Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich goes on trial this week on federal corruption charges. I will be dusting off a news quiz from late in 2009 that we will run at SJ-R.com occasionally during the trial. When it ran the first time, we didn’t have the interactive quiz feature on the site that we have now, so it was quite “print-tastic.” I’ll update some of the questions, but for now, here’s a taste of what you’ll find at the online quiz later this week. (I’ll post a link once it’s up and running.)

Which is not a quote from the Second City show, “Rod Blagojevich, Superstar!”

A. “Who cares if I was taped?”

B. “Blagojevich, Superstar! Are you as nuts as we think you are?”

C. “I was the greatest Serbian politician the world has ever seen — outside Serbia.”

D. “Have you seen Springfield? It’s a (filthy hole).”

(Answer: A)

What code name did state troopers guarding the Blagojevich family give Rod’s hairbrush?

A. “The cattle prod”

B. “The iron maiden”

C. “The football”

D. “Old sparky”

(Answer: C)

If you enjoy news quizzes and would like to read some more of my quiz-writing work, click here. I’ve written all but two (May 15-21 and Black History Month).

This story about an altercation at Amber Jack Ale House in Springfield came to my attention while working on Police Beat in May.

After the story was published on SJ-R.com and then the newspaper the following day, readers began calling and emailing the newspaper wanting to talk about experiences they had at the restaurant. A short time later, two sites sprang up on Facebook — one calling for a boycott of Amber Jack’s and the other asking people to share their stories about being banned by the Amber Jack’s owner who was the subject of my story. Within about 24 hours or so one of the Facebook sites had more than 1,000 “fans” and the other had more than 500. It’s a fascinating example of the power of social networking. By the way, the ‘boycott’ site later was pulled by Facebook for violating its rules about personal attacks.

Amber Jack owner, customer cited after altercation Saturday

May 10, 2010

The owner of Amber Jack Ale House and a customer face battery charges after a weekend confrontation at the Springfield restaurant that allegedly involved shoving and slapping.

Police issued notices to appear in court to Amber Jack owner Catherine D. McHenry, 53, of the 2000 block of South Willemore Avenue and customer Charles T. Silvey, 47, of Athens.

The incident happened about 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the business, 3150 Chatham Road. Police said they arrived to find the restaurant’s co-owner, who is McHenry’s husband, holding Silvey down on the floor. Numerous customers were inside, including prom parties [...] Read the rest of this entry »

This story was the talker in Springfield in mid-February. I pieced it together mostly using public documents, including police reports and court filings.

Bar wars? Police investigate incidents at two downtown taverns

Feb. 17, 2010

The owner of a closed downtown sports bar was questioned over the weekend about the destruction of 10 windows at a tavern across the street that is owned by his landlord, with whom he has been at odds, according to police reports.

Tom Kelty, 39, who owns Sammy’s Sports Bar at 217 S. Fifth St., denied any role in the vandalism, which caused $6,000 damage to the front windows at Floyd’s Thirst Parlor across the street at 210 S. Fifth St. Floyd’s is owned by Dennis Polk, who also owns the building that housed Sammy’s Sports Bar.

Court records show that Kelty and Polk have been embroiled in a lease dispute over the Sammy’s building since December 2004. A judge overseeing the case last week ordered Kelty to vacate the building by noon this Friday.

About noon Tuesday, police were sent to 217 S. Fifth St. after Kelty climbed a ladder and took a knife to the property’s blue awning and cut out all of the Sammy’s Sports Bar logos.

“I did climb up out front and I cut our logo and our name off the canopy out front,” Kelty said. “Our name is registered with the state. It’s trademarked. We own it; we bought it; we paid for it.”

Sangamon County sheriff’s deputies [...] Read the rest of this entry »

Last fall I started hearing rumblings about food pantries in Springfield running low on food long before Thanksgiving hit. In October I began chatting with some of the local pantries, and sure enough, supplies were running low, even as the need was going up as people struggled with the realities of a recession. The result was this story and a lesson learned — food pantries can use our help all year long, not just during the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. In addition to the story, I compiled a list of all the food pantries in Springfield and the surrounding counties so readers could at a glance find a pantry to help. I also included tips for organizing a food drive.

Supplies tight at local food pantries

Oct. 26, 2009

On Friday, some shelves at Kumler Outreach Ministries’ food pantry on Springfield’s north end were empty.

There was no canned fruit, spaghetti noodles, chili, or pork and beans. There were four jars of peanut butter, some jelly, several bags of corn flakes and Ramen noodles, loaves of bread and a few heads of cabbage, as well as some other supplies. The freezer was stocked with bags of frozen corn, individually wrapped tilapia filets and other foods.

Tight food supplies have become the rule, not the exception, all around central Illinois. Food-pantry coordinators say they are seeing more new faces in a tough economy and are concerned about their ability to help.

Some report donations are down, while others [...] Read the rest of this entry »

Springfield firefighters in November demonstrated what can happen when Thanksgiving chefs aren’t careful with their turkey fryers. Having written about numerous turkey fryer fires over the years, I was curious and shot a short video of the demonstration, which involved a lot of flames and a blackened turkey. And I don’t mean Cajun.

In August I sat through a tearful interview with Dawn Whalen, whose son, Tony Mabie, was struck by three alleged drunk drivers on Toronto Road. He died from his injuries. The criminal cases against the drivers, one of whom was a firefighter, are pending. This story was the result of the interview with Whalen.

Mom: Hit-and-run victim deserved a better life

Aug. 29, 2009

Tony Mabie coped with a learning disability as a youngster, a debilitating injury as an adult and lifelong feelings that he did not measure up.

His biggest enemy was himself, but he had dreams for the future, said his mother, Dawn Whalen of Buffalo. Now, she is hurt and angered by her son’s death at the hands of multiple hit-and-run drivers.

Mabie, 26, was walking along Toronto Road about 2 a.m. Tuesday, when he was struck by as many as three vehicles, two of which fled the scene.

The driver of one of the vehicles, a Springfield firefighter, allegedly was intoxicated, based on court filings, but had the presence of mind to stop and call 911. He was arrested for driving under the influence, but has not been charged with any other crimes.

It is unclear what happened from there. Springfield police said earlier this week they’ve recovered all three vehicles involved in the crime. Investigators would not comment otherwise on Friday.

“It hurts me to think my son felt so discounted all his life, and that’s the way he left this life,” Whalen said Friday. “Tony was not a fighter, he was not [...] Read the rest of this entry »

While covering the Illinois State Fair this year, I was offered a chance to ride in the starting gate car prior to one of the races.

The car — a mobile start gate — basically is a modified white limousine with two front ends that has an automated starting gate on it. The men inside the car activate the gates at the appropriate time, and they swing out on either side of the car. The racers then line up in their designated spots behind the gate, and the limo takes off with the horses following. The limo speeds up and gets out of the way of the horses just as they cross the start line.

But that’s not the end of it. The car continues on around the track along with the harness racers. Inside the car are two patrol judges who monitor the racing to make sure no infractions take place. A driver at the other end of the car drives it around the track.

I used the Flip video cam to film the one-mile race from inside the car.

Norma Bowers of Dallas shows how to make a deep-fried hot fudge sundae at the ever-popular Fried What! stand, which is inside the Main Gate on Main Street across from Ethnic Village at the Illinois State Fair.

I shot this video of the folks at Sub Zero Ice Cream demonstrating how they use liquid nitrogen to freeze ice cream before customers’ eyes. The company , based in Utah, was at the 2009 Illinois State Fair.

This year I again landed the gig of Illinois State Fair blogger for the newspaper, which is fine with me because I really don’t mind the fair. Plus, it’s nice to work away from the office for a stretch.

Just as I did last year, I donned jeans, sneakers and sunglasses, grabbed a laptop computer and backpack, stocked up on extra batteries and headed out with a point-and-shoot camera, Flip video camera, the computer equipment and miscellaneous fair schedules and news releases.

I blogged six of the 10 days of the fair, plus preview day, logging nearly 70 blog posts that documented everything from vendors and attendance to the weather and fair food. I rode out two mid-afternoon summer storms, including one that prompted officials to set off the fairgrounds’ tornado sirens and sent people running for cover in the tunnel beneath the Grandstand.

I saw concessionaires fry up Pepsi and sundaes, rode the Sky Ride for the first time even though I’m terrified of heights and learned a little bit about harness racing.

The 2009 Illinois State Fair is in the books now, and I expect 2010 will be just as memorable.

In June my neighbor’s mother told me she’d unsuccessfully been trying to reach SJ-R columnist Dave Bakke to tell him about a story idea she had. Her great-grandson at the end of the week was going to be the fifth generation of the Roderick family to get his first hair cut by Springfield barber Bob Brown.

Bakke was on vacation, and I knew this would be a fun story to tell, so I volunteered to do it. The result is the story below, which ran on Page 1 of The State Journal-Register. The photo above was taken by Justin Fowler.

Infant’s haircut continues five-generation tradition

June 13, 2009

Ten-month-old Quinn Roderick wriggled, shrugged and smiled his way through his first haircut Friday morning the way many toddlers do.

He sat on a booster in the big red barber chair looking around at a room full of smiling faces as barber Bob Brown tucked a white smock into the collar of the boy’s dinosaur overalls.

Parents often cherish their child’s first haircut, going so far as to take pictures or tuck away locks of baby hair. But Quinn’s had even more significance. He is the fifth generation of Rodericks to have his hair trimmed by Brown, who has been a barber in Springfield since 1955.

That’s not all. Quinn’s father, Seth Roderick, brought him here all the way from Stafford, Va., so Brown could give him his first haircut. Brown also did Seth’s first haircut around 1975 [...] Read the rest of this entry »

A mechanic suffered severe burns in this fire, which happened the morning of April 21, 2009, when he dropped a fuel tank he was changing out on a truck and the fuel ignited.

The last F-16 assigned to Springfield’s 183rd Tactical Fighter Wing thundered into the air Sept. 23, 2008, and then circled back over the base to make a final pass. With the plane’s departure at 9:36 a.m., the unit’s 60-year tradition of flying fighters out of Springfield ended.

Springfield Mayor Tim Davlin and City Water, Light and Power general manager Todd Renfrow talk about the power plant explosion the day after it happened. The explosion was Nov. 10, 2007; this news conference was convened Nov. 11, 2007.

I covered the funeral of Illinois State Police trooper Brian McMillen, who was killed in an early morning crash east of Springfield. The funeral was in Taylorville on Oct. 31, 2007. I shot video, and SJ-R photographers Justin Fowler and T.J. Salsman shot stills. The result was this touching tribute.