Cover Story
Going Above and Beyond
The people, places and things we relied on to get us through while we stayed home. We’ve all had to adapt to a new way of life, mostly on short notice. Whether it is a business owner trying to figure out how to continue to provide goods and services or a teacher engaging with students…
Fraud, paintings and a Porsche
A former Springfield mortgage broker appears ready to plead guilty to wire fraud in federal court. A grand jury in Springfield indicted Chris Schaller, 46, on six counts of wire fraud last September, but the indictment was kept under seal for months while Schaller and the U.S. attorney’s office attempted to resolve the case, according…
No issues here, village president says
Shortly after quitting the Riverton police department after ignoring abuse by a fellow officer, Tricia Langan was hired as a sergeant in the Jerome police department following a “thorough and routine” review process, village president Michael Lopez said in a prepared statement tonight at a village trustee meeting. Lopez said that Langan, who turned her…
Juneteenth ice cream
Juneteenth celebrates the day when news of emancipation finally reached the last remaining enslaved people in the United States. Two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, to enforce the new statute. Theories abound as to why it took so long for…
MEETING IN THE MIDDLE
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…
FINE TIME
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…
BEHIND ON UTILITY BILLS
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…
Jerome keeps questionable cop
Public officials in Jerome don’t want to talk about the village employing a police officer who quit the Riverton Police Department after a video caught her looking the other way while a fellow officer head-butted a suspect in a drunken driving case inside the police station. Tricia Langan resigned from the Riverton department in February,…
Springfield comes together
To track the success of a Facebook group created to help families in need during the pandemic, its creator suggests you check out the “thank you” section. There you will find an outpouring of gratitude from those who have received an array of items and support. Baby food and formula, cleaning products, furniture and clothing…
When life gives you preserved lemons. . .
When we lived in the old Spaulding Orchard farmhouse, we were running three refrigerators and three freezers, usually all full. My late wife would buy, process and freeze produce by the bushel. She would save and freeze all our chicken carcasses and wingtips until she had accumulated enough to fill a five-gallon stockpot and then…
Last of the live streams
Welcome one and all to mid-June in central Illinois and our take on what’s “Now Playing” in the live music arena. First, let us thank all the folks still on the front line fighting the coronavirus in whatever capacity and extend our heartfelt condolences to those who’ve experienced pain firsthand from disease-related experiences. As much…
Celebrating freedom
Dating back to 1860s, Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas, with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were free. As Texas was the most remote…
Pillsbury redux
Joseph Chernis, Jr. is back. Recently an inmate, Chernis was mastermind of illegal salvage operations at Pillsbury Mill on Springfield’s north end. After hiring a homeless man to collect asbestos with little more than plastic bags and a flimsy mask, Chernis in 2014 ka-boomed the neighborhood with a surprise pull-down of a building that sent…
7500 a Showcase for Gordon-Levitt
I always appreciate when actors get out of their comfort zone, taking on a role unlike any they’ve done before or signing up for a project knowing they’ll have to carry most of the load to make it work. Two of the more impressive examples of the latter we’ve seen in recent years include the…
Editor’s note 6/18/20
Not sure what the scaffolding of the Statehouse statues is really about, but it looks like Abraham Lincoln is in prison. That’s where he was before fully committing to anti-racism and abolition – when he wanted to do the right thing for the wrong reasons, like fighting the war to preserve the union, or solve…
Confessions of a white man
I should start by saying I’m sorry. I’m sorry it took 10 years to wake up. I’m sorry it took 10 years to speak up. I’m sorry I thought this was not “my” fight or “none of my business.” I’m a 48-year-old white man who grew up as a military brat and was lucky to…
word to the wise poem #3
the main thing you learn about reading history is that nobody pays any attention to history 2020 Jacqueline Jackson
Letters to the editor 6/18/20
We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to letters@illinoistimes.com. COUNCIL CRACKS DOWN On behalf of the Springfield Inner City Older Neighborhoods (ICON), I thank the Springfield City Council on their recent ordinance change that levies increasing levels of fines for repeat offenders who fail…
City council considers cop commission
Springfield’s Police Community Review Commission rarely meets, hears few cases and needs an overhaul, critics say. The civilian commission, which is supposed to consider complaints from citizens, last met about a year ago, according to Kelvin Coburn, commission chairman, and has considered two cases in the past four years. The problem, he says, is publicity:…
Awareness through art
Michelle Smith wasn’t reacting to the police killing of George Floyd when she first began a series of drawings titled “Just Let Me Breathe.” But unfortunately, the work is increasingly relevant. And Smith just won a national contest with one of the pieces. “I’m quite a Ralph Lauren fanatic, actually,” said Smith, who noticed the…
