Untitled Document Lying with a needle in his arm and parts of his blood streaming into three separate bags, David Parsons is    donating platelets, which takes longer t]]> Untitled Document They say that time behind bars makes criminals better at what they went in for. A gangbanger makes more gang connections, and a small-time bank robber learns fr]]> Though I knew how the story turned out, as I read I kept hoping that one of the safety inspection reports on Centralia Coal Co. Mine No. 5 would move somebody to action before it was too late. In the ]]> The national economic crisis brings a sense of foreboding to a small city like Springfield. Sometimes the nation’s worst weather bypasses here; the coasts get the hurricanes, fires a]]> Untitled Document The subject of hope has gotten so much press, there was bound to be a pushback. During a recent debate, our guy had to carefully explain that hope doesn’t]]> Untitled Document In 1961, after a long day of working on a promotional film at New Salem, 83-year-old Carl Sandburg granted Tom Littlewood an interview about Sandburg’s ol]]> Former Gov. George Ryan is remembered for two things. First, that he went to prison after being convicted on corruption charges. Second, that, in his final days in office, he cleared out dea]]> Untitled Document Punctuation and grammar, used well, can not only make us communicate better, and look better for having done so, they can also make us feel better. Commas and c]]> When I noticed that the City Council was preparing to address the problems of homelessness, I stopped by outside St. John’s Breadline after lunch to ask the poor and the homeless, and those who ]]> Nobody likes deals done in secret, or under the threat of a lawsuit, but the substance of the Sierra Club deal with City Water, Light & Power is excellent. It gets Springfield involved in wind ene]]> Untitled Document People who have lived somewhere else are best at understanding how complex and cumbersome Springfield’s trash system is. When Ward 2 Ald. Gail Simpson liv]]> Untitled Document The Association of Alternative Newsweeklies gathered for its 30th annual convention last week in the Left Coast city of Portland, a booming place that prides it]]> Untitled Document Looking out over the crowd at the Historic Sites Commission’s Mayor’s Awards for Historic Preservation, I began to think that maybe historic preserv]]> Untitled Document The governor’s proposed gross-receipts tax isn’t as gross as you think. Ohio, Texas, Washington, and other states have each implemented a version of]]> The 1821 Sangamon County commissioners established the temporary county seat on Spring Creek, so they named it Springfield. But the town's real founders — Elijah Iles, Pascal Enos and ]]> Untitled Document Frustrated builders call it the last straw — a union-originated Springfield ordinance to require those who get city grants to contribute to an apprentices]]> Untitled Document The idea of replacing Springfield High School with a $57 million new building in a cornfield on Springfield’s west side is so lame, so yesterday, so pre-O]]> Untitled Document When Hillary Clinton scolded Barack Obama the other day in Iowa, talking about his inexperience and listing his mistakes, I saw a picture of a mother lecturing ]]> Untitled Document On Mother’s Day I go to church with Mom. She’s still with our old home church, Central Christian, though it’s hardly the same church I grew up]]> Untitled Document Illinois Auditor General William Holland was so angry over the Department of Healthcare and Family Services’ delays in submitting information over the pas]]>