It’s said one person’s junk is another’s treasure. In that vein, a budget proposal before Illinois lawmakers would use $500 million to turn some of Illinois’ biggest state-owned eyesores into economic development opportunities. Abandoned, dilapidated facilities in Lincoln and Jacksonville are among five across Illinois that are targeted in the “Surplus to Success” program being […]
Scott Reeder
Scott Reeder is a staff writer at Illinois Times.
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Charges increased for teen driver who hit woman and dog
Lilly was a bright-eyed Labrador retriever who brought joy to her family and smiles to her neighbors. On a sunny afternoon Feb. 27, her owner, Kimberly Sharpe, took her for a walk from which she never returned. While in a crosswalk, a car grazed Sharpe and ran over Lilly. In the weeks that followed, tears […]
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SPD adds Community Service Officers
The Springfield Police Department has a new tool in its fight against crime – cops without guns. They were once known as traffic wardens but have been redubbed “community service officers” and given an expanded job description. The idea is to free up armed, sworn officers to handle more serious offenses by assigning less dangerous […]
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DOGE cuts come to Springfield
Springfield business owner John Chiang received a letter March 10 that landlords dread: a tenant is breaking its lease. The tenant is the U.S. government’s Department of Labor, which rents office space on the second floor of the building at 3161 W. White Oaks Drive. The building is owned by Chiang, 82, who also owns […]
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Opioid overdoses increase
Tears welled in Rich Scheib’s eyes as he thought of his son, Wade, who died of a drug overdose on Dec. 7. Scheib said the first time he realized his son was using drugs was when he suffered an overdose four years earlier. “I just didn’t think he was that type of person. I just […]
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From addiction to sobriety
Kriston Feleccia, 37, who has struggled with addiction most of her life, said her opioid addiction began when she was prescribed Vicodin after nearly cutting off one of her fingers. “I always had issues with alcohol, and I even got into cocaine when I was really young – 14 or 15. I needed something to […]
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New law would punish sexual abuse in schools
Ashley Peden wants Illinois law changed to protect students because she says her daughter was sexually assaulted by someone attending the same school and she shouldn’t have to continue to see her assailant. The assaults, which allegedly happened in late January and early February 2024 on a school bus and at a bus stop serving […]
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Manufacturing operations moving to Clinton
A manufacturer with more than 100 workers is closing two of its Springfield facilities and moving operations to Clinton after a dispute with the city over building-code violations. Mike Hoyle has owned Kwik-Wall for 19 years, a company that makes movable partitions for conference and convention facilities. Hoyle used an LLC to purchase the former […]
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Don Tracy clears his name
A six-year legal battle recently came to an end with longtime GOP powerbroker Don Tracy claiming victory. In 2019, the Illinois executive inspector general found the Springfield lawyer engaged in a prohibited political activity by making a $1,000 campaign contribution to a legislative candidate while serving as chair of the Illinois Gaming Board. But Tracy […]
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Springfield parents struggle with lack of child care options
Dani Clark began this year with a newborn daughter and a need to find a day care spot to enable her to return to work. What she learned left the new Springfield mom stunned. “Most of the day cares have been pretty good about getting back to me,” she said. “But they all tell me […]
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Business owner arrested in murder-for-hire scheme
A man accused of putting out a $10,000 contract to have a Collinsville woman killed may find it difficult to fulfil his own contract with the city of Springfield – to raze 38 dilapidated houses. Sammy J. Shafer Jr. owns S. Shafer Excavating, a company based in Pontoon Beach that does work throughout the Metro […]
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More vacant buildings burn in winter
Those who knew Cory Beebe worried about him. They worried about his long history of abusing drugs and about the unhoused man staying warm on frigid winter nights. But on Jan. 17, it wasn’t the cold or the dope that took his life. Fire claimed the 37-year-old man, who was found in the attic of […]
