When I lived there, I attended, more than once, the annual International He-Man Conclave in Butts, a tiny burg 100 miles southwest of St. Louis. It was great fun and, as the name implies, the event was limited to men who brought beer, whiskey, chili, porno mags, four-wheelers and junk couches in hopes of building a bigger bonfire than last year.

I wouldn’t consider myself a gambler. I never learned to play cards, my poker face is the exact opposite of Lady Gaga’s and a night at the horse races never elicited much interest from me.

And the most vulnerable of those are newbies who’ve taken controversial votes. Rep. Mark Kalish (D-Chicago) was appointed to his seat in January and then flip-flopped on the abortion issue and voted against the Reproductive Health Act, making him one of the most vulnerable House Democrats.

The town hall held on July24 was an effort to present what is possible for a better and more holistic approach to assisting homeless persons. The proposed Center for Health and Housing is an opportunity to provide multiple services in one central location.

Compass for Kids encourages everyone in Springfield to vote at bitly.com/compassfeedskids, all 10 votes every day, to support their Backpack Feeding Program and provide food for over 300 students this next year.

Chris Stone, CEO of HCI Alternatives that sells medical pot on Adams Street, confi rms that his company has identified a second site within city limits where it hopes to start selling recreational pot once legal sales are authorized to start on Jan. 1.

And yet, according to John Eck and others with the MacArthur Boulevard Association, there is room for hope. The Town & Country default may have a silver lining.

For senior care advocates in Illinois, a state funding increase is a reason for optimism after a prolonged period of government disinvestment. The financial crisis was marked by a crippling two-year state budget impasse which continues to leave its mark on social service providers.

“On fair day my mother would always get up at four o’clock in the morning to fry chicken to take along,” my grandmother mused as we drove along looking for the best parking deal. “She’d pack up a picnic and we’d sit on the hillside and eat.

We begin with another loss to our musician community, as we sadly announce the passing of guitarist, friend and allaround good guy, Tom Lewis. He fiercely battled cancer for the last few years, and even during that time, continued to spread his brand of joy, per usual.

Mr. Opporknockity with Chris Camp and Blues Ambassadors.

This 20-year-old singer-songwriter and performing artist hails from Crawfordsville, Indiana, but she’s traveled far and wide on a wonderful and unfolding musical adventure. She decided at the ripe old age of five to devote her life to music and wrote her first songs at age eight.

Woody Guthrie: Bound For Glory with Barry Cloyd.

Summer is still going strong, but you are running out of chances to spend a warm evening strolling through the Moonlight Market. The market highlights local artists and artisans, crafters and vendors from Springfield and central Illinois. It’s a great place to find unique items and locally made products.

Many of us are under an illusion about our prairie state’s past – bison roaming a prairieland fresh from a cleansing glacial scour, the arrival of Native Americans who centered their life around the wondering herds until Euro- Americans arrived and extirpated both bison and Indians, while destroying the prairie.

New Salem’s Theatre in the Park is closing its season with Walking Across Egypt,.