Dilpreet Raju

The Sangamon County Board appointed seven members to the county’s newly formed Mental Health Board during a May 12 board meeting. Members will decide which programs the county’s upcoming limited 0.5% sales tax levy will fund. The levy goes into effect July 1 but funding is not expected to be disbursed until October, giving the […]

Dowson Family Farms, which has four parcels of land under contract to CyrusOne for construction of a $500 million data center project in Talkington Township, contacted area school officials to tout “a once-in-a-lifetime tax revenue opportunity.” Darrel Thoma, chief financial officer of Dowson Family Farms, sent a follow-up email April 3 to Becca Lamon, superintendent […]

The Citizens Club of Springfield hosted Springfield’s healthcare leaders April 24 to discuss the industry’s future in the capital city and central Illinois at large. CEOs from four major pillars of Springfield’s economy who are responsible for more than 10,000 employees – Memorial Health, Springfield Clinic and HSHS Central Illinois, in addition to the executive […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]