Letters to the Editor

Illinois Times invited a small group of area music promoters, booking agents and festival organizers to dinner Dec. 2 at Obed and Isaac’s to discuss the presentation of live, original music in Springfield. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE MAKING A SCENE In response to Scott Faingold’s Dec. 17 Illinois Times cover story, “Making a scene,” which […]

WATCH WHAT YOU RECYCLE A recent opinion (“The recycling drop-off”) by James Krohe Jr. in the Dec. 10 Illinois Times discussed Lake Area Disposal’s decision to close their recycling drop-off facility due to costs exceeding revenues. I understand these costs include a fair amount of time and effort to remove items that are either put […]

Photo by PATRICK YEAGLE FIERY DISGUST I am thoroughly disgusted with Bruce Rushton’s article about the Springfield Fire Department (“Money to burn,” Dec. 10). It was incredibly one-sided and seriously lacking in important facts that I am sure is no accident. It used to be that a reporter’s job was to report the news; now […]

A view of one of the shooters’ assault rifle on a curb, along with other evidence and markers, near their SUV and a damaged San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department patrol car on San Bernardino Avenue in San Bernardino, Calif., on Friday, PHOTO BY ALLEN J. SCHABEN/TNS   WORKPLACE VIOLENCEIt appears to me that the terrorist […]

PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE HELP FOR HOMELESS Thanks to Patrick Yeagle for putting human faces on the problem of homelessness in Springfield in “Homeless for the holidays,” Nov. 19. While statistics are important, even more important is to know that the homeless in our city are not just a glob of those most unfortunate among […]

Richard Craig is a man who chooses to be homeless, but he has a plan to get back on his feet. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE   TIME FOR CHANGEI would like to thank Illinois Times for covering the homeless in last Thursday’s issue (“Homeless for the holidays” by Patrick Yeagle). On any given night in […]

PHOTO BY Brian Jackson/Chicago Tribune/MCT SOS FOR EMS All Illinoisans should be able to count on the arrival of a well-trained, well-equipped medical crew within minutes of dialing 911. After all, every minute counts in a medical emergency. Unfortunately, Illinois’ Emergency Medical Services have been underfunded and overlooked for years. This has resulted in fewer […]

PHOTO BY ZBIGNIEW BZDAK/TNS   LIGHTS NOT A PRIORITYInternet sites that facilitate the donation of small amounts of money by large numbers of people, known as “crowdfunding,” are a wonderful innovation. Many teachers, for example, use crowdfunding to purchase classroom resources and fund field trips in an effort to give children in less wealthy school […]

OFF THE RAILS I was quite taken by Chris Britt’s cartoon in the Oct. 22-29 Illinois Times. It gives Gov. Rauner credit for going into the gorge but fails to show the people responsible for building the faulty tracks and trestle. Namely, Michael Madigan and the legislature he has led for the past 30 years […]

PICKING ON POLICE I am a resident, taxpayer and voter for the city of Springfield. I noticed that Britt likes to take cheap shots at the public safety folks (“Cartoon,” Chris Britt, Oct. 15). Where are the librarians, public works, CWLP employees… ? I am beginning to wonder why Britt always singles them out. Did […]

The latest mural in Downtown Springfield Inc.’s artification project is coming right along. Troy Freeman of Free Sky Studios is completing the mural on the west side of the building at 406 E. Adams St., adjacent to the downtown Farmer’s Mark HOMELESS WRITER When I read Mr. Bolin’s letter (GUESTWORK, “From a grateful Springfield homeless […]

Illinois State Museum PHOTO BY DAVID HINE FROM A 10-YEAR-OLD I am writing here today to talk about the Illinois State Museum closing. I am writing on behalf of myself, my family and the people of Illinois. It is unfair to the people to close down our museum. This is not the governor’s museum; this […]