Cover Story
Bringing health care to community gardens
When Kaye Barnes and her coworkers in purple T-shirts hand out free produce as they walk around a neighborhood on Springfield’s east side, residents are thankful but also taken aback that these strangers care about them. “They are sort of stunned, shocked and literally surprised,” said Barnes, a community health worker in the Access to…
Governor tries to cap health care costs for immigrants
Back in May, Gov. JB Pritzker told reporters that his administration had given lawmakers seven options to rein in costs of a health care program for undocumented immigrants which was growing well beyond affordability. Pritzker told reporters at a more recent event that he had originally budgeted the program for a $220 million increase, but…
Jim Leach leaving WMAY
Jim Leach is leaving his longtime role at WMAY to take a position as public information officer with the Illinois Department of Public Health. His last day at WMAY is June 28 and he starts at IDPH on July 5. Leach started at WMAY as a part-time disc jockey in 1983, while he was in…
Council ignores blight report
The Springfield City Council continues to discuss the problem of distressed properties in Springfield without making any concrete proposals, in spite of the fact that the city commissioned a study two years ago to explore ways the system could be improved. The report contained 12 recommendations directed to Public Works, Code Enforcement, and the Office…
Food preservation in the 1850s
Imagine what life was like around here in the 50s. I’m not talking about the 1950s when I was born. I’m talking about a hundred years before that, in the 1850s. Back then, all of Springfield’s public water came from a single pump on the southwest corner of the town square. That’s where you got…
More music in June
We could say there’s much, much more music in June and be just fine with that. I’m not kidding folks, the scene is overflowing with all kinds of music in all kinds of places everywhere you look. So let’s go take a look at this wealth of entertainment that sits before us. Instead of going…
Popular street art event returns to downtown
Artists young and old will take over part of Washington Street on Saturday with paint buckets and brushes in hand for this popular, colorful event. Participants paint 6-by-6 squares of pavement with the topics of their choice using water-soluble paint provided by the Springfield Art Association. Up to six artists can paint a square. Artists…
The Flash has action and heart, The Blackening is smart and funny
The Flash delivers action and heart Though at times it may seem like an inventory of the studios’ properties, at its core The Flash is a belated origin story as the circumstances revolving around how Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) became the Flash is finally told on screen. However, this comes after the first act is…
When history needs a rewrite
When I was in high school, my Grandma Wanda fought a battle with the American Legion to have a veteran’s marker placed on the grave of her husband’s grandfather. Eventually, the Legion post relented and put a veteran’s stone over John Beckerdite’s earthly remains. What gave the veteran’s organization pause is that John hadn’t served…
Editors note 6/22/23
Springfield came together for a happy, safe and successful Juneteenth 2023, with many events spread over six days. The big solidarity march made its way Saturday morning to Comer Cox Park, where platform speakers announced and applauded each community group as it arrived. They also recognized those who had kept this event alive in Springfield…
Civil disagreement
When does good, honest debate end and incivility begin? That’s a question members of the Springfield City Council are asking themselves in the wake of being asked to sign a civility pledge. Mayor Misty Buscher and eight members of the City Council signed the pledge. But council members Ward 3 Ald. Roy Williams Jr. and…
Bishop Paprocki defends Ugandan government
A newspaper column written by Catholic Bishop Thomas Paprocki condemning Pride Month and praising a Ugandan law criminalizing homosexual acts has raised the ire of progressive Christians in Springfield. At issue is a June 8 piece in the Catholic Times in which the bishop wrote, “The Catholic Church teaches that pride is the deadliest of…
City council grapples with blighted city-owned property
At the June 13 Springfield City Council meeting Ward 3 Ald. Roy Williams Jr. said he and Ward 4 Ald. Larry Rockford had received complaints about dumping of large items on city property on North Grand Avenue near the railroad corridor improvement project. The aldermen did not discuss the impact on the people put out…
Kitchen poem #1
I notice I’m having an orange breakfast orange orange orange chunk of butternut squash orange egg yes orange because it’s from a cage-free drug-free antibiotics-free organically-nourished yard hen named heather fedbetter lives in wisconsin and bids me have an eggsellent day thank you heather and the same to you 2023 Jacqueline Jackson
Letters to the editor 6/22/23
We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to editor@illinoistimes.com. —- PAY-TO-PLAY PERSISTS After reading the article “Capital Area Realtors opposes registration for Landlords” (June 15), I came away frustrated, disgusted, disappointed and not at all surprised. It was a smoke-and-mirrors act for the Capital…
Paramedic charged in Earl Moore Jr. death makes bail
A Sangamon County judge’s previous rulings denying requests to reduce bail for a paramedic charged with first-degree murder in the suffocation death of Earl Moore Jr. were overturned June 16 by an Illinois Appellate Court panel. The $1 million bond previously set for Peggy Finley of Springfield and upheld by Circuit Judge Robin Schmidt was reduced…
