News | Thursday, April 19,2012

Where are all the paychecks going?

GateHouse and SJ-R mum on jobs sent outside U.S.

Jobs once done in Springfield have been sent overseas by the State Journal-Register, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.The Department of Labor last month agreed with workers facing layoffs in

News | Thursday, April 19,2012

Reformers: sex offender mandate would hurt Illinois

Other states shrugging off law because of costs

By Patrick Yeagle

As Illinois lawmakers debate a bill to increase registration requirements for sex offenders under a federal mandate, reform advocates say it would cost the state too much. They say many other states h

News | Thursday, April 19,2012

Don’t lie to your doctor

Springfield physician urges honesty in the exam room

By Neil Schneider

A middle-aged man sits in a chair in a Springfield exam room, facing Dr. Joshua Ellison of North Dirksen Medical Associates, a division of Memorial Physician Services. As Ellison looks through the man

News | Thursday, April 19,2012

Early release would save $153 million

House committee mulls prison overcrowding solutions

By Patrick Yeagle

Putting a halt to early prison release in Illinois has cost the state $153 million a year, says one prison reform advocate. Meanwhile, inmates complain of cockroaches in their cells and a lack of reha

News | Thursday, April 19,2012

Illinois sues Sangamon County over records

County hasn’t released documents on injury at detention center

By Bruce Rushton

Sangamon County authorities are refusing to release records to the state Department of Children and Family Services, which is investigating a serious injury suffered by a DCFS ward at the county&rsquo

News | Thursday, April 19,2012

Save the flags

Civil War battle flags not on display, but still public

By Patrick Yeagle

Behind the high barbed wire of Camp Lincoln in Springfield, in a nondescript brick building and sealed in a row of large, white metal cabinets sits a delicate, tattered silk flag bearing familiar gold

News | Thursday, April 12,2012

The computer ate the evidence

Emails were erased, and the legal tab approaches $2 million

By Bruce Rushton

The credibility of employees at the Sangamon County jail has been questioned by attorneys for the estate of Amon Paul Carlock, who died after a struggle with jailers in 2007.In addition, emails that m

News | Thursday, April 12,2012

New basketball league brings hoops to Springfield

Springfield Xpress wants to bring community together

By Neil Schneider

When Steffen Spinks was a young boy growing up in Manteca, Calif., his mother didn’t want him to spend his time playing basketball. She encouraged Spinks to get involved in other sports because

News | Thursday, April 12,2012

Getting kids ready for kindergarten

Continuum of Learning supports pre-k screening

By Patrick Yeagle

The beginning stages of a plan to improve education in Sangamon County are already showing promise, according to an upcoming report from the Sangamon County Continuum of Learning. The Continuum is wor

News | Thursday, April 12,2012

Coal ash lawsuit could increase CWLP costs

Environmental groups want coal ash deemed hazardous

By Patrick Yeagle

An Illinois environmental group is one of 11 plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit seeking to reclassify coal ash as a hazardous waste. If the lawsuit prevails, it could significantly increase costs for Spr