Editor’s Note

This week’s cover story on the disappointing state report card for Springfield’s public schools is a study in frustration. Students, teachers and administrators trying their hardest aren’t moving the education needle much. A frustrated community may blame the schools, but these are good schools, or it may blame parents, but most parents take heroic measures […]

ICON – Inner City Older Neighborhoods – holds its annual meeting and “Celebration” Nov. 27. This hardworking organization celebrates by honoring supporters with “good neighbor” awards. But it is ICON that most deserves the honor. For 13 years now, the group has been meeting and strategizing, dutifully attending city council meetings and generally doing the […]

Prophets often come from unlikely places. This week we feature the students at the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired, who saw a wrong – their school’s logo and mascot – and worked to make it right. Theirs wasn’t a mechanical move toward political correctness, but rather an educated and thoughtful student-led process that resulted […]

Even for us in the news business, sometimes no news is good news. It’s been a month since Illinois became the first state to eliminate cash bail, and we haven’t yet heard much about much going wrong. Dangerous arrestees still await trial in jails, which are less crowded now. That’s because those who before the […]

We who observe from afar and aren’t directly involved, condemn the attack on Israel, and express our love, support and compassion for our Jewish friends who are grieving. We who know a little about the political situation condemn Hamas, the terrorist organization, while supporting peacemaking Palestinians, as Gov. JB Pritzker did. We who want to […]

In Springfield and Washington there is a code of honor among politicians. They must do what they say (to each other) they’re going to do. Politicos may easily forget promises made to constituents, but they know they won’t succeed in politics if they vote yes after they promised colleagues or leaders they’d vote no. Kevin […]

I gave my new friend a ride to Dollar General but when he asked for $10 I said no. “Thank you for your candor,” he said, no big deal. We’re finding new ways to describe those who are “unhoused” and “experiencing homelessness” because it’s a reminder that those in that circumstance are not alike, though […]

Dr. Wesley G. Robinson-McNeese of Springfield, who died Sept. 18 after a long illness, was a stalwart leader and a kind friend. During his full life he carried many descriptors, including East St. Louis native, Vietnam veteran, physician, author, poet, pastor, interfaith convener and family man. His last two decades were spent working professionally in […]

Last week brought the welcome national news that 20 philanthropic groups, including major national foundations and the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln, are joining forces to invest a total of $500 million over the next five years in local news media organizations. The initiative, called Press Forward, is one of the biggest efforts […]

We can hope that peace in Ukraine will become an issue in the upcoming U.S. presidential campaign. So far, the Ukraine war has the support of the left side of U.S. politics, with growing opposition from the right. But as the military stalemate continues, as the death toll mounts and dollar costs grow, U.S. support […]

If you missed Brian Mackey’s interview on The 21st this week with the publisher of the Marion County Record, the Kansas newspaper that was raided by police Aug. 11, it is worth looking up at nprillinois.org. Eric Meyer, the publisher, has a broad perspective – honed by his two decades as a University of Illinois […]

U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Springfield, acknowledges, like everyone else does, “In America, every person indicted or accused of a crime is entitled to a presumption of innocence and the full spectrum of rights under due process.  Former President Donald J. Trump deserves no less.” Then he continues, wisely: “But this is not routine political fare […]