Increased state funding has helped Sparc bump up hourly pay rates for direct service providers (DSPs), those who care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities at the Springfield nonprofit’s group homes and in other settings. But the increases in this chronically underfunded segment of Illinois’ human services industry “don’t go far enough yet,” said […]
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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Diversity curriculum still debated
A proposal to do away with University of Illinois Springfield’s requirements that all students take classes on diversity, inequality and social responsibility may have been defeated, but disagreements remain over how the curriculum should be administered. The March 25 online meeting of the Campus Senate will be the next opportunity for considering solutions to complaints […]
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Doctor dilemmas
Stress has caused Amber Shipman to lose sleep and shed tears as her family deals with the fallout of an ongoing contractual dispute between Springfield Clinic and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. The clinic became an out-of-network provider for Blue Cross members in mid-November – a change that affected up to 100,000 central […]
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A strategic plan to address homelessness
Community leaders who plan to put out a strategic plan this spring for eliminating homelessness in the Springfield area hope to avoid previous failures stemming from neighbors who may want more services for this much-maligned segment of society, but not in their backyards. “We support a comprehensive plan to address homelessness, as long as the […]
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Abortion haven
The woman was nervous when she arrived in Springfield. Earlier in the day, she had flown with a companion from her home state of Texas to a Chicago airport, where she rented a car and the two drove to central Illinois. The woman’s goal was to obtain a medical procedure – abortion – that is […]
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UIS debates diversity curriculum
A three-year debate about how and whether the concepts of diversity, inequality and social responsibility should be taught at University of Illinois Springfield could culminate Feb. 18. The Campus Senate, made up of about 30 faculty and student members, will consider resolutions at that time dealing with the Engaged Citizenship Common Experience (ECCE) curriculum. The […]
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Butler School turns 100
Commemorative bricks to help pay for construction of a planned outdoor classroom space at Butler Elementary School are being sold in preparation for the school’s 100-year celebration. The engraved bricks – which cost $50 or $75 depending on their size, and can be purchased at bricksrus.com/donorsite/butler – are part of festivities culminating with a May […]
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Budget optimism
Springfield is planning almost $23 million in federally funded infrastructure improvements in the fiscal year that begins March 1 as part of a city budget plan flush with cash from COVID-19 relief funds and benefiting from sales and income tax revenue connected with surging consumer demand. The projects, to be funded from the total $33.8 […]
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Helping Hands plans more permanent supportive housing
About 80 homeowners who tried unsuccessfully to block a Springfield zoning change in 2021 for a proposed 24-unit apartment complex only now are learning the tenants would be people who used to be homeless and need what’s known as permanent supportive housing. Gail Van Den Bossche, who lives around the corner from the proposed Park […]
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Mayor appoints acting director of Lincoln Library
The new acting director of Lincoln Library says she may not have a college degree in library science, but her education and experience in government and the nonprofit world will serve her and the library’s patrons well. “My skills set … lends itself to what is asked of the library director at Lincoln Library,” acting […]
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Another criminal investigation for Jenny Thornley
A former Illinois State Police Merit Board employee who was fired by the small state agency in July 2020 for alleged felony theft, forgery and official misconduct received $71,400 in workers’ compensation and disability payments after her termination. It’s unclear why Jenny Thornley, 41, received the benefits for more than a year based on her […]
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COVID surge strains health care workers
Springfield’s health care workers say they are exhausted as the COVID-19 pandemic enters its third year. They say they’ve never seen more death, and they’ve fought politics that hindered efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus. Based on that experience, they say the public should temper any optimism about the latest drop in new COVID-19 […]
