PHOTO BY KURT STRAZDINS/TNS A City Water, Light and Power plan to restructure electrical rates is a recipe for wastefulness, critics say. The utility has proposed raising fixed meter charges while lowering usage rates as a means of stabilizing finances that can swing significantly with the weather. Residential meter charges would zoom from $5.76 per […]
Bruce Rushton
Bruce Rushton is a freelance journalist.
Posted inOpinion
Suing the governor
Gov. Bruce Rauner PHOTO BY TERRENCE ANTONIO JAMES /TNS It’s a quote that can’t be repeated often enough as Gov. Bruce Rauner builds a reputation for secrecy at all costs – so long as he isn’t the one paying the bills. “I want to make Illinois government the most efficient, transparent (state government) in America,” […]
Posted inNews
Pollution accord reached
Attorney General Lisa Madigan Attorney General Lisa Madigan has settled a pollution lawsuit against a Carlinville coal mine operator for nearly $300,000. Under terms of the settlement, Macoupin Energy, a subsidiary of Foresight Energy, will also have to take steps to reduce groundwater pollution at its mine purchased in 2009. The company will pay $100,000 […]
Posted inNews
All you need is love – and a nod from the Great Beyond
Robert and Janice Bartel hope to hear from John Lennon during an upcoming séance in their basement. Photo by BRUCE RUSHTON Robert Bartel is firm on one point. He and his wife, Janice, are fans. Not fanatics. There is a difference, he says. But still, Bartel seems a bit chagrined when his wife reminds him […]
Posted inNews
AG rules against Rauner, in favor of Illinois Times
Gov. Bruce Rauner has refused to release his appointment calendar to Illinois Times, so the paper sued him today, following a favorable decision from the Illinois Attorney General. Photo by Patrick Yeagle. Illinois Times today sued Gov. Bruce Rauner after Attorney General Lisa Madigan ruled that the governor must turn over his appointment calendar in […]
Posted inNews
A house divided and crumbling
Steven Beckett The Papers of Abraham Lincoln Project, which aims to digitize every document written by or read by the Great Emancipator, is in an existential crisis, the project’s director Thursday told an advisory board to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, where the project is headquartered. On orders from the governor’s office, the […]
Posted inNews
Six-figure settlement in prison lawsuit
Alfonso Franco, shown here in better days, died after suffering from cancer that went undiagnosed. PHOTO COURTESY OF SHAY AND ASSOCIATES Wexford Health Sources, a Pennsylvania company that holds the contract to provide health care to Illinois inmates, has agreed to pay $800,000 to the family of a prisoner who died in 2012 after doctors […]
Posted inNews
Car dealer pursues Piper Glen
Frank Simpson, who says that recent improvements are noticeable, enjoys a around at Piper Glen on Tuesday. PHOTO BY BRUCE RUSHTON Car dealer Todd Green is bullish on golf courses, and Piper Glen is on his buy list. “I have not made a formal offer,” Green said of the financially troubled course in Chatham. “I […]
Posted inOpinion
Confidential To The Grammar Nazi
There are few things that we here at Illinois Times enjoy more than letters from readers. Nary a week goes by that an envelope sans return address doesn’t show up in my mailbox. Usually, the sender takes great care to write my name and address in block letters, almost childlike, that would mystify the most […]
Posted inNews
Ghost of a library
ILLUSTRATION by CHRIS BRITT While tourists bustled in and around the museum side of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum on a recent summer day, the library portion was quiet. Just two people perused newspapers in the Steve Neal Reading Room, named after the late Chicago Sun-Times columnist who crusaded against the ALPLM becoming […]
Posted inNews
Eliminating barriers
After being sued by a parent who uses a wheelchair, Springfield School District 186 is taking steps to improve access for the disabled to the Lanphier basketball gym. Photo by PATRICK YEAGLE Faced with a federal lawsuit, Springfield School District 186 is making the Lanphier High School basketball gymnasium more accessible to people with disabilities. […]
Posted inOpinion
Governor Sunshine
Want a simple answer to a simple question? File a Freedom of Information Act request. That was the word from Gov. Bruce Rauner’s staff when Illinois Times today asked for a copy of the contract between the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and University of Illinois Springfield that allowed for employees of the Papers of Abraham […]
