News | Thursday, May 16,2013

Physician claims prescription drugs worse than marijuana

Two doctors stood on opposing sides as the Illinois Senate was preparing to vote on legalizing medical marijuana.Dr. Dora Dixie, an addiction specialist from Chicago, argues that marijuana is highly a

News | Thursday, May 9,2013

A plea for African-Americans to get screened for diseases

By Jacqueline Muhammad

A diagnosis with stage three Hodgkin lymphoma at the age of 12 led Julius Simmons of Springfield to make a lifetime commitment to health and medical research.While urging a Springfield audience to get

News | Thursday, May 2,2013

We’re all losers in the War on Drugs

A new documentary chronicles a 40-year failed policy

By Jacqueline Muhammad

The “War on Drugs” launched by President Richard Nixon in the 1970s has had a lasting effect on society that can be felt decades later. For many American families the War on Drugs ha

News | Thursday, April 25,2013

Chicago and Downstate live in two different gun worlds

By Jacqueline Muhammad

Continuing gun violence in Chicago and the right to carry a concealed firearm are at the center of a heated debate in the Illinois House. Different social climates in Chicago and downstate Illinois ha

Home & Garden | Thursday, April 18,2013

Home sweet ‘green’ home

By Jacqueline Muhammad

When Harv Koplo and Annette Chinuge met at Sangamon State University during the 1970s they had no idea their interest in preserving the earth would lead them to become pioneers for sustainable living

News | Thursday, April 18,2013

Trying to legalize medical marijuana, again

By Jacqueline Muhammad

Patients suffering from diseases such as multiple sclerosis, cancer and Crohn’s disease can be in extreme physical discomfort and pain. Vicodin, OxyContin and morphine don’t sooth patients

News | Thursday, April 11,2013

Springfield groups push for immigration reform

By Jacqueline Muhammad

On April 4 and 5, two Springfield organizations took to the streets and the Springfield offices of members of Congress to generate support for federal immigration reform. More than 11 million people m

News | Thursday, April 4,2013

Debt piles up behind bars

By Jacqueline Muhammad

An Illinois prisoner can accrue tens of thousands of dollars in child support debt while incarcerated because of Illinois child support laws.This, according to Rep. Monique Davis, D-Chicago, is counte

News | Thursday, March 28,2013

Shortchanging Illinois children is a choice

By Jacqueline Muhammad

Although times are difficult for social services in Illinois, a statewide advocacy group thinks that it is still possible to positively affect the lives of children. Voices for Illinois Children, a no

News | Thursday, March 21,2013

Lobbying for local food

By Jacqueline Muhammad

Consumers, farmers and other citizens traveled from across the state to Springfield last week to lobby for local food reforms. As a part of Local Food Awareness Day, the group wanted to spread the wor