Amid a mayoral candidate’s criticism that Springfield isn’t doing enough to promote economic development, a city employee described as the face of those efforts is facing a misdemeanor charge that he violated an order of protection against his estranged wife. Ravi Doshi, business projects manager and tax-increment financing administrator in the city’s Office of Planning […]
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.
Posted inNews
Mayoral candidates meet for first public forum
Springfield needs to create a more “business-friendly” permitting process for construction and improvement projects, and the city should spend more of its money to fix streets, sidewalks and sewers, mayoral candidate Misty Buscher said at a Jan. 25 debate with incumbent Mayor Jim Langfelder. “We need to streamline our services in city hall,” Buscher, 52, […]
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Harming health care workers
After working as a nurse’s aide in Springfield Memorial Hospital’s emergency department for four years, and after dodging a chair swung at her by one visitor and being pinned to the ground by another, Susan decided to leave for a different health care setting. Part of the reason for resigning once she completed her training […]
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Judge finds probable cause for first-degree murder charges against emergency workers
A paramedic who helped transport Earl Moore Jr. to HSHS St. John’s Hospital on Dec. 18 told hospital officials Moore was “combative” before being placed face-down on a stretcher, strapped down and loaded into an ambulance in front of his Springfield home, an Illinois State Police investigator testified Jan. 20. And an emergency medical technician […]
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Taking time off
Sherry Morris says a bill that will soon head to the governor’s desk for his signature would boost her quality of life “tremendously” as she works in low-income clients’ homes to help them maintain independence. “It’s mind-blowing,” Morris, 66, of Riverton said in response to the General Assembly’s recent passage of a bill that would, […]
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A call for help
A depressed client who had intentionally cut herself made a call to the nationwide 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. So did a man struggling with addiction. When each person dialed 988, a lifeline operator named Vanessa, sitting in a call center run by Memorial Behavioral Health in Springfield, answered the phone. The comfort and empathy […]
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An exit interview with Rodney Davis
Rodney Davis, the Taylorville resident who failed on Nov. 8 to win a sixth two-year term in the U.S. House, pointed to many successes during his career in Congress in an interview before he left office Jan. 3. Davis, 53, represented the old 13th Congressional District and was defeated by incumbent U.S. Rep. Mary Miller, […]
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Emergency workers face murder charges
Family members of a 35-year-old Springfield man who died in December say they were glad two emergency medical service workers were charged with his murder after the pair allegedly put the man face-down on a stretcher and applied straps so tightly that he suffocated. “They were professionally trained to avoid situations like that,” Aaron Cutler, […]
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Illinois Senate approves bill shielding state from sheriffs’ lawsuit
A bill hastily amended and approved Jan. 6 by the Illinois Senate would shield the state from a lawsuit in which sheriffs are trying to force the state to prevent mentally ill defendants from languishing in county jail for months without adequate treatment. Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell said the proposed changes in state law […]
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Two Black candidates for city council cite racial bias in removal from ballot
One of the two candidates for Springfield City Council whose names were knocked off the April 4 ballot because of an insufficient number of valid signatures on nominating papers has launched a write-in campaign. “It’s more of a long shot,” Ward 5 candidate Calvin Pitts told Illinois Times. “But just because they wanted me out […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
MICHAEL LEATHERS May 13, 1961-Aug. 3, 2022
Springfield-area residents read and heard Michael Leathers’ name many times in Illinois Times and The State Journal-Register and on television and radio as he spoke on behalf of Memorial Health for 20 years. Yes, he was a PR guy for an important health care institution in Springfield, the one that operates Springfield Memorial Hospital and […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
DEIDRE SILAS July 30, 1985-Jan. 4, 2022
Deidre Silas was a “go-getter” and “always one to diffuse a situation” rather than allow it to escalate, her mother says. Silas’ parents said those traits made it all the more painful to lose someone with her ambition, talent and energy. She was killed Jan. 4, 2022, while working as an investigator for the Illinois […]
