The trial of the former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy accused of murdering Sonya Massey in July 2024 will take place in Peoria County with jurors who live there, Circuit Court Judge Ryan Cadagin decided April 8. The judge ruled in favor of a motion filed by attorneys for Riverton resident Sean Grayson, 30, to move […]
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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From bedsides to the boardroom
Edgar Curtis was 17 and a junior at Lanphier High School when an aunt he was particularly close to died from cancer at 47 after a 100-day stay at Springfield Memorial Hospital. During the many visits he made during her decline, Curtis said he noticed “the kind heart and compassionate care” that his aunt received […]
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Juvenile Detention Center reopens
The Sangamon County Board in 2024 spent more than $362,000 on security upgrades for the county’s Juvenile Detention Center, including $132,500 for an X-ray body scanner similar to what is used in airports. The improvements are hoped to make the center, in the 2200 block of South Dirksen Parkway in Springfield, safer for staff and […]
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Former music and theater director sentenced in child porn case
Adam Power avoided criminal charges for five years after Springfield police investigated him for alleged inappropriate online comments and text messages with minors he met in Springfield Theatre Centre programs and productions. But since 2018, Power, a Petersburg resident and former Springfield-area substitute teacher, choir director and community theater director, used lies and more than […]
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Four police officers disciplined following crash involving former sergeant
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comments from the March 18 meeting of the Springfield City Council. Four Springfield police officers were disciplined – and one of them will serve a six-day unpaid suspension – in connection with their work at the site of a Sept. 5 car-motorcycle collision in which a recently […]
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Sean Grayson’s attorneys seek change of venue
The trial of Sean Grayson, who is charged with first-degree murder in the July 6 death of Sonya Massey, needs to be moved outside Sangamon County because pretrial publicity would bias potential jurors, Grayson’s attorneys argued in court documents filed Feb. 26. “The print and electronic news media coverage relating to the death of Sonya […]
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City Council OKs east-side housing expansion
Springfield City Council members on Feb. 18 approved $1.5 million in city funding for a 50-home addition to the Nehemiah Expansion affordable-housing project on the east side. The two 10-0 votes – to spend $1 million in federal HOME grant funds and $500,000 in property tax revenues from the Far East Tax-Increment Financing District – […]
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Combating human trafficking
When Gregory L. Fraase described the conditions that women working in his Asian massage parlors endured when they were growing up overseas, his words highlighted the way he and others may have taken advantage of their desperation. “Most of these girls coming over, they don’t even have a shower in their house,” Fraase, 61, told […]
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Next phase of east-side housing development in jeopardy
A proposal to construct 50 more single-family homes for low-income renters may hinge on whether Springfield City Council members grant an exception to a 2023 ordinance that guarantees union involvement in the hiring and pay of workers on large projects. The proposed fifth phase of home development in the Nehemiah Expansion project would provide desperately […]
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Massey family to receive $10 million settlement
Sangamon County government will be spared from a lawsuit and a potentially embarrassing trial under a $10 million settlement with the family of Sonya Massey. The settlement, the largest of its kind in Sangamon County history, was reached last week, County Board member Craig Hall told Illinois Times on Feb. 6. As part of the […]
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City Council enacts new conflict-of-interest standards
The Springfield City Council voted 8-0 on Feb. 4 to spend about $1.5 million in TIF funds to help a local couple renovate a dilapidated building in the 300 block of East Adams Street. But the Ward 5 representative on the council, Lakeisha Purchase, who has worked with Martin and Laurie Haxel for two years […]
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City of Springfield shuts down 11 massage parlors
Eleven massage parlors in Springfield have been closed down, while another 25 believed to be operating legitimately will be issued local licenses in coming weeks. City officials mandated the closures as part of the much-anticipated rollout of an ordinance passed by the City Council in June 2024 to crack down on massage establishments believed to […]
