Cover Story
Doing more for the homeless
There it stood, a three-foot-tall Christmas tree marking the entrance to a litter-strewn encampment in a wooded area near a railroad line on Springfield’s north side. The tree was decorated with about a dozen ornaments, with a dirty pink jacket serving as a skirt. A few steps down a hill from the tree was a…
CWLP asking for significant water rate increases
City Water, Light & Power officials say water rate increases of 32% this year and 32% in 2025 are needed for state-required replacements of lead lines and to reduce the frequency of water main breaks, dredge Lake Springfield and improve the water division’s finances. CWLP Chief Utility Engineer Doug Brown said the need for the…
McCann trial postponed until Feb. 12
The scheduled Feb. 5 start of former Conservative Party gubernatorial candidate Sam McCann’s trial was delayed until Feb. 12 after the judge presiding in the alleged illegal campaign fund spending case learned McCann was hospitalized in St. Louis. McCann, a Macoupin County resident charged in a federal grand jury indictment three years ago, told U.S.…
Explore opportunities for your future
Ever catch yourself wondering what the future holds for yourself or a loved one? Imagining the future can be a powerful drive for change. This kind of visualization can help us be positive, enhance a sense of purpose and begin to set goals. When it comes to turning these thoughts into reality, sometimes the hardest…
Will a moderate position on abortion work for the GOP?
Republican Dennis Reboletti is trying something different in a state legislative race: Stake out a moderate position on abortion in a party which completely rejects that stance and in a race against a solidly pro-choice Democrat. Reboletti, the Addison Township Supervisor, has no GOP primary opposition, so he’s essentially free to be the first Republican…
One of Illinois’ best governors
Over the last century, Illinois has produced a few politicians of national prominence, usually for the wrong reasons. The one who achieved the most respect was Adlai Stevenson, a former governor who was the Democratic nominee for president in both 1952 and 1956. Stevenson, who was sworn into office as governor 75 years ago, on…
Polenta, the humble dish
Polenta, a type of cornmeal porridge or mush, is a humble peasant dish from northern Italy that predates the Roman Empire. Before Christopher Columbus introduced corn from the Americas to Europe, polenta was made from ground barley, fava beans, spelt, rye or buckwheat. Modern-day polenta is typically made from medium to coarsely ground yellow flint…
Merry February music
Whew, we just made it through January’s subzero temps, rain, ice, fog and plain old gloominess. As we kick off February on a Thursday, I couldn’t help but notice that the shortest of our months definitely packs a long list of holidays to celebrate. There’s Groundhogs Day, Abe’s birthday, Fat Tuesday, Valentine’s Day, Presidents Day…
New one-act play looks at poet Walt Whitman, Civil War
A new one-act play focuses on one of America’s greatest poets – Walt Whitman – in the days after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. ALPLM actor Zaxxson Nation wrote the play and stars as Whitman (1819-1892) when Whitman was volunteering as a nurse for wounded Union soldiers in Washington, D.C. Besides tending the soldiers’ wounds,…
American Fiction a timely, vital film; Underdoggs fails to score
Fiction drives vital point home with humor Smart, pointed and funny, Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction is surely the timeliest and perhaps the most vital film currently in theaters. An adaptation of the novel Erasure by Percival Everett, the movie puts racism and the “Woke Movement” in the crosshairs, providing a fresh perspective on the former…
Editors note 2/1/24
Thank you to history columnist Tom Emery for reminding readers (p. 10) that this is the 75th anniversary of Adlai Stevenson II becoming governor of Illinois. Less than four years later, Gov. Stevenson would become our state’s gift to the nation, famously beginning his first presidential campaign with, “Let’s talk sense to the American people.”…
Credit card company monopolies impact small businesses
Strings are often attached in Mark Yeates’ business transactions. The owner of Dick’s Shoe Repair, 314 W. Laurel St., enjoys putting new shoestrings on pairs of Oxfords or stitching new soles onto wingtips. But one string he doesn’t like is the one credit card companies attach to every charge-card transaction that happens in his shop.…
DSI gets new director
Carlos Ortega, a man with a passion for promoting economic development, has set his sights on improving his hometown’s central business district. The Springfield native is Downtown Springfield Incorporated’s new executive director. He began the job Feb. 1. “He brings with him extensive nonprofit and business knowledge that we feel is going to translate very…
Budzinski, the bipartisan Democrat
The most surprising thing 13th District Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski found during her first year in office is that there are many more people like her in Washington, D.C. “There are a lot of us who want to get things done and we work together to accomplish that,” said Budzinski, a Democrat from Springfield. “We see…
Influx of migrants to Illinois creates tensions
Tensions rose again this week between Gov. JB Pritzker’s office and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson over how to handle the tens of thousands of people who have arrived in the state since August 2022 via buses or planes sent from Texas. The most recent back-and-forth between the two came in response to the city’s recent…
Pecuniary Differential
Grampa paid us kids a nickel for dropping paper collars onto milk bottles after they came through the bottler: these collars were intermittent advertising to customers, something like a special on cottage cheese. My sister Patsy was indignant for putting in a morning’s work for only 5 cents She stormed over to the office where…
Letters to the editor 2/1/24
We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to editor@illinoistimes.com. —- DON’T FUND PRIVATE BUSINESS I can support tax money for infrastructure needs but draw the line at flat-out buying things for a commercial enterprise like a sports franchise. Chicago faces the same thing with…
