I keep hearing there’s going to be a rapture this Saturday. If that’s true, I’m pretty excited. I totally love dinosaurs! Clever girl…
Patrick Yeagle
Patrick Yeagle started writing for Illinois Times in September 2009. Originally from Farmer City, Ill., he graduated from Northern Illinois University in 2008 with a bachelor's degree in political science and a second major in journalism. He then graduated from the University of Illinois-Springfield in 2009 with a Master's degree from the Public Affairs Reporting program. In addition to Illinois Times, his work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, the Peoria Journal-Star, the Northern Star, the Parkland Prospectus and other publications. Yeagle writes about state government, the environment, energy, healthcare, elections, education, community issues, and more. He enjoys taking photos of news events, cityscapes, very small objects and wildlife. He enjoys running and has completed a marathon, three half-marathons, a 198-mile relay race and several shorter races. Other hobbies include cooking, gardening, making music and outdoor activities.
Posted inArts & Culture
What’s up in El Capitol?
For most people who don’t follow state politics, May is just another month. But inside the Illinois Statehouse, this month is a whirlwind of activity in which legislators try to hammer out deals and ram legislation through so they can go on summer vacation. (There’s also the minor fact that any bills passed after May […]
Posted inArts & Culture
PETA: Is there anything they won’t say?
As Illinois does the annual legislative dance this time of year, all sorts of ideas get tossed around, ranging from the austere to the ridiculous. Sen. Shane Cultra, a Republican from Onarga, tossed out an idea in the latter category this week when he said that parents of obese children should lose their tax deductions […]
Posted inNews
How should police handle the mentally ill?
William Wilkins says he was simply walking in the street on New Year’s Eve when a Springfield police officer stopped him for the first time. It wouldn’t be the last. Wilkins, 55 and a resident of Springfield, claims he has been detained by city or county law enforcement in Springfield another four times since New […]
Posted inNews
Medicaid cuts threaten nursing home staff, services
John Riech of Athens speaks softly as he puts his hand on the shoulder of his wife, Phyllis. She is sitting in a wheelchair, slowly petting her small white dog, Sassy. “We were doing pretty good until she got sick,” John Riech, 74, says with an audible sigh. Phyllis Riech, 70, has Alzheimer’s disease […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The new Illinois Rx Card – Too good to be true? Apparently not!
This is the first post in our new IT Overflow blog, where we’ll post all sorts of news, including stuff that doesn’t fit in our normal paper or stuff that maybe doesn’t warrant a full article. We’ll try to update it often, and the style will be less formal than our normal news stories. Expect […]
Posted inNews
Caregiver or killer?
Something wasn’t right when Cynthia Czapski picked up her 10-month-old son, Matthew, from a Bartlett, Ill., day care on Aug. 11, 1994. The child seemed to be sleeping, but she couldn’t wake him up. Matthew was taken to the emergency room and then to another hospital, where doctors worked to relieve bleeding and swelling in […]
Posted inNews
Reformers blast sex offender legislation
Legislation in the Illinois General Assembly to increase registration time and other requirements for Illinois’ 25,000 sex offenders awaits a House vote in the final days of the session. Opponents working to stop the bill say it would waste scarce resources without improving public safety. Senate Bill 1040 would increase the length of time sex […]
Posted inArts & Culture
1937 – INCHES KEEP FLOOD FROM CAIRO
Flood waters have begun to recede in Southern Illinois in and around Cairo following concentrated efforts by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and others, but plenty of work remains to be done. (More info and background here: http://thesouthern.com/news/national/article_56caf9fc-feea-5bb3-9f49-1f85096096ca.html) In an interesting coincidence, Illinois Times editor Fletcher Farrar recently found some old newspapers from 1937 […]
Posted inNews
Besieged owner claims big foreclosure ‘political’
A Springfield business owner says he’ll fight in court the foreclosure of 153 properties worth more than $6.7 million total. Meanwhile, he alleges the bank is putting profit before Springfield’s best interests. Jeff Polen of Taylorville, owner of JSP Investments and a handful of similarly-named companies in Springfield, faces foreclosure on 153 mortgages held by […]
Posted inNews
State Police can’t keep track of their stuff
An audit of the Illinois State Police released April 7 shows problems with inventory control, information security and more, but ISP says it lacks the resources to address some problems. Meanwhile, a report on the University of Illinois released the same day shows recurring problems with oversight of credit cards issued to university employees, among […]
Posted inSpecial Issues
Confessions of a bad gardener
It looked so easy. After all, how hard could it be? You bury a few seeds, dump some water on them and wait, right? Apparently not. I must confess that I have failed at one of the most basic and essential tasks mankind has ever adopted: growing food. If the Titanic were a garden, I […]
