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Paradise and the Y block
The president wants to build a wall to keep out myriad deviants who would destroy our way of life. Whether a wall is a good idea is a matter of opinion, I suppose – even smart folks I know insist that a health care system based on the profit motive can work – but it is, at least, an idea.

Where to start? Fix the budget process
You could choose any number of marquee dilemmas to illustrate how broken congressional politics has become. Guns, Russian interference, climate change – Americans want progress on all of them and get little from Capitol Hill. But to my mind, nothing illustrates the dire state of our politics better than how we act on the federal budget.

Everybody does better when everybody does better
But he knew about bankers who regularly squeezed small-business families like ours with usurious interest rates. He knew how rough it was for a local business to fight off deep-pocketed chain stores that use predatory pricing and sledgehammer advertising budgets to seize local markets.

LETTERS
The vitality of Springfield’s live theater community is one of its most delightful assets, and the value of citizens volunteering to work together across all lines of age, race, gender and political persuasion to mount a production like All The Way.

The politics behind Rauner’s veto and the future of gun bills
We’ll get to the politics in a second, but, as with HB40, the governor was acting on his beliefs. Rauner is a strong abortion rights supporter, so he signed HB40 last year to provide public funding for abortions and protect women’s right to choose if Roe v.

Case hinges on eyewitness testimony
Priester’s murder trial, which began March 12, could be wrapped up by publication time. It hasn’t been a simple case. With no physical evidence linking Priester to the killing of Quinton Harden, 20, the state’s attorney’s office was left with eyewitness testimony, some of it contradictory.

NATIONWIDE GUN PROTEST HERE
A nationwide demonstration calling for gun legislation reform will be held at the Lincoln statue in front of the State Capitol this Saturday, March 24, at noon. Begun by student survivors of the Feb.

ILLINOIS PRESIDENTS CELEBRATED IN BICENTENNIAL EXHIBIT
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum will celebrate the Illinois bicentennial with a special exhibit exploring the lives and accomplishments of the four U.S. presidents who called Illinois home. “From Illinois to the White House: Lincoln, Grant, Reagan, Obama” opens Friday, March 23, and run for the remainder of 2018.

Where computers go to die. And live again.
From the outside, BLH Computers, Inc. looks like a small nondescript storefront business, located in a strip mall on Stevenson Drive in Springfield. If you’ve ever needed to dispose of an outdated computer or old TV, you may have walked in the door and dropped off your unwanted item, happy to get it out of your house.

Tools for battling e-waste
Electronic waste, commonly called e-waste, is a huge issue worldwide. In 2016, 44.7 million metric tones (49.3 million U.S.

The “Quiet Beatle” once made some noise in Illinois
Harrison and his brother, Peter, arrived in Benton on Sept. 17, 1963. The Beatles were already superstars in England and across Europe but were still unknown in the United States. (“I Want to Hold Your Hand” would be released stateside and go straight to number one on the Billboard.

Ali, adopted son of Illinois
Muhammed Ali died in 2016 at the age of 74. Upon his death, President Barack Obama eulogized him with the observation that, “He stood with King and Mandela; stood up when it was hard; spoke up when others wouldn’t.” In 2005, President George Bush awarded Ali the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Sauerkraut and sausages with a French accent
For those of you who rushed out and bought a couple heads of cabbage to try out my recipe, by now your salted cabbage should be fermenting into a mildtasting sauerkraut. At a temperature of around 65 degrees, this takes about three weeks. At this point you should taste your kraut.

Vikander deserves better Raider
Working as a bicycle messenger, she’s turned her back on the vast fortune left by her father, Lord Richard (Dominic West). Having disappeared seven years ago, Lara finally cedes to the wishes of her stepmother (Kristin Scott Thomas) and signs documents that would declare him legally dead and put his fortune in her hands.

Mixing it up in March
Please pay attention now to a Facebook page called Johnny “Slu” Sluzalis Appreciation (thanks Kyle Muskopf) and “appreciate” one of Springfield’s most enduring and endearing musicians, drummer John Sluzalis.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Corey Dennison Band
Chattanooga-born, Chicago-based and award-winning blues guitarist Corey Dennison is on a roll in the big-time blues world.

PUB CRAWL
Frank Parker’s Jambalaya Jazz Jam.

THE CALENDAR
Sangamon County Fairgrounds, 316 W. Birch St., New Berlin, 488-2685..

CHILDREN’S CORNER | Broadway on ice
Don’t miss the Springfield Figure Skating Club’s annual “Spotlight on Ice” program where scenes from Broadway shows are performed on an ice skating rink by Springfield area figure skaters. The 2018 “Spotlight on Ice” program features music from Something Rotten, The Chocolate Factory, Sleeping Beauty, Huckleberry Finn, Superheroes.

ART & ARCHITECTURE | Eclectic Art
On Saturday, March 24, take in an art show featuring the artists of ArtHive835, a group of central Illinois-based artists, makers, fine craftsters and a poet. This newish art collective was created in March 2017 following their first art show, which was held at the Inn at 835.

MUSIC | International organist Felix Hell
Enjoy music performed by the Illinois Symphony Orchestra and Felix Hell, one of the world’s most sought-after concert organists, on Saturday, March 24, during the ISO’s “Pipe Dreams” concert at Sangamon Auditorium.