Cathy Strukely and Tricia McGann are turning the former Fifth Street Flower Shop location into a Christian bookstore, with the goal of spreading kindness and providing financial support to other community organizations. The friends, who met in a church community group, are opening Kindness + Co. at 739 S. Fifth St. “One of the things […]
Community & Lifestyle
Posted inCommunity & Lifestyle
Discovering your next opportunity
Every learner’s journey is unique. Some are preparing to take their first college classes. Others are returning to education after years in the workforce. Some are building skills for a career they’re passionate about, while others are exploring new possibilities and discovering where their interests may lead. That spirit of exploration was on full display […]
Posted inCommunity & Lifestyle
Holy indifference
Moses presented the Ten Commandments around 1300 BCE. These were not the first list of guidelines in ancient history, nor were they the only list. About 400 years earlier Hammurabi, the king of Babylon, bound himself and the people he ruled to 272 statutes, bringing a new order and stability. For the first time, royal […]
Posted inArts & Culture
MacMurray Foundation supports FCA mission trip
The MacMurray Foundation & Alumni Association has awarded a 2026 community grant to the Jacksonville Area Fellowship of Christian Athletes, helping support the organization’s annual college mission trip and its commitment to community service and leadership development. Led by Todd Sweatman, the Jacksonville Area FCA has taken college students on an annual mission trip to […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Dispose of hazardous waste properlyÂ
The city of Springfield’s Public Works Department, in collaboration with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, will host a voucher-only residential Household Hazardous Waste Collection event on Saturday, Oct. 17, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Chamberlain Park, 319 McCreery Ave. Because the event is being held in partnership with the IEPA, it is open […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Night Glow Festival returns to Southwind Park
The Night Glow Festival returns to Southwind Park from 5:30-8 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 29, featuring 10 hot air balloons lighting up the evening sky. The family-friendly event hosted by the Springfield Park District will also feature food trucks and music provided by DJ Blake. Visitors are encouraged to arrive early to watch the balloons […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Local organizations receive AEDs through HSHS St. John’s Foundation
Ten local organizations now have access to a lifesaving tool that can help respond to sudden cardiac arrest, thanks to the Community AED Program. HSHS Prairie Cardiovascular and the HSHS St. John’s Foundation presented automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to representatives from 10 area organizations from across the region during a Sept. 22 event at the […]
Posted inCommunity & Lifestyle
Building a community where systems work together
Effectively addressing homelessness requires our community to do more than solve individual crises. We have to build deeply connected systems of care with the whole person in mind. In many communities, physical health, mental health, behavioral health and homeless services function as mostly isolated systems of support, leaving people to figure out how to navigate […]
Posted inArts & Culture
5k run promotes health and Latino unity
The Illinois Migrant Council hosted a 5k event on Sunday, Sept. 20, at Washington Park to promote healthy lifestyles and demonstrate Latino unity, amid an anti-immigrant and anti-Latino political climate fueled by the Trump Administration’s policies. Esnider Rojas, a Springfield resident for the last nine years and a Colombian native, said his primary exercise is […]
Posted inCommunity & Lifestyle
Peaches, pears or apricots?
What is it about either or all, that sparks your interest or desire? What impact does each or either have upon your gustatorial delights? What impact does each or either have upon your digestive processes? In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addressed the matter of distinguishing the real from the unreal. He specifically focused […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Tree companies donate services at Camp Butler National Cemetery
Five tree service companies from Springfield, Champaign, Bloomington and beyond donated their services at Camp Butler National Cemetery Sept. 16 as part of the Saluting Branches National Day of Service. Saluting Branches—Arborists United for Veteran Remembrance is a nonprofit that holds an annual day of service where volunteers from tree and landscape companies donate their […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Mary Lincoln biographer to headline Conference on Illinois History
A complicated first lady, enslaved people starting new lives, women fighting for fair housing, even actors performing on horseback – all those stories and more will be told Oct. 1 and 2 at the Conference on Illinois History, presented by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. The highlight of the first day will be […]
