House Speaker Chris Welch promised the Chicago Teachers Union last week that he will “lead” the effort to send more state money to Chicago Public Schools during the upcoming fall veto session. Welch made his pledge in a CTU-posted video yesterday while holding a union poster blasting proposed CPS layoffs and budget cuts. “The state […]
Opinion
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Letters to the editor
DON’T SETTLE I hope the state and the city do not sell the Springfield taxpayers and the public short with their plan to turn over ownership of “the most developable block” in downtown Springfield (see “Mayor, state detail Y Block plans,” July 8). According to the article the city would hand ownership over to the […]
Posted inRich Miller
The House and harassment complaints
By now you’ve probably read at least something about the scandals surrounding former state Rep. Harry Benton (D-Plainfield). In a nutshell, a young female district office staffer alleged Benton sexually harassed her in 2023. Two of House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch’s top staffers asked her to file a complaint with the legislative inspector general, but […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Letters to the editor 7/23/26
JUST SAY NO Sounds to me like most residents don’t want it (“Crowd reacts to Christian County data center plan,” June 25). Christian County Board, there’s your sign. Vote no on the damn thing and move on with other business. That’s the way it works. Eric PopeVia Facebook.com/illinoistimes HYPOCRISY Corporations have a right to conduct […]
Posted inJames Krohe Jr.
Natural play space
Its downtown might lack a public but Springfield has built lots of public spaces, just in case. Even though few of these spaces are much used, the city looks set to get another one. The state’s Department of Natural Resources is in talks with the city of Springfield to convert the city’s long-vacant Y block […]
Posted inRich Miller
GOP trails Dems in campaign cash
The Illinois Republican Party filed its quarterly campaign finance report on the July 15 deadline. The party reported having just $223,000 in the bank. The next day, the party sent a letter to the Illinois State Board of Elections saying they were “reconciling” their records after a leadership change, and then noted that their actual […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Letters to the Editor
HE’S TRYING Someone trying their best to take care of themselves should be allowed by law (“Man fights city hall,” June 25). He owns the lot and obviously knows what he’s doing. If this isn’t OK with zoning, we need to change the zoning laws. The numbers of unhoused people continue to increase, and we […]
Posted inRich Miller
Politicians and due process
Rep. Luis Arroyo (D-Chicago) was arrested by the FBI on Oct. 28, 2019, for attempting to bribe a state senator. House Speaker Michael Madigan, who was under investigation himself, called on Arroyo to resign that same day. The next day, Rep. Chris Welch (D-Hillside) was one of three House Democrats who signed a petition to […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Letters to the editor 7/9/26
We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to editor@illinoistimes.com. THANKS FOR PUBLICIZING Thank you to Dilpreet Raju for his recent cover story on data centers and for his other reporting on this issue (“Divided over data centers,” June 25). I attended the April 7 […]
Posted inJames Krohe Jr.
As good as not there
The country roads around Springfield are lined with solar energy collectors in the form of cornfields. Here and there are newer and more efficient solar collectors in the form of photovoltaic panels being built alongside of them as rural Illinois transitions from a food-based economy to an energy-based economy. And here and there folks are […]
Posted inRich Miller
More budget fallout
About a week after the state budget passed both chambers in the dark of night, Attorney General Kwame Raoul spoke to the City Club of Chicago to complain that his budget was cut by $10 million. “For every dollar of General Revenue Fund spending on the attorney general’s office, we return $21. Anybody who has […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Letters to the editor
THANKS FOR SAVING IT Ken Page and the Prince Hall Masons Lodge are to be commended for saving the former Black Firehouse (“Battling the fires of racism,” June 11). Our elected officials obtaining grants for preservation efforts through the years also play an important role. The 1908 Race Riot Monument and Cultural Area Designation will […]
