State goes easy on coal mines

Mining permit renewed despite history of pollution violations

What do you get if you’re facing millions of dollars in fines for water pollution over the course of a decade?If you’re the Springfield Coal Company, you get your permit renewed by the Ill

Guilty as charged

How Christopher Harris got caught

Christopher Harris couldn’t have asked for better breaks.Not even a ninja could expect to slay five people with a tire iron and walk away without a scratch, especially not in a cracker-box house

Convicted by a jury of his peers

Calvin Christian goes to court

Springfield’s most notorious traffic scofflaw or victim of police persecution – take your pick – had his day in court Monday and came away guilty as charged.But Calvin Christian III

Metaphors and murder

Closing arguments have it all

The end is near

Defense rests, prosecution roars

Backdooring it

Defense maneuvers around setback

Taking the stand

Prosecution pounds Harris

A river runs through it

Peoria has something for everyone

Paris, New Orleans, London – many fine cities around the world are built on rivers. And that’s also true in Illinois, where Peoria offers a great opportunity for a weekend getaway or day t

Pridefest, a celebration of tolerance and progress

Other cities – Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, to name but a few – have parades. Big parades. Parades featuring outlandish costumes and leather and tattooed women on motorcycles aka Dykes

The curtain closer

Prosecution's case likely done