Cap City

Decatur native and current Clemson University (South Carolina) Ph. D. candidate A. D. Carson will defend his dissertation on Friday, Feb. 24. “Owning my masters: rhetoric of rhyme and revolution” is no typical academic paper. In fact, it’s a 34-song rap album written, produced and performed by Carson and has already gone viral, boasting more […]

A star-studded lineup is ready to take the Illinois State Fair by storm. Chase Rice, Alabama, Jason Derulo, Finger Death Punch and John Mellencamp were recently announced as the first five headlining acts for the 2017 Illinois State Fair.  Rice is the first headliner, scheduled to take the Grandstand stage on Friday, Aug. 11. Rice […]

The private equity firm that manages the parent company of the State Journal-Register is being sold to SoftBank, a telecommunications and internet company founded and headed by a Japanese billionaire whom Forbes last year reported was among the world’s 100 richest people. The sale of Fortress Investment Group for $3.3 billion in cash – $1 […]

The Prairie Heart Institute at HSHS St. John’s Hospital recently celebrated a milestone achievement in minimally invasive heart surgeries. According to the hospital, over 500 TAVR (trans-catheter aortic valve replacement) surgeries have been performed. At a press conference Feb. 14 at the Dove Conference Center, patients and doctors touted the success of these life-saving procedures. […]

The fourth annual Tournées Film Festival is underway at Illinois College in Jacksonville, featuring screenings of French films. The festival began Feb. 7 and will conclude March 2, with each showing beginning at 7 p.m. in the Kirby Learning Center, Room 6. Upcoming selections include School of Babel (Feb. 21); My Friend Victoria (Feb. 28); […]

Daniel Stowell, head of the Papers of Abraham Lincoln Project at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, was shown the door a couple weeks ago after being put on leave in November. The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency says it can’t comment on the reasons behind Stowell’s departure, but he’s not going down without a […]

The last of three defendants in a murder case pleaded guilty this week in the 2014 killing of Justin Sharp, a 24-year-old purported marijuana dealer who was found shot to death in a yard on the 2700 block of Whittier Avenue. Several months passed before Korodney Jones, Floyd Williams and Demetriana Ross were arrested and […]

On Feb. 24, the Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Association (IGGVA) will host the 2017 Winter Wine Festival in Springfield. The festival, organized in coordination with the Illinois Department of Agriculture, coincides with the IGGVA’s annual conference, and is open to the public. With over 15 wineries across the state participating in the festival, guests […]

A group identifying itself as “Springfield Call To Action” (SC2A) is organizing a rally for 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21, at the Old State Capitol plaza. The event is timed to coincide with the Women’s March on Washington and similar demonstrations happening throughout the country in the wake of the presidential inauguration of Donald J. […]

Springfield hotels from are teaming up to oppose a tax increase. The Springfield Hotel Lodging Association (SHLA) announced it is imploring Mayor James Langfelder and the city council not to pass a proposal that would raise lodging and hotel taxes from six percent to seven percent. The money generated would be used to operate Oak […]

Critics of Chatham’s less-than-perfect water system got some bad news this week from a Chicago law firm hired to review the creation of the South Sangamon Water Commission and determine whether there were any shenanigans that might allow the village to walk away from the commission created eight years ago and go back to buying […]