Cover Story
DCFS headed in the WRONG DIRECTION
Building more emergency shelters and funding more foster homes seems on the surface to be a logical way to start improving a troubled child welfare system in Illinois. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) has been beset by images of children sleeping in department offices because they have nowhere else to go,…
Another downtown YMCA possible
YMCA of Springfield members have received emails asking whether they would like to see a second branch open downtown inside the future Springfield-Sangamon County Transportation Center. But the idea, being floated just a little over a year after a new $33 million downtown Y opened at Fourth and Carpenter streets, is preliminary, and there is…
State still seeking answers from Blue Cross
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, which has agreed to pay a $339,000 state fine stemming from the insurer’s almost year-long contract dispute with Springfield Clinic, says the clinic is making unreasonable demands. Blue Cross divisional senior vice president Krishna G. Ramachandran said the for-profit, multi-specialty clinic, in its “first very specific counter-offer,” is…
A reason to smile
Susan Wilham and her husband have had to spend hours on the phone with their insurer, fork out hundreds of dollars for medical services insurance wouldn’t pay and worry whether future oral surgeries for their 16-year-old son will be covered at all. The struggles these Springfield residents have gone through are common for families dealing…
Big plans for the budget
The final fiscal 2023 budget for Springfield city government includes $6 million to purchase seven new fire vehicles and $10 million to build three new fire stations. City Council members passed 16 amendments in February before finalizing the budget for the 2023 fiscal year that began March 1. The result was a net increase of…
third grade memory # 1
ronald grow in my third grade class repeated loudly and jeeringly (I can still hear every syllable) “there’s not any santa claus! it’s just your mother and father!” a desperate yammering crew myself among them appealed to miss hermann I can still see her gazing out the window her faint smile her misty distant eyes…
Blue Cross fined $339,000 by state
Gov. JB Pritzker’s state insurance department has fined the parent company of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois $339,000 for failing to notify the state last year about the removal of Springfield Clinic as an in-network provider. The Illinois Department of Insurance continues to evaluate whether Chicago-based Blue Cross’ downstate preferred-provider network is adequate…
Letters to the editor 3/24/22
We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to editor@illinoistimes.com. —- RACIST TOWN Tracey Meares’ experience is appalling (“The Black valedictorian who never received the title,” March 17). I came from the Chicago area to go to graduate school here and immediately moved to Southern…
Police union prepares to campaign
The Chicago Fraternal Order of Police’s top campaign priority this spring is defeating Sen. Rob Martwick, D-Chicago, in the Democratic primary. The police group is backing Chicago police detective Erin Jones, who not long ago was described as a “loyal member” of the Northwest Side GOP Club. The previous practice in that area of fielding…
Buy now, save later
The problem with inflation is that there is more than enough blame to go around. Some folks will say it’s Joe Biden’s fault, others blame Donald Trump, or Russia, or Congress or the Federal Reserve. Maybe everybody is a little bit right or a little bit wrong. I don’t know. I grew up on a…
Access to Springfield Clinic comes at a cost, but it cannot come at all costs.
The writer is divisional senior vice president, health care delivery, for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. For more than 80 years, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois has worked diligently to ensure that our members have robust access to support their health and wellness. We contract and collaborate with over 100,000 providers…
DCFS director held in contempt for 7th time in 10 weeks
For the seventh time in 10 weeks, a Cook County judge found Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Director Marc Smith in contempt for failing to comply with a court order. DCFS was ordered by a judge in March 2021 to move a 16-year-old boy who has low intellectual functioning and cognitive delays from…
Try a soufflé
Soufflé is one of those miraculous dishes that transforms seemingly humble ingredients into a marvelous main course or decadent dessert. Julia Child writes about them extensively in The Art of French Cooking, with several pages dedicated to detailing every nuance of the process. She wrote that, “Many people consider the dessert soufflé to be the…
On March music
Did I miss something, or did the month of March just fly by in a whirlwind of activity? I suppose the feeling is a combination of the approaching spring season, plus a reaction to the lessening of COVID restrictions and, more importantly, the number of COVID cases falling here in our area and around the…
Illinois women you should know
Women have always played an integral part in the history of Illinois. Well-known women from Illinois’ early years include Jane Addams, Mary Todd Lincoln and Ida B. Wells. Contemporary figures such as Michelle Obama, Tammy Duckworth and Oprah Winfrey easily come to mind when thinking of influential women from Illinois, and there are many more.…
Lost City mildly amusing, Infinite Storm is harrowing, X a bloody throwback
City a mildly amusing romp Chemistry is everything in movies like The Lost City, a sometimes funny, sometimes exciting adventure film starring Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum. The two stars have just enough of a spark between them to make their characters’ coupling seem plausible, while the reversing of the movie couple paradigm – this…
Green to go
Would-be pot growers soon may get a green light thanks to a recent ruling from Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge Gail Noll. At issue was a state Department of Agriculture decision to disqualify 11 growing-license applicants for failure to provide information about law and accounting firms named on applications. Disqualified applicants sued, maintaining that since…
Editors note 3/24/22
Senate Judiciary chair Richard Durbin, D-Springfield, reminded committee members on the second day of hearings on the Supreme Court nominee what the late Muriel Humphrey would tell her husband, the loquacious Vice President Hubert Humphrey: “A speech doesn’t have to be eternal to be immortal.” After all, Abraham Lincoln, R-Springfield, used just two minutes, with…
Match Day for medical students
Match Day is an exciting milestone in the life of a medical student. Fourth-year med students across the country learn at the same time where they will be going for their advanced training. On Monday, March 14, students were informed by email if they were matched for a residency. The following Friday students find out…
Robin Schmidt running for judge
Almost five years after Judge John Schmidt’s unexpected death, his widow, Robin, is seeking her own spot on the Sangamon County bench. She currently serves as a felony prosecutor in the Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s Office and as a trustee of the Springfield Park Board. “These are big shoes to fill with the retirement of…
