Democracy is dying in this nation, and it’s being killed by entrenched interests in both political parties. I can’t say it any more bluntly than that. There are some things that I found encouraging in the recent midterm election: Trump Republicans in hotly contested congressional races took a shellacking. If I were to point to […]
Scott Reeder
Scott Reeder is a staff writer at Illinois Times.
Posted inNews
A dark chapter of U.S. history brought to screen
While much has been written about the plight of Japanese Americans during World War II, the story of how the U.S. government persecuted Italian Americans has largely gone untold. A trio of central Illinois filmmakers is changing that with the documentary Potentially Dangerous, which tells the story of the internment of Italian Americans as well […]
Posted inNews
A podcasting prosecutor
Although he has spent much of his life working in courtrooms and at the Statehouse, David Risley has found a new platform for advocating for criminal justice reform: a podcaster’s microphone. “If things are going to change in the way we approach crime and criminal justice, it won’t be working from the top down,” he […]
Posted inOpinion
The long goodbye
As I sat in the barber’s chair Friday, an old man came up to me and extended his hand and introduced himself. As the fellow left the shop, my barber said it was nice of him to introduce himself. I nodded and explained I’ve known him for more than 20 years. And it is the […]
Posted inOpinion
Why can’t cousins marry?
Great balls of fire, Jerry Lee Lewis died Oct. 28, but his legacy lives on. What legacy, you might ask? Well, the legacy of marriage. Lewis had two famous cousins, televangelist Jimmy Swaggart and Myra Gale Brown. But it was his relationship with Brown that captured the headlines. Lewis made her famous in 1957 after […]
Posted inNews
A love story about community journalism
Dave Hoekstra has written a love story about community journalism in an age when many newspapers are dying and small towns are transforming. The retired Chicago Sun-Times reporter traveled the nation talking to families that have operated newspapers for generations, an increasingly rare proposition as advertising dollars have shifted to the internet and conglomerates such […]
Posted inNews
Much confusion over Amendment 1
Some people have taken to calling it the stealth amendment: an effort to amend the Illinois Constitution in a manner that will benefit organized labor. But just how it would work and what exactly it would do has many folks scratching their heads. Amendment 1, which voters will decide Nov. 8, would amend the state […]
Posted inOpinion
Getting into the spirit of Halloween
Soon, little masked hobgoblins will be knocking at our doors wanting handfuls of candy and it’s important to remember the rules of good behavior – for adults – not just the children. I often hear oldsters grumble about the unruly behavior of youths, but my experience is that it is the adults who tend to […]
Posted inOpinion
Stopping school shootings
There was no menace left in the school shooter who sat across from me in the prison’s visitor room. Clad in a blue chambray shirt and a tired expression, he told me about that fateful day in 1989 when he entered a day care center in League City, Texas, and started shooting. A bullet ripped […]
Posted inNews
Regan Deering takes on Nikki Budzinski
In a congressional district drawn to favor Democrats, Republicans believe they have reason for optimism. But just how much optimism is justified remains a bit of an open question for the Illinois 13th Congressional District, which pits Republican Regan Deering against Democrat Nikki Budzinski. Deering, 46, and Budzinski, 45, are both seeking political office for […]
Posted inNews
Plans for Pillsbury site
It will cost about $10 million to level the 18-acre Springfield eyesore that was once the largest flour mill in North America. Just where the money will come from to demolish the former Pillsbury plant remains a bit of an open question, said Joel Zirkle, an owner of the Freeport-based engineering and environmental firm Fehr […]
Posted inOpinion
Redefining masculinity
“Boys don’t cry.” That was the oft-repeated refrain my father said to my brother and me growing up. If one of us fell and skinned our knees, it was, “Knock it off, boys don’t cry.” It didn’t matter if we were 4 or 5. Crying was a sign of weakness and of questionable masculinity. When […]
