Back from a 378-day NASA simulation of life on Mars, Dr. Nathan Jones says the mission at Johnson Space Center in Houston was a success, and he has no regrets about the time away from his family in Springfield. “I missed out on a lot, but I still believe it was worth it,” Jones, an […]
Dean Olsen
Dean Olsen is a senior staff writer for Illinois Times. He can be reached at:
dolsen@illinoistimes.com, 217-679-7810 or @DeanOlsenIT.
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Sangamon County Board blocks referendum to allow voters to oust future sheriffs
More than 200 people clapped, cheered and yelled their support at the Aug. 13 Sangamon County Board meeting for changes at the Sheriff’s Department beyond the resignation of Sheriff Jack Campbell in the wake of the shooting death of Sonya Massey. But one of those suggested changes, a binding referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot […]
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Battling blight
When Rosalind Bond finishes her work day and goes home, she is unable to enjoy the outdoors in her neighborhood on Springfield’s east side. The two-story house next door to her neatly kept ranch-style home in the 1400 block of East Jackson Street has been abandoned for more than five years and, to put it […]
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Sheriff Jack Campbell to retire
Embattled Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell announced Aug. 9 that he will retire by the end of the month amid calls for his resignation by critics of his hiring of the deputy charged with murder in the July 6 shooting death of Sonya Massey. In the five-paragraph statement from Campbell, issued at about 3:15 p.m. […]
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Hands-on mental health training
The recent revival of a program at Packard Mental Health Center that gives young doctors hands-on experience treating patients in a state psychiatric hospital will benefit the public in Springfield and throughout Illinois, supporters of the relaunch say. “This will help create that pipeline of future psychiatrists to serve both in our state-operated facilities and […]
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An about-face
The union representing Sangamon County sheriff’s deputies initially filed a grievance seeking reinstatement of fired deputy and accused murderer Sean Grayson, then said July 30 that it would drop the issue. The Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council faced criticism on social media and from the family of Sonya Massey, the 36-year-old Sangamon County […]
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Former foster father charged after boy’s drowning
A 48-year-old Springfield man and former City Council candidate was charged July 24 with endangering the life or health of a child in connection with the March 16 swimming pool drowning of 7-year-old Barrett Koches. David Yankee, of the 2300 block of Winnebago Drive, was charged in a Sangamon County grand jury indictment with two […]
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Sonya Massey’s father calls for Jack Campbell to resign
It all happens in a few seconds – the interaction between a Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy and Sonya Massey that leads to her being shot in the face in her home. The 36 minutes of police-worn camera video showing the July 6 death of Massey inside her Woodside Township home in the “Cabbage Patch” neighborhood […]
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Union for sheriff’s deputies wants Grayson reinstated
The union representing Sangamon County sheriff’s deputies is asking that former deputy Sean Grayson, charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Sonya Massey, be reinstated and reimbursed for any lost wages. The Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council filed a grievance July 18 against the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department. The grievance said […]
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Bodycam video of Sonya Massey death released
Here is video from the body-worn cameras of two Sangamon County sheriff’s deputies who entered Sonya Massey’s Woodside Township home on July 6. Massey, 36, received a fatal head wound, allegedly from a 9mm handgun fired by Deputy Sean Grayson. Grayson, 30, has been charged with first-degree murder in the incident, and authorities have said […]
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Peace march planned after bodycam footage release
A “peace march” has been scheduled for 3 p.m. July 22 in Springfield after the 2 p.m. release of body-worn camera video of the police-involved shooting of Sonya Massey. The march, organized by nonprofit Intricate Minds on behalf of the Massey family, will begin outside Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, 904 S. Martin Luther King Drive, […]
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‘Red flags’ surrounded hiring of alleged killer
On a day when a nationally known civil rights attorney said the scheduled July 22 release of body-worn camera footage of the death of Sonya Massey will shock the country, her father questioned whether the Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy who allegedly shot her should have been hired in the first place. “They were all these […]
