BIG WIN
Last spring, Jamie Toole (at the time chief storyteller of the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes) came and spoke at an Enos Park neighborhood meeting. He spoke passionately about how baseball should be affordable and accessible to everyone. In addition to the Shoes, he spoke about the Women’s Pro Baseball League coming to town in the late summer/early fall.
The entire city owes a big thank you to Jamie and his team for allowing Springfield to be in such a big spotlight. My social media has been flooded with folks from across the country asking about where to stay, eat, drink and hang out while they’re in town for games. My neighbors – who are adamant non-sports fans – have found themselves now wildly cheering and attending multiple games.
Were there bumps in the road? Undoubtedly. Jamie didn’t wait for things to be perfect. He dreamed big, made connections and went for it. I hope that every city leader has reached out to thank him. I hope that every person with a dream of making our town better in some way is inspired.
On behalf of everyone who attended, high-fived a stranger, caught a ball, rented a room out, drove an Uber, served a drink and more – thank you, Jamie.
Lauren Baker, president
Enos Park Neighborhood Improvement Association
NOT THE INTENT
In March, I voted in favor of the referendum to fund a Sangamon County Mental Health Board – with hesitancy over the sole appointment authority given to the Sangamon County Board chair over who would decide how the revenue would be spent. The Sept. 9 piece by Dilpreet Raju regarding this board has not reassured me in my decision (“Mental Health Board faces forks in the road”).
The referendum was not presented to voters as a tax increase to provide additional funding to the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office, but Chair Steve Nardulli nonchalantly stated he expects that office to apply.
The idea that Sheriff Paula Crouch thinks it appropriate to see this as a potential windfall to the office that employed Sonya Massey’s murderer is at best tone deaf, and at worst a cynical cash grab. I hope there are some adults on the board that can read the room and spend this money the way it was intended.
Tom Coats
Springfield
FOCUS ON FOREVER CHEMICALS
I read with great interest Ben Szalinski’s article “Pritzker establishes AI Cabinet amid calls for greater regulation” (Sept. 23). The governor’s establishment of an AI cabinet made up of experts to formulate policy proposals to analyze the risks posed by AI to the safety of Illinois residents is important.
So far much of the public discussion about the impact of data centers has focused on light and noise pollution, the rising utility costs of electricity and water, and concerns about plummeting property values for homeowners near construction of large and unattractive data center sites. However, a recent article in Fortune magazine set forth permanent environmental damage and health risks – often not recognized or acknowledged – from exposure to PFAS (“Data centers are swapping water for forever chemicals to keep AI cool” by Joshua Hong, Sept. 18). This should be interjected into the current discussion of risks posed by AI.
The water-cooling procedures required by the enormous amount of heat generated from data center equipment results in the creation of PFAS expelled back into the community water supply. Forever chemicals are persistent because their carbon–fluorine bonds persist and do not naturally break down. Recent research has documented that PFAS in contaminated community drinking water has significant permanent health hazards to wildlife, humans and the environment. In 2023, the World Health Organization Cancer’s Research Agency confirmed the link between PFAS and renal cell cancer and testicular cancer.
The public health consequences of exposure to PFAS are a crucial topic that should be included in the agenda and deliberations of the governor’s AI cabinet.
Marcus Albrecht
Edwardsville
This article appears in October 1-7, 2026.
