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A confederacy of dunces
The year was 2007, and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation was drooling over a collection of Lincoln documents and artifacts, including a stovepipe hat that’s become famous for all the wrong reasons. The hat was owned by Louise Taper, a denizen of Beverly Hills and a foundation board member.

Environmentalism shouldn’t be a dirty word
Democrats might be the face of modern environmentalism – but Republicans started the movement. Teddy Roosevelt was the driving force behind the system of national parks and forests. Richard Nixon created both the EPA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

How far-out is Trump’s war policy?
Yet, the war machine -– including a massive army of profiteering corporate contractors and the politicians they buy – keeps demanding more: more troops, more money, more profits ... more war. Finally, We the People need to awaken to another stark reality: War is stupid.

LETTERS
The relocation of the Third Street rail traffic to the 10th Street corridor will create a new section of railroad tracks from Phillips Street north to Ridgely Avenue. This section extends just east of 10th Street and through the Illinois EPA building (east of the historic clock tower), which will create a new underpass on North Grand Avenue.

All heat, no light
Rauner is convinced that J.B. Pritzker is a tool of the machine and that the machine is out to get him. The machine is most definitely out to get him, but he came off as undignified and angry. Maybe I’m just way out of touch, but I’d like to see a grown-up as governor.

GREAT GATSBY FOR SYMPHONY
Classical music supporters and latent jitterbug-fl appers alike, take note: On Sunday, Sept. 30, at 5 p.m., the Bloomington DoubleTree Hotel and Conference Center will provide the setting for “The Great Gatsby Gala, A Roaring Fundraiser for the Illinois Symphony Orchestra,” your best chance to help fund the ISO while emulating F.

Legacy’s Violet promises a transcendent musical road trip
“I call Violet an everywoman,” said Springfield-area actress Diane Dietz, who plays the title role in the locally produced show. “She is scarred from a horrible accident on her family farm when she was younger and she is stunted and stuck – emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

UIS MUSLIMS HOST PAKISTAN LECTURE
The Muslim Students Organization of University of Illinois Springfi eld will host a public lecture Saturday, Sept. 29, at 7:30 p.m. on the subject of “Pakistan’s foreign policy under the Imran Khan administration: Implications for the great powers.

Not just for business majors anymore
Associate professor Nathan Steele, Ph.D., a popular and respected instructor and researcher in University of Illinois Springfield’s college of business and management for over a decade, is excited about his recent appointment as director of the university’s Master of Business Administration program.

Starting Springfield’s economic engine
“This is, indeed, a once in a generation opportunity,” Timothy Killeen, University of Illinois president, said as he drew comparisons with Silicon Valley. “We are on the cusp of an extraordinary future for the state of Illinois,” Gov.

Cravings: How I Conquered Food
The rapturous applause at Rockford’s historic Coronado Performing Arts Center had subsided into a breathless silence. The audience was hanging onto every perfectly placed word as 79-year-old folk music icon Judy Collins, having set down her guitar, began to sing a cappella in a silkysmooth crystalline voice.

Timely Assassination a vicious cautionary tale
Graphic in its violence and the sexual habits of its disenfranchised teens, this clever update of the Salem witch trials is a movie that stokes the hysteria of our times as it delivers a pointed statement concerning our modern lack of privacy and the price one pays for denying your true nature.

Healing arts and blues
Other than the usual complaints of time passing quickly, we’ve had a dang good run of summertime fun, outdoor gigs and all. Now, as the festivals come to a close, with only a few left in early October and as the Sunday Funday patio and beer garden shows fade back inside, enjoy the time out of doors while you can, if you please.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Joel DaSilva (and band)
This award-winning, hard rockin’, busy, traveling blues man calls his stuff “Americana, roots rock and blues soul” to cover a wide range of an intense area of American music.

PUB CRAWL
Captain Geech and The Shrimp Shack Shooters.

ART | ‘Fancy’ materials meet everyday objects
On Thursday, Sept. 27, attend the opening reception for “Let the fancy,” the new exhibition at the UIS Visual Arts Gallery that is inspired by the John Keats poem of the same name.

THE CALENDAR
Extreme Haunted Hayrides and Zombie Paintball.

FESTIVALS | Tractors, small engines and steam engines
Take in three days of family fun during the Prairie Land Heritage Museum Fall Festival and Steam Show. This seasonal festival features bandstand performances, daily demonstrations and displays, as well as the opportunity to tour attractions such as a general store, one-room schoolhouse, sawmill, blacksmith shop, museums and Liberty Church.

FESTIVALS | A fall festival and flea market
Celebrate the fall harvest during the annual Apple ‘n Pork Festival at the C.H. Moore Homestead DeWitt County Museum in Clinton. The family-friendly event, which began 50 years ago with a pot of soup and a stack of sandwiches, has expanded to become one of the most popular festivals in downstate Illinois.