Cap City

Everything sounded cool at last week’s meeting of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum board, where members jawed about stuff that is the purview of museum boards, with barely a hint of discord. Within an hour or so of adjournment, though, word hit that Samuel Wheeler, state historian and big cheese when it comes […]

This week’s Sangamon County Board meeting lasted a tick longer than two hours, which is longer than typical. More than half of board members stayed away – and who, really, could blame them – opting to participate remotely and figure out the finer points of mute buttons while they were either listening intently or doing […]

Hand sanitizer, face masks and lots of cleaning. University of Illinois Springfield has announced it will reopen campus for fall semester. UIS’ “Return to the Prairie” plan lays out details including protocol for quarantine should staff or students fall ill. A “blended course delivery” model was chosen that merges in-person and off-campus learning. The approach […]

You gotta love pluck, and new blood, and so a proposed downtown bar and restaurant emporium is a good thing. Dubbed The Public Market, the development in a vacant building at 322 East Adams Street would include at least five restaurants – think quick-serve as opposed to white table cloths – as well as a […]

As the White House promises to pressure local governments to open schools in the fall, details for Springfield schools are still largely unknown. On Tuesday, July 7, President Donald Trump said, “We’re very much going to put pressure on governors and everybody else to open the schools.” That declaration comes as some parts of the […]

Informed sources say that deadlines for the State Journal-Register’s print edition will be moved from 4 p.m., darn early for a daily newspaper delivered in the morning, to 7 p.m. That’s better, but still a far sight from 9 p.m., which the deadline had been until June 1. Just a few years ago, the deadline […]

The Springfield City Council on Tuesday approved a measure instituting fines for folks who don’t fix code violations until the last minute. The city has been dismissing fines for people issued citations who show that the problem was fixed before administrative court dates. Council members, concerned particularly about tall grass and garbage, unanimously approved the […]

City Water, Light and Power says it’s seeing an increase in past due balances “so the utility is working to help those customers in hardship.” In the midst of the pandemic, disconnections have been suspended through July. Still, CWLP is urging customers to set up payment plans and use “financial assistance resources to help bring […]

City council members and the mayor praised nonviolent protests against police brutality and the killing of George Floyd in Springfield in recent days. Several thousand people showed up for the events. After the council’s June 2 meeting, Black Lives Matter Springfield shared an open letter to the mayor and police chief about alleged comments made […]

A man with a lengthy criminal record has sued the Village of Riverton and two cops who resigned after video surfaced in February that captured former officer Grant Peterson head-butting a DUI suspect at the police station while former officer Tricia Summerson, who was in the same room, did nothing. Prosecutors in February charged Peterson […]

At least 11 residents of a Sherman nursing home have died after an outbreak of the new coronavirus there infected dozens of residents and staff. On April 28, Sangamon County announced its highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in a day, 41. Two locations in Springfield offer tests at no cost and without a necessary […]