Last weekend, high school teens filled the roles of legislative assistants, lobbyists, senators and representatives of the Democrat and Republican caucuses in the Illinois General Assembly, bringing their own set of bills to be heard in the Illinois Statehouse. The Illinois YMCA Youth and Government program hosted its 67th annual simulation at the Statehouse on […]
Brittany Hilderbrand
Posted inArts & Culture
Poetry Out Loud
Here’s a clip of Illinois’ Statewide Poetry Out Loud 2016 winners: Last week, Mariah Brooks, junior at Southeast High School in Springfield, and Amber Price, junior at Maine East High School in Park Ridge, competed at the state level in the national recitation competition Poetry Out Loud. Brooks claimed the title of Illinois statewide champion while […]
Posted inNews
Poetry Out Loud
Mariah Brooks, a junior at Southeast High School, is named statewide champion for the Poetry Out Loud contest. PHOTO BY WILLIAM RICHARDS Springfield’s Southeast High School junior Mariah Brooks claimed the title of Illinois statewide champion for the Poetry Out Loud competition last week. It’s part of a national poetry recitation competition that creates a […]
Posted inNews
Targeting autism
The Illinois State Library and the Illinois Secretary of State teamed up last week to host the second annual “Targeting Autism” forum, a national conference that creates a platform for discussion and networking between parents and administrators. This year, the conference welcomed former ABC News correspondents John Donvan and Caren Zucker, the two New York […]
Posted inNews
John Donvan and Caren Zucker accept the Illinois Literary Heritage Award
On March 10-11, the Illinois State Library hosted the second national “Targeting Autism” conference. This year the ISL welcomed John Donvan and Caren Zucker, New York Times bestselling authors of the book In a Different Key: The Story of Autism and former ABC news correspondents to talk about their efforts to generate awareness. At the […]
Posted inNews
Building your best you
Veris Van, owner of Bless’ It Beauty Salon Veris Van has a mission to “change the world one head at a time” using her beauty talents to build confidence, to educate and to lift the spirits of women and children in Springfield. Van’s most recent endeavor is “Building Your Best You,” a four-part workshop series […]
Posted inNews
Senior cops remember how policing used to be
George Graves remembers when police officers used “wheel books,” a log of license numbers shelved at police stations, to identify whether a car had a criminal history. Since that time, technology has not only changed the gadgets police use to perform their jobs, but also has enhanced the level of communication and professionalism in law […]
Posted inNews
City budgets $165,000 for body cameras
LAPD officer Jim Stover with the information technology bureau demonstrates the body camera at Mission Division as officers get a briefing on use of the camera which they will wear today, Monday, Aug. 31, 2015 in Los Angeles. This is the first roll out of PHOTO BY AL SEIB/TNS The City of Springfield is investing […]
Posted inNews
Bill would allow gender change on birth certificate
A bill filed in the Illinois Statehouse this month would make it easier for transgender people to change the sex indicated on their birth certificate. The bill is meant to recognize that a person’s gender may not match their physical sex. Under the Illinois Vital Records Act, passed in 1962, a person must have undergone […]
Posted inNews
Keep the Lights On
The State of Illinois owes Springfield’s municipal utility $12 million. File photo by Patrick Yeagle As the state passes into month nine of the budget impasse, Illinois’ financial backlog is growing. But higher education and human service providers are not the only people waiting for money from the state. The State of Illinois owes City […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The sweet flow of Poetry Out Loud
Mariah Brooks. Photo by William Richards. Troy Roark is amazed at how much talent is “hiding” in local schools. Roark, Springfield Area Arts Council board president, is referring to the group of 17 high school students who competed in the regional Poetry Out Loud contest on Feb. 10, demonstrating their ability to recite poems concisely, […]
Posted inNews
Downtown student housing coming this fall
One of Bluffstone’s numerous apartment properties. Starting this fall, the University of Illinois Springfield will offer housing for graduate students who want to live downtown. A partnership between UIS, Town and Country Bank and Bluffstone, LLC., a student housing development firm, will give graduate students a new option for off-campus housing in the downtown area. […]
