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A bigger Sinclair is bad for TV and bad for democracy
In May, the Sinclair Broadcast Group – one of the largest owners of TV stations in the country and owner of WICS-TV in Springfield – announced plans to spend $3.9 billion to acquire Tribune Media, parent company of 42 TV stations located in larger markets like Chicago and Los Angeles.

Foreign exchange
A college campus is a sleepy place in the summer, which makes summer a good time to go sightseeing. I’ve always enjoyed visiting the main campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana for that purpose. One sees things one seldom sees at home, such as people reading books in public.

How to get a health care system for people
Step one: eliminate every dime of the multimillion-dollar government subsidy that now covers platinum-level health insurance for all 535 members of Congress and their families.

LETTERS
I lost faith in making MacArthur Boulevard better (“Mixed bag on MacArthur,” Bruce Rushton, Sept. 14) when Roberts Auto was “not allowed” to build there and a Dollar General went in instead. The straw that broke my back was the treatment of the owner of the Shell service station.

Two female pioneers announce retirement
Back in 1979 when Currie started her first term, Chicago’s House delegation was packed with very conservative white men. But now, “I don’t feel as if I’m leaving a void” by retiring, the liberal legislator from Chicago’s liberal Hyde Park neighborhood told me Thursday night.

JAPANESE INTERNMENT DOCUMENTARY
Histories” fi lm series, including the short fi lm A Song for Manzanar, produced and directed by Springfi eld native Kazuko Golden and based on a story of the family of her mother, Springfi eld resident Yosh Golden, who was born in the Manzanar concentration camp in California during WWII.

Tom Irwin tilts at the big time
“We met John at The Castle in Bloomington in 2011,” recalled Irwin. At the time, Stirratt was playing bass in “super group” side project Candy Golde, which also featured Bun E. Carlos (Cheap Trick) , Rick Rizzo (Eleventh Dream Day) and Nick Tremulis.

BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE SOME FREON?
Down to a half-dozen news reporters (Springfi eld city hall reporter Mary Hansen, who’s taken a job at NPR Illinois, is the latest to leave), the paper has soldiered on in an era of cuts that have decimated newsrooms nationwide, and it shows in the product.

Humane Society takes larger role in Illinois ag
On Aug. 25, the Humane Society of the United States announced the formation of the Illinois Agriculture Advisory Council, with the aim of promoting farmers and ranchers who produce animal products with high animal welfare and environmental standards..

Outdated? Townships face scrutiny
And then there’s Janine Stroble. For 32 years, Stroble has been the tax collector in Springfield Township, home to 6,234 people who live in an area that stretches from Grandview to the outskirts of Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport.

Time traveling through the Lower Illinois Valley
The tranquil lower Illinois River valley, roughly the 71-mile stretch from Meredosia to where the river meets the Mississippi near the southern end of Calhoun County, belies its more turbid past. In the last 50,000 years, two fluvial episodes particularly affected the formation of the river valley seen today.

Fall harvest feasts Step away from the box
School is back in session and pumpkin spice has started to infiltrate our subconscious, but our local farmers are still out in the fields weeding, watering, harvesting and even planting new crops for fall. The harvest season is in full swing, and every year at this time I revel in the bounty of the peak season produce that’s available.

Hurricane Ruth and more
“I feel this is my best work to date. I’m very blessed to have been introduced to Tom. I did a 2 ½ hour interview with him before he decided to do the record,” she said. “You only go around once and I feel like I’m getting a second chance. I am very excited to be accepted by a producer of this caliber.

Challenging Mother! a dark parable for our times
I remember that during one of my father’s melancholy moments, of which there were many, he expressed a theory he had where God and human beings were concerned.

PUB CRAWL
Find more details and gigs in our online calendar at.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Marina V
Our Moscow-born, central Illinois-college educated and Los Angeles-residing singer-songwriter friend has a new album out. And with Nick Baker along to join in making music, Marina V is heading cross-country in support of Born to the Stars..

MUSIC | The ultimate ‘ladies night out’
Take a trip through the 1940s, 50s and 60s on Sunday, Sept. 24, during Leaders of the Pack,.

THE CALENDAR
Enjoy games and demonstrations, create origami art and make a pet rock while learning about pets of the past, present and future. $5 adults, free to members, youth, seniors, military, veterans. illinoisstatemuseum.org. 558- 6696. Illinois State Museum, 502 S.

MUSIC | From Shostakovich and Bach to Nas and Jay-Z
On Saturday, Sept. 23, Black Violin, a classically trained violin duo that combines an array of daunting musical influences (such as jazz, hip-hop, funk and classical) to create a signature sound described as “not quite maestro, not quite emcee,” will perform at Sangamon Auditorium.