David Blanchette

Recreational cannabis is a growth industry, and Springfield resident Chris Stone plans to take full advantage of the potential behind the once-banned substance. “Eight percent of the population uses cannabis regularly, so how do we get to the other 92 percent?” Stone said. “There is a large majority of people out there over 21 years […]

Two subjects that are as old as civilization are being taught in a building on the former MacMurray College campus in Jacksonville by neighbors who are injecting local enthusiasm into their lifelong passions. Michael Woods and Tim Smith have purchased the old MacMurray Hall building, a large 1920s-era brick-and-stone science classroom structure on East College […]

Forty-eight years ago, when Illinois Times had just opened for business, its very first cover story featured the Menard County community of Athens: “Rebuilding Athens: How to save a small town,” Sept. 18, 1975. There was a movement at the time to rebuild the waning small town, and optimism reigned because Athens, 16 miles northwest […]

When freshman Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski has reached across the political aisle for bipartisan support on key issues in her district, she has frequently found that her colleagues have reached back. “To me, bipartisanship is not just a talking point,” Budzinski said. “The work I’ve been focused on is how I can build relationships across the […]

Fertilizer belongs in farm fields, helping crops to grow. It doesn’t belong in drinking water supplies or in the Gulf of Mexico. Central Illinois farmers are adopting more practices to make sure that fertilizers, or nutrients as they are called in the business, stay where they’re supposed to stay, and stay out of the places […]

Stanley Lieber graduated from high school at age 16 and was hired as an editorial assistant for a popular publication. Lieber began to write for the publication, was soon promoted to editor, and simplified his name on bylines for his work. A group of 16 Springfield area teens gathered one recent Saturday morning in Springfield, […]

When a tree falls in this forest, the sound it makes is definitely being heard. A grassroots proposal fueled by opponents of logging and other concerns is gaining traction to transform the 289,000-acre Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois into a national park and the nation’s first climate preserve. Proponents argue the designation would protect […]

Leo the cat was not happy. Leo had been brought into Five Star Veterinary in Springfield because of a severe loss of balance, and he fought with a fury the staff who tried to examine him. The noise that Leo produced was the textbook definition of “caterwauling.” Meanwhile, the Five Star waiting area and the […]

When Market on the Hill opened in 2020 in downtown Mt. Pulaski, its founders took the producer-to-consumer concept of the farmers market one step farther. Now, the community grocery store’s organizers are thinking on a much larger scale. “At the time we were putting the market and grocery store together, we also, on a parallel […]

LuAnn Atkins is 90 years old, she’s lived in her home for ten and a half years, and she’s mad as hell since learning her rent will be raised from $1,667 to $3,000 per month starting Oct. 1. “I’m furious. I’m very angry,” Atkins said. “They haven’t been forthright in getting us ready for this. […]