Rickey Meredith presents his 70s Solo Acoustic Show at the Slauterhouse Brewing Company in Auburn this Sunday afternoon. Hello folks, and come on into the first weekend of March 2021 as we continue to work toward reopening our world in a hopefully hope-filled post-pandemic place and time. Little by little, we are seeing the signs of a safe society beginning to bloom, and boy howdy, is this guy ready for that to happen. I played my first gig of the year last Friday at Harvest Market Farmhouse bar and restaurant to a nice crowd of family, friends and fans. I can t even begin to describe how good that felt, and it really made me realize just how much I missed playing out live. Thank goodness for the fun online streams (I ll continue to do those), but as we said all along, nothing beats the feel of live music seen, heard and experienced as it s meant to be and has always been done, in person, happening in real time. As we move forward
This warm weather is teasing us – making us wonder if perhaps winter is over and spring has made an early arrival. So, while the weather holds, this might be a good time to get out and enjoy a self-mapped gallery hop to explore the fresh new work of local artists. At Dim Art House you can see members works from their recent show, Self-Serving. Juried artist members of the SAA Collective are displaying their work in Contemplative Expressions at its new downtown location. The Illinois Prairie Pastel Society members are holding their annual exhibition at the M. G. Nelson Gallery at the Springfield Art Association. This weekend will see the opening of The Pharmacy s show, Life in the Abstract, and an exhibit of the work of UIS visual arts faculty will be on display at the campus gallery. Check out the galleries individual
When it comes to fire departments, I have street cred. I am junior fire chief emeritus for Elmhurst Elementary School. My yearlong reign, won by virtue of writing an essay on how to survive house fires, stretched from 1973 to 1974. For a solid week, a fire engine, siren blaring, picked me up at home and delivered me to school each day. Before that, I was a victim, having stuck my leg down a drainpipe at a demolished laundromat after wandering from the mobile home where I spent formative years. It took the better part of an afternoon, and a jackhammer, to extricate me. Firefighters were there the whole time – while I bawled, they gave me candy and let me wear one of their hats, but it was way too big.
Part of plans to combine Laketown and Hazel Dell elementary schools. Two elementary schools in Springfield are to be replaced by a new school, according to plans obtained by
Illinois Times. The new school would mean the shuttering of Hazel Dell and Laketown K-5 schools. Hazel Dell, at 850 W. Lake Shore Dr., was built in 1948, according to the October 2020 document. Laketown, at 1825 Lee St., was built in 1957. Both have about 165 students. The new building would be able to serve 500 students, according to the plans. Hazel Dell and Laketown are slated to be demolished. Certain jobs, such as principal, will no longer need to be duplicated. Things like that will be reduced, said Springfield Public Schools Superintendent Jennifer Gill. She said she does not anticipate a reduction in the number of teachers.
Chuck Grassley and Dick Durbin at Judiciary Committee hearings in 2018. But there are reasons for hope, Durbin said, as evidenced by the way he has formed lasting friendships with key Republican Senate leaders such as Chuck Grassley and Lindsey Graham. I have a special friendship with Lindsey Graham that has endured through the years and people in Springfield cannot even understand why I say that, Durbin said. But he has helped me and I ve tried to help him if something s right. When I reintroduced the Dream Act I had one lead Republican cosponsor and it was Lindsey Graham. He told me he would do it and he did it.