In the summer of 1997, Illinois Times published “Curious George,” a feature about George Ryan when he was running for governor. The feature detailed Ryan’s political past and lined it up with what he was proposing to do as governor. We predicted that Ryan would certainly make good on some of his numerous promises as […]
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Posted inNews
Med district maneuvers
Within the next 30 days, Mayor Karen Hasara will begin appointing members to the commission that will oversee the Illinois Medical District in Springfield. The district became official on January 3, when former Governor George Ryan signed legislation drafted to create it. The district was formed to develop Springfield’s medical industry, bounded by 11th and […]
Posted inNews
PR to the rescue
Last year, when Springfield voters overwhelmingly rejected a property-tax increase meant to benefit the public schools, District 186 officials began to realize they’d lost what little respect they had in the community. It didn’t help when, after their defeat at the polls, they immediately laid off teachers and librarians, cutting programs district-wide. Then they raised […]
Posted inNews
The continuing saga of Brady and the Bishop
For the past seven years, Stephen Brady and his Petersburg-based organization, Roman Catholic Faithful, have waged a very public battle against Daniel Ryan, the former bishop of the Springfield diocese. Brady took advantage of a lawsuit claiming Ryan had protected a pedophile priest to air various salacious allegations against Ryan himself. Now Brady is making […]
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Back From Iraq
Ask Sister Beth Murphy about her recent trip to Iraq and she’ll tell you about Hussein, a four-year-old boy who was hiding under his bed in a hospital room in Basrah. Hussein had neuroblastoma. During treatment he contracted hepatitis; his doctor said Hussein had only a few months to live. On Wednesday, Murphy, a Dominican […]
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Eastside Story
Ron Fafoglia says he’s fairly conservative. He jokes that he falls just to the right of Genghis Khan. This would make him a perfect candidate for fighting terrorists or hosting his own talk show or finding a way for Republicans to take back the state, anything other than what he’s doing, which is placing low-income […]
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Wait ’til 2007
When April 1 rolls around–the day of the city’s general elections–only a little more than half of Springfield voters will have a choice in who will represent them on the City Council. Out of ten wards, incumbents are running unopposed in four: Chuck Redpath (Ward 4), Irv Smith (Ward 8), Tom Selinger (Ward 9), and […]
Posted inOpinion
Not (quite) a scratch
Brunon Blaszak recalls that about 25 years ago a Bengal tiger bit through his mother’s arm. He was somewhere between 8 and 13 years old, but wasn’t traumatized by the incident–he went on to pursue the family business. At the age of 16, he became “The World’s Youngest Animal Trainer.” Blaszak’s mother and father were […]
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Fuzzy math
Last October Yolanda Perez visited Capital Community Bank on South Sixth Street to refinance her home–a clean, brown, two-story house in Enos Park. She went through the usual paperwork and agreed to pay $235 for a routine appraisal, which the bank would then use to set a limit on her loan. “Later the loan officer […]
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Easy credit, hard times
A dozen people showed up for a three-hour class on money management last Saturday at the 11th Street office of the Springfield Housing Authority. Leading the class was Tami Rechner, whose goal is to get these people out of debt. She told the class about one client who was 13 months behind on her $200 […]
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Fair’s not bad
Will anyone notice that $700,000 less is being spent on this year’s Illinois State Fair? Most likely the answer will be “yes.” Parking will be a buck more expensive (rising to $7), and some of the free concerts may no longer be free. But officials say any comparison to last year’s fair isn’t, well, fair. […]
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Baby boosters
My wife and I have a son who’s 20 months old. We also have an unsettling book called What to Expect: The Toddler Years. In it, we learn, month-by-month, what our boy should be able to do. The book advises that at 20 months Luke “should be able to” run and use a spoon or […]
