A Sangamon County jail video released today provides no clear view of an inmate struggling with jailers and being tased before losing consciousness on April 27, when he was pronounced dead after being rushed to a hospital. There is a 90-second gap in footage from a camera aimed down a corridor that gives a view […]
Bruce Rushton
Bruce Rushton is a freelance journalist.
Posted inNews
Former secretary of state supervisor gets prison
‹ Left Center Right Resize Cancel Crop 660 x ✖i › ‹ Left Center Right Resize Cancel Crop 660 x 495 ✖i › A federal judge today sentenced a former top Secretary of State licensing official to 18 months in prison for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the secretary of state and the […]
Posted inNews
Downtown divided
Mayor Jim Langfelder has changed plans to convert a portion of Adams Street into a pedestrian plaza during weekends, deciding that the street should remain open to vehicular traffic. The city had granted a permit to close Adams between Fourth and Fifth streets from noon on Fridays until Mondays at 7 a.m. through the end […]
Posted inOpinion
To serve, protect and tase
One question burns after the latest death at the local jail: Why have so many people died under the noses of people employed by the Sangamon County sheriff’s office? Say their names. Bobby Ray. Amon Paul Carlock. Maurice Burris. Pat Burns. Alonso Travis. Tiffany Rusher. And now, Jaimeson Daniel Cody, who died last week after […]
Posted inNews
Sports betting
The Springfield City Council is contemplating a tax hike to help pay for youth athletic fields near the MacArthur Boulevard-Interstate 72 interchange. A proposed $36.25 million subsidy, including $30.5 million for construction and the balance for upkeep over 23 years, would be, so far as anyone can remember, the largest city grant for a private […]
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Clemmons-Stott departing Downtown Springfield Inc., sources say
Lisa Clemmons-Stott, executive director of Downtown Springfield Inc., is leaving her post, according to multiple sources. The reasons behind her resignation aren’t clear. Clemmons-Stott, who was named DSI director in 2015, did not return two phone calls from Illinois Times. “We will send out a formal statement to the two of you first this afternoon,” […]
Posted inNews
Video of fatal jail encounter remains under wraps
It may be a month before the Sangamon County coroner’s office determines a cause of death for a county jail inmate who died early Tuesday after being tased by jail staff. Meanwhile, authorities have not released video that might show what happened. Jaimeson D. Cody, 39, died about 20 hours after he was booked into […]
Posted inNews
Thanks but no tanks
A coalition of groups ranging from Black Lives Matter to Planned Parenthood is demanding that Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell cancel plans to acquire an armored vehicle. The sheriff’s department doesn’t need a surplus military vehicle that can withstand mine blasts and is impervious to bullets from high-powered rifles, representatives of 13 groups said at […]
Posted inNews
Open for business
A third marijuana dispensary opened last week in the Springfield area even as legislation aimed at fixing the state’s troubled pot laws percolates at the Capitol. Maribis, which has dispensaries in Grandview and the Chicago area, cut the ribbon at its fourth shop last week on Springfield’s west side, inside a Parkway Pointe movie theater […]
Posted inOpinion
Free Capitol News Illinois
There is nothing like watching the Illinois General Assembly. Whether floor debate or witnesses testifying before the Agriculture, Environment and Energy Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, it’s riveting stuff, which explains why former Gov. Bruce Rauner once dreamed of projecting Capitol proceedings onto a giant screen across the street from the governor’s mansion as […]
Posted inNews
Un-Civil War
Legislators gathered on the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s death to hear arguments over the Abraham Presidential Library and Museum and a private fundraising foundation that the ALPLM says is overly secretive about finances. The foundation says that it has given millions of dollars to help the ALPLM, including $1.8 million during the most recent fiscal […]
Posted inOpinion
Tragedy in Chicago
Thirty years after Rodney King, videos documenting police misconduct and mistakes have become ubiquitous. Thanks to a smartphone, the cop who killed Walter Scott is serving time, but not enough. Jason Van Dyke is in prison and Rahm Emanuel isn’t in politics, efforts to hide footage having failed. The officer who shot John Crawford III […]
