COVER STORY
Healthy, Wealthy & Wise 2026
Trying to maintain or improve our physical health is an important aspectof being healthy, but certainly not the only one. Our annual health andwellness issue also looks at the importance of mental health and simplesteps we can take to improve not only…
LATEST NEWS
Budzinski meets with Sangamon Towers owner
Some progress has been made to address ongoing safety and hygiene complaints from residents at Sangamon Towers, 424 N. Fourth…
AG reaches settlement for Taylorville Kroger asbestos
Kroger and SSI Services, an Indianapolis-based contractor, agreed to pay the state of Illinois $108,000 over unsafe renovations to the…
Creation of mental health board will be up to voters
In less than two months, Sangamon County residents will determine, through a referendum vote, whether the county should levy a…
Illinois to withhold nearly $500M in spending, citing federal uncertainty
Gov. JB Pritzker’s office plans to hold back nearly $500 million in spending for the current fiscal year as the…
Illinois rideshare drivers rally for unionization bill
Rideshare drivers rallied at the Illinois State Capitol Wednesday to ask legislators to support their effort to unionize. The legislation,…
State funds $1.8M for local park upgrades
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has awarded $600,000 each for park upgrades to three separate governmental bodies: the city…
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NEWSLETTER
News
City has more expenses, less revenue
Generous raises granted in collective bargaining contracts such as those negotiated for police and firefighters, coupled with a rise in…
Illinois lawmakers’ 2026 theme: affordability
House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch says this spring’s election-year legislative session will be squarely focused on tackling Illinois voters’ priorities.…
Roundabout slated for West White Oaks
If you’ve ever tried to make a left-hand turn out of the parking lot of the West White Oaks shopping…
District 186 announces new superintendent
The Springfield Public Schools District 186 Board of Education has recommended Terrance Jordan to serve as the next superintendent, succeeding…
opinion
Bears’ Indiana gambit changes tone of legislators
Illinois House Democrats were told last week that a state capital projects plan designed to assist Arlington Height’s bid to lure the Chicago Bears…
Editor’s Note
Ryan P. Burge was pastor of an American Baptist church in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, for 17 years before his church closed for good in…
Letters to the editor
YES TO LOGAN COUNTY DATA CENTER As a proud Logan County resident, I support our county moving forward with the proposed data center project…
Dumb. Outmoded. Unusable.
When people who live in the rest of Illinois complain about being fleeced by the sharpers in Springfield, they usually refer to state legislators,…
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Food and drink
Hangover? Nothing beats “Old Sober”
Two decades ago, I attended an outstanding performance by the Derek Trucks Band at Tipitina’s in Uptown New Orleans. The…
One-pot rice dinners
Ready in under an hour, inexpensive and pantry friendly, these one-pot rice dinners are infinitely riffable and a dependable workhorse…
The return of classic steakhouses
The period spanning the early 2010s to the early 2020s saw a significant shift in the restaurant industry, driven by…
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Music
Here we have music
Mush, my frigid friends, as we go full frozen tundra time to see what goes on in…
Music in mid-January
As the new year rolls along our community keeps up a steady flow of live music performances…
More music in the new year
We made it through the holiday season accompanied by plenty of live music that magically increased the…
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ARTS AND CULTURE
Urban wildlife talks
Thu., Jan. 29, 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. | Dana-Thomas House | 217-782-6776 OUTDOORS | Photographer to discuss his images of local bald eagles and more…
UIS to offer free tax preparation services
The University of Illinois Springfield is offering free tax preparation services for the first time through the Internal Revenue Service’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)…
Students compete in 2026 Poetry Out Loud
The Springfield Area Arts Council will host the Poetry Out Loud Central Illinois Regional Contest at 4 p.m. on Thursday, February 12, at the Hoogland Center…
> More Arts and Culture
Best of Springfield®
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Best Of Springfield 2025
See the results Every year, we ask our opinionated readers to tell us about their favorite people, places and things in the Springfield area. Over the decades we’ve been doing this, we’ve continued to tweak both the process and the results issue to try to keep things fresh and interesting. While anything food-related typically dominates…
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