News | Wednesday, November 23,2011

Juvenile prisons now safer and more effective

Understaffing and other problems still need work, reform group says

Conditions in Illinois’ juvenile prisons are improving, according to one watchdog group, but problems of overcrowding, lack of education and inadequate staffing linger.A report released Nov. 16

News | Thursday, November 17,2011

Catholic agency transfers foster care cases to DCFS

Other groups created new agencies to take cases

By Patrick Yeagle

Catholic Charities for the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois announced Monday it would work with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to transfer its 290 foster care cases to other

News | Thursday, August 18,2011

Springfield charity ends work in Haiti

Charity built medical clinic in impoverished nation, but it wasn’t a “forever deal”

By Patrick Yeagle

Dr. H. Brent DeLand of Springfield recalls doing minor surgery while on a humanitarian trip to Haiti in 2002, as his friend and later charity co-founder Greg Richmond of Chicago held a single light bu

News | Thursday, August 18,2011

Study recommends 10th Street rail

Uncertainty abounds as feds throw in new option, funding still unclear

By Patrick Yeagle

Springfield’s long-awaited railroad consolidation study calls 10th Street the best option, but the project’s fate remains murky as the federal government examines a new alternative and the

News | Thursday, August 11,2011

When adoption goes wrong

Giving up custody to get kids the mental health care they need

By Patrick Yeagle

Wally and Dawne Busch of Petersburg eagerly adopted their son Alan at the age of two in 2000, knowing that they would be in for some challenging times. They knew that Alan, now 13, had been abused by

News | Thursday, August 11,2011

City seeking minority police recruits

Houston wants 25 percent to be minorities

By Patrick Yeagle

The Springfield Police Department hopes to hire new patrol officers in the coming months, with minorities to comprise a quarter of the new hires.On Aug. 4, Mayor Michael Houston announced the city wou

News | Thursday, August 4,2011

Illinois can’t control its money

Statewide audit shows chronically poor accounting

By Patrick Yeagle

A statewide audit of Illinois government released July 28 highlights more than 100 problems with the state’s financial reporting process, case management and more.The 274-page audit by Illinois

News | Thursday, August 4,2011

Minorities disproportionately stopped and searched

ACLU wants federal investigation of racial bias

By Patrick Yeagle

A study of traffic stop data released by the Illinois Department of Transportation shows minority drivers in Illinois and in Springfield are more likely than white drivers to be stopped and searched b

News | Thursday, July 28,2011

‘I see a whole lot of opportunity here’

Improving Springfield’s future in the global economy

By Patrick Yeagle

Henrik Rasmussen calls himself a “Springfielder by choice.”A native of Denmark, Rasmussen moved his family to Springfield in 2009, seeking opportunity, freedom and space to innovate. Now a

News | Thursday, July 21,2011

I killed my mom

After a life of abuse, Terry Payton, 16, is charged with murder

By Patrick Yeagle

By all accounts, Terry Payton is a quiet, shy 16-year-old with a brilliant mind and a penchant for Pokémon. Family, friends and neighbors in the Edgar County community of Paris say Terry is mee