All that banging and buzzing you might have heard coming from the Springfield city council chambers in September was the council and mayor building a wall along the city’s border with Sangamon County and the world beyond.

European regulators’ recent finding that Apple avoided billions of dollars in taxes by stashing its profits in Ireland, a known tax haven, put the tech giant in an unwelcome spotlight. But Apple’s tax dodging is just the tip of a huge iceberg of offshore corporate tax avoidance.

A dramatic new chapter is unfolding this year in a volatile confrontation on a remote stretch of the northern Plains in rural North Dakota. It’s a “Battle of Two Pipes,” pitting the cultural power symbolized by the Native American peace pipe against the bruising financial power of a giant pipeline owned by Energy Transfer Partners.

A new report on the impact of the legalization of marijuana noted Colorado stands out as the only state which is the top consumer of opioid painkillers for non-medical use, marijuana, alcohol and cocaine. Marijuana-related traffic deaths, emergency department visits related to marijuana, and crime have all increased in Colorado.

Democratic House candidate John Bartman was appointed to the ballot in July when Rep. Jack Franks (D-Marengo) dropped out of the race to run for McHenry County Board chairman. Bartman is not getting help from the House Democrats, who appear to have all but conceded.

The aggressive and unrepentant tax avoidance of Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump has become a major flashpoint in the presidential campaign, but it also underscores a broader debate about the fairness and wisdom of tax codes riddled with special breaks.

With the awful tone of this election season at both the national and state levels, Election Day (Nov. 8) can’t come soon enough. But time may feel like it’s slipping away if you’ve been too busy to register to vote or change your registration.

It’s a booming business, according to the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which says the total amount of “improper payments” for Medicaid last year totaled more than $29 billion and accounted for nearly a tenth of all payments. Just one caveat: you’ll probably get caught, and you may serve some prison time.

Back in 1984 we ran our fi rst Best of Springfi eld reader survey. Thirty-two years later we›re still at it, and Best of Springfi eld has become a brand of its own. Thank goodness for technology – it makes counting votes just a little bit easier than the old paper ballots.

There comes a point when creativity and enthusiasm go too far. This week’s recipe, reprinted from an article written by my late wife, Julianne Glatz, in 2014, is an example of something that might be a bit close to the intersection of cool and creepy.

Like a modern-day Paladin, Reacher is seen thumbing rides from town to town, righting wrongs that he encounters along the way. Eventually he winds his way back to Washington, D.C.

Welcome to the terrorizing time of Halloween, the Devilish Day of the Dead and the most frighteningly fearsome event of all, the upcoming 2016 election. But we’re here to talk about music, and this week brings us a catastrophic cacophony of wacky wonderment, meant to entertain, scare, frighten and, otherwise, remove the bejesus out of you.

Illinois State Fairgrounds Exposition Building, 7-9pm..

Oct 29, 7-8:15pm. Organ concert accompanied by vocal pieces, dramatic reading and interpretive performance art. Dress all in black, all in white or in costume, if desired. Free. lincolnschurch.org. First Presbyterian Church, 321 S. Seventh St., 528-4311..

The event, which is geared towards children ages five and older along with their parents and guardians, will feature spooky science demonstrations and simple experiments that can be recreated at home. All activities will be led by LLCC Chemistry Club members under the supervision of LLCC’s professor of chemistry, Jennifer Ramm.

You’ll howl your way through this slapstick act featuring Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College graduate Johnny Peers and his 12 talented dogs that perform challenging and difficult tricks. Johnny has been working with dogs since he was a young boy who adopted his first puppy, a beagle named Freckles, from the Humane Society.

With more than 50 years of experience as a touring comedian, Gallagher has filmed 14 Showtime specials, made more than 4,000 appearances, and destroyed countless watermelons in the process.