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Dr. No Feelgood
King got in touch recently after I wrote about Jimmy Garland, a state retiree who says that he was rejected as a patient at Memorial Medical Center’s pain clinic due to a positive marijuana test.

Gun violence is a public health hazard
On March 14 of this year, students across the U.S. left class for 17 minutes – one minute for every person killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre. It is a bit disheartening to realize that, if the students had instead chosen to stay out of class one minute for every person killed by gunfire in the U.

The New York Times strikes out
The piece claimed that the formidable presidential contender of 2016 has been a ballot box flop this year, failing to “expand his political base and propel his personal allies to victory in Democratic primaries.

LETTERS
I question the use of “marginalization” when referring to the illegal immigrant children being held in detention centers in the U.S. because they are here illegally, not because they belong to an ethnic group of which millions are living here as legal citizens.

Pritzker takes over Democrat Day
Back in the old, old days, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley would pack passenger trains full of loyalists and send them all to the Illinois State Fair’s Democrat Day rally where they were treated to rousing speeches by party leaders and candidates. Gov.

Council rejects library camping ban
The latest proposal by Mayor Jim Langfelder failed Tuesday as the city council in a 5-5 vote rejected his plea to close library grounds after hours and force homeless people who’ve been sleeping outside the library to move elsewhere. Just where they would go no one knows, and that was a major point for those who opposed Langfelder’s proposal.

HEART SURGERY RECOVERY
The Prairie Heart Institute at HSHS St. John’s Hospital will open a new cardiovascular intensive care unit (CVICU) July 16. The new space will be dedicated to helping cardiac patients recover after open heart, cardiovascular, vascular and thoracic surgeries.

FIRES AND OTHER DISASTERS
When last we checked, folks conducting a series of polls about the best and biggest as part of observances of Illinois’ bicentennial had decreed that the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum was the Prairie State’s best museum. Now, voters have decided that Lincoln’s assassination was the state’s most heartbreaking moment.

Trail blazing
After years of idle public speculation, abandoned plans and long periods of apparent inaction, the stretch of Jackson Street north of the Governor’s Mansion will unveil the results of a new streetscaping project.

Free Frank’s City of Brotherly Love
Picture what life was like in the 1830s in western Illinois near the Mississippi River. Although the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 prohibited slavery in the area that became Illinois, residents could keep their current slaves. Across the river in nearby Hannibal, Missouri, slavery was part of the lifestyle.

Fresh blueberry pie
Memory is a funny thing. As easily as you can forget what you ate for lunch yesterday, a single whiff of an aroma from the past can transport you back in time.

First Purge’s vital message obscure
I certainly hope that’s not the case, but, again, I’m not sure of much anymore. I would rather think that viewers are able to identify with the disenfranchised characters in these films, which have increasingly become their focus, unlike the first entry.

AA Fest A-OK
The food and drink is your choice, but the music is brought to you by a committee and they’ve delivered a nice variety of local, regional and national acts to fill the bill.

PUB CRAWL
Illinois State Fair Regional Karaoke Contest.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Kevin Gordon
This northern Louisiana native and current East Nashville resident gets around and has done so for a couple decades now. Kevin Gordon duets with Lucinda Williams, has been reviewed on NPR and in No Depression.

THE CALENDAR
Admission: $5 adults, $2 kids 8-13, free to kids under 8. Free admission on Sunday. themorgancountyfair. com. 245-6800. Morgan County Fairgrounds, 110 N. Westgate, Jacksonville..

THEATER & COMEDY | Valley girl turned law student
Don’t miss The Muni’s production of Legally Blonde: The Musical..

MUSIC | Debut choral performance
On Saturday, July 14, enjoy a debut concert by Spero Chamber Chorale, a new, Springfield-based choral ensemble founded as an outlet for local music teachers and professional singers. According to Dr.