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A woman’s visceral reaction to Trump
During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump said many things that were not entirely true. Whether he actually believed everything he said is difficult to know. Numerous women accused him of sexual harassment. While campaigning in Pennsylvania in October, Trump was widely quoted as saying, “Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign.

Country blues
Looked at in one way – actually, looked at in several ways – Donald Trump’s win was the revenge of the countryside against the city. While the billionaire common man couldn’t carry Illinois, he did prevail in every county outside greater Chicago.

THIS WEEK
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Bing bing, bong bong, bing bing
Since I can’t yet conjure up the deep meanings (or lack thereof) in this year’s national vote, I’ll offer instead a reflection on some of the oddities from this rutted and potholed general election road we’ve traveled, jouncing through the destruction brought largely by the furies howling from deep within The Donald.

LETTERS
Regarding Alastair Bland’s Nov. 24 article on the topic of “man-made global warming” and “man’s impact on global warming”: These theories have been proven to be nothing more than hype and garbage since 2010.

Innocent Decatur man released from prison
“It’s a great day and the journey’s just starting,” said a visibly emotional Charles Palmer of Decatur, surrounded by a jubilant crush of family and friends on Nov. 23. Palmer was released by the Illinois Department of Corrections on the day before Thanksgiving after spending 18 years wrongly imprisoned for the 1998 murder of William Helmbacher.

A fish tale
Early last spring, he started digging in the front yard of the house he shares with his wife, Mary, and her mother, Sue Meyer. He spent weeks creating deep pits and long trenches with a shovel and wheelbarrow, a grey-haired man in his 50s moving much dirt by hand.

STARS ALIGN FOR COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS TREE
As a past president and founder of Downtown Springfi eld Inc., Dennis Bringuet of Ace Sign Company has been a big supporter of the organization’s community Christmas tree, which they erect each year in the Old State Capitol’s south plaza. Almost every year there have been logistical issues in getting an appropriate tree in place on time.

LEGENDS AND FAIRY TALES
Historic sites in Springfi eld are gearing up for the holidays with events both somber and joyous. On Saturday at 1 p.m.

Mansion hosts exhibit by Springfield’s Nigerian artist
On Nov. 21, the Illinois Executive Mansion hosted an artist’s reception for Olu-Jimi Adeniyi of Springfield, resident artist for the Springfield and Central Illinois African- American History Museum. The exhibit, which completed its run on Nov.

SUSTAINABLY SUITED UP
The trouble with winter is that staying warm in the cold weather calls for lots of gear, and all of our manufacturing, selling and consuming takes a toll on the planet we call home. Here are a few thoughts on how to be smarter and what to watch for as you look to dress yourself for the snowy days ahead.

Star-studded books you need on your shelf
Zoe Sugg, better known as Zoella to her fan base, is an English fashion and beauty vlogger with over 11 million subscribers on YouTube. This is the second book in her fiction series about a girl named Penny and her rock’ n’ roll relationship with Noah.

Go big and go home
First there was the smartphone; now there is the smart house. More and more household appliances are going high-tech every year, bringing fresh efficiency and ease of use to the table. These futuristic gadgets aren’t your everyday holiday gifts, but they’re sure to become a daily source of enjoyment for all who use them.

The best gift ideas of the season
Rose gold is everywhere and she will want it on her smartphone. Splurge on the new Samsung Galaxy S7, available in a pink gold version exclusively at Best Buy. It comes with more wireless charging options, a dualpixel camera for blurry-free photos, water resistance and fingerprint security.

Beatty out of step with Rules
I’m often asked if I have any favorite filmmakers or actors, and if I do, if I go easy on them in the reviews I write of their work. Personally, the opposite is true – if anything, I’m harder on them because my expectations for their work are higher. So, perhaps my hopes for Warren Beatty’s Rules Don’t Apply.

December doings
Welcome to our first “Now Playing” of December 2016. Yes, indeed, you read that right. We are fast approaching good-old two thousand and seventeen, with New Year’s Eve leading us into First Night Springfield and plenty of other celebrations to bring us off and running into the new year as prescribed by our Western European calendar.

How to fall in love with Brussels sprouts
As a child, Brussels sprouts also topped my list of most hated foods. A 2015 Zagat survey found that barely half of Americans like Brussels sprouts. However after three decades of avoiding Brussels sprouts, I now have learned to love them and eagerly seek out the baseball bat-sized stalks that appear at farmers markets in the late fall.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett
As their promo blurb says, these guys “are guitar players. In fact, they are guitar players with the legendary band Little Feat,” and from there, the blurb goes on describing the incredible careers of these pillars of rock music.

PUB CRAWL
Captain Geech and The Shrimp Shack Shooters.

THE CALENDAR
Dec 4, 3pm Sun. Special performance of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, as performed in New York City in 1857. Live instrumental music, Spoon River Anthology readings and more before 3pm performance. Museum admission. PresidentLincoln. illinois.gov. 217-558-8844.

HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS | Christmas characters come to life
on Friday and 8 a.m. through 2 p.m. on Saturday. Meet beloved characters such as Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, the conductor of the Polar Express, Rudolph, Harry Potter, the Grinch, the Nutcracker and more during this seasonal spectacular.

MUSIC | Elvis is in the building
For an unforgettable holiday show celebrating the King of Rock ’n’ Roll, don’t miss Joseph Hall’s “Elvis Rock ’n’ Remember Christmas Show” on Friday, Dec. 2, 8 p.m., at The Legacy Theatre. This powerful tribute concert showcases the roots of Elvis’s musical career from rock ‘n’ roll to country, pop, rhythm and blues, gospel, and everything in between.