Cap City

Illinois State Fair manager Kevin Gordon announced that the families behind longtime fair vendors Vose’s Corndogs, Cullers Fries and Coleman’s Concessions would serve as Grand Marshals for this year’s Twilight Parade, to be held on Aug. 10 at 5:30 p.m.  “The Illinois State Fair is what it is today because of the dedication of our […]

“They catch them with their hands, they’re drunk all the time.” This is an analysis of the annual Redneck Fishing Tournament recently overheard in a Springfield office that shall remain nameless, and it is pretty much spot on, especially the part about being drunk. The annual gathering in the tiny burg of Bath, deep in […]

Gov. Bruce Rauner is a huge advocate of transparency in government. Just ask him. The gov who keeps losing Freedom of Information Act cases – IT prevailed after the governor balked at releasing his appointment calendar; the Springfield Business Journal, our sister publication, recently won a ruling from the attorney general’s office after the governor’s […]

Beginning July 1 Lincoln Library has eliminated overdue fines on juvenile and young adult materials. This decision was made to encourage young readers and learners to use the library more. “We are working hard to remove and eliminate barriers around library use,” said Lincoln Library Access Services Manager Jessica Paulsen in a recent press release. […]

A group of Springfield Housing Authority employees demonstrated outside an SHA board meeting July 24. The protest was intended to urge the board to reach a decision in union contract negotiations. SHA employees are responsible for providing low-income housing to eligible city residents but, according to press materials, “most employees are paid so little that […]

Grocery delivery service company Instacart has recently launched in Springfield, providing over 75,000 homes with the option of having their Schnucks, Shop ’n Save, CVS and even PetCo purchases delivered to their doorstep within an hour of placing an order online, along with offering job opportunities for shoppers / delivery people. Operating something like an […]

Richard Haley, who has epilepsy and was tased in the Sangamon County jail while suffering a seizure, has settled his federal lawsuit against the county for $9,000. Haley had asked for more than a quarter-million dollars, claiming that he was tased in the midst of a seizure while unable to understand guards (“County defends tasing […]

Decatur native A.D. Carson – former Springfield High School English instructor and writer-in-residence at Benedictine University – has recently been named “assistant professor of hip-hop and the global south” for the University of Virginia’s McIntire Department of Music. He will begin teaching writing and composition classes in the upcoming fall 2017 semester, along with a […]

The Sangamon County Historic Preservation Commission (SCHPC) has named Churchill Cemetery – currently owned by Clear Lake Township – an official county landmark. The small cemetery, previously known as Bissell Cemetery and the German Prairie Cemetery, is located off Route 54 on Colt Road. The land was originally donated in the early 1800s by the […]

The Garvey/Tubman Cultural Arts and Research Center recently announced its 2017 Summer Arts Camp.The camp strives to provide students the chance to explore visual communications, artistic collaborations and learn the wonders of making and creating sculptures.  Running for 10 weeks from June 5 through Aug. 11, the camp will be held at Calvary Baptist Church, located on […]