A league of his own

Richard Buckner carries himself like a professional baseball player. The resemblance is more than coincidental. After finishing high school in Decatur, he attended Bradley University on a baseball sch

“An interesting and mysterious void”

Springfield gets a new war memorial, but the benefactor remains anonymous

To many, Springfield is a one-war town. One needs only to consider the internationally venerated Lincoln Tomb to understand why. This is, after all, the home of the leader who preserved the Union du

Hello, Kitty!

When cats go wild, volunteers get busy

Outside, it's a gray Sunday afternoon in November, and you are a cat in a box. Since you came into this world eight months ago, you have known only your mother and five brothers and sisters who share

If he shows, he’ll have to blow out 124 candles

In 1908, in his poem "On the Building of Springfield," the celebrated poet Vachel Lindsay wrote: Let every street be made a reverent aisle, Where music grows and beauty is unchained. At the

Flight plan

American’s cutbacks in St. Louis could spell opportunity at Capital Airport

On Saturday, the passenger-airline hub in St. Louis fades to a memory as American Airlines cuts its operations at Lambert Field by nearly 200 flights a day. As part of the cutback, American will also

Guitar society hosts Serbian-born artist

The Springfield Classical Guitar Society launches its 2003-2004 season on Saturday with a performance by Petar Kodzas, a native of Yugoslavia. Kodzas's appearance offers a unique opportunity to see

Family plot

In restoring the Kelley family cemetery, a group of Girl Scouts resurrects Springfield’s forgotten founding father.

Girl Scout Troop 44 gathers in a prairie just west of Springfield. For the past year they've been restoring a cemetery that saw its last burial in the 19th century, but shoulder-high grass had long co

The long road home

Reverend Roosevelt Sam Smith has returned to the land of his grandparents. Now if only it was safe to go back to Liberia.

When Roosevelt Sam Smith became the pastor of New Salem United Methodist Church in New Berlin two years ago, he considered it a homecoming of sorts. The 47-year-old Smith was born in Liberia's cap

Not in my public housing complex

A low point at SHA high-rises

Times are not good for the Springfield Housing Authority. About 25 percent of all SHA units are empty and federal funding has plummeted over the past five years, according to SHA director Willis Logan