COVER STORY
Spring Home & Garden 2026
This year’s Spring Home & Garden issue has 10 easy projects you can tackle to freshen up your home, tips on container gardening, new options to recycle paint and batteries and more. Plus, find a special calendar of upcoming home and…
LATEST NEWS
Sangamon Auditorium to reopen in October with major upgrades
After more than a year without performances, there’s finally a date to circle on the calendar: Sangamon Auditorium is set…
‘Credit card chaos’? Financial institutions bet big on repeal of first-of-its-kind Illinois law
“Credit cards may not work for sales tax or tips starting July 1.” By now, you’ve heard that claim, but…
A welcoming place
By 2024, Greg Kanter had been out as a gay, ordained rabbi for nearly three decades, a pioneer of sorts,…
A heated city council meeting
What former Springfield police chief Michael Walton said after speaking to the City Council on April 7 remains in dispute,…
Springfield slated to lose ambulance provider
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect comments from Springfield Fire Chief Nicholas Zummo. LifeStar Ambulance Service Inc.,…
Will this be the year the state legislature approves a cellphone ban in schools?
After the Latin School of Chicago passed a cellphone ban, students, who typically would be glued to their phones on…
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News
“A good step forward”
A three-building apartment complex with 22 affordable housing units for people exiting homelessness is opening where the Sportsman’s Lounge once…
Illinois lawmakers begin days of deep dives on data centers
Illinois lawmakers are digging deep on data centers, with a House committee hearing from mayors, labor groups, and agriculture representatives…
Phoenix Center facing closure
Two years after Sara Bowen-Lasisi began working for the Phoenix Center, she realized the Springfield nonprofit appeared to be overbilling…
Sangamon County approves data center
Sangamon County Board members voted 17-10 to approve a $500 million data center project on April 7, just weeks after…
opinion
Collaboration needed
Illinois Times published an article April 2 entitled “A collaborative effort for downtown,” referring to the push to create a new taxing body to…
Something for nothin’
Anyone versed in the basics of economics knows that there is no such thing as a free lunch – unless you are shopping for…
Letters to the editor 4/16/26
We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to editor@illinoistimes.com. PROGRESS I’m glad to…
State revenues rise but situation remains volatile
State government revenues were up $1.571 billion at the end of the third quarter, according to the most recent report from the legislature’s bipartisan,…
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We are dedicated to giving our readers a source of news and opinions on local politics, communities, culture and the arts. We have the Springfield area’s most comprehensive calendar of events – coverage of movies, dining, music, visual arts and the printed word. We offer stories you won’t find anywhere else on topics ranging from city and state government to marijuana to prison reform to education.
Food and drink
Ooey gooey goodness
Now in my third year at Champaign’s Prairie Fruits Farm and Creamery, I stay busy working at Caprae, our farm-to-table…
Strawberry season
Many may be surprised to learn that strawberries are not technically a fruit or even a berry. Botanically, strawberries are…
The French Connection
One of the most rewarding aspects of travel is discovering local culinary traditions – those storied techniques and heritage dishes…
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Music
Get Free Music Series: The art of the squirrel call
Now beginning its third year, the Get Free Music Series is a local showcase for free jazz…
Music blooms in April
With this warmer than usual weather, we’re seeing early bloomers of outdoor shows ever so slightly. It…
Bring on April music
For some reason things feel like they’re moving rapidly right now as we are set up to…
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ARTS AND CULTURE
Nerds’ night out
The 25thAnnual Putnam County Spelling Bee or Putnam, as it’s lovingly referred to by theater connoisseurs on a time crunch, is a sweetly funny but…
A place to stay awhile, a space to belong: Inside Vondra Social House
There’s an art to creating a space people don’t just pass through. Creating a space that people choose to settle into requires an invitation to…
Normal masters bloody humor, Balls is crudely funny
Bloody humor a winner in Normal I wouldn’t have expected Bob Odenkirk to take the Liam Neeson route to map out the final act of…
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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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