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We need more sunlight
Less than one-third of Americans view elected officials as “honest,” and a lack of transparency lies at the core of this distrust.

Old letters
Hepzibah was a young woman of a sort we’ve all known – smart, full of gumption and eager for a little bit more from life than life was prepared to give her. “It does seem to me that any one who thinks me either pritty or remarkably inteligent must err greatly.

The Cannon Ball saga
The Dakota Access Pipeline is a massive 1,172-mile-long pipeline being constructed by Energy Transfer Partners. It will cut through North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois. This pipeline, owned by oilman Kelcy Warren, crosses 200 rivers and countless farms, and it cuts through the ancestral lands and burial grounds of the tribe.

THIS WEEK
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LETTERS
It didn’t tell you of the horrors going on in North Dakota. If you pull yourself away from mainstream media, you would see that the police and governor of North Dakota are out of control. They have pulled out all the stops with the National Guard, tanks, dogs, tear gas, rubber bullets and snipers.

TV ads as far as the eye can see
During any given campaign season, one or maybe two state legislative campaigns wind up running ads on Chicago broadcast television stations. But in the age of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s gigantic campaign contributions, it may be easier to count the number of Chicago-area candidates who aren’t running any city broadcast ads.

THE MORDERN WORLD
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Mud and money
“Mike Mathis chaired a political group that helped bankroll a politician guilty of child pornography,” blared a mailer sent to voters last month by the Republican Party, as opposed to the candidate herself. It was part of an effort by the GOP to cast Democrats as enablers of child pornography and pedophilia, based on the fact that former Rep.

NO CONTEST
As the most sordid political campaigns in memory wind down, the most depressing part of what’s left of democracy in America isn’t the mud or the promises to build walls or never-ending investigations of emails or zillions of dollars given and spent to spin and obfuscate and insult and buy infl uence.

WHAT DO YOU WANT?
representative democracy? The answer is something like the City of Springfi eld’s new “You Plan It” map, which gives residents a chance to tell the city what they want to see done around town.

Keeping parolees out
The settlement in the lawsuit against the Illinois Department of Corrections and the state Prisoner Review Board comes as the state’s prison population has plummeted from nearly 49,000 offenders in 2014 to slightly more than 44,000. Still, the system, which is designed for 32,000 inmates, remains overcrowded.

Running out of time
That the future president sometimes visited the YWCA is only a small piece of the building’s rich history. Over the years, it has hosted women and children in need, sports teams, public meetings, classes, social events and more, making it an important cultural center in Springfield for nearly 100 years.

Powell’s politics of pragmatism
Three such pragmatists were Paul Powell, Clyde Choate and John Stelle of southern Illinois, the dealmakers of Robert E. Hartley’s spare but worthy book about the nature of political clout that helped rule Illinois for 30 years after World War II.

Titanic exhibit comes to Peoria museum
Ever since Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet stood on the bow in that blockbuster movie, crowds have flocked to exhibits dedicated to all things Titanic. Swinging a trip to museums in Southampton, England, or Halifax, Nova Scotia, would be a stretch, but soon your heart can go on with a day visit to Peoria.

There’s joy in a pot of ham and beans
There is a certain type of satisfaction that comes from cooking a pot of beans from scratch. I always catch myself meditatively stirring at some point in the process, once again amazed that a $1.39 bag of beans and some veggies could turn into a huge pot of utter deliciousness.

True heroism at the heart of brutal Hacksaw
On May 1, 1945, the unthinkable occurred. Attempting to take a ridge on the island of Okinawa, the 1 st Battalion of the United States Army suffered massive casualties due to heavy enemy fire. Refusing to let his fellow soldiers die on the battlefield, medic Desmond Doss returned again and again, under fire, to where they lay dying and wounded.

Now November
Goodbye October, and hello November. The days of outdoor shows have faded into the nearness of holiday walks and upcoming Thanksgiving specials. This weekend features a good collection of fun happenings to keep it all aglow and in flow, and you in the know.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Anna Fermin’s Trigger Gospel
She’s been called “the voice of Chicago” and “one of Chicago’s most treasured voices” by respectable critics in the Windy City, and this charming, Americana-based singer-songwriter indeed lives up to the spectacular reviews.

PUB CRAWL
James Armstrong Presents Baaad Boyz with Tony Young.

THE CALENDAR
Nov 13, 1-3pm Sun. Two-hour GriefShare seminar lends support and acceptance to the grieving process in a safe, caring environment. Videos, discussion, sharing and more. Free to public. trinity-lutheran.com. 217-899- 9418. Trinity Lutheran School, 515 S. MacArthur, 787-2323.

FAIRS & FESTIVALS | Celebrate ethnic diversity
Celebrate 39 years of diversity at the University of Illinois Springfield by attending the Annual International Festival on Friday, Nov. 4, from 5-8 p.m. The free festival is hosted each year by the Office of International Student Services and serves as UIS’s longest-running student-led program.

FILM | Independent films in Springfield
See some of the top films from around the world shown right here in central Illinois during the 15 th Annual Route 66 Film Festival. The two-day festival consists of five sessions of films along with a Friday night after-party and a Saturday evening awards ceremony and reception.

FILM | The healing power of art
On Monday, join the University of Illinois Springfield Engaged Citizenship Common Experience Speaker Series (ECCE) for a presentation and discussion of the 2005 documentary film Shakespeare Behind Bars..