Letters to the Editor

CRITICAL ELECTION This is perhaps the most important Springfield mayoral election in generations. Central issues this time are bean counting and professional management. None of the other ideas that you and I might like to talk about will matter unless we can get a competent mayor to manage the city. This primary is critical. The […]

RELIABLE TRAINSDuring last week’s blizzard, Amtrak’s website stated that regular train service was running with only minor delays. Meanwhile, nationwide more than 6,000 flights were canceled at American airports. Interstate routes were covered and blizzards kept motorists going slow, if they were on the roads at all. The only dependable form of transportation during Blizzard […]

BUY OR BORROW Mr. Krohe speaks of ambience; I say status. Barnes & Noble offers its customers that almost subliminal feeling that they are buying a book at a place where many others cannot, that same feeling one gets paying $4.99 for a cup of coffee at Starbucks. We need to keep in mind that […]

THE REAL CAP CITYSpringfield are you serious? Everyone knows the capital of Illinois is Chicago. Cornfields, hogs and the state fair aside, Springfield has nothing. Perhaps your fair city has considered the ramifications of the proposed city-state of Chicago? Proposed by me, of course. Chicago and the suburbs lives in a completely different world from […]

MORE ON STREETCARS I read with interest your “Riding into town on a rail,” [by James Krohe Jr., Jan. 13]. However, the article missed three important points about the Springfield’s streetcar system. The Springfield Consolidated Railway was organized in 1893 and a further reorganization in 1903 created the Springfield Railway & Light Company, in 1922 […]

REMEMBERINGThank you, Bill Parker, for writing the article about my mother, Frances Richardson [see “Remembering the lives they lived,” Dec. 30]. Thank you to all who continue to remember what a remarkable woman she was. I was really missing my mom this week and with all the snow in Chicago I decided to go sledding down the local hill […]

EXELON INVASIONThis is a crucial week for the future of the Taylorville Energy Center, as a Senate vote to approve the project is expected. While our focus is on Springfield, the enormous forces against the project have attracted national attention. We are in the fight of our life against a huge opponent that will spend […]

THE REAL ARMYI read with great interest the Illinois Times’ article on Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) and their recent visit to Springfield [see “Iraq vets urge end to multiple deployments,” Dec. 23]. I have served in the Army for five years, and am still on active duty. My service has taken me to […]

DRIVE-UP LIQUOR Have you ever wondered why Springfield is the only major city (pop. over 100,000) in the State of Illinois that still allows drive-up liquor window sales? Or how about the fact that someone who’s driving on a revoked driver’s license can still legally purchase liquor at a drive-up window? In other words, if […]

EXPENSIVE TRAIN RIDE It is astounding that the $427-$516 million cost of full consolidation on 10th Street is more than one-third of the $1.2 billion in “high-speed rail” federal stimulus funding received by Illinois [see “Tracks on 10th” by Patrick Yeagle, Dec. 9]. That doesn’t leave much left over for the upgrading the rest of […]

JUSTICE FOR JUVENILESWhen I was inducted in June as president of the Illinois State Bar Association, I made a commitment to work closely with our association members to reform our woefully inadequate juvenile justice system. Sadly, our state spends far more annually to incarcerate youth (a staggering $100 million) than it does on youth prevention […]

ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTYIt is time for Illinois to abolish the death penalty. In addition to being against many major religious traditions, the death penalty is a violation of common sense. When we know the death penalty doesn’t deter crime, costs millions more than any other punishment, and risks that we will kill an innocent […]