The Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln is giving 40 college-bound students in central Illinois a boost with more than $42,000 total in scholarships.The Community Foundation for the Land of L]]> For years, debate has raged about whether gravel pits near Riverton contain enough water to see Springfield through a drought.Now, hydrological testing might settle the question.Mayor Mike Houston has]]> Untitled Document A well-financed plan to polish the public image of a wealthy businessman suspected of involvement in a notorious double homicide may have backfired this month when d]]> A Springfield-based community group is hoping to make the contentious arrival of high-speed rail into a blessing by making sure 30 percent of the jobs from the project go to local disadvantaged worker]]> The first sign of trouble came late last year, when employees at local Mexican restaurants started getting pulled over.The offenses were minor: failure to signal a lane change, stopping just a bit ove]]> When Jasper Madonia started working in downtown Springfield in 1939, the downtown was a different place from today. He describes a bustling place so busy that he had to push his way through the crowds]]> The cluttered skyline near South Grand Avenue and Dirksen Parkway in Springfield overlooks a swirling mass of fast-food wrappers and plastic shopping bags blown across an empty and unkempt lot by the ]]> Michael Higgins loves America.The owner of Maldaner’s restaurant in downtown Springfield pays his taxes, votes and keeps abreast of current events, perhaps moreso than the rest of us, by going t]]> The confusing world of health insurance could get a lot easier for Illinoisans in October, when the federal government opens a public health insurance marketplace here. The state would only get to tak]]> A new state law that bans texting while driving took effect Jan. 1, but officials admit enforcement may be a problem.Signed by Governor Pat Quinn in August, the texting ban outlaws operating a motor v]]> The best way to curb gambling might be for the state of Illinois to legalize it.The going has been slow since lawmakers more than three years ago approved video gambling outside casinos. Only last spr]]> Illinois lawmakers left a meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 7, with few financial details on how the state plans to close the Jacksonville Developmental Center.The Commission on Government Forecasting and Acco]]> When barbers employed by the state earn an average annual wage of nearly $66,000, compared to the average Illinois private sector barber’s $27,600, something is amiss, says the increasingly visi]]> Untitled Document When the fight involves 3,350 hogs, their excrement, a farm couple, some “city slickers,” and two lawyers, you’ve got to expect so]]> An east-side community center still in its infancy has lost the support of one of its founders. She filed a police report alleging battery 10 days before dissolving the organization, apparently withou]]> When MacArthur Frazier, the owner of Mac’s Lounge, 1231 E. Cook St., first heard last week about the state’s new tax increase on beer, wine and hard alcohol — included as ]]> The Lord works in mysterious ways, and so does the state of Illinois. Floyd Schleyhahn, a network administrator for the state Department of Cen]]> After more than 26 years of fighting, Randy Steidl is ready to put the past behind him.The Paris, Ill., man spent 17 years on Illinois’ death row for a double murder he didn’t commit, but ]]> Allen Wehrmann, the head of the Center for Groundwater Science at the Illinois State Water Survey in Champaign, recently told Illinois Times that he’s not convinced that gravel pits, including ]]>