Pinchin’ pensions

Fixing Illinois’ broken system

Rita Tarr Scheibe spent most of her career helping others as executive director of social service agencies, including Contact Ministries and Catholic Charities. The jobs were fulfilling, but not ones

Arsenic, lots of it, found around CWLP%u2008ash ponds

Groundwater surrounding City Water, Light and Power’s coal ash ponds, located across the street from Lake Springfield, contains as much as nine times the amount of arsenic considered safe in dri

Doubling raffle limit worries anti-gambling groups

A recent change to raffle regulations means local charities can sell chances for up to $2 million in prizes as a way to finance their causes. But some say the maximum prize value increase – up f

Budget cuts tie Helping Hands

Homeless shelter makes changes and seeks donations to make ends meet

Without access to a car, 49-year-old Lloyd McCullough walks more than four miles, six days a week, to get from Helping Hands shelter on the corner of 11th and Adams streets to his stocking job at Mena

Breakfast, lunch and dinner – on you

Springfield Park District executive director Mike Stratton has used his taxpayer-funded credit card to purchase nearly $2,000 worth of restaurant food since April of last year, when he laid off about

Moving kids from fat to fit

The Springfield campaign to promote healthy food and exercise

This school year, in a little patch of yard beside a set of mobile classrooms at Southern View Elementary School, students and their teachers are hoping to find a few new flavors. As a way to teach st

Activist youth gets involved in Ward 6

The flushing factor

Sanitary district examining ways to improve stream water quality

Poor water quality plagues two Springfield streams, and part of the problem is the Springfield Metro Sanitary District, according to a recent study measuring fecal coliform bacteria, present in both h

All in the family

Park district hires executive director’s fiancée to fill eliminated position

For about two months this summer, the Springfield Park District’s main receptionist position was held by the girlfriend, now fiancée, of Mike Stratton, the executive director of the $11 m

Gambling on the fairgrounds

How slot machines and harness racing could change Springfield forever

Step right up! Welcome to the Illinois State Fairgrounds, where kids can milk cows, and cows can win ribbons and anyone 21 years and older can contribute to an electronic, press-a-button, hear-a-beep,