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Health care ‘reform’ could devastate Illinois
While I often disagree with policy positions articulated by Gov. Bruce Rauner, I had to agree with him when he spoke out against the current effort to convert Medicaid into a Block Grant being pushed by Republicans in an attempt to derail the Affordable Care Act.

More parking downtown?
First it was going to be the site of a courts complex, then of a new Lincoln museum. After that hope fizzled it was going to be home to a showcase mixed-use development, but the City of Springfield backed out of the deal. “It” is the YWCA block downtown, the graveyard of broken dreams, two acres of salted earth where big ideas go to die.

Why so many people loathe Congress
Not the symbolic Uncle Sam, but Sam Johnson. Although he’s been a member of Congress more than a quarter of a century, it’s unlikely you’ve ever heard of him. He’s a lawmaker who holds a congressional seat but just sits in it, achieving so little that he’s unnoticeable.

LETTERS
BEVERAGE TAX ACT While the recent Sugar- Sweetened Beverage Tax Act story (“Lawmakers propose tax on sugary beverages,” by Alex Camp, Jan.

Timing and the governor’s ‘leverage’
Question the timing all you want, but last week’s legal filing by Attorney General Lisa Madigan to stop paying state employee wages without an official appropriation is long overdue and is completely consistent with a 2016 Illinois Supreme Court...

Hard times
The comptroller’s office has just sent out June paychecks to legislators who were last paid in August. Due to the state budget impasse, Leslie Munger, the former comptroller, last spring put legislators’ paychecks in the state’s burgeoning pile of unpaid bills, saying they should wait to get paid just like others to whom the state owes money.

HISTORIC BARN PHOTOS SOUGHT
The local haylofts and corn cribs of Sangamon County could soon be featured in an e-book focused on the iconic farm structures. The book is a project of the Sangamon County Historic Preservation Commission (SCHPC) and will feature photos of haylofts and corn cribs from throughout the area.

ILLINOIS VINTNERS HOST WINE FESTIVAL
On Feb. 24, the Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Association (IGGVA) will host the 2017 Winter Wine Festival in Springfi eld. The festival, organized in coordination with the Illinois Department of Agriculture, coincides with the IGGVA’s annual conference, and is open to the public.

Springfield reacts to Trump’s immigration order
My mother, she’s a doctor in pharmacy from Syria.… My mother, she has a green card, and now she cannot come to U.S. because of (Trump’s) order,” she said. “Regardless of the education. We are human beings. We don’t want to again and again prove that Muslims are not terrorists.

Looking for lead in school drinking water
Thanks to a new law, lead in drinking water will be tracked more proficiently at schools and day-care centers. On Jan. 16, Gov. Bruce Rauner signed a law requiring school districts statewide to conduct sampling for lead contamination in each school building’s drinking water.

Arms race
The civilian version of the military-issue M16 rifle that’s become a weapon of choice for mass shooters comes with a 30-round magazine, and each deputy will carry two extras, giving them 90 rounds of ammo. Deputies also carry shotguns and 40-caliber Glock 22 handguns equipped with 15-round magazines.

Young poets society
Poetry is at once the most marginalized and the most accessible of art forms. Pretty much anyone with both a thought and the desire to express it can jot down a few words and head to the local coffee shop to declaim in front of whoever will listen. But the practice remains relatively rare.

Springfield’s connection to Mar-A-Lago
His father, Charles Rollin Post, was a friend of Abraham Lincoln; in 1865, the elder Post was part of the honor guard that accompanied Lincoln’s body back to Springfield. C. W.

Borscht beets all for winter warmth
Few dishes are more aptly suited to counter the effects of the bracing February wind than hot borscht. I remember the first time it was served to me as a young child. My family was in Chicago for the weekend, and it was a typically frigid winter day.

Simplistic Purpose a bit listless
Based on the novel by W. Bruce Cameron, the dog in question is existential in nature, constantly wondering, “Why am I here? What is my purpose?” It’s no surprise he can’t come to any definitive answer as he’s reincarnated again and again, returning as a different breed each time, sometimes changing sex along the way.

February findings
Here comes fantastic February, finely focused on the “fickle finger of fate” as they used to say on “Laugh-In.” Oh my, that will date some of us; but the “F’s” are flying in February because it’s fun and full of folly to fantasize otherwise. Forward!.

PUB CRAWL
Open Mic w/ Roger Wilco and the Starship Troopers.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | The Loops
After a year of working out the kinks and playing “sparingly” around town, The Loops are now ready to roll onto the local scene in full force.

Don’t miss the Vachel Lindsay...
Don’t miss the Vachel Lindsay Association and Springfield Youth Performance Group Foundation’s “VOLTA: Animal Kingdom” show. VOLTA is an annual performance that showcases Springfield’s talented youth in the arenas of poetry, music and dance, this year featuring animal-themed vignettes.

THE CALENDAR
Comedians Dennis Piper and Chris Siemer.

THEATER & COMEDY | An intimate theater experience
Step back in time to a fabled world of kings, queens and medieval sword-fighting during The Lion in Winter,.