Dean Olsen

Former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson’s lawyers say he deserves a new trial for the 2024 murder of Sonya Massey because the presiding judge erred when allowing the jury to hear Grayson’s disparaging remarks about Massey after the fatal shooting. “As a result, the events following the shooting had no relevance to the issues […]

A court hearing is scheduled Dec. 4 to finalize a $7.6 million settlement that would pay people whose personal information was seized by hackers in a targeted cyber attack that temporarily crippled Hospital Sisters Health System in 2023. The nonprofit health system, based in rural Sangamon County near Riverton, discovered the suspicious cyber activity “by […]

Crews dispatched by the city Nov. 24 cleaned up what remained of an encampment of homeless people in the 800 block of North Ninth Street in Springfield that had persisted since the spring. Cleanup of the site – spread across three vacant lots owned by the city, Sangamon County and a private landowner – took […]

It’s unclear whether the Sangamon County Board can, or will, delay a vote for six months or more on zoning, as some residents have requested, for what would be the county’s first data center. But the board has taken a step to broaden discussion on the controversial proposal by scheduling a Dec. 3 public hearing. […]

With one listening session under its belt, the newly formed PURPLE Coalition is beginning what its members hope will be years of advocacy on behalf of Blacks and other chronically disadvantaged people in the Springfield area. Tiara Standage, president of the People United for Reform, Power, Liberation and Equity Coalition, said the organization was born […]

A second-degree murder conviction for former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson on Oct. 29 in the death of Sonya Massey was a “serious miscarriage of justice,” Massey’s father said after the jury verdict. Grayson, 31, who was charged with first-degree murder in the July 2024 shooting death of Massey, 36, in her Woodside Township […]

The Sangamon County Board’s timeline for considering and potentially approving the county’s first data center – a $500 million complex in rural Talkington Township – has been lengthened by at least a month. And County Board Chair Andy Van Meter said additional public meetings, or a website, or both, will be used to increase opportunities […]

A second-degree murder conviction for former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson on Oct. 29 in the death of Sonya Massey was a “serious miscarriage of justice,” Massey’s father said after the verdict. Grayson, 31, who was charged with first-degree murder in the July 2024 shooting death of Massey, 36, in her Woodside Township home, […]

A Dallas-based company is seeking zoning approval to establish a $500 million data center on 280 acres of farmland southwest of Springfield in what would be the largest building construction project in Sangamon County history. CyrusOne, which operates more than 55 data centers across the United States, Europe and Japan – including two in the […]