Public television viewers across the country will soon learn what Springfield has to offer, thanks to a television feature hosted by actor Dennis Quaid. The Big Easy star hosts the Viewpoint Project, which specializes in short-form public television stories. Each story highlights specific industries, communities or topics around the world. Producers from the show reached […]
Scott Reeder
Scott Reeder is a staff writer at Illinois Times.
Posted inNews
New mayor makes appointments
The department heads selected this week by Springfield Mayor Misty Buscher include Republicans, Democrats, holdovers and new faces. “It’s extremely important to me that the community knows that diversity does matter to me. I have to fix that so that our equity scorecard looks better. And I’m passionate about doing that,” said Buscher. Buscher said […]
Posted inOpinion
The myth of May Day
A lot of the “history” we were taught in school was nothing more than fables. Christopher Columbus didn’t prove the world was round. George Washington’s teeth weren’t made of wood. Abraham Lincoln didn’t write the Gettysburg address on the back of an envelope. The Liberty Bell didn’t crack on July 4, 1776. Benjamin Franklin almost […]
Posted inNews
The micropantry movement
It all began three years ago in the midst of a global pandemic and it is responsible for feeding thousands of hungry Sangamon County families, but no one is quite sure how it all got started. More than three dozen micropantries, or blessing boxes, have been created in Springfield neighborhoods and nearby communities. Folks with […]
Posted inOpinion
When books are banned
I like to read things that I disagree with. Doing so not only gives me greater empathy for those with whom I differ, but every once in a while, it changes my own viewpoint. A movement is afoot to censor what books libraries and schools can offer. Such efforts are pernicious malignancies that metastasize from […]
Posted inNews
Inmates and iPads
Inmates at the Sangamon County Jail will soon be issued their own computer tablets that can be used to take classes, communicate with family members and order movies. The county is in the process of accepting bids from four firms interested in having the tablet contract. Sheriff Jack Campbell said he anticipates this will be […]
Posted inNews
City receives $500K state grant for the Y block
The state of Illinois has agreed to give $500,000 to the city of Springfield to make improvements to the Y block. The empty lot just north of the Illinois Governor’s Mansion was once the site of the YWCA building, which was razed in 2017. Over the years, various ideas ranging from a law school campus […]
Posted inNews
A polarizing presence
Sangamon County Republicans are paying Kellyanne Conway, an adviser to former President Donald Trump, $30,000 to speak at the Sangamon County Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Day dinner. Sangamon County GOP chair Dianne Barghouti Hartwick said so far more than 900 people have purchased the $125 tickets to eat at the dinner, scheduled for 6 p.m. […]
Posted inOpinion
Independent benefits
Hardware stores are my guilty pleasure. No, I’m not talking about the big box monstrosities that sell gallons of milk and bags of dog food right next to the rolls of duct tape. I like the small, family-owned enterprises where the owner knows your name and the fellow back in plumbing knows exactly what part […]
Posted inOpinion
The secret to a good marriage
A stream of more than 30 cars and trucks roared down the dirt road, honking their horns and then stopping at our farmhouse just south of Galesburg. Don Swedlund, the dairy farmer down the road, got out and hollered, “We’re having a shivaree!” For the uninitiated, a shivaree is a rural matrimonial custom where the […]
Posted inNews
A dream come true
A $500,000 gift is being used to transform the lives of young people in Springfield who want to learn a trade. What is now known as The Frank and Linda Vala Dream Center of Sangamon County is located in Dawson Hall on the former Springfield campus of Benedictine University that once housed Ursuline Academy. The […]
Posted inNews
A new direction for Springfield
Springfield Mayor-elect Misty Buscher, who denied incumbent Jim Langfelder a third four-year term with her almost 800-vote margin, pledged April 4 to govern in a bipartisan manner but made a point of thanking the 14 labor unions that helped push her over the top. “Those unions made a difference,” she told an enthusiastic crowd of […]
