Illinois has the ugliest flag in the union and state Sen. Doris Turner wants to do something about it. The lawmaker from Springfield has introduced legislation to create a commission to develop new flag designs for the General Assembly to consider by Sept. 1. “After more than 100 years of the same design, I think […]
Scott Reeder
Scott Reeder is a staff writer at Illinois Times.
Posted inNews
Debts and donations
A politically connected Springfield lawyer, George Petrilli, who was fined more than $46,000 by the city for failing to maintain a dilapidated property, had almost all of his debt forgiven and later donated $2,500 to Mayor Jim Langfelder’s reelection campaign. The city has waived fines and forgiven utility bills in hundreds of cases during 2022, […]
Posted inOpinion
Too big to fail
We heard those words repeatedly when Wall Street banks were going broke and the federal government swooped in to bail them out – with our money. The arrangement was a deal with the devil. But both George W. Bush and Barack Obama said we should just hold our noses because so much of the country’s […]
Posted inNews
A push to diversify
White men from small towns. That’s the primary recruiting pool for the Springfield Police Department, which is struggling to have a more diverse workforce that better reflects the community. Although Springfield is 20% Black, only 10% of officers in the department are African American. Worse yet, not a single Black person holds a supervisory rank […]
Posted inOpinion
Blowing up balloons
The Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade is a hobby club with a couple dozen members – some adults, some children – who like to watch balloons circle the globe. For $12 apiece, they buy balloons from a California manufacturer, rig them with radio transmitters and send them skyward, Aviation Week reported. One of their projects […]
Posted inNews
Dramatic changes at Sangamon County Animal Shelter
Last year, animal welfare activists were picketing the Sangamon County Animal Shelter and now they are working with it. “Things are going quite well now,” said Jill Egizii, president of the nonprofit WILD Canine Rescue. “WILD had a very adversarial relationship with the former administrator and it was just an awful, awful environment for the staff. […]
Posted inNews
Art Synergy
The tool slid across the glass with the steady hand of an artist teaching her craft. Former state Rep. Sara Wojcicki Jimenez has been paired with Springfield-area artist Morgan Behnke to create a stained-glass window as part of a Springfield Art Association project pairing 16 local artists with well-known people in the community. The couples […]
Posted inNews
Fighting hunger
Hunger stalks Sarah Rockwood’s family and soon she and her four teenagers may have to make do with less. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress temporarily boosted Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits by 15%, but in March benefits will return to their pre-pandemic level. Her only sources of income are Social Security and SNAP benefits, […]
Posted inOpinion
When you don’t drink
“Why aren’t you drinking?” My former boss slurred those words as he looked across a table while he and my coworkers downed a pitcher of beer at a mandatory staff pizza party. Drinkers ask that question. Not only is it off-putting and rude, it’s ubiquitous. I’ve never quite understood why that’s anyone’s business but my […]
Posted inNews
Debt disagreement
Springfield City Treasurer Misty Buscher, who is running for mayor, is calling for greater transparency when the city forgives debts or waives fines. She contends that her opponent, incumbent Mayor Jim Langfelder, is unilaterally writing off debts without informing the council or the public. The mayor responded that is not the case. “I’m not saying […]
Posted inNews
City council ponders a ban on electric surfboards
A group of Springfield city council members are looking to foil the hydrofoil. The hydrofoil in question is owned by Matt Scherer, an entrepreneur who wants to offer electric surfboard lessons on Lake Springfield. Scherer said he took out a $27,000 loan from the city of Springfield to start the business but now the city’s […]
Posted inOpinion
Trust but verify
Hoodwinked, fooled, deceived, misled, bamboozled. Those are just a few words to describe what a teenager allegedly did to a community journalist with 40 years of experience. In the small town of Eldridge, Iowa, just north of the Quad Cities, lives a young woman named Madison “Maddie” Russo. Scott Campbell, the longtime editor of the […]
