Amanda Robert

Untitled Document The conflict between the Nipper Wildlife Sanctuary Trust and the sanctuary’s neighbors reached an anti-climactic end on Tuesday as the Sangamon County Board voted to table the trust’s request for a conditional-use permit to establish a public park.  The neighbors initially complained that they had not been properly informed of the trust’s zoning […]

Untitled Document Two internationally renowned peace activists will visit Springfield next week during Days of Decision: We the People Declare Peace, a series of peace-and-justice events that will culminate on Sept. 21 with the International Day of Peace. Eric Le Compte, a national organizer for the School of the Americas Watch, will present “Commit to […]

Untitled Document Despite Tuesday’s stifling 95-degree temperatures, protestors with the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence joined near the Municipal Center walkway and fountain to remember the lives of those lost in the Virginia Tech shooting and to call for stricter gun-control laws.      In a brief ceremony, event organizer Christopher Boyster read the names […]

Untitled Document Ward 6 Ald. Mark Mahoney has repeatedly reported his constituents’ complaints about the Sangamon County 911 Dispatch Center, and this week his persistence finally paid off.      He raised the issue with Ralph Caldwell, chief of the Springfield Police Department, at last week’s City Council meeting and again with Robert Williams, new […]

Untitled Document Local concerned mothers and other residents say that it’s too easy to obtain handguns in the United States — and they don’t like it. The Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence will stage a civil protest at noon on Tuesday, Aug. 28, at the Municipal Center walkway and fountain to raise awareness of lax […]

Untitled Document Last week’s 8.0-magnitude earthquake in Peru  flattened buildings and killed hundreds of citizens, but La Oroya was mostly spared from disaster, says Sister Mila Díaz Solano.      Díaz Solano, who was featured in a recent article about a deadly lead smelter in La Oroya [see Amanda Robert, “Sisters to the rescue,” Aug. […]

Untitled Document Garret Moffett calls downtown panhandling a “problem of epidemic proportion.” Moffett, owner of Springfield Walks, says that participants in his guided tours are often hit up for money five or six times, leading to safety and harassment issues. “For me, specifically, panhandlers were coming up before, after, and during the tours, asking for […]

Untitled Document The city of Springfield has pledged to reexamine its tax-increment-financing policy after Enos Park residents voiced concerns with current procedures at a neighborhood-association meeting Tuesday. Enos Park resident Owen Anderson told city officials in attendance — public-works director Mike Norris, Office of Planning and Economic Development director Mike Farmer, and TIF administrator Bissi […]

Untitled Document Emerald Bagby didn’t want to sit around and do nothing all summer.      Instead, the soon-to-be sophomore at Springfield High School joined 17 other teens in The Springfield Project’s summer employment program.      “They were offering good jobs, so we wouldn’t be bored at home,” Bagby says.      Bagby signed […]

Untitled Document The city is once again on the move in its fight against childhood lead poisoning.     Thanks to a grant agreement with the Illinois Department of Public Health, the Springfield City Council was expected to pass an ordinance this week authorizing $184,840 for the city’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, plus an […]