Editor’s Note

When historian Jon Meacham addressed the Abraham Lincoln Association banquet in Springfield Tuesday, he recounted Lincoln’s advocacy of a peaceful transition of power were he to lose the 1864 election. It is telling that this was one of the biggest applause moments of the evening. That a huge slice of the electorate is captivated by […]

This year’s primary campaign demonstrates again how much the Illinois governor’s race has become a battle of big money. The multibillionaire Ken Griffin is heavily backing Republican governor candidate Richard Irvin, while Richard Uihlein, apparently only a multimillionaire, is supporting the other Republican front-runner, Darren Bailey. JB Pritzker, the billionaire Democratic governor, is not only […]

A campaign ad by Rodney Davis has hit a new low in Republican Party politics. In the TV commercial, Davis portrays his opponent, Mary Miller, as advocating compassion toward illegal immigrants. The spot is convincing because it shows actual footage of her saying that if we know an immigrant in need of help we should […]

A shiny new fire station at 11th and Ash in Springfield will lift the economy and spirit of the Harvard Park neighborhood. Thank you Mayor Jim Langfelder, Fire Chief Brandon Blough and the Springfield City Council for sticking with the plan to build there, despite the need for mitigation of hazardous materials left from the […]

Nothing said this week was better than Joe Biden in Buffalo. “Jill and I bring you this message from deep in our nation’s soul. In America, evil will not win. I promise you. Hate will not prevail and white supremacy will not have the last word.” He condemned the racism, violence and hate spread through […]

Canada by rail, a 2,775-mile journey from Toronto to Vancouver, impresses a traveler with the vastness of our neighbor’s wilderness and wildlife. But those who fall in love with the beauty, the bears and the elk, learn next that, however plentiful, these too are fragile, threatened by global warming and the pressures of people. The […]

It’s always good for a community to recognize and encourage its artists, but it’s especially important now as the visual and performing arts struggle to recover from the pandemic. The Mayor’s Awards for the Arts was held this week for the first time since 2020, and those recognized ranged from a 15-year-old Rochester High School […]

When I arrived, Micah introduced himself, without anybody asking him to, and welcomed me to Mrs. Wells’ fourth-grade class at Sandburg Elementary. The kids have been reading Illinois Times as a class project, and so were well-prepared with questions, and with answers to mine. “How can a newspaper make money if it’s free?” “Advertisements,” several […]

If the Biden administration had gotten the U.S. military involved in a shooting war over Ukraine, Americans would be protesting by now. Instead they are solidly behind President Biden’s non-military strategy, which includes calling out Vladimir Putin as a war criminal and, “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.” Diplomacy is energized. Economic […]

It makes a lot of sense what Zelensky said, even though commentators dismissed it as fog of war. He said the U.N. should remove Russia and its veto from the Security Council and, if that doesn’t work, abolish the council. “The main thing is today, it’s time to transform the system, the United Nations,” he […]

Senate Judiciary chair Richard Durbin, D-Springfield, reminded committee members on the second day of hearings on the Supreme Court nominee what the late Muriel Humphrey would tell her husband, the loquacious Vice President Hubert Humphrey: “A speech doesn’t have to be eternal to be immortal.” After all, Abraham Lincoln, R-Springfield, used just two minutes, with […]