COVER STORY
The secret to staying young
A banana every morning, along with a glass of milk, and some pickleball in the afternoon. For Donald Taft, at least, this is his recommended elixir to older people who want to keep drinking from the fountain of youth. At 93,…
LATEST NEWS
Darren Bailey calls for expanding outreach
“Happy Republican Day!” House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, greeted the crowd gathered Aug. 20 on the Illinois State Fair…
The face of fair fun
Volunteers were all smiles as they took payments from drivers entering the parking lot at one of the gates at the…
Governor’s Day at the Illinois State Fair
Governor’s Day brought Democratic party leaders and supporters to the State Fair on Wednesday to rally as campaigns gear up…
Safety net snaps
Kayla Brown said her family of four has been getting by on about $200 a month in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance…
Supporting students
Illinois school districts can now help pay for extended motel stays for homeless students and their families under a new…
Prairie problems
Illinois is nicknamed the “Prairie State,” but the city of Springfield didn’t want Wolfgang Arterberry to have an actual prairie…
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NEWSLETTER
News
Another downtown project
Local real estate investor Chris Stone has acquired the former PNC Bank building on the Old State Capitol Plaza downtown.…
State Journal-Register partners with Palantir
The nation’s largest newspaper chain turned heads Aug. 6 – in what would otherwise be a traditional, jargon-filled earnings call…
“Democracy Rising Rally” held at Old State Capitol
About a hundred people gathered in the Old State Capitol on Saturday afternoon for the “Democracy Rising Rally” organized by…
“Our history is not pretty”
A small group gathered the morning of Aug. 14 after heavy rains saturated an unpaved city-owned plot as part of…
opinion
Unamended consequences
With luck, the $350 million renovation of the Illinois State Capitol north wing will open by the time the snow flies and Springfield will get a glimpse…
Grandparents: The greatest influencers
I work hard at limiting the amount of time I spend watching reels and videos online. But I can’t control myself when I see…
Letters to the editor
POORLY MANAGED I have been a certified arborist since the first year the certification law was passed decades ago. I have been actively volunteering…
10 years at the top not guaranteed
After Michael J. Madigan’s 36 years as Illinois House speaker, a 10-year term limit on current and future speakers doesn’t seem like a lot…
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Food and drink
No lettuce, no problem
If you are finding yourself casting a wary eye toward bagged lettuce after the latest cyclospora health alert, consider looking…
Cantaloupe creations
My household has been under a compulsory cantaloupe consumption mandate for the past week. I’d ordered four of them from…
Slurping through a heat wave
Buckwheat has been on my mind quite a bit this summer. For a recent cheese-themed dinner at Prairie Fruits Farm…
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Music
Music at the fair and elsewhere
Here we go into the last weekend of the Illinois State Fair for 2026 with plenty left…
More than fair music
Entering into the 2026 Illinois State Fair, we can safely say that music rules on the fairgrounds.…
Robust August music-making
As we gear up for the first full weekend of August, the live music scene is in…
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ARTS AND CULTURE
Faraway Tree provides a magical escape, Oak Street is a half-baked dino film
Tree casts a delightful spell A fantasy for both children and adults, Ben Gregor’s The Magic Faraway Tree finds the perfect balance of whimsy and…
Love poem by my mother
As one who viewed the world by candlelight Seeing all objects dimly wrapped in shade, Their changing with a feeble flickering made By unexpected gusts…
Springfield Comic Convention
CONVENTIONS | Comic book collectors gather this Sunday This long-running convention will return to Springfield on Sunday. A huge variety of new and old comic…
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Best Of Springfield 2025
See the results Every year, we ask our opinionated readers to tell us about their favorite people, places and things in the Springfield area. Over the decades we’ve been doing this, we’ve continued to tweak both the process and the results issue to try to keep things fresh and interesting. While anything food-related typically dominates…
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