Opinion

Imagine cable television channels keeping you aware of all the local activities, events, policies and important decisions that affect your quality of life. Springfield offers that service, sort of. But how much longer the opportunity will exist is questionable. The Dec. 11 Illinois Times feature, “Fringe Voices – the fading promise of public access TV” […]

Tough times call for tough decisions. That axiom has never been truer than it is now for the Springfield City Council as it deliberates approval of a new city budget. As chair of Mayor Tim Davlin’s blue ribbon commission on city finances, I would like to urge the council to consider the recommendations that our […]

Alderman Debbie Cimarossa, working in conjunction with the MacArthur Boulevard Business Association (MBBA), last fall introduced an ordinance to the city council that would have required payday lenders to be located at least 1,500 feet (approximately three blocks) apart. It grandfathered existing businesses, but the MBBA felt that the ordinance would have been one means […]

In the late 1800s it was known as the “Jewel of Springfield”! A hundred years later in 1997 it was officially classified as a “blighted community” qualified to establish its own TIF district. In 2003 it became the geographical “heart” of the Mid-Illinois Medical District. Today it’s a neighborhood struggling to regain the image of […]

There are at least two sides to every story. The Hunter Lake story has been going on for over 40 years and the following is another side of it [See “Say no to Hunter Lake,” by Fletcher Farrar, IT, Dec. 11]. Hunter Lake is, and always has been, the preferred alternative for a permanent secondary […]

Suppose you’re feeling patriotic. Maybe you’d like to finally do something to help America reduce its addiction to foreign oil. Perhaps you’ve thought about buying an extremely fuel efficient or electric vehicle as your second or even third transportation choice, just to run all of those endless daily errands around town. Wouldn’t it be nice […]

Today we hear that 1.55 million jobs in the U.S. were lost during the last six months, and 3,000 jobs were lost within Sangamon County during the last five years. People have been hit hard and income is shrinking or gone. We need a haven that provides us with support — for entertainment, research, job […]

Faith Sanderson at the Regional Office of Education works with many families in school districts throughout Sangamon County who are in crisis. We should listen to Faith because she has many years of experience in this role. She expressed to me something that I agree very strongly with — education is the key to breaking […]

Reeling from the terrible shock of the attacks on India’s commercial capital last week, the authorities of the world’s largest democracy may find it logical to follow in the footsteps of a certain world-leading country that considers itself to be spearheading democracy around the world. But the United States has both domestically and in foreign […]

Senator Barack Obama ran a successful campaign about change, and in many ways his election to the presidency marks a revolution in American politics — but it also marks a return. The Founding Fathers believed in people’s power to transform the world — and themselves — through the shared application of reason. Obama embodies this […]