Here’s a post from Tia Schoen in our advertising department: I got lucky 30 years ago (I’m really dating myself here!) when a wonderful woman hired me to run her health clubs. I had no experience and had never exercised a day in my life. I took to it like a duck to water. Over […]
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
It’s time to Get FIT!
Welcome to the Illinois Times Get FIT blog! Getting healthy is not only in vogue, it is vital to the well-being of our nation. If we don’t want to keep paying billions to remedy health problems we could prevent, then each of us must make a commitment to our personal and public health. Here we […]
Posted inNews
IEPA fails to regulate factory farms, environmental group says
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency fails to properly regulate livestock farms, according a group petitioning to revoke the agency’s enforcement authority. Illinois Citizens for Clean Air and Water, a statewide group concerned with the impact of large industrialized farms, says the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is ignoring its duty to oversee confined animal feeding operations […]
Posted inNews
Counter-protest turns into demonstration of support
On a cold October night in 1998, a 21-year-old gay college student in Laramie, Wyo., was beaten, tied to a fence post and left to die. Now, more than a decade later, Matthew Shepard’s murder continues to be a source of conflict. The Springfield Theatre Centre last weekend performed its second run of The Laramie […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Taste of the East
Finally, a reason to break out your saris and kurtas – for a good cause, no less. The Asian Indian Women’s Organization of Springfield is hosting its seventh biennial India Night. AIWO is a local nonprofit group that works to improve the community, and they’re eager to share their culture with Springfield. It’s a chance […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Hoogland Center’s second act
Nestled in the basement between thick square support pillars, the young musicians eagerly consume sheet after sheet of music, building a crescendo with violins, timpani and horns. Three floors up, a group of usually-playful thespians reenact a somber scene of social injustice that weighs heavily on the hearts of both performer and observer. Just down […]
Posted inNews
Is Wal-Mart the new local?
As Wal-Mart seeks to rebrand itself as the socially-conscious superstore, the effects of the retail giant’s changes remain to be seen. At a Nov. 10 press conference in the south Springfield Wal-Mart on Lejune Drive, company representatives announced the store is committed to selling local produce. “For Wal-mart, health and wellness and being able to […]
Posted inNews
Overflowing the overflow
The flagging economy is delivering a fatal one-two punch to homeowners, and Springfield will likely feel the knockout this year as the city’s growing homeless numbers overwhelm local shelters. According to online foreclosure tracker RealtyTrac Inc., banks continued to foreclose on homes at an astonishing pace this quarter – 937,840 homes across the nation in […]
Posted inNews
New tool could clear wrongfully convicted
One summer night in 1989, 18-year-old Melissa Koontz disappeared from a grocery store parking lot in Springfield. She was found a week later in a cornfield west of town, stabbed to death. Thomas McMillen, then 39, was convicted of Koontz’s murder in 1991, along with Gary Edgington, then 34. Both men are serving life sentences […]
Posted inNews
Familiar name wants back in the game
She is practically a household name in the Illinois political scene, and now Judy Baar Topinka is throwing her hat into the political ring once more in her bid for state comptroller. Topinka announced Oct. 25 that she would seek elected office for the first time since her failed 2006 gubernatorial race against now-impeached governor […]
Posted inNews
Independent watchdog warns: Illinois needs better accountability
You could call him an immovable object. He has outlasted three governors, called countless state agencies to task, and even survived an attempted hostile takeover of his constitutional office. Illinois Auditor General William “Bill” Holland spoke Oct. 23 to the Citizens Club of Springfield at the Hoogland Center for the Arts, addressing questions about his […]
Posted inNews
Ashland employee sues village
He says he was smacked in the head, handcuffed to objects and left there, and his pants were pulled down in public. The alleged culprits? His boss and the local police chief. Dale Naylor, a former employee of Ashland’s public works department, leveled allegations of discrimination against his former employer in federal court in August […]
