Ladda Tammy Duckworth’s life is full of firsts. The 53-year-old junior U.S. senator from Illinois is the first Thai American woman and the first person born in Thailand to be elected to Congress, and is the second of three Asian American women to serve in the U.S. Senate. Duckworth is the first senator to give […]
David Blanchette
David Blanchette has been involved in journalism since 1979, first as an award-winning broadcaster, then a state government spokesperson, and now as a freelance writer and photographer. He was involved in the development of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and more recently the Jacksonville Area Museum. David and his wife, Sue, live in Jacksonville.
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Destination Petersburg
Could Petersburg become the next Illinois destination community, like Galena or Grafton? A $3 million project funded by a local investor aims to take the Menard County seat a major step in that direction. A home-grown design and construction team is busily transforming the northwest corner of the town square into a multi-use showpiece with […]
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Springfield’s man on Capitol Hill
When he first arrived in Congress after defeating incumbent Representative Paul Findley in the 1982 election, Richard J. Durbin wasn’t sure how long he’d be there. “Congressional staff wanted to talk to me about my retirement system choice. I said, ‘If I think I’m going to lose the next election, what should my choice be?’” […]
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National Park Service boundaries to expand
The Lincoln Home National Historic Site may soon be larger and tell more of Springfield’s history if several local organizations are successful in their efforts to expand the site’s boundaries to encompass the old and the new. The Elijah Iles House Foundation Board on Dec. 29 passed a resolution encouraging the National Park Service to […]
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Home for the holidays, sadly
All they want for Christmas is a job. As our COVID-19 guest stretches its uninvited stay into the end-of-the-year holidays, continuing pandemic restrictions and shutdowns have kept many Springfield area residents from the paychecks they desperately need. That means Christmas stockings may go empty in many households this year, the unemployment assistance system will remain […]
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Janitors vs. germs
You touch it, they clean it. Possibly the most under-appreciated workers during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic are the men and women who scrub, wipe, spray, mist and disinfect the buildings used by students, travelers, businesses and diners. Springfield’s custodians and cleaning service employees are just as much on the pandemic front lines as health care […]
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High-stakes rematch
A political rematch two years in the making, with campaigns dictated by the COVID pandemic, will decide who represents a large swath of central Illinois in the nation’s capital. And when it’s over, whoever wins may not have a district in which to run for reelection in 2022. The 13th Congressional District race is a […]
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Enos Park TIF renewal in jeopardy
Will a powerful economic development tool be renewed for Springfield’s Enos Park neighborhood, including the new downtown YMCA project? The clock is ticking for the Enos Park Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District, with one deadline already passed and supporters pinning their hopes on a renewal during the Illinois General Assembly’s fall veto session. However, there’s […]
Posted inArts & Culture
For better or for worse
My wife, Kathy, did not want her full story told while she was alive. The Aug. 9, 2002, accident that forever changed our lives was simply too emotionally overwhelming for her to consider seeing it in print during her lifetime. Not long ago we had the discussion again, and Kathy agreed that if she were […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Colored Section
It’s about as far as you can get from the main entrance to the sprawling Oak Ridge Cemetery, one of the nation’s most visited burial grounds. Go past the soaring monument to the Great Emancipator, meander a bit toward the north, pass the Wishing Well and maintenance shed, and take the steep, one-lane pavement that […]
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The 1 1/2-story Lincoln home to be rebuilt
The original cottage where Abraham Lincoln and his family lived before it was expanded into what we now call the Lincoln Home will be reconstructed and opened to visitors under an initiative announced today by The Abraham Lincoln Association. The association has launched a $400,000 fund drive to acquire land in the 600 block of […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Closure
David Metcalf grew up in and around MacMurray College. His father was a long-serving faculty member at the east- side Jacksonville institution, and his great-great-grandfather was one of the college’s most successful presidents. When it came time to pick a college to attend, Metcalf naturally chose MacMurray. But there won’t be any more Metcalfs attending […]
