Editor’s Note

When reformers try to lessen penalties for accomplices or bystanders, they inevitably get accused of being soft on crime. They’re “just trying to empty the prisons,” is the way Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, described the effort to change Illinois’ “felony murder” law, explained in this week’s cover story by Dean Olsen. McClure’s characterization is an […]

We’ll all be watching those two old guys on the debate stage next week to see which of them stutters the most, or forgets names, hesitates too long or falls asleep. But by the end of 90 minutes, we’ll surely also get a good sense about which of them has the best ideas and will […]

It was only early this month that we became aware that this governor had any interest in the vacant lot across from his Springfield house. Before that, the Y Block was a Springfield project, which had absorbed plenty of local planning and design ideas, if not consensus or funding. Now, the General Assembly has appropriated […]

Despite changes in culture and technology, summer for Americans still has a romantic, open feel, with visions of long days filled with possibility and freedom. Even when listings are digitized and at our fingertips at illinoistimes.com, our paper Summerguide is a favorite for the same reason as summer. In these 80 pages you can leisurely […]

The May 10 teacher walkout at Grant Middle School over student discipline issues, and the May 11 prayer walk at Southeast High School in the aftermath of a student killed by gun violence, raise big issues for next school year. Clearly the school administration and the teachers union need to double down on planning for […]

The Lincoln Presidential Foundation brought preeminent Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer to Springfield this week to expound on his new book, Brought Forth on this Continent: Abraham Lincoln and American Immigration, and the role Springfield played in shaping his emerging views. Early in his political career he, like Mary, had little use for immigrants, especially the […]

Campus protests bring memories of heady spring days trying to make a difference in the world. It wasn’t just that first spring, the awful spring that Martin was assassinated, then Bobby during finals week. There were antiwar protests every spring until graduation, peaking with a student strike after National Guard troops killed four Kent State […]

It’s great that the decline of local news has gotten attention lately, and that foundations, universities and government task forces are spending money on the problem. But the more proposals that are offered, the more obvious it becomes that nobody has found a solution. Nonprofit journalism is one idea, but earlier this month Chicago Public […]

Late to the gym, I blew past a crosswalk near Memorial. A woman waiting to cross called me the name of a rear end. Secretly I agreed with her and vowed to make amends. Now I take that route every morning, slowing at each white-striped intersection, and if a pedestrian is near, stopping for them. […]

Americans should know by now – but many don’t – that U.S. Jews differ widely in their political views. A study released last week by Pew Research Center shows that, among U. S. Jews, younger adults express much more negative attitudes toward Israel than older adults do, reflecting attitudes in the broader U.S. public. While […]

Lately I’ve been remembering one afternoon horseback riding at the farm with Dad, something we often did on weekends when I was a kid in southern Illinois. The sky got dark. We stopped the horses as a breeze came up, and we experienced what must have been a solar eclipse. We hadn’t known it was […]

When it comes to working for change, it’s always hard to decide whether to go small or large, simple or systemic. We face the starfish dilemma; we can’t save them all so we save one by one. Which is fine, if we don’t spend so much time throwing starfish back in the sea that we […]