Cap City

It’s early, yes, nearly two years out from Election Day. Only a fool would declare intentions at this point – give the incumbent a chance to drown or swim. But with Gov. JB Pritzker facing a $4 billion budget hole and Michael Madigan stuck to his shoe and signature initiatives flaming out – see the […]

A short film starring Springfield’s Dr. Wesley Robinson McNeese won a regional Emmy award. In the video, McNeese reads a piece of original poetry titled “Face to Face” from a site of ruins from the 1908 Race Riot. The massacre consisted of white mobs attacking innocent Black people by burning their businesses and homes and […]

Don’t throw your burned out Christmas lights in the garbage – recycle them. BLH Computers is partnering with local communities to collect Christsmas lights that will be recycled. Collection boxes are located at the Leland Grove police department, 2000 Chatham Road; City of Springfield Municipal Center West, City of Springfield Lincoln Public Library; Rochester Community […]

With coronavirus crescendoing and epidemiologists warning that big Thanksgiving dinners will lead to small Christmas funerals, authorities say they have been doing everything possible to corral the pandemic. In Springfield, the city boasts about taking the toughest measures in the state, authorizing police to write $50 citations to maskless people found inside any building open […]

The Illinois Innocence Project, based at University of Illinois Springfield, is celebrating that four of its clients who began 2020 in prison will be home for Thanksgiving. Collectively, they spent 111 years wrongfully incarcerated. The four clients include a woman who was released in response to a plea for an expedited clemency petition ruling from […]

While scores of firefighters have been quarantined after being exposed to coronavirus, Gene Mitchell, speaking on behalf of union employees, told the Springfield City Council this week that the city isn’t doing enough to keep germs out of city hall. “The administration has considered Plexiglass to be tantamount to a vaccine,” Mitchell told the council […]

Veto session in Springfield has been canceled. “The front page in today’s Springfield paper warns of a COVID ‘tsunami’ sweeping the region and its health care system,” said Illinois Senate President Don Harmon in a Nov. 10 statement. “It’s not safe or responsible to have a legislative session under these circumstances.” That might come as […]

Margins were much wider this time around than when Democratic challenger Betsy Dirksen Londrigan narrowly lost to incumbent U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis in the 2016 election. Londrigan, of Springfield, said in a concession statement, “Elections come and go. Representatives come and go. The job of the American citizen is constant.” Davis, of Taylorville, told supporters […]

While it was less of a nail-biter race than, say, the 13th district, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin sealed a re-election victory. He defeated Republican Mark Curran and other challengers, including Chicago businessman Willie Wilson. Durbin, one the state’s most recognizable politicians, will continue with a fifth consecutive term. Durbin’s win was one the national party […]

It’s been a good year, mostly, for the Asian flying carp, but, then again, most years are kind to a fish that seemingly cannot be defeated. Imported long ago from Asia (thus the name) for silly reasons, it has no natural enemies here save rednecks who for years descended on Bath to net thousands upon […]

In the midst of a COVID-19 White House outbreak, the president downplayed the seriousness of the virus. From social media, on Oct. 6, he claimed the new coronavirus is “far less lethal” than the flu “in most populations.” Facebook removed the post, due to its misinformation policy, and medical experts chided the comment. On Oct. […]

Oh, my. Forget razor blades in apples and LSD dripped on chocolate. These days, public health is paramount, and so how will kids go door-to-door seeking goodies without everyone getting sick? Is trick-or-treating dressed as a coronavirus germ – just wait, it’s coming, because most everything else has – in bad taste or just in […]