In the following pages we display one cover a year for each year we’ve been publishing. That’s 51 covers. Since we didn’t get started until late in 1975, we’ve used the first nine months of 2025 to complete 50 years. Does that make sense?
The covers we picked, one per year, weren’t picked at random, but weren’t chosen with great care either. Some were chosen for the artwork, some for subject matter, some to show signs of the times, others to show recurring themes. How many times has the cover story been about downtown, either rising or falling?
Our weekly cover story is our signature piece, with in-depth reporting, usually on an important topic. It gives reporters a chance to stretch their legs by writing long, using multiple sources, with the piece enhanced by carefully chosen photographs or illustrations. A snappy cover will increase the rate our readers snap up the paper from our newsracks.
Beyond the individual stories portrayed, this Gallery gives us a visual marker of how long Illinois Times has been around – especially when we consider that each cover here represents 51 more. That’s 2,600 altogether. And this: When we first wrote about Dick Durbin running for office (see No. 1) he was 30 years old. Now he’s 80, and retiring after next year from a long and successful career in Congress.
October 2, 1975, The third issue of Illinois Times featured “Dick Durbin’s First Race,” by founding staff writer Claudia Dowling. Durbin, 30 at the time, ran for the state Senate and lost to incumbent Republican John Davidson. In 1978, Durbin ran for lieutenant governor on a ticket with Michael Bakalis, and were defeated by incumbent Gov. James R. Thompson and his running mate, David C. O’Neal. In 1982, he ran for the 20th Congressional District seat against incumbent Republican Paul Findley. He served six terms in the U.S. House. In 1996 he was elected to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by retiring Paul Simon. Durbin was reelected to the Senate in 2002, 2008, 2014 and 2020. This year Durbin, now 80, announced he will not run for reelection in 2026.
May 21-27, 1976, “Marching for the E.R.A: How many votes will change?.” Cover story by staff writers Claudia Dowling and Victoria Pope, cover photo by staff photographer Jessie Ewing. The answer to the headline question? Not enough. ERA failed that year in the Illinois Senate by seven votes.
October 21-27, 1977, “Who really runs the State Journal-Register?, cover story by William Friedman, publisher, cover photo of SJ-R publisher Jack Clarke by Jessie Ewing. A history of Springfield’s powerful daily, focusing on Jim and Helen Copley, owners, and Helen’s leadership of the company after her husband’s death in 1973.
June 30-July 6, 1978, “Rights for the mentally ill,” by staff writer H.B. Koplowitz described four bills proposed by the Governor’s Commission on Mental Health. “The four bills would take some authority away from psychiatrists and give more authority to the courts,” the story said. Accompanying photos were of residents in Argyle House, a Springfield residential facility run by the Illinois Association for Retarded Citizens.
December 7-13, 1979, “New money for old buildings” included hope for “Waking up downtown Springfield,” by associate editor James Krohe Jr. The article lauded the renovation and preservation work of Carolyn Oxtoby’s renovated Maldaner’s Restaurant. Cover art by William Crook Jr., who also did this week’s cover for the 50th anniversary issue, looked out on Sixth and Monroe, with The Sazarac restaurant sign beckoning pedestrians.
November 7-13, 1980, “Incest is real,” by Susan Strom Mogernan, IT’s calendar editor and regular contributor, told readers, “One child in every ten will be sexually abused. Incest is here and now.”
August 6-12, 1981, “The best state fair in our state,” cover story was illustrated by staff artist Susan Wise. It included articles by Susan Mogerman, Harold Henderson, Sandra Martin and Fletcher Farrar. Grandstand entertainment that year included Leon Russell, The Allman Brothers, Barbara Mandrell, Willie Nelson and The Beach Boys.
February 18-24, 1982, “Why she can’t get an abortion in Springfield,” by Fletcher Farrar, Jr., included as the inside headline “Maybe we’re all cowards,” a quote from a Springfield doctor who refused to challenge the local medical establishment nearly a decade after Roe v. Wade was decided. “As long as abortion is not part of the mainstream of medical services,” said LuAnn Atkins, who had been executive director of Planned Parenthood, “it still has some of the back-alley flavor to it.”
June 2-8, 1983, “Personal Computing: Illinois plugs in,” by Harold Henderson, included talk of the new “computer subculture” included comments by Springfield’s Randy von Liski, an early adopter. “I really feel we’re looking at the future,” he said. “We’re right at the start of something that will be just as big as the Industrial Revolution.”
June 7-13, 1984. The cover of our 56-page Summerguide featured original art of a romantic picnic with poetry and watermelon, by our in-house illustrator, production manager Susan Wise. For another Wise piece, see #7.
May 2-8, 1985. “Hard time: Life and death in the Sangamon County jail,” cover story by Donald Sevener and photos by Linda Smogor. The story included the Dec. 11, 1984, death of Dellina Arnold in a holding cell because she lay “virtually ignored” for 10 ½ hours while her jailers waited for her to sober up. Inside headlines asked, “What good will a new jail do? Before we build, shouldn’t we ask what jail is for?”
Aug. 7-13, 1986. “Street life: How the homeless make do in Springfield.” Another collaboration, with the article by Don Sevener and photos by Linda Smogor. Several of those profiled lived at the then-derelict Grand Hotel at 109 North Seventh St., which one described as “a terrible place but at least it’s a place to live.” The building, which 69 men and women then called home, is now the office of the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau.
April 16-22, 1987. “Look who’s talking about ethics: Gov. James Thompson’s ten-year record of dubious dealings,” by Donald Sevener, cover illustration by Dick Paulus, including cartoons by Bill Campbell, Campbell Cartoon Service. The piece took a rare close look at the popular governor and media darling who, over the years, had paid his daughter’s babysitters with campaign funds, accepted free flights from businesses regulated by the state, and billed the state for vacation expenses.
Aug. 4-10, 1988. “Nuclear dump: Why did the Nuclear Regulatory Commission fire one of its toughest plant inspectors?” by Harold Henderson. Leonard McGregor, who had been resident inspector at Commonwealth Edison’s Dresden nuclear power station, was let go after, it seems, he got a little too good at his job.
Oct. 19, 1989. “Downfall of a neighborhood: How Evergreen Terrace became Evergreen Terror,” by Bill Kemp, photos by Ken Burnette, traced the history of the east side housing project from a stable working class neighborhood called Garden Court to a federally subsidized low-income development, riddled by crime and drugs. Frank McNeil, Ward 2 alderman, told IT, “There is a complete lack of stability, there are no father figures, no families. … Nobody expected it to develop into this.”
Oct. 25, 1990. “Lawyer for the dissent: Mary Lee Leahy has stood up for those who dared to challenge authority,” by Tom Teague. A profile of the one-time protégé of Gov. Dan Walker and head of DCFS who became a prominent Springfield attorney, eventually defeating the patronage system by winning the January 1990 Rutan decision by the U. S. Supreme Court. Leahy died in 2012.
May 16, 1991. “Introducing Springpatch, Our New Weekly Feature,” with cover art by Robert Waldmire, the Rochester artist, VW bus-driving, Rt. 66 enthusiast whose art graced these pages numerous times. The new Springpatch section promised to tell readers about Springfield in ways that will “make you think, make you laugh and make you shake your head with disbelief, distraction or dismay,” wrote Don Sevener, editor. The new section lasted into 1993.
March 12, 1992. “A woman’s place is in the Senate: Carol Moseley Braun seeks to bring diversity to the nation’s most exclusive male club,” by Bill Steinbacher-Kemp, staff writer. IT’s campaign profile acknowledged that Braun “is given scant chance” of winning the Democratic nomination and the Senate seat. “But if she does, she would speak for millions whose voice is rarely heard in the ol’ boys’ club.” In the primary she defeated incumbent Alan Dixon and won the fall general election to become the first Black woman to serve in the U.S. Senate.
Feb. 18, 1993. “How did these women strike it rich? They’re THE BEARDSTOWN LADIES,” by Russell Stare, with photos by Terry Farmer. “Those Wall-Street whiz kids, the Beardstown Ladies, made a 59 percent return on their investments in 1991. Just for fun.” This Cass County investment club became a media sensation, with three appearances on “CBS This Morning,” and the Illinois Times cover story.
Feb. 24, 1994. “Paul Simon’s balancing act: The debate for a balanced budget amendment has begun. The outcome could make the bow tie the national symbol for fiscal responsibility,” by Gayle Worland.
Sept. 21, 1995. “Murder on Stevenson Drive: On Thanksgiving Day, 1994, Charlie Blair was found beaten and he later died. A trial last month exposed the chaotic events that led to his death.” Article by staff writer Jolonda Young, with illustrations by Jim Edwards. The full story of the trial, which ended Aug. 4, 1995, with the jury finding Todd Blasko, 23, guilty of first-degree murder.
Sept. 5, 1996. “A big stink: Large hog operations are the latest battleground for the environment and the future of family farms,” by Jeff Ignatius. The article explained, “Although the environmental aspects of large livestock facilities have hogged the spotlight, this is also a political struggle about economics, the future of small-scale agriculture, and the quality of rural life.” This was the first of many IT articles over several years on CAFOs, Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations.
Oct. 2, 1997. “Vacant, but full of life: The John Hay homes are coming down, but the people who lived there left their mark,” photos and haiku by Judy Spencer, text by Jeff Ignatius, on remnants of life – graffiti, children’s art on walls, phonograph records, the book Think and Grow Rich – left behind as demolition proceeds on the 600-unit public housing complex built 1940-42.
Sept. 17-23, 1998. “Man’s best friend?: A biting commentary challenges a canine stereotype,” by Jeanette Batz, staff writer for Riverfront Times in St. Louis, where the story first appeared. The article details an epidemic of dog bites. More than 450 dog bites were reported in Sangamon County in 1997. A sidebar by William Furry, editor, “No bad dogs,” reported that of the 21,078 dogs registered in Sangamon County, only about 2 percent became biters. David Dodd, a dog trainer, complained, “Not enough people are getting their dogs trained.”
Sept. 9-15, 1999. “Tom’s thumb: The wizardry of Tom Martin, master gardener to three governors,” story and photos by Ginny Lee. A profile of Tom Martin, gardener at the Executive Mansion since 1984. “A garden is only as good as its gardener,” Martin said. “It’s like a symphony, only as good as its members and its director.”
June 22-28, 2000. “Jamming with Jane: A conversation with central Illinois’ queen of gospel-jazz,” an interview by William Furry with Jane Hartman. Still active in the Springfield music scene, Jane Hartman Irwin is currently music director of Blessed Sacrament church.
Sept. 13-19, 2001. “What now?” Two days after the attack on the World Trade Center, IT pulled together three short articles – a personal account on counseling and conversation, “Soothing our souls,” by Janeen Burkholder, “To help, to learn,” a listing of resources by Dominic Jesse, and a reflection, “America: hurt and confused,” by Pete Sherman, editor. “I felt compelled to offer ways we can wrestle with the meaning of what happened,” Sherman wrote, “without immediately resorting to revenge and violent retaliation.”
Dec. 5-11, 2002. “Fed up, frustrated, focused: Four members of the mayor’s task force on race relations talk about the fruitless quest for equality,” by Dusty Rhodes. A conversation with present and former task force members, Monica Chyn, Baker Siddiquee, Victor Juarez, and Larry Golden. In this discussion, the main topic was frustration with the lack of minority and diversity hiring in the city police and fire departments.
Feb. 6-12, 2003. “Dis-integration: Twenty-six years after school desegregation, race remains a problem for District 186. That’s just one problem,” by Pete Sherman, dealt with the continued racial segregation of schools. “A sort of resegregation in the city has taken place, mostly because white families have moved closer to the city limits,” Sherman wrote.
Feb. 19-25, 2004. “Anchor away: After devoting nearly 30 years to WICS, Don Hickman now is one of broadcasting’s harshest critics,” by Bud Bartlett. Hickman, the retired former anchor, complained that corporate owner, Sinclair Broadcasting, “calls most of the shots,” and “You have fewer and fewer experienced journalists anymore, either anchoring or reporting the news.”
March 3-9, 2005. “The survivor: Her rape changed Springfield. For the first time, she tells her story,” by Dusty Rhodes. “It was [Renatta] Frazier’s story, not the rape, that occupied the attention of the city from January 2002,. . .through April 2004, when the city paid Frazier and her attorney almost $1 million to settle her lawsuit.” The story of Jane Doe, rape victim, is reported here. “Everybody’s making Renatta Frazier look like the victim here, and she’s not the victim,” Jane says. “I am.”
April 6-12, 2006. “Culture wars: A clash of gays and conservatives makes for interesting times at UIS,” by R.L. Nave, staff writer. As gay students celebrated National Coming Out Day, the Society of Conservative Students decided to throw a “Support Traditional Marriage” rally, and someone wrote with chalk on the sidewalk, “Be straight. It’s great.” The clash went on from there.
July 12-18, 2007. “A matter of perspective: Freshman alderman Gail Simpson’s fresh take on Springfield,” by Dusty Rhodes. “As the lone African American council member, first black female alderman, and the successor to Frank McNeil . . . she carries a powerful symbolic burden whether she wants to or not,” Rhodes wrote. Simpson: “Sitting back and watching stuff happen – I’m not comfortable with that.”
April 10-16, 2008. “The payday loan trap: Lawmakers try to close a loophole that left Illinoisans vulnerable to predatory lenders,” by R.L. Nave. Payday lenders have been able to circumvent the 2005 Payday Loan Reform Act. Citizen Action/Illinois told IT, “The industry has driven a Mack truck through a giant loophole in the Payday Loan Reform Act.”
July 30-Aug. 5, 2009. “Re-visioning Springfield: Introducing new urbanism to the capital city,” by R.L. Nave. “The capital city is brimming with grand ideas about how to grow the city’s core and push back against sprawl,” began the article about recent design plans. A rendering showed an apartment building and a multi-level restaurant replacing the parking lot west of the Myers Building at Fourth and Washington. Another showed new small houses and “pocket parks” within the Mid-Illinois Medical District. The article asked, “So why hasn’t anything happened yet?”
Dec. 9-16, 2010. “Tracks on 10th: Will consolidating three rail lines divide the city or bring it together?,” by staff writer Patrick Yeagle. The Springfield Rail Corridor Study report outlined three options to accommodate doubling of rail activity through Springfield by 2020: 1. Double-tracking the Third Street rail corridor, 2. Moving Third Street rails to 10th Street, 3. Combining Third Street and 19th Street tracks on 10th Street.
Jan. 13-19, 2011. “Weighed down: A struggling parent company creates tension at the State Journal-Register, by Patrick Yeagle. The beginning of the Springfield daily’s demise was in April 2007, when Gatehouse Media purchased it from Copley Press, part of a package deal that included eight other papers owned by Copley, which sold together for $380 million. Soon after, advertising revenues nationwide tanked, leaving Gatehouse struggling to survive, IT reported.
May 3-10, 2012. “Change on the radio: WUIS switches from music to news,” by Scott Faingold. WUIS general manager Bill Wheelhouse announced that the public radio station would shift from its classical music-based programming to news and “civilized” talk. Faingold wrote: “These days, it is nearly impossible to hear the words ‘public radio’ without being reminded of the recent congressional controversies over funding, replete with mantra-like right-wing accusations of ‘liberal elite’ bias.” “That stuff hasn’t had much of an effect on us,” Wheelhouse told IT.
March 21-28, 2013. “Gus’s new gig: Gus Gordon takes the helm of the Hoogland Center for the Arts,” by Scott Faingold. After a 22-year stint as everybody’s favorite weatherman on Channel 20, and occasional stage performances with his stage production company, Gordon Productions, Gordon accepted a full-time position as executive director of HCFTA. It was a good fit.
Aug. 14-20, 2014. “Black and white: Police say they’re trying to make the city safer. But black drivers feel targeted,” by Patrick Yeagle. Getting stopped by police for “driving while black” has been a recurring story for Illinois Times, but this was among the first. Samuel Johnson of Springfield believed he had done nothing wrong when police pulled him over. In court, officers said he failed to signal his lane change for 100 feet. Johnson’s attorney, Peter Wise of Springfield, had the case thrown out because state law has no provision for how long a turn signal should be used before a lane change.
Sept. 10-16, 2015. “Ghost of a library: Short-staffed jewel withers,” by Bruce Rushton, cover art by Chris Britt. The library side of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is also the state’s historical library, a warehouse of the state’s history, with a trove of Abraham Lincoln documents and books. But the library is short-staffed, due to reductions by attrition. There are proposals to change the governance structure. “We need to move beyond crisis mode,” one librarian told IT.
Aug. 4-10, 2016. “Legacy Theatre comes of age: Celebrating a successful first five years, the theater plans a bright future” Tom Irwin wrote: “Five years after local theater mainstay Scott Richardson quipped to friends, ‘I bought a theater. Won’t this be fun!’ the Legacy Theatre is alive and well. Thriving under the watchful care of Richardson, the executive director, backed by a loyal and intrepid board of theater enthusiasts, the Legacy remains a viable and vital part of the entertainment scene.”
Sept. 21-27, 2017. “Outdated?: Townships face scrutiny,” by Bruce Rushton, covert art by Chris Britt. Gov. Bruce Rauner signed legislation to eliminate tax collectors in Sangamon County. “It is, at least, a start for critics of townships,” Rushton wrote, “who have long argued that the state’s 1,432 townships are largely, if not completely, unnecessary. …” Outdated or not, townships seemed in no danger of imminent demise.
June 21-27, 2018. “The death of department stores: Bergner’s, Sears are shutting down,” by Bruce Rushton. Despite the loss of two anchor stores, the White Oaks manager told the Springfield City Council there’s no need to worry, there are prospects to fill those spaces. “We’re in good shape,” he said.
Oct. 17-23, 2019. “School segregation’s new frontier: As white flight continues, city schools make diversity cool,” by Daniel C. Vock. IT commissioned this article by Vock, a national public policy reporter based in Washington, D.C., who led a Governing magazine team that reported the “Segregated in the Heartland” series earlier that year. This article reflected how District 186 is coping with increasing racial segregation due to white flight. “My school district hires me to serve the students that are here,” said Superintendent Jennifer Gill.
June 25-July 1, 2020. “Making history: Demonstrators are driven by desire to acknowledge, learn and rectify,” by Rachel Otwell, photos by Zach Adams. Juneteenth seemed different in 2020, but important. It was three months into the pandemic, and a month after George Floyd was killed, but still a year away from being recognized as an official holiday by Illinois and the federal government. In Springfield Juneteenth has been celebrated for more than two decades. Michael Williams, one of the early organizers, said the big difference this year is that “our white brothers and sisters are saying with us, we’re tired, we’re done.” COVID-19 has made “the big gap in health care. . . between the white community and the Black community impossible to ignore.”
April 1-7, 2021. “Reimagining downtown: Departing trains drive dreams,” by Bruce Rushton. As relocation of Third Street rail tracks came closer to reality, ideas begin to blossom. One downtown property owner envisions more demand. “If you put a lot of cool people in a cool area, cool things happen.” Renderings show a transformed railroad bed, with bicycle paths, townhomes and cafes. “It could be our river walk,” said John Stremsterfer of the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln. Several sources agreed that downtown Springfield needs more than ideas and pretty pictures; it needs a master plan.
Dec. 29, 2022-Jan. 4, 2023. “Remembering the lives they lived.” It has become a tradition for Illinois Times to devote the final issue of the year to essays – from both readers and regular contributors – about people who have died during the year. For 2022, the remembrances included Patrick Coburn, Cullom Davis, Kenley Wade, Mark Kessler, Mike Zimmers, Deidre Silas, Roger Schmitz and Sunderline Temple. Our introduction to the issue: “REMEMBERING tells us not only how much this town has lost this year, but how much from each life it has gained.”
July 27-Aug. 2, 2023. “Transgender turmoil: YMCA critics claim they’re advocating for children. Others see political theater,” by Dean Olsen, photos by Zach Adams. Christina Newton and her friend, Candice Clotfelter, say they were wearing one-piece swimsuits and having a private conversation while sitting on a bench inside the women’s locker room at the Kerasotes branch of the Springfield YMCA April 27 when 16-year-old Abbigail Wheeler began staring at them. What happened next led to a nationally publicized controversy over the rights of transgender people to use locker rooms associated with the gender to which they identify.
Nov. 7-13, 2024. “This I believe Illinois: Selected high school essayists write from the heart,” by Karen Ackerman Witter. This year 245 students within the NPR Illinois listening area submitted essays – the most ever. Reviewers scored the essays and judges selected the top 10. Illinois Times, a cosponsor, published the winning essays. Titles included, “I believe in the moon,” “Victoria’s Secret ‘Bombshell’ perfume,” “I believe in stained glass,” “Emerald and onyx” and “Preserving the past.”
Feb. 20-26, 2025. “Combating human trafficking: City’s recent closures of Asian massage parlors highlight a larger problem,” by Dean Olsen. Illegitimate massage parlors aren’t just a nuisance to neighborhoods. The industry has strong connections to human trafficking networks, Olsen reported. Mental manipulation, language and cultural barriers and threats of violence make it hard for victims to realize there is an alternative, seek help and escape.
