Across the nation, economists have expressed concerns about the reliability of Bureau of Labor Statistics data, not because of political bias or thumbs on the scale, but rather a lack of manpower amongst the scaled-back federal agency tasked with fielding data about the country’s economic health. That concern stretches to Springfield, according to Ryan McCrady, […]
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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Restorative justice in Sangamon County
The seventh floor of the Sangamon County Complex is busy on Wednesday afternoons. Mental Health Court participants wait in the hall overlooking downtown Springfield. They talk about their pets, their commutes, some shared music tastes. Others find a seat and pull out a book to dive into. A black Labrador assistance dog calmly walked between […]
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Denial for Springfield solar project
The Sangamon County Board voted 15-8 to reject a proposed 20-acre solar farm adjacent to a residential subdivision on the west side of Springfield, even as the board’s lawyer warned Summit Ridge Energy, the petitioner, may be able to sue the board and get the solar panels installed anyway. Assistant state’s attorney Joel Benoit, who […]
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New Mental Health Board convenes
Retired Judge Steve Nardulli was elected chair of the Sangamon County Mental Health Board at its first meeting May 27 and said the board will need to invite more public input. Overall, administrative duties and the Open Meetings Act took center stage at the inaugural meeting as the board appointed officers and considered hiring an […]
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Downtown Springfield bill fails to come to fruition
In the waning hours of legislative session, the Illinois General Assembly got close, but failed to pass a bill that would create multiple government boards to promote redevelopment of downtown Springfield. Sangamon County Board Chair Andy Van Meter said he expects elected officials to keep working on the proposal. The Senate approved an amended House […]
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Jury awards $38 million to woman injured by operating room equipment
A Sangamon County jury awarded $38.4 million to a former HSHS St. John’s Hospital employee who was injured when a defective operating room boom collapsed on her, finding the medical equipment manufacturer to be liable. The several-hundred-pound boom, used for docking medical equipment on a swivel arm, injured Stacey Brown to the point of requiring […]
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Sangamon County wrestles with land use issues
A proposal to amend Sangamon County’s data center ordinance remained tabled following the county’s May 21 Zoning and Land Use Committee meeting. The two-page ordinance, Chapter 17.39 of Sangamon County Code, was quietly introduced last spring and passed the County Board without issue in July. Since then, board members and proponents of the area’s first […]
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Logan County enacts 12-month data center moratorium
Logan County officials approved a one-year moratorium on data center projects with a 6-4 vote May 19. That vote occurred less than a month after the Champaign County Board voted to enact its own yearlong moratorium with an 11-3 vote. The project proposed by Hut 8, a publicly traded company from Florida, would have been […]
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Growing financial strain
As prices for gas and necessities keep climbing, the Illinois General Assembly is considering closing corporate tax loopholes and taxing offshore accounts or Illinois billionaires’ net worths while the state continues to rely on a growing share of personal income tax to fill the state’s general revenue fund. For Illinoisans just trying to get by, […]
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Local cannabis businesses receive state funding
Four Sangamon and Logan County marijuana businesses received a total of nearly $2 million in direct forgivable loans last month from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity as part of the Cannabis Social Equity Loan Program. Two craft grow businesses received $750,000 each in forgivable loans – Lincoln Labs and Rt. 66 Rec. […]
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An AI anniversary logo
Sangamon County officials revealed an artificial intelligence-driven logo concept to commemorate America’s 250 years of independence and 100 years of Route 66 at the May 12 county board meeting. The logo, which District 17 board member Annette Fulgenzi said has some things to clean up, appears to depict Sangamon County with Christian County’s borders appended […]
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Wyndham plywood gets a paint job
More than six months after the Wyndham Springfield City Centre Hotel had its first-floor windows boarded, city workers began painting those coverings to keep the property compliant with a city ordinance. David Fuchs, director of Public Works, told Illinois Times the city had asked the Wyndham owner to paint the coverings, as required by the […]
