Next round of federal stimulus money falls short of requests

It's high school prom season, so that means it's time to show off those tuxes and dresses from the big dance that closes out the 2009 school year. We're also accepting photos from previous proms. Click the appropriate link below to submit and view your photos.

• PROM 2009: For those headed to the dance this year
• CLASSIC PROM PIX: The older the better!

Mother's Day 2009 is history. Remember the celebration by sending along a digital photograph of you and your mom. Old or new, funny or sentimental, we want to see your "Mom and Me" photos. Click inside to submit and see your photos now.

Chris Britt's editorial cartoon for Tuesday, May 12.

THE COMMENTS that follow news articles on The State Journal-Register’s Web site, www.sj-r.com, hardly represent a scientific survey. Yet often their volume and tone provide a pretty good barometer of public opinion in ways that fall between the lines of the stories above them.

Springfield Ward 1 Ald. FRANK EDWARDS, an improbable entrant last week into the corps of possible GOP candidates for governor, could get a lesson in diplomacy as he seeks to negotiate a chasm between his local party organization and another GOP group.

Former Lt. Gov. CORINNE WOOD, who battled cancer while in office, was at the Statehouse Wednesday lobbying for campaign finance reform.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum presented “Ghosts of the Library” for the 22,000th time recently. And even if it were possible to have seen all 22,000 performances, even from just offstage as I did, you still couldn’t figure out how they do it.

Forrest Cravens and his buddy Buddy are fixtures at Hickory Glen, a seniors community at 1700 W. Washington St. in Springfield. Buddy is the only dog in the place. That would make Irma Booker happy.

John Schaive, one of the founding fathers of the Springfield Sports Hall of Fame and a charter member in 1991, died Monday. He was 75.

ST. LOUIS — Chris Duncan has become an everyday threat in the St. Louis Cardinals’ lineup. Lefties don’t scare him one bit, not after what he has been through. “I think if he’s healthy, there isn’t any situation that bothers him,” manager Tony La Russa said. “He’s got great guts.”

Ian Withrow, a senior at Southeast High School, shouts to his classmates.

“In 20 minutes, the photographer will be here. Everyone in costumes!” he says as other students in the cast of the play “Dance Me to the Moon” scramble into their costumes and prepare for the photo.

Too often, I hear the word “gay” being used as a derogatory term.

J.J. Abrams’ hugely anticipated summer extravaganza “Star Trek” boldly goes to the past within the distant future of the “Trek” universe, years ahead of the TV series and the myriad movies and spin-offs it spawned.

At last weekend’s season finale concert of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, the video projections of planets that accompanied Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” were an unwelcome distraction.

Ian Withrow, a senior at Southeast High School, shouts to his classmates.

“In 20 minutes, the photographer will be here. Everyone in costumes!” he says as other students in the cast of the play “Dance Me to the Moon” scramble into their costumes and prepare for the photo.

Too often, I hear the word “gay” being used as a derogatory term.

At the very least, a group of students from Mississippi State University traveling north through the United States will gain an appreciation for the grueling twice-a-year migration undertaken by birds. And these kids won’t even have to flap their arms a single time. They’ll spend the entire 3,461 miles traveling together in a van owned by the school.

Years ago, Lloyd and I started whistling like a whippoorwill when we were slipping through the timber during squirrel hunts or two-man deer drives. We probably picked that up watching Davy Crockett on TV.
 

Look for TEXAS ROADHOUSE, a sit-down family restaurant, to open at Veterans Parkway and Iles Avenue on Monday, May 18.

When it comes to a Mother’s Day breakfast, there’s no need to waffle. Or maybe there is. Click inside for some handy tips on cooking up a breakfast treat this weekend and don't miss our collection of recipes.

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• PIX OF MOM: Send your favorite photos now