Vince DeMentri, anchorman for WICS television news, was reportedly involved in a physical altercation at Hooters in Springfield hours after Tuesday’s election. The altercation reportedly involved DeMentri and Garrett Brnger, another reporter for the station. Their status with the station is not clear. Neither has appeared on the air since Election Night. The men’s names […]
Bruce Rushton
Bruce Rushton is a freelance journalist.
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Oversight? What oversight?
Bevey Louden, left, and her husband, Lorenzo, right, in a 2014 photo. They can’t account for thousands of dollars in state grant money. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE Tower of Refuge, a charity run by a felon and his wife that has been accused of defrauding the state of Illinois, was so loosely run that one […]
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Contract law
While Gov. Bruce Rauner pushes for steep budget cuts throughout state government, at least one agency has figured out a way to cut payroll. The Illinois State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor’s office has at least two former employees who are still at work while collecting pensions. The agency has moved them to contractual status so that […]
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Work in progress
A train car, pictured above, carried Lincoln’s body from Washington, D.C., to Springfield in 1865, but authorities have not granted approvals for replica to hit the rails. The reenactment of Abraham Lincoln’s funeral on the 150th anniversary of that event is not coming together in the usual way for an occasion that organizers promise will […]
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Madigan to museum foundation: Drop dead
Gov. Bruce Rauner and House Speaker Michael Madigan agree on at least one thing. Changes are needed at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. And those changes may result in a different role for the institution’s private fundraising foundation. During last week’s state of the state address, Rauner said that he was working with […]
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What part of $1 million don’t you understand?
While city officials second-guess the verdict, two jurors say that the jury intended to award more than $1 million to the family of a boy who drowned in Lake Springfield. The jurors both spoke on condition of anonymity. One simply confirmed that the jury intended to award more than $1 million and did not address […]
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City loses drowning case
Lifeguards who never practiced rescue plans. A complaint about no lifeguards on duty less than a month before tragedy struck. A 16-year-old boy who didn’t know how to swim. It added up to a $1 million verdict against the city of Springfield on Tuesday as a Sangamon County jury sided with the family of Eric […]
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Killing bobcats
The bobcat population has rebounded throughout the United States, including in Illinois. Bobcat hunting, Ron Edgerly swears, is about as much fun as a man can have in the woods. Just listen to him tell what happened when the quarry doubled back on its tracks in the frozen Gogomain Swamp in the upper reaches of […]
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No easy answers
There were nearly enough Springfield aldermen, would-be and otherwise, to field two football teams at a Monday candidates’ forum sponsored by Inner City Older Neighborhoods. But the 21 candidates for 10 seats on the city council had difficulty answering yes-or-no questions posed by advocates for revitalizing and preserving neighborhoods such as Enos Park, Vinegar Hill […]
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No walk in the park this time
George Bush – the first one – was in the White House, Al Gore hadn’t yet invented the Internet (or claimed to) and Jerry Garcia was still leading the Grateful Dead when Leslie Sgro became president of the Springfield Park District in 1991. Until now, Sgro hasn’t been challenged at the polls. But park board […]
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Pull the plug?
Both sides agree. Two aging coal-fired generators owned by City Water, Light and Power are akin to automobiles that are getting on in years. At some point, the owner must ask: Should I continue spending money on repairs and maintenance or should I walk away? Supporters of keeping the plants in operation say that it […]
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Gold rush
Henry Baird figured that he would do well when he decided to open up Pennies Place, a gambling parlor on Wabash Avenue. But not this well. The five video gambling machines in Pennies netted more than $20,000 in December, Baird’s first full month in business. After paying 30 percent in taxes to the state and […]
