The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 5

www.pantagraph.com The Pantagraph Wednesday, February 13, 2013 A5 Call on your Abe app Lincoln's depictions on big screen a mixed bag By Hannah Douglas hannah.douglaslee.net SPRINGFIELD Abraham Lincoln's image now won't just be in people's pockets on pennies and $5 bills; he'll also be on smartphones. On the day of Lincoln's 204th birthday, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation and officially launched the Abe App on Tuesday. Additional funding came from a private donor. "The demand for more information on Lincoln continues to grow, and we want to meet that demand in the easiest and most accessible way possible," Phyllis Evans, director of membership at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation, told reporters Tuesday during a news conference in the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. The application features daily Lincoln facts and quizzes, and provides a photo tour of the museum with added sound effects like Lincoln's office clock and dinner bell.

The app is available for free for iPhone, iPad and Android devices. It can be downloaded at bit Apple and bit.lyAbeDroid. Historian: Portrayals ludicrous, inaccurate, but 'Lincoln' the best ByL.E.HIavach laura.hlavach!ee.net SPRINGFIELD So far, no actor has won an Oscar for playing Abraham Lincoln, but plenty have filled the role in the movies, a Springfield historian said Tuesday. Lincoln, who has "more books written about him than any other figure in American history," also is a pop -ular film character, said Bryon An-dreasen, a research historian at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Illinois' capital city. He spoke Tuesday at Lincoln Land Community College as part of the festivities surrounding the observance of the 16th president's 204th birthday.

Depictions of Lincoln vary widely from the ludicrous, as in "Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies," to the saccharine, as in "The Littlest Rebel," in which Lincoln pardons Shirley Temple's father. Sometimes, Lincoln's depiction is not at all accurate, Andreasen said, as when D.W. Griffith made Lincoln sound pro-South in the controversial 1915 classic, "The Birth of a Nation." He said while some individual scenes are not accurate such as a "brilliant" scene discussing a compass and slavery "the spirit and ideas behind the scene were historically authentic." Andreasen commended Spielberg and his screenwriters for taking a challenging focus "the usually untold story about the 13th Amendment and the last few weeks of Lincoln's life." "When moviemakers bring an icon like this to the screen, they take a great risk because we all have preconceived notions," Andreasen said. They also have a "great responsibility because it's the Lincoln that we see in popular culture, in the movies, that the public equates with the historical Lincoln." A wide variety of actors have played Lincoln in movies and on television, including Henry Fonda, Jason Robards, Hal Holbrook, Gregory Peck, Sam Waterston and Kris Kristofferson.

One, Raymond Massey, was nominated in 1940 for best actor for his role in "Abe Lincoln in Illinois," but he did not win an Oscar. Daniel Day -Lewis, who portrays Lincoln in the Spielberg movie, also has been nominated for best actor. The winner will be named Feb. 24. I help safe drivers save 45 or more.

I tp -4N M) instate MICHAEL RUDICIL, CLU (309)663-8918 3801 G.E. Rd H2A BLOOMINGTON mruditil Auto Home Life Retirement I'isui -nrp we, i (jvfaqes suiiir I to terms qualifications and availaMtty Actual sayings will vary Allstate Fire and Casualty nsoancp ronipdfiy NorthDrooh Illinois Z010 Allstate Insiraice Company The PantagraphLORI ANN COOK-NEISLER Abraham Lincoln appears to be celebrating his 204th birthday in style at the McLean County Museum of History in Bloomington on Tuesday. But Andreasen overall is pleased by the recent "Lincoln" by director Steven Spielberg. "By Hollywood standards, the Spielberg movie is about as good as a historian could hope," Andreasen said. JOE'S STATION HOUSE Public Valentine's Day Special Share your love for pizza with Heart-Shaped Pizza omy $10 Includes any toppings; February 14th only.

Plus Chocolate Covered Strawberries available at additional charge Reformer touts ideas to pension 'activists' who was jailed in lieu of posting $250,025, con 305 S. Veterans Parkway Normal (At The Shoppes at College Hills) iV li in mi null Noveil Slay spired with Anthony Cross to sell cocaine. Cross, of the 700 block of Fairmont Drive, is charged with unlawful delivery of cocaine on Friday near a school and unlawful de Videotaping A Streator man, imprisoned twice for aggravated sexual abuse, will spend more time behind bars after pleading guilty to illegally videotaping a child under 18. Ronald Gage, 47, was sentenced to four years in prison, but he could be released in half that time. Prosecutors said he made the illegal tapes in the child's home.

Cocaine A Bloomington man is charged with felony drug conspiracy. Charges state that block of Macadamia Drive, is charged with criminal drug conspiracy to commit the unlawful delivery of cocaine, unlawful possession with intent to deliver and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon. Charges state that Slay, 4 i Anthony Cross 1 love you more than 1 Love Chocolate, and I really love Chocolate! OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK 108 NORTH ST. 452-8841 WWW.THEGARLICPRESS.COM rcn rs cri i mm livery of the drug. Cross was jailed in lieu of posting $100,025.

employees in Bloomington, Normal, McLean County, schools and Illinois State University will be available on its website www. taxpayersunited.org. The Pantagraph also has detailed pension information from a December 2011 series under the Check it Out section of the home page at www. pantagraph.com. Linda Horrell, communications director for the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund that covers noncon-tract government employees in nearly 3,000 downstate local governments, said IMRF is not a state-funded pension system so it is not included in discussions.

IMRF is funded by employee and mandated employer contributions as well as investment income. Horrell said IMRF does not include compounded cost-of-living adjustments and doesn't offer retirees health insurance. New guidelines change benefits for employees hired after Jan. 1, 2011, including raising the full pension age from 60 to 67. Charlie McBarron, director of communications for the Illinois Education Association, said the IEA took part in a summit Monday to discuss the state's pension problems.

He said the organization is bringing numerous ideas to the table to solve the pension problems in a "fair and constitutional" way. By Mary Ann Ford mforduparitagraph.com BLOOMINGTON Jim Tobin, president of Taxpayers United of America, is traveling throughout Illinois, including a stop Tuesday in Bloomington, pitching his ideas for pension reform. "Illinois is in horrible financial shape and yet taxpayers are still expected to pour their hard-earned money into a failed government pension system," said Tobin. "The state's in such bad shape. It can't sell bonds; it can't borrow money." Taxpayers United of America, whose website says was founded in 1976 as National Taxpayers United of Illinois, suggests, "Without sweeping and immediate reform, Illinois' pension system will collapse." Tobin said reform must include: raising the retirement age to 67; increasing employee contributions by 10 percent; increasing health care contributions to 50 percent; eliminating all cost-of-living adjustments; and replacing the defined benefit system with a defined contribution system for all new hires.

While he used to lobby for reform, Tobin said he's now "letting taxpayers know" through the media and by direct mail to TUA members and other known "activists." Tobin said the results of his organization's new pension study of government Prosecutor: Gang war led to death AFFORDABLE DENTURES a good reason to smile prosecutors said Tuesday. New details about the death of Hadiya Pendleton emerged during a court hearing in which a judge denied bail for the two men charged with murder in her death, 18-year-old Michael Ward and 20-year-old Kenneth Williams. CHICAGO (AP) Two men circled a park on Chicago's South Side looking for members of a rival gang before one crept up on a group seeking shelter from the rain under a canopy and opened fire, striking a 15-year-old honor student who once made a video protesting gang violence, 1 v. a Arr Economy Full Set Routine Tooth Complex Tooth Extraction $150 $90 Extraction Affordable Paul D. Larsen, DDS General Dentist 2807 W.Townline Road, Peoria, IL 61615 Call For Appointment (309) 689-1452 Published daily by Pantagraph Publishing Co.

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