Michael Stratton is out as executive director of the Springfield Park District.

Here’s a sampling of what’s on the auction block from the failed empire of Jeffrey Parsons, proprietor of THR and Associates, which is now in bankruptcy. Goods range from taxidermy to pregnancy tests to dog costumes to baseball memorabilia to toys to Parsons’ desk.

Springfield Park District executive director Michael Stratton is under scrutiny for taking more than $2,000 in apparently unauthorized advances on salary, according to multiple sources. Meanwhile, a park district board member says he will resign in the wake of an unpublicized meeting of the board on the matter that was held Monday behind closed doors.

U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock says he hasn’t decided whether to run for governor next year, but the Republican from Peoria is sounding and behaving like a candidate.Consider a press availability sessio

If Abraham Lincoln were alive, would he need Head and Shoulders?The answer could settle whether a hat on display at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum actually belonged to Abe.The hat

Illinois auditor general William G. Holland was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of drunken driving.Details of the arrest by Illinois State Police were not immediately available, but records at the San

Video gambling was illegal in Springfield when Mayor Mike Houston took office in the spring of 2011 and vowed to fix the city’s crumbling streets, sidewalks and sewers without raising taxes.Vide

You may recall Alonso D. Travis, even if you never knew his name.He was the guy who hit you up for money on downtown sidewalks and store parking lots along Jefferson Street and on North Grand Avenue.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is considering legal action against a Carlinville coal mine for violating pollution laws.Testing in the spring of 2011 revealed excessive levels of mangane

A Springfield woman who says she was groped by a Southern View police officer in a patrol car last spring has sued the village, saying that Joseph Zeid Langan, who has since left the force, had no bus