People serving life prison sentences deserve to have hope that they may someday be free. That is the contention of a group of Illinois lawmakers who want to make inmates sentenced to lengthy prison terms eligible for parole. “We just want to reestablish hope within the prison system,” State Rep. Rita Mayfield, D-Chicago, said. The […]
Scott Reeder
Scott Reeder is a staff writer at Illinois Times.
Posted inOpinion
Sports subsidies
Rich people own professional sports teams, and for some reason, politicians just can’t resist shoveling cash their way. My first exposure to this concept came on June 30, 1988, a few minutes before midnight. I was following Gov. James R. Thompson at a dead run, charging from the Senate chambers to the House in the […]
Posted inNews
Finding fault with FOID
Even before the pandemic, Illinois State Police were not complying with the law when it came to processing gun permits in a timely manner, a report released Wednesday by the Illinois Auditor General said. In fact, in 2019, 52% of concealed carry applications were not acted upon within the period set by law – 90 […]
Posted inOpinion
Political posturing
Politicians are peculiar creatures. They name parks, highways, airports and just about anything else that’s paid for by us after themselves. And if a politician rises high enough, a statue will be erected in the person’s honor. Statues are designed to be permanent. But politicians’ reputations are much more fluid. Six years ago, then-Illinois House […]
Posted inNews
Mass disagreement
The members of Sacred Heart Catholic Church have been anxious for weeks as their way of worship has come under attack from a powerful source – Pope Francis. Parishioners at the church on Springfield’s east side worship the way Catholics have for more than 1,000 years, in Latin. But what was once a ubiquitous rite […]
Posted inNews
Year-long waits for FOID cards
Brent Urfer is a man who follows the rules. He’s an upstanding citizen who teaches school, pays taxes and obeys the law. The Christian County man never has been convicted of any crime. Nonetheless, he was turned away when he attempted to buy ammunition from a Springfield farm supply store. Why? His Firearm Owner’s Identification, […]
Posted inOpinion
Fair compensation?
So who is “James Doe?” That’s the pseudonym assigned to a man who accused former U.S. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert of sexual assault. The man alleges that when he was in school decades ago, Hastert, then a wrestling coach, molested him. More than 30 years later, in 2010, when Hastert was raking in […]
Posted inOpinion
Innocence lost
I find myself grieving for someone I’ve never met every Sept. 17 – for the past 31 years. Back in 1990, I was working as the night police reporter for the Quad-City Times when I was dispatched to a fire at a school playground at 9 p.m. I was one of the first on the […]
Posted inNews
Jesse Sullivan enters governor’s race
Jesse who? He’s raised how much? Is there any chance he could win? Those were questions being asked across Illinois last week when Jesse Sullivan announced he was seeking the Republican nomination for governor. Sullivan, a venture capitalist who has invested in high-tech startups in Silicon Valley, has raised $11 million to launch his campaign. […]
Posted inOpinion
CRT: Critical of race teaching
Willie Moore was a Black man who endured segregation and saw the school where he taught integrated after a long fight for racial equality. He loved teaching history but there was one topic he avoided: The civil rights movement. “It was just too controversial to talk about. The students came from families that had different […]
Posted inNews
State Journal-Register building up for auction
The State Journal-Register building will be auctioned this month, raising questions about the future of Springfield’s daily newspaper. “I remember moving into that building in the 1980s – it had so much room,” said retired columnist Toby McDaniel. “I can’t blame them for wanting to sell it now. Their staff is so small that they […]
Posted inOpinion
Is there room in Illinois for state-sponsored mercy?
Should government temper its justice with mercy? I’ve been pondering that question for at least three decades, ever since I was a young reporter and heard a Texas prosecutor stand before a jury and say, “These aren’t halls of mercy; these are halls of justice!” Justice is rendered when people receive their due, according to […]
