Fletcher Farrar

 Many of us are hoping that Bruce Rauner won’t be as bad as we think he’s going to be. Even some of his supporters are secretly pleased that Mike Madigan is still in control to shield the state from Rauner’s more radical ideas. It is up to the governor-elect to set the tone. Will he […]

The billboard towering above Wabash Avenue still proclaims, “The Benedictine PROMISE: affordable and attainable undergraduate education.” It is a promise broken. Last Thursday the Benedictine University board of trustees announced without warning that it is pulling the plug on undergraduate education in Springfield at the end of this school year, leaving 520 students with an […]

As the State of Illinois cuts back its financial support and hours of operation for parks and historic sites, volunteers and donors are more important than ever. Last week the New Salem Lincoln League, the private group which was established in 1982 to support what has become the state’s most-visited historic site, took a step […]

 Mddle East peace could begin in the Midwest, at Illinois College in Jacksonville. Why not? The historic progressive institution is thinking big and reaching wide by inviting Jimmy Carter, the former president and indefatigable peace campaigner, to speak there on Tuesday, Oct. 14, initiating the college’s Pathways to Peace proposal for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. […]

 Springfield Public Schools Superintendent Jennifer Gill is getting high marks for candor in the way she describes the dismal graduation rate, test scores and racial disparities of District 186. In her speech to the Springfield Citizens Club Sept. 26, the new schools chief demonstrated she understands the difficulties facing this urban school system with 15,000 […]

A couple of us picked the few remaining green beans and eggplants, while others harvested Swiss chard and white radishes. A grocery bag full of sweet potatos is what’s left of the plot of deep-green leaves. Tomato vines and still-flourishing collards were pulled up and piled on the compost heap. The plants still had some […]

Voters are turning out in record numbers for this year’s Best of Springfield survey. The ballot, beginning on p. 28, appears in the print edition for the last time this week, but online voting continues till midnight on Monday, Sept. 29, at www.illinoistimes.com, or on the Best of Springfield app from the iTunes store. To […]

Last week’s NAACP-sponsored community forum on race relations has started a healthy discussion in Springfield. Once again it has raised the subject of minority hiring in the police department. Mayor Mike Houston promised to tackle the issue when he was elected three years ago, but it has proven too difficult for this administration. It is […]

 The first stage of Springfield’s rail relocation has started with groundbreaking last month on an underpass at Carpenter and 10th streets.  Although funding for the full relocation project is still uncertain, the City of Springfield, Sangamon County and Hanson Professional Services of Springfield are working to ensure minority involvement in the rail relocation, with possible […]

 Springfield Ward 6 Ald. Cory Jobe has proven himself a pragmatist by withdrawing from the mayor’s race before it has officially begun. Jobe, who has been ambition personified (he broke the six-figure mark in his campaign fund well before any other potential or declared mayoral candidate), hasn’t even finished his first term as an elected […]

At a luncheon this week the first graduates of the Sangamon CEO program described the businesses they created, the people they met and the life lessons they learned. The high school students spent a big chunk of the past school year visiting businesses, hearing presentations by business leaders and launching their own businesses for CEO […]

It has now been 100 days since more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls were kidnapped by a group called Boko Haram. The occasion was marked by a meeting of the girls’ parents with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, arranged by girlpower activist Malala Yousafzai, and by Springfield church and community members meeting around a peace pole on […]