Fletcher Farrar: Reporter at Large | Wednesday, July 25,2007

A look back at old Times

Thirty years ago, a newcomer arrives

Untitled Document Roland, the editor, recently told me, the senior writer, that he wouldn’t mind having an occasional piece from the Illinois Times archives as a way t

Fletcher Farrar: Reporter at Large | Tuesday, July 3,2007

A new try for trash reform

Led by Alderman Mark Mahoney, this new City Council may get the job done

By Fletcher Farrar

Untitled Document People who have lived somewhere else are best at understanding how complex and cumbersome Springfield’s trash system is. When Ward 2 Ald. Gail Simpson liv

Fletcher Farrar: Reporter at Large | Wednesday, June 20,2007

Newsweeklies at 30, devoted to journalism

Progressive Portland hosts healthy, and growing, alternatives

By Fletcher Farrar

Untitled Document The Association of Alternative Newsweeklies gathered for its 30th annual convention last week in the Left Coast city of Portland, a booming place that prides it

Fletcher Farrar: Reporter at Large | Wednesday, May 30,2007

The “assault on reason” in Illinois

Behind the legislature’s breakdown is a failure of public discourse

By Fletcher Farrar

Untitled Document What is wrong with the Illinois legislature? By now many are asking how democracy got broken here and how it can be repaired. A General Assembly session that

Fletcher Farrar: Reporter at Large | Wednesday, May 16,2007

Preservation hasn’t arrived, but it’s getting there

Reasons to save old buildings are practical — and beyond practical

By Fletcher Farrar

Untitled Document Looking out over the crowd at the Historic Sites Commission’s Mayor’s Awards for Historic Preservation, I began to think that maybe historic preserv

Fletcher Farrar: Reporter at Large | Wednesday, May 2,2007

Now’s the time for a tax increase

The gross-receipts tax isn’t so bad, even if the governor supports it

By Fletcher Farrar

Untitled Document The governor’s proposed gross-receipts tax isn’t as gross as you think. Ohio, Texas, Washington, and other states have each implemented a version of

Fletcher Farrar: Reporter at Large | Wednesday, April 18,2007

Mayor, get greener

It’s time for Tim Davlin to become an environmental leader

By Fletcher Farrar

Untitled Document Mayor Tim Davlin has sailed into his second term without distinguishing himself on any single issue. The mayor campaigned as a hardworking administrator with a

Fletcher Farrar: Reporter at Large | Wednesday, April 4,2007

Carrying the cross through Springfield

In a Good Friday tradition, Christians remember the hard part

By Fletcher Farrar

Untitled Document American Christians these days focus almost exclusively on the hope of Easter, but little attention is paid to the events of Good Friday that led up to it. Yet

Fletcher Farrar: Reporter at Large | Wednesday, March 21,2007

Dan Walker tells his story

Memoir recalls an exciting yet disappointing chapter in Illinois politics

By Fletcher Farrar

Untitled Document Not long after Dan Walker took office as governor, in 1973, I interviewed him in his office in the Capitol. I was finishing a journalism degree at Northwestern

Fletcher Farrar: Reporter at Large | Wednesday, March 7,2007

Whatever it takes

Finding help at PORA, Amy Brown is one determined former prostitute

By Fletcher Farrar

Untitled Document I thought she had star quality, like Reese Witherspoon, maybe, the way she got up to speak before the audience of some 200 people at the PORA fundraising dinner