Letters to the Editor

CHRONICLE OF SUFFERING Deep respect to Illinois Times reporter Patrick Yeagle for his excellent report entitled “Death by a thousand cuts” (March 10). I encourage everyone of conscience in the Springfield community to read it and consider making a personal donation to one or more of the five charities being decimated in our backyards. Mr. […]

  QUIT POINTING FINGERSI have heard the news reports – the ones that say the governor is blaming the legislature for the budget impasse – the ones that say the legislature is blaming the governor for the budget impasse. Well, ladies and gentlemen, the time has come to quit pointing fingers and go to work […]

Bryce Benton and Sam McCann. DEMS, VOTE GOP I voted for Rauner; mea culpa. Now I beg that Democrats cross over and vote in the Republican primary. Vote against Trump; Hillary is not likely to lose. Vote for McCann and against Rauner; Democrats rarely win the state seats in question. Government by and for the […]

REAL ID’s UNTOLD STORY Patrick Yeagle’s piece on the REAL ID Act (“Illinois behind on federal ID mandate,” Feb. 18), the federal law requiring all states to adopt a single standard for the integrity of drivers’ licenses, omits one of the more embarrassing parts of the law’s history, a part necessary to any attempt to […]

The late Julianne Glatz with her husband, Peter, who contributes another food column this week. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE GLATZ FAMILY   A PLEASANT SURPRISEEach week when I pick up the newest edition of Illinois Times, I turn back to read Julianne Glatz’s food column. A week ago, I turned back, expecting to find the feature […]

Bill Dudleston, owner and founder of Legacy Auto. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE Many thanks to Illinois Times and Bruce Rushton for the profile of Springfield’s Legacy Audio (“Sounds good”) in the Feb. 11 edition. It made me smile. This company is truly a gem in Springfield’s business jewel box, and Bill Dudleston […]

Springfield’s YWCA building by Springfield artist William Crook.   SLOW DOWN Y DEMOMayor Langfelder should reconsider his quickly decided plans to demolish the old YWCA building downtown, and he should allow access to the building to all contractors interested in assessing its rehabilitation potential. The YWCA building, located in the north mansion block which the […]

ILLINOIS RANKS HIGH The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, in partnership with the Equality Federation, has released its second annual national report assessing the status of state legislation affecting LGBT equality across America, including in Illinois. The State Equality Index (SEI) reveals that, even […]

In 2012 alone, the largest factory farms produced an estimated 369 million tons of manure, enough to fill the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium 133 times. PHOTO BY BOB CHAMBERLIN/TNS   HIDDEN COST OF FOODAs consumers, we don’t typically take much time to think about the origins of the food on our plate, so I was glad […]

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson. PHOTO BY Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS INCOME TAX PROPOSALS Any tax proposal that includes a value-added tax or national sales tax has the potential to harm a consumer driven economy, which ours is. The tax calculation and enforcement would probably be very cumbersome. Sales taxes, by their nature, are […]

Lola Susan Lucas (Jan 5, 1954 – April 25, 2015) was profiled in “Remembering the lives they lived”, our Dec. 31 cover story about those we loved and lost in 2015.   LADY LOLAThank you Jacqueline Jackson for the moving tribute to our dear friend, Lola Lucas (“Remembering the lives they lived, Dec. 31”). Those […]

SHAKEN BABY COVERAGE Commendations to reporter Patrick Yeagle for his informed coverage of the Cammie Kelly shaken baby trial, and to the newspaper for allowing him the time to do a proper job (“Jury struggles to reach verdict in child death trial,” Dec. 17, and several earlier pieces). While I was sorry to read of […]