FEATURES 12 The summer game by Bill Knight Baseball has become big business, but the sport survives in Illinois' minors. 16 Reading the minors by Rodd Whelpley Minor league attendance is now higher than it has been since the 1940s. And where fans go, writers follow. We review three books about minor league ball. 19 Beyond playgrounds by James Krohe Jr. The best advice you can give a kid may be: Go play in the street. 27 Welcome back by Michael R. Jeffords The monarch butterfly, our state insect, is not in danger of extinction, but Illinois environmentalists will monitor the population closely since thousands were killed by a snowstorm in the Sierra Madre mountains in Mexico. 30 Property rites by Sara Paretsky Women's legal estate has changed in the last century, but many of our attitudes and institutions have yet to catch up.

DEPARTMENTS 3 A Conversation With Our Readers by Ed Wojcicki 4 Editor's Notebook by Peggy Boyer Long 6 State of the State by Jennifer Halperin Lawmaking and campaigning 8 Briefly by Donald Sevener 36 Report From the Capitol by Northwestern students Restructuring state agencies 38 Your Turn by David Orr Voter system hurts us all 40 People by Beverley Scobell 44 Letters 45 A View From Metro East by Patrick E. Gauen 20th District battle looming 46 Politics by Charles N. Wheeler III Scholarships and universities

Credits: The watercolor on our cover was done by Peoria artist Stan Adams. He worked from several photographs taken by Kevin May and Bob Hunt. The photos were loaned to the magazine courtesy of the Peoria Chiefs. Adams, who teaches design and illustration at Illinois Central College, says he was searching for a nostalgic look in his drawing. "I tried to get the feel of what I remembered about minor league fields I'd seen as a kid," he says. "I wanted those billboards in the background." This is Adams second cover for Illinois Issues.

Illinois Issues June 1996 ¦ 5