Books | Thursday, May 13,2010

All the Midwest’s a Stage

St. Louis author will sign books in Springfield on May 18

If you were to stop four random strangers on a St. Louis street and ask for their opinion of William Stage’s book Fool for Life (Floppinfish) the question might elicit the following responses:&b

News | Thursday, September 3,2009

The state’s dirty little secret

Sierra Club takes aim at the Capitol power plant

By R. L. Nave

Just north of the Willard Ice Building, blocks away from Memorial Medical Center and Douglas School, and just a few feet from homes, sits a little coal power plant that most people probably don’

News | Thursday, August 27,2009

High-speed opposition to Third Street rail corridor

In the debate over rail traffic location, Springfield isn’t as divided as you might expect

By R. L. Nave

For a city where neighborhoods are often pitted against each other in battles for resources – or against various development projects — an uncharacteristically broad and diverse chorus of

News | Thursday, August 20,2009

Where do we go from here?

It’s no secret that Springfield is hung up on race. Now at the center of the most recent racial episode, Mike Williams talks about his noose and offers ideas on how to make things better.

By R. L. Nave

A fter four days off, Mike Williams was relaxed and feeling pretty good when he showed up for his shift at the City Water, Light and Power water treatment plant at 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 26. As with t

News | Thursday, August 20,2009

Boys gone wild

Women at the CWLP plant also feel singled out

By R. L. Nave

Patty Meyer made her way through the crowd gathered at city hall calling for an end to racism in Springfield to give Mike Williams a big hug and offered him a piece of advice. “Watch your back,&

News | Thursday, August 13,2009

Bangin' in Springfield

For downstate gang members, loyalty is corny. Here, it’s all about money.

By R. L. Nave

Although groups of kids fighting is all too commonplace, it’s tough to say whether Springfield has a gang problem. On the one hand, like other downstate Illinois towns, the capital city hasn&rsq

News | Thursday, August 13,2009

CWLP's culture of hostility

Noose-hanging incidents signal need for change in boys-will-be-boys attitude

By R. L. Nave

As far as government workers in Springfield go, Mike Williams has been surprisingly candid. He has described the gamut of emotions raised in him when he returned from vacation to find a noose hanging

News | Thursday, August 13,2009

License to profile

Was this Springfield man a victim of discrimination, mistaken identity, or bad customer service?

By R. L. Nave

On what should have been a routine visit a local driver’s license station, Huong V. Nguyen unwittingly found himself in the middle of an international criminal conspiracyOn June 30, Nguyen, a Sp

News | Thursday, August 6,2009

Vegetarianism pays

Area teen parlays animal-rights activism into cash for college

By R. L. Nave

There are all kinds of scholarships just for having an interest in an obscure field or merely being something unusual — tall, a little person, left-handed, or being named Gatling, Van Valkenbur

News | Thursday, July 30,2009

Personal windmill

Loami family’s energy experiment could determine success of larger wind projects

By R. L. Nave

Being laid off didn’t stop Linda Norbut Suits from doing what she and her husband, Duston, felt was necessary. After a tornado three years ago ripped through Loami, where the couple liv