Too many people overlook the word peace, says Audrey Lanzotti, an eighth-grader and president of the student council at St. Agnes School in Springfield. “Everyone talks about kindness, but no one really talks about peace,” Lanzotti says. “But when we brought peace into our school, everything changed.” Since October, 440 students in preschool through eighth […]
Amanda Robert
Posted inMusic
Springfield Choral Society sings for peace
Marion van der Loo was already thinking about Christmas back in June. As the music director of the Springfield Choral Society listened to “Jul, Jul, Strlande Jul,” a song from Sweden that means “Christmas, Christmas, Beautiful Christmas,” she became mesmerized by its meaning. “The text says point-blank, ‘Christmas take away from the blood and the […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Stepping it up
As a young graduate student, I didn’t see a problem with heading to Steak ‘n Shake after a late night out with friends or grabbing McDonald’s in between classes. And even though I had been active in college — rowing competitively with the school’s team and jogging frequently with roommates — I stopped exercising, too. […]
Posted inNews
County seeks landmark status for Illiopolis water tower
After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and the U.S. entered World War II, munitions plants — including the Sangamon Ordnance Plant near Illiopolis — began popping up all over the United States. The central Illinois plant, located two-and-a-half miles southwest of Illiopolis, was built in 1942 and eventually became one of the […]
Posted inNews
X PRIZE team passes the test
Illuminati Motor Works continues to power past checkpoints in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE, a $10 million competition that seeks to produce a new generation of fast, inexpensive, super “green” cars. Last month the X PRIZE announced that 43 teams — representing 18 states and 10 countries — passed the design judging phase by […]
Posted inNews
Kaleb’s best friend
The small crowd that gathers in the parking lot of the Douglas County courthouse defies the November nip of the air and the wild winds that swirl around them. No one notices that the late afternoon sun is sinking slowly from sight or that cars are disappearing quickly from Tuscola’s idyllic streets. Reporters, cameramen and […]
Posted inNews
Second service dog case pending
The landmark ruling in the case of Kaleb Drew and Chewey could decide how other Illinois communities resolve issues surrounding students with disabilities and their service animals. The state’s second case involving a student with autism and his request to bring a service dog to school surfaced last spring in Columbia, Ill., 15 miles southeast […]
Posted inNews
Departing chief’s old job overlaps with new post
Ralph Caldwell begins his new job as director of the Metropolitan Computer-Aided Dispatch agency in Champaign County on Dec. 14, but city officials confirm that he’ll still be employed as chief of the Springfield Police Department through January. Ernie Slottag, city communications director, says Caldwell will be on the city’s payroll until Jan. 19. Assistant […]
Posted inNews
Attorney general files complaint to stop proposed central Illinois strip mine
Strip mining — a type of surface mining that involves excavating earth, rock and other sediment to uncover coal — has once again come under fire in central Illinois. Last month Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a complaint in Fulton County, asking that the circuit court require the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to […]
Posted inNews
High school students begin pre-pre-med at SIU
Two dozen young students filed forward to receive their white coats at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine on Nov. 9. Not yet medical residents or even first-year medical students, this class is special — they’re all local high school freshmen chosen for a new initiative that will prepare them for careers in medicine. […]
Posted inNews
Bike council gets down to work
It would be like putting a lobbyist for the pesticide industry in charge of promoting organic food. That’s how one founding member of the Sangamon County Organization for Reform of Cycling Habitat (SCORCH) describes the city’s nomination of David Sykuta as the chairman of the new Springfield Bicycle Advisory Council. Sykuta, the executive director of […]
Posted inNews
Board worries building plan may cause voter sticker shock
Bill Castor, president of the Vinegar Hill Neighborhood Association, was once a staunch supporter of keeping Springfield High School rooted to its historic downtown location. One of 59 members of a community committee charged with proposing a new plan for Springfield’s three public high schools, Castor initially hoped to see the Springfield High campus doubled […]
