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Tax holidays for Illinois gambling
Gov. J.B. Pritzker could immediately raise billions of new tax dollars by simply taxing Illinois gambling at the average rates of other states. Duped Illinois legislators have shortchanged pensions, education and social services since the 1990 advent of Illinois casinos – by leaving billions of tax dollars on the table for gambling industry insiders.

Pritzker on pot
With less than a month left in the legislative session, Pritzker unveiled a trial balloon, a bill most everyone acknowledges needs tweaks. Tweakers likely will start by eliminating home grow, given neither cops nor weed companies like the idea of just anyone producing pot.

Bad timing for Pritzker
If you listen closely to what Democratic state Reps. Sam Yingling and Jonathan Carroll are saying in public about their opposition to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s graduated income tax proposal, they appear to believe that Pritzker’s proposed tax rates aren’t high enough.

LETTERS
Although it is true that market pricing does fluctuate, solar power production is at its highest during mid-day of the summer months with June 21 theoretically being our best-producing day, due to the fact that is the longest day of the year (“CWLP rule would slow Springfield solar,” May 9).

History on the block
The Freeman-Hughes home at the intersection of West Monroe and South Walnut streets is stately in a subdued way, a place that still fits the neighborhood and has been lived in and loved over a lifetime that began in 1878, two years after Custer’s Last Stand and more than a century before current resident Mary Ann Langston bought it in 1984.

HOTEL REDUX
The subsidy includes $450,000 that would be paid to buy land before construction begins on property where Club Station House now stands on Washington Street.

Muhs leaves SJ-R
Reporter Dean Olsen said newsroom employees cried as Muhs left the building. She had previously announced her departure in a staff meeting, Olsen said, indicating that she hoped that her leaving might save suffi cient payroll to prevent further layoffs in what has been a series of cuts since Muhs arrived in Springfield five years ago.

Found a stray dog? You might soon be on the clock
The Senate last month passed SB1572, which would require people who find a stray dog to bring it to their local animal control agency or police department within 48 hours so the dog can be scanned for a microchip. If the animal is not brought in, those who find a stray dog would face fines from $50 to $500.

Discovering the east side
A. Morris Williams came to Springfield as a 23-year-old cobbler in 1902. Within five years he had obtained a law degree, which he put to use helping fellow African-Americans file retribution claims against the City of Springfield after the 1908 Race Riots.

Firehouse No. 5
The firefighters who worked there faced discriminatory treatment. They were given equipment that had been cast off by white fire departments. They were ordered to stay and clean up after fires were put out. Their only white colleagues were either supervisors or firefighters who had been transferred there as punishment.

The Lincoln Colored Home
The large brick building at 427 S. 12 th St. served as the site of Sangamon County’s first orphanage for African-American children from 1904-1933.

The Taylor Home
By 1982, the house had fallen into severe disrepair. Upon learning that the house was slated for demolition, Jerry Jacobson of Save Old Springfield stepped in, acquired the property, and put more than $50,000 of his own money into its restoration.

Fiction by a fact man
It is the early 1950s. Enter a Hollywood starlet, one now fading from the limelight. Brosky follows a tip for an opportunity to meet the famous woman – Clarissa Monnet. But, by the time he arrives, she’s gone. A few pieces of paper left behind provide clues for Brosky to pursue.

Southeast by Southwest
I jump on my bike and head to my neighborhood grocery store, a five-minute ride from my apartment. On the way I make a quick stop at Lang Bakery for a banh mi sandwich and a cup of Vietnamese iced coffee. I then cross the street and enter Super Cao Nguyen, a Vietnamese grocery store the size of Springfield’s Meijer.

Wick: Parabellum delivers goods, stumbles at the end
In the classic Hollywood musicals starring Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, it wasn’t uncommon for them to use props as they danced.

More May music
We like to welcome first-time performers to our patch of the world, so drop by Buzz Bomb Brewing Company on Thursday (7-10 p.m.) and say howdy to Jack Byron, a Chicago-based, singer-songwriter making his capital city debut. Along with a sack full of original tunes from his forthcoming debut album, Two Travellers,.

BAND SPOTLIGHT | Wild Ponies with Doug and Telisha Williams
This engaging, married duo, long steeped in old-timey music with a rock ‘n’ roll attitude, put out Galax in 2017 to meld their Appalachian roots to a contemporary concept of happening music.

LIVE MUSIC
David Lumsden Guitar with Black Magic Johnson.

FILM | Movies in the Park
This summer the Springfield Park District will host a series of outdoor monthly movies. Each movie will begin at dusk, or around 8 p.m. All of the movies are family-friendly and free. The park district has partnered with Ansar Shriners of Springfield to provide the concessions.

THE CALENDAR
May 18, 10am-5pm Sat. Local craft beer, wine and food, live entertainment, bags tournament, 5k. petersburgilchamber.com Petersburg Square, N. Seventh St. at W. Douglas Ave., Petersburg..

FESTIVALS | 50 years since Stonewall
The 1950s and 60s were a time when gay Americans faced an anti-gay legal system. Police raids on gay bars were usual and tensions between the two groups were already high in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, when the police raided the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan.