP VS. COP
Deputy Travis Koester called the cops on June 2 to report that he’d just been confronted by Deputy Travis Dalby at a gym on Wabash Avenue. “If it isn’t work related, you need to keep my name out of your mouth,” Koester reported Dalby telling him, with a few curse words thrown in.

Unshackling kids in court
Paul Cain remembers many of his clients. There was the 14-year-old boy with ADHD, accused of retail theft and possession of a stolen car. There was the 16-year-old girl who suffered from anxiety attacks after being having been molested for years; she was in court for running away from home in violation of her probation from a previous case.

Farming out work
Less than 90 minutes after quitting time, the last member of this work crew from Mexico emerges, freshly showered, from the bathroom in a house that’s walking distance from a farm where they are employed as construction workers, performing such tasks as welding, installing doors and framing buildings.

A chance to step back in time
My friend and I seized on a chance to go to the beautiful Thomas Sappington House in St. Louis for a meal and tour. The Barn restaurant outside of the house is a combination gift shop and tea room that serves hearty fare. We sampled the breakfast meal, but they have some truly deliciouslooking desserts and fine-sounding lunch items as well.

Road trippin’
“Are you going to make deviled eggs?” This is the question my grandmother asks every time I tell her I’m preparing food to take on a road trip. “They’re just so good to take in the car.” This always amuses me, because honestly, deviled eggs seem incredibly impractical as road food.

Infiltrator not invasive enough
Has the increase in quality television affected the way we (or maybe it’s just me) watch films? For the last decade, many convincing arguments have been put forth that what with the coming of sprawling, multi-part, continuous series (The Sopranos, Game of Thrones,.

Bright, shiny music
The future sure looks bright, but maybe not bright enough to wear shades, as Pat McDonald once informed us. Did you know Timbuk3, Pat’s duo with his then-wife plus a tape player (they did that memorable hit song) played one of their first gigs out at Crow’s Mill School before they moved to Austin?.

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

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Rockin’ Johnny Burgin & Aki Kumar
A true dynamic duo, Rockin’ Johnny Burgin and Aki Kumar come ready to play at the weekly Blue Monday jam hosted by our Illinois Central Blues Club. Johnny has graced us before with his peculiarly wonderful, expressionistic way of doing real Chicago blues.

THE CALENDAR
Jul 15, 7:30-9:30pm Fri. For fans of Hollywood Game Night. Play fun word games, enjoy photo booth and other games. Food for purchase. Ages 21+ BYOB. $10. decaturarts.org. LOFT 125, Madden Arts Center, 125 N. Water St., Decatur, 423-3189..

Theater & Comedy | An interactive game show
Fans of NBC’s zany, celebrity-studded game show Hollywood Game Night.

Theater & Comedy | A dark musical comedy
The Springfield Municipal Opera, commonly known as The Muni, is one of the largest community theater groups in the Midwest. The Muni’s amphitheater, originally built in 1950 atop a 55-acre wheat field nestled near the shore of Lake Springfield, has hosted four performances each season for more than 60 years.