Cover Story
Historic properties for sale
Historic buildings in downtown Springfield have been put on the market. Several properties along South Second, as well as on Capitol Avenue and Seventh Street, are ready for new owners, while two others have recently changed hands. Court and Karen Conn of Conn’s Hospitality Group are known for their outstanding historic preservation work, owning many…
Super Mario Galaxy Movie disappoints, Fantasy Life is aimless and predictable
Galaxy simply goes through the motions I have yet to be blessed with grandchildren. Still, that doesn’t prevent me from casting my thoughts toward future events I hope to share with them. I look forward to birthday parties in which my wife and I will spend far too much money celebrating their arrival; I see…
Sangamon County Board still considering data center proposal
One day after the Sangamon County Board voted March 23 to table a data center proposal, the city of Aurora, about 175 miles northeast of Springfield, enacted some of the nation’s tightest restrictions on future data center developments after years of citizen complaints. The next Sangamon County Board meeting will be held at 6 p.m.…
Gone but not Forgotten
I am alas, losing some memory, agingcan cause this sometimes! I am nowtrying to remember the people I can’t remember.Hmm…..who did you say you were again? 2026 Jacqueline Jackson
Letters to the editor 4/2/26
We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to editor@illinoistimes.com. SLOW DOWN The coverage of the March 23 Sangamon County Board meeting by Dilpreet Raju was thorough and thoughtful (“County Board votes to table data center proposal,” March 26). Given how complex and extensive this issue…
Don’t let perception become the narrative
The My Heart’s Downtown campaign has been in the news recently, and while I am grateful to see attention focused on our city center, I want to clarify how this effort began. It was not created by a single organization or person. It came from a small group of individuals who care deeply about downtown…
Armory 2.0
How nice to see construction cranes instead of wrecking balls around the Illinois State Armory. Having kvetched for years about its neglect by the owners, I feel obligated to say a few words in praise of the project that is restoring it to health. As alert citizens know from these pages, the Armory, now in…
“The finest thing ever done in Springfield”
The news last month about the sale of BUNN brings to mind stories about the Bunn family’s influence on Springfield’s development, dating back to since Abraham Lincoln lived here. It is only coincidental that 100 years ago, in 1926, four children of Jacob Bunn Sr. followed what he believed to be a moral obligation to…
The French Connection
One of the most rewarding aspects of travel is discovering local culinary traditions – those storied techniques and heritage dishes that I would love to weave into my own kitchen repertoire. Every trip is a research and development project. This past autumn, a winning bid at a school fundraiser bought us a week in a…
Midweek music muster
Hello everyone to the month of April and all the music therein. We missed making an April Fool’s Day issue by one day, so no fooling, we’re going to stick to the truth as we see it and report on the happenings going on this Easter weekend and beyond. Oh boy, do I remember a…
Illinois Times partners with podcast
Karen Conn was recently interviewed on Tony Stang’s podcast, The Mosiac Project. Stang is the pastor of Central Baptist Church, located at 501 S. Fourth St. in downtown Springfield, and created the podcast as a means of “archiving moments of humanity.” The conversation with Conn reflects the wider vision of The Mosaic Project, which seeks…
