Cap City
Posted inOpinion
REMEMBERING
The holiday season holds dark days for those who will be missing a family member for the first time this year. Telling a loved one’s story makes things a little brighter. It is an Illinois Times tradition to use our last edition of the year – Dec. 26 this year – to remember those local […]
Posted inOpinion
WE WIN AGAIN
For the second time, Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge Raylene Grischow has ruled in favor of Illinois Times in our quest to figure out what the heck was going on when Secretary of State Jesse White hired Candace Wanzo, a convicted felon who’d embezzled more than $233,000 from Southern Illinois University before she landed a […]
Posted inOpinion
FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED
We’re a tough sell when it comes to Facebook, which we consider inherently evil, what with privacy violations and Russians and too darn much power in too few hands. But the state and local cops are making an offer that’s tough to refuse. Starting now, Lyft and the state Department of Transportation and police are […]
Posted inOpinion
AND ANOTHER ONE GONE
Kate Schott, State Journal-Register editorial page editor turned interim editor after her predecessor was walked out of the building and a successor had second thoughts about accepting the job, has left the newspaper. Informed sources say she’s gone to work at the University of Illinois Springfield in the campus advancement office, which concerns itself with […]
Posted inOpinion
FOR FREE CONCERTS, VOTE NOW
There’s only a few days left to vote for Springfield to win a grant from the Levitt Foundation for a second summer of free live music. Deadline is Nov. 20 for your keyboard to count toward Downtown Springfield, Inc.’s plan to activate the Y Block with weekly outdoor concerts and a better stage and sound […]
Posted inOpinion
BAM, BAM, BAMBI
Want to reduce crime? Consider extending deer hunting season. That’s an apt takeaway from a paper recently produced by Ball State University economist Paul Niekamp, who found that arrests for violent crime don’t go up and may decrease in some rural areas during firearm deer hunting seasons. On the other hand, firearm violations increase by […]
Posted inOpinion
DRUG TRAFFIC
When the Decatur City Council voted 6-1 in September to disallow sales of recreational marijuana within city limits, it also voted against putting the question to the people in a referendum. But knowing that people denied pot are powerful, Springfield attorney Sam Cahnman volunteered his services to help a group calling itself the Decatur Dispensary […]
Posted inOpinion
NAMING RIGHTS AND WRONGS
Call it the Lord Voldemort rule. Without uttering the name of Adam Lopez, disgraced former school board member, the Springfield school board on Monday approved policy changes to prevent another trainwreck that was the Adam Lopez Country Financial Basketball Tournament. While on the school board, Lopez in 2015 established the tournament at Lanphier High School, […]
Posted inOpinion
GET READY FOR LAYOFFS
As the big day nears for GateHouse Media, parent company of the State Journal-Register, some folks are worried. On Nov. 14, stockholders in Gannett and New Media Investment Group, which runs Gatehouse, will vote on a merger to create the nation’s largest newspaper company. If it goes through, one in six daily newspapers in the […]
Posted inOpinion
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
Following the example of departments elsewhere, the Springfield Police Department has instituted a Safe Passage program wherein folks who’ve fallen prey to drugs or alcohol can get help by showing up at the police station or flagging any cop they see: Please, I need treatment. Gateway Foundation has committed to providing beds. Lt. Brian Oakes […]
Posted inOpinion
MONEY BACK IF NOT DELIGHTED
Before we know it, leaves will turn, it’ll be dark by supper and frost will be on pumpkins, if not inside homes, which are getting tougher to keep warm without taking out second mortgages. City Water, Light and Power wants to help, and so the city’s utility is making an offer no one should be […]
