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Bring the legislature back
I represent a unique district on the west side of Springfield and Sangamon County – one with many dedicated state workers and many others who rely on the state for funding or services.

Get right or get out
Back in June, news got about that there was waiting on the governor’s desk a bill to set up a Muslim Advisory Council. Kumbaya gestures of this sort have long been popular among politicians pandering to groups whose good opinion they hope to win.

Legalized highway robbery
Consider the gang of debt collection firms that are thugglishly and lawlessly rampaging across the country, ruthlessly abusing consumer rights and common decency. Susan Macharia, a California administrative employee, is one of thousands of middle-income and low-wage workers each year who get robbed by these relentless money grabbers.

LETTERS
While secretary of state, she failed to get our citizens out of harm’s way in Benghazi, Libya, as other nations did. She was complicit having our military to stand down when our people were under attack by heavily armed terrorists.

Term limits ad already tops one million dollars
Turnaround Illinois, Inc. is one of those “dark money” nonprofit groups that doesn’t have to disclose its donors. It has so far booked $1,015,084 in broadcast, satellite and cable TV ads. The group purchased $684,455 in broadcast TV ads scheduled to run from Aug.

A fair deal
Claiming poverty, Gov. Bruce Rauner shut down the state museum and cut funding to preserve the papers of Abraham Lincoln, but when it comes to corndogs and butter cows, the band plays on, despite deep deficits in state fair bank accounts.

Battle over services to seniors and disabled
Home care services in Illinois consist of two state-funded programs – one through the Department on Aging which focuses on senior citizens in poverty, and another through the Department of Human Services focusing on people with disabilities.

Hindus at home on the prairie
New complete-with-fold-marks flags of India and the temple itself are ready, but the U.S. flag is missing. Nimavat, a pediatrician at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, unlocks the temple and checks inside. Still no luck. An American flag will be here soon, he determines after making a phone call.

Springfield snubbed a president
When receiving word that the Chief Magistrate is planning a visit, the hosting city is usually quick to roll out the red carpet. Not so in 1866, when President Andrew Johnson arrived in Springfield only to receive the cold shoulder from the city council and many prominent citizens.

Swimming upstream
Fish can be a beneficial component of a healthy diet. Fish are the major sources of longchain omega-3 fats, are high in protein and low in saturated fat. Evidence suggests that eating fish or taking fish oil is good for the heart and blood vessels.

Plenty to chew on in Sausage Party
It seems as though the food items at Shopwell’s grocery store have been sold a bill of goods. They’ve been told that those who shop there are gods and that their ultimate goal is to be chosen by one of them and taken to the “Great Beyond,” that mystical place beyond the sliding doors.

Fair to middlin’
With the wet and wild washout last Friday and more rain earlier in the week, this fair may become known as “the big wet one” or “the wash” or maybe even “the fair that went down the drain.” All kidding aside, things seem to be doing okay, considering it’s the first fair under our controversial governor and therefore new fair director and staff.

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

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Selector Dub Narcotic
Beginning way back in 1982, his Olympia-based label, K Records, provided an early template for indie rock, inspiring Kurt Cobain (who identified, tongue-in-cheek, as a “Calvinist”) along with helping to set the stage for the Riot Grrrl movement and releasing early music by Beck, Modest Mouse, the Melvins and many others.

THE CALENDAR
Volunteers band hummingbirds and describe hummingbird banding, migration. Visitors can adopt banded birds. lincolnsnewsalem.com. Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site, 15588 History Lane, Petersburg, 632-4000..

THEATER & COMEDY | Under the sea
See Ariel, Flounder, Ursula, King Triton, Sebastian and more during The Muni’s presentation of Disney’s Little Mermaid..

FAIRS & FESTIVALS | Migration celebration
This Saturday join The Log Cabin Birders and Lincoln Land Association of Bird Banders at Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site for a celebration of some of the world’s smallest birds.