Letters to the Editor

A woman covers the fence of the Emanuel AME Church with white ribbons where nine people were killed. PHOTO BY Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS. RACISM. THINK ABOUT IT. In the aftermath of the recent murders of nine citizens at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., various national leaders described the actions of Dylann Roof as “unthinkable.”  […]

  PARK POLICE REPLYPlease allow me to set the record straight regarding your park district police article [see “Law enFARCEment,” June 11, at illinoistimes.com]. In this article, information provided by former Captain Jonathan Davis was not factual. It was misleading and, most importantly, appeared to be intentionally damaging to my reputation. Davis stated that I […]

The Illinois State Museum has provided educational exhibitions, programming and other events, many which are free to the public, since it was founded in 1877. The museum is now facing shutdown in the wake of the state budget crisis. Photo BY DOUG CARR/ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM ENFORCE CURRENT LAWS Close the Illinois State Museum to save […]

A partnership between local crafters and tradesmen and the Springfield Building and Zoning housing division and administrative courts is one suggestion for bringing some of Springfield’s out-of-code properties up to date, while simultaneously offer PHOTO BY METRO CREATIVE CONNECtiON A CRAFTY SOLUTION What if the crafts and trades, with their training programs, teamed up with […]

PHOTO BY ANTHONY SOUFFLE/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/TNS TOURISM KILLER Is killing tourism in this state a good businessman’s action? Any state you name with low taxes has a huge tourism business. Rauner is constantly doing things that hurt tourism in this state. Not all of us can become millionaires investing state employees’ retirement money in out-of-state nursing […]

CWLP’s Round Up initiative is an easy way for City Water Light and Power customers to help house, feed and provide job skills to the homeless in our community. PHOTO BY MICHAEL S. WIRTZ /MCT   HELP THE HOMELESSDespite the fledging economic recovery, the number of our sisters and brothers who are homeless in Springfield […]

Photo by Kerri Westenberg AN OUTSIDERS’ PERSPECTIVE As someone who has come to know Springfield a little over recent months, I wonder if folks here might like to know how it seems from the outside. These are times when there is a lot of discontent expressed in various quarters, and it seems to be the […]

One of Bluffstone’s numerous apartment properties, from the company’s website. PHOTO COURTESY HTTP://BLUFFSTONE.COM BLUFF UGLYThis is a comment in response to the April 16 article (“Paying for downtown” by Bruce Rushton) about the development proposed for Fourth and Madison streets by Bluffstone. I had clipped the article because I wanted to remember to look at the Bluffstone […]

POLICING POLICE Police management needs to develop a system wherein good cops can report bad cops without the fear of reprisal. Certainly there is a natural sense of loyalty among the police and/or a fear of retaliation that prevents the reporting of excessive force and/or brutality on the part of their associates. Yet until that […]

Living history and historic sites brought thousands of visitors and tourism dollars to central Illinois restaurants, shops and hotels last weekend, May 1-3, during the Lincoln funeral procession. HISTORY COMES ALIVE IS DEADThe Lincoln funeral procession has come and gone, and from my vantage point as curator of historic Edwards Place, it was a smashing […]

TEA PARTY ON IHPA Remember when President Obama made his announcement and VP choice at the historic Old State Capitol? It was IHPA that gave him special permission to do so, although the site is not to be used for political events. The Springfield Tea Party was then denied use of the same facility twice. A Freedom of […]