A three-building apartment complex with 22 affordable housing units for people exiting homelessness is opening where the Sportsman’s Lounge once stood. The longtime tavern, which had operated under various names for more than a century, closed in September 2023, around the same time the Springfield City Council approved the rezoning necessary for the redevelopment project […]
Dilpreet Raju
Dilpreet Raju is a staff writer for Illinois Times and a Report for America corps member. He has a master's degree from Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and was a reporting fellow at Capitol News Illinois.
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Sangamon County approves data center
Sangamon County Board members voted 17-10 to approve a $500 million data center project on April 7, just weeks after the board tabled the proposal following hours of constituents’ complaints. Once again, the meeting was moved to the BOS center with hundreds of residents turning out, many holding signs or speaking in opposition to the […]
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County Board could approve data center 15 days after tabling proposal
Pushback from citizens and threats of voting out board members might not prevent the Sangamon County Board from approving a $500 million data center that supporters argue would bring in construction jobs and substantial property tax revenue. The County Board will again have an opportunity to vote on the proposal April 7. It would first […]
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A battle for control
At the March 31 Springfield City Council meeting, several members expressed discontent with what they feel is a lack of sufficient city representation for a potential new government authority that would be responsible for managing the construction of a new downtown hotel and expanding the BOS Center. Earlier that day, a bipartisan group of elected […]
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Mass text message
Many Sangamon County residents received a text message around 4:45 p.m. on April 1, promoting the proposed CyrusOne data center project and the jobs it would create. Recipients were asked to add their names to a support page, sangamonjobsnow.com. The text message featured a video of the Central Illinois Building & Trades Council and its […]
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Sangamon County Board still considering data center proposal
One day after the Sangamon County Board voted March 23 to table a data center proposal, the city of Aurora, about 175 miles northeast of Springfield, enacted some of the nation’s tightest restrictions on future data center developments after years of citizen complaints. The next Sangamon County Board meeting will be held at 6 p.m. […]
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A call for police reforms
Residents packed the Springfield City Council chambers on March 31 to demand an independent investigation, and even reforms, of the Springfield Police Department following its response to a contentious arrest last Friday of a Black female teenager. Bodycam footage and bystander video show Officer Jacob Walter, in an attempt to execute a warrant for arrest, […]
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A collaborative effort for downtown
City, county and state elected officials are offering bipartisan support for a bill in the Statehouse that would help facilitate an expansion of the BOS Center in downtown Springfield, along with construction of a new hotel. The bill would also create a new governing board to promote business development and tourism in Springfield and Sangamon […]
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Social service concerns mount as federal changes take effect
The federal budget’s sweeping changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, including additional work requirements and shifting age bracket qualifications, could lead to nearly 20% of Illinois SNAP recipients – as many as 340,000 people – losing benefits in the coming months, according to state estimates and local agencies. Adults from the ages of 18 […]
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New police chief for Leland Grove
The Leland Grove City Council unanimously approved hiring Kenton Oliver as the new Leland Grove chief of police at a March 24 meeting. The six members of the City Council unanimously voted to terminate the previous police chief, Dan Ryan, retroactively effective Feb. 24. Ryan, whose license was suspended on March 23, is awaiting trial […]
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County Board votes to table data center proposal
After almost three hours of constituents mostly deriding the idea of a data center in Sangamon County, the County Board voted 15 to 13 to table the CyrusOne project that would occupy more than 280 acres of farmland. More than 700 residents of Sangamon County, and other counties, attended the Sangamon County Board meeting on […]
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Leland Grove police chief’s license to be suspended
Starting March 23, Leland Grove Police Chief Dan Ryan will not be able to drive a motor vehicle while he’s awaiting trial for driving under the influence. At a March 20 court appearance, Ryan’s attorney asked for a continuation of the hearing related to an automatic license suspension, which was granted by Sangamon County Judge […]
