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On not doing wrong
A new set of guidelines issued by Springfield’s Bishop Thomas Paprocki bans people in same-sex marriages from receiving funeral rites in local Roman Catholic churches, receiving communion or serving in parish ministries. Paprocki has even decreed that such parents may not sponsor their own children for baptism.

Sanders supporters plan future of progressive movement
Earlier this month I attended the 2017 People’s Summit in Chicago along with several thousand other progressive activists. The event was sponsored by a “who’s who” of left-leaning Democratic Party organizations connected with Bernie Sanders, who was the keynote at the event.

Amazon buys out Whole Foods Market
In other words, you can find work, but getting paid for it is another matter. And forget about such “luxuries” as health coverage, pension, sick leave, vacation time and having a regular schedule.

LETTERS
LESSONS ON LIFE SKILLS I agree with the June 29 article titled “Real innovation,” written by James Krohe Jr. Even though I have a college degree that served me well, I think too much emphasis is put on sending everyone to college and not enough on life skills and thriving in the real world.

Christine Radogno: A class act, through and through
The fact that several Senate Democrats showed up for her press conference last week to announce she was resigning and then took turns hugging her after it was over demonstrated the deep well of respect and admiration she had built in the building.

LANDMARK CEMETERY
The Sangamon County Historic Preservation Commission (SCHPC) has named Churchill Cemetery – currently owned by Clear Lake Township – an offi cial county landmark. The small cemetery, previously known as Bissell Cemetery and the German Prairie Cemetery, is located off Route 54 on Colt Road.

AP enrollment skyrockets
Last year, 745 students in Springfield School District 186’s three high schools enrolled in AP courses that can earn them college credit if they score sufficiently high on spring exams, the district says. Next fall, 1,053 students are scheduled to take AP classes.

PROFESSOR OF HIP-HOP
Decatur native A.D. Carson – former Springfi eld High School English instructor and writer-in-residence at Benedictine University – has recently been named “assistant professor of hip-hop and the global south” for the University of Virginia’s McIntire Department of Music.

Jail suicide case settled
The $550,000 settlement reached last month came after U.S. District Court Judge Richard Mills in March ruled that jailers had failed in their duty to keep Dennis Adams safe. The ruling left the amount of damages the only question for a jury to decide, and so the sides settled absent a trial.

A walk on the artistic side
So proclaimed multidisciplinary artist Astrid Kaemmerling when queried about her personal opinions regarding the Enos Park neighborhood and her experiences of Springfield in general during a brief question and answer session at the well-attended...

Repairing the world
Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932) helped turn Sears, Roebuck and Co. from a middling mail order firm into a retail megalith. According to Wikipedia, between 1895 and 1907, annual sales of the company climbed “from $750,000 to upwards of $50 million” under his guidance.

Images of Illinois
The sixth annual Images of Illinois photography contest saw numerous changes. The contest showcases the splendor of Illinois through professional, amateur and youth photography. It is spearheaded by the SAA Collective and sponsored by Illinois Times, Cherry Berry, PSC Digital and MicroPower Computer Systems.

Skirt steak
About 10 years ago, I was camping at Summer Camp Music Festival at Three Sisters Park in Chillicothe near Peoria. Summer Camp is a four-day event over Memorial Day weekend featuring over 100 bands and attended by over 20,000 people. Back then my camping set-up consisted of my van, tent and E-Z Up canopy.

Holland’s exuberance energizes Homecoming
“Amazing,” “astonishing” and “spectacular” are all adjectives that have been used to describe various comic book iterations of the famed web-slinger Spider-Man, and they certainly are apropos in relation to the latest big screen effort he’s in, Spider-Man: Homecoming.

July on the move
Friday night brings us a sweet selection of regular local groups at the normal haunts including Broken Stone at Trade Winds, Betty Whitesnake at Weebles and Devin Clemons Band at Long Bridge. Keep the winds blowing in the same direction with Hard Road Blues Band at Brookhills, Harmony Deep at Lime Street, and Mojo Cats at the Curve.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Mr. Opporknockity
It seems just like yesteryear! In 1997, Troy Roark and Doug Gholson broke on the scene as Mr. Opporknockity with “Lisa’s Shirt,” a bona fide, local hit song on WDBR-FM from the acoustic guitar-powered, high-energy vocal duo.

PUB CRAWL
Pryss, Transgression, Head Change, Prowess.

Timeless hunger
Of all the stories of the settling of the American West, none is as compelling, heroic and tragic as that of the Donner Party, which stepped into history on April 15, 1846, from Springfield, Illinois.

THEATER & COMEDY | Stop the presses!
Central Illinois theater lovers are in for a treat this July, as Springfield’s Legacy Theatre has been selected as one of 12 regional theater groups across the United States to receive licensing rights for Disney’s hit Broadway musical titled Newsies: The Musical.

THE CALENDAR
Springfield Highland Games and Celtic Festival.

NATURE | Batty for bats
Join the Illinois State Museum and the Organization for Bat Conservation on Saturday, July 8, for the Illinois Bat Festival, a division of the Great Lakes Bat Festival, which celebrates bats and their unique role as insect-eaters in ecosystems.