Gus Gordon is surrounded by 80,000 square feet of mostly empty space as he begins to work out of the Hoogland Center for the Arts more in the coming days. The Springfield organization’s head had been largely working from home, as had other staff. But the time has come to sift through the papers and […]
Rachel Otwell
Posted inNews
Will Springfield come out?
At Linda Renehan’s Springfield Vintage shop downtown, the values come easy. As does the conversation. Renehan loves to play “dress-up,” styling anyone willing who comes inside. The business is a passion project. She said for some “micro” businesses downtown such as hers, “We’re just having fun and trying to survive and provide a service to […]
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Sunday night, stay home
From a release: The City of Springfield is asking residents to please stay home this evening, Sunday, May 31. In light of recent events across the nation including disruptions with various businesses, and now with information coming in at a local level, individuals are asked to stay in. Unless an emergency situation, please remain at your […]
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Cop under investigation for comments about alderpeople
A Springfield police officer is off the job after calling an alderperson a “f——— idiot” on Facebook. A release from the Springfield Police Department said it is “aware of the inappropriate and unprofessional comments made by one of its members on social media directed at Alderman Shawn Gregory and Alderwoman Doris Turner.” According to a […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Learning remote learning
In mid-March, when Buffy Lael-Wolf realized in-person school was indefinitely postponed, she sprang into action. She knew her 10-year-old daughter, Nea, thrived on routine, and she wasn’t going to skip a beat. She felt her professional background had prepared her. “If I wasn’t going to be a nurse, I was going to be a teacher. […]
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Visual arts online
At 23 years old, Claudia Knight is an artist, a barista and a new parent. The Springfield resident had her daughter just before stay-at-home rules took effect. For her, the lack of visits from family and friends also meant a lack of help with her newborn. But she’s proven resilient. For Knight, art is a […]
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Art Association adapts
Springfield Art Association members recently met to seek suggestions about their latest work. One showed she had been experimenting with a variety of mediums since the pandemic began: collage, acrylic landscapes, art journaling. Another asked for help in sketching out a scene from a photo of the Grand Canyon she had taken while on vacation. […]
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Old Capitol Farmers Market opens
Hannah Tomlin’s family farm dates far back enough the road it’s on in Pleasant Plains shares her last name. “My great grandfather actually bought the farm where we live. And so it’s a Centennial Farm. And my dad’s really proud of that because he grew up here too, and his dad was a farmer.” Tomlin’s […]
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Reopening woes
Ashley Sims worked at Petsmart when she had her first child. She said she felt the company wouldn’t accommodate the reality of being a new parent, and she wanted to find a better balance. “I wanted to make myself happy.” So she’s her own boss now. She started her own dog-grooming business where she’s the […]
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Managing mental health
“It is OK not to be OK.” That’s a saying in the mental health field, according to Andy Wade of Chicago, the executive director of NAMI Illinois. NAMI stands for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, an advocacy-oriented nonprofit. It’s a saying he has taken to heart recently, after noticing one of his own children […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The essentials
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry In April, we began to ask readers to share stories about the workers they love who are on the front lines, fighting this pandemic. When we get to the other side of this […]
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Where to get tested
Those seeking testing for COVID-19 have a number of options in Springfield. Memorial and Hospital Sisters Health System offer tests — though ask that patients coordinate a visit in advance. Meanwhile, two relatively newer sites in town offer testing at no cost, and without an appointment (though one prefers that appointments are made.) We list […]
