Health care advocates in Springfield are working to pass legislation to secure low-income Illinoisans access to medications through a federal drug discount program. The aim is to protect against growing restrictions placed by drug companies. Cyrus Winnett, chief public affairs officer for the Illinois Primary Healthcare Association, a trade association representing the state’s community health […]
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After public pressure, state commits $8M to restoring New Salem
Nearly a century after the Civil Conservation Corps reconstructed the once-thriving village of New Salem where Abraham Lincoln spent his 20s working odd jobs, studying law and winning his first election, the historic site just northwest of Springfield has fallen into disrepair. Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site is a replica of the hamlet where […]
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Lincoln Presidential Foundation to auction some of its Lincoln artifacts
The Lincoln Presidential Foundation plans to auction a portion of the Taper Collection – including manuscripts, photographs, books, personal effects and sculptural items connected to Abraham Lincoln and Mary Lincoln – to retire the outstanding loan balance from the Foundation’s purchase of the collection. The Foundation’s board of directors has authorized selling 144 items from […]
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Parents, teachers protest proposed cuts to District 186 SCOPE program
Some Springfield School District 186 parents and teachers are in an uproar over the school board’s now-tabled proposal to cut the long-standing Project SCOPE program that provides before and after-school care, potentially affecting over 850 students across the district. On Friday, March 21, the District 186 school board added an item to the March 24 […]
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Sunshine
Last summer, a group of people attempted to disrupt a popular Levitt AMP concert on the Y Block in downtown Springfield. They were angry about the recent murder of Sonya Massey, and the scene grew tense, with Springfield police moving in. Someone called Sunshine Clemons, co-president of Black Lives Matter SPI, who was leaving a […]
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A bridge builder and waymaker
This is the citation for the Dr. Kenniebrew Award, presented to Sunshine Clemons Feb. 13 at the annual Dr. Alonzo Kenniebrew Lecture, sponsored by HSHS St. John’s Hospital, Memorial Health System and the SIU Foundation. Dr. Kenniebrew was the first African American physician in the United States to build and operate a surgical hospital, the […]
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Illinois joins motion to block dismantling of U.S. Education Department
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and 20 other state attorneys general are asking a federal judge to immediately halt President Donald Trump’s efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education. In a motion filed March 24 in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, the coalition of Democratic attorneys general are seeking a preliminary injunction to block […]
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Former music and theater director sentenced in child porn case
Adam Power avoided criminal charges for five years after Springfield police investigated him for alleged inappropriate online comments and text messages with minors he met in Springfield Theatre Centre programs and productions. But since 2018, Power, a Petersburg resident and former Springfield-area substitute teacher, choir director and community theater director, used lies and more than […]
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Four police officers disciplined following crash involving former sergeant
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with comments from the March 18 meeting of the Springfield City Council. Four Springfield police officers were disciplined – and one of them will serve a six-day unpaid suspension – in connection with their work at the site of a Sept. 5 car-motorcycle collision in which a recently […]
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Charges increased for teen driver who hit woman and dog
Lilly was a bright-eyed Labrador retriever who brought joy to her family and smiles to her neighbors. On a sunny afternoon Feb. 27, her owner, Kimberly Sharpe, took her for a walk from which she never returned. While in a crosswalk, a car grazed Sharpe and ran over Lilly. In the weeks that followed, tears […]
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A quiet, but important, election day
Sangamon County voters are heading to the polls April 1 to decide on a range of local issues, including school board races, township government positions and a referendum on consolidating the county recorder’s office and clerk’s office. While not every municipal position is contested, some, like the races for the school board, offer voters the […]
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Inside the harrowing 100-mile police chase in Sangamon County
When Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Jonathan Pearce saw a white pickup spotted outside a motorcycle shop that had been burglarized earlier that night, he punched the gas and chased the fleeing truck, reaching race car speeds and screeching his tires through hairpin turns. Sgt. James Hayes, his supervisor, asked whether he had enough gas. “I […]
