Cover Story
Fifty years of Doc Helm’s photos
Doc Helm was a legendary Springfield photographer, known as “One Shot Doc” due to his astute ability to compose a shot in his mind and capture it with just one exposure. Nevertheless, he took thousands of images over his 50-plus years behind a camera. More than 21,000 photographs taken during his long career as Illinois’…
Negotiations progress on nursing home funding
Nursing staffing shortages have plagued nursing homes for years and only worsened during the pandemic. The JB Pritzker administration and an influential lobbying group representing for-profit nursing homes have been in negotiations for more than two years over Medicaid rate reform aimed at incentivizing nursing home operators to hire more nursing staff. State Sen. Ann…
Leading a privileged life
A few months ago, I was pulled over by a Springfield-area police officer for a minor traffic violation. He shined a flashlight in my car and said, “Mr. Reeder, are you carrying?” I replied that no, my firearm was home locked up in a safe. He replied, “You should always carry. It doesn’t do you…
A huge collection, now digitized and accessible online
Thousands of Doc Helm’s photographic negatives from his long career as state photographer are housed at the Illinois State Archives’ Margaret Cross Norton Building in Springfield. To make these remarkable images spanning half a century more accessible to the public, the Illinois State Archives applied for and received a $60,178 “Access to Historical Records: Archival…
The art of stir-frying
I’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of this cookbook like a grandparent anticipating the arrival of a grandchild. Two years ago we loaded up our belongings into our bus and headed out of Oklahoma City. We were supposed to be relocating to Michigan to start new jobs at Milkweed Inn, but the pandemic had shut…
Into April music
We can now give our regards to mean old March and those finicky weather days, as we give a rowdy, howdy hey to an aspiring April 2022 and the soon-to-be regularly warmer times ahead. Blessed as our scene is with an abundance of outdoor-ish music venues at several local bars, look for the heated spaces…
What’s new at the zoo in 2022?
Planning on venturing outdoors this weekend? The zoo is a great destination for some early spring adventures. Henson Robinson Zoo began as a dream of a prominent Springfield citizen, Henson C. Robinson. In 1967, the city of Springfield donated a tract of land to the Springfield Park District and construction of the zoo began the…
The Contractor is deep, The Bubble is embarrassing, Alone a worthy horror story
Contractor unexpectedly deep Familiar but well done, Tarik Saleh’s The Contractor is a serviceable actioner that elevates itself above other genre entries with its insightful look at the plight of displaced soldiers. A solid Chris Pine is James Harper, a former special forces officer who’s drummed out of the service for failing a drug test.…
Editor’s Note 3/31/22
Eleven years ago this month Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation that made Illinois the 16th state to abolish the death penalty. Now more than half the states have either abolished capital punishment or have enacted a formal moratorium. This, along with opinion polls, the number of executions and new death sentences, shows continued erosion of…
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…
Springfield-Ukraine connections run deep
Delegations of Ukrainians have visited Springfield over many years through a collaboration between the Springfield Commission on International Visitors and the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation. Typically, five to six delegates and a translator visit for seven days, staying with host families. In 2018 Barb and Lee Malany hosted Ivan Fedorov, who was a member of the Melitopol…
Southeast High gives teen court a try
Springfield’s Southeast High School is experimenting with a program designed to divert students who misbehave away from the criminal justice system. For example, if a student is caught stealing, the current approach is to have the police officer who is assigned to the school write a citation and the matter is referred to the Sangamon…
STEM UP brings STEM careers to young adults
State senator Doris Turner, D-Springfield, and Gina Lathan, president of the Route History museum and souvenir shop, 737 Cook St., have a keen interest in helping young people of color learn about the history of Springfield, as well as explore possible careers. Their interests have led to a new program administered through the Route History…
Closing the digital divide
A Springfield steering committee planning for the city’s expansion of affordable broadband internet services, especially for residents of the city’s north and east sides, is receiving technical assistance from a new state program. Springfield is one of six communities selected by the administration of Gov. JB Pritzker to be in the first group served by…
3rd grade memory #2
third grade was WONDERFUL! we studied indians our small texts well written beautifully illustrated a totally different culture new words papooses on boards tepee travois buffalo no mention of horses pilgrims thanksgiving I was fascinated absorbed modeled a seal from clay spent the next summer wearing a feathered headband you can see it in photos…
Letters to the editor 3/31/22
We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to editor@illinoistimes.com. —- CORPORATE GREED Price gouging for profit is a fundamental underlying cause of the growing consumer price inflation we are experiencing today (“Buy now, save later,” March 24). Many of the markets in our economy,…
Debate over paying down debt
After the Illinois House and Senate voted to pass legislation to partially pay down the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund debt, top Democratic leaders gathered for a Statehouse press conference to boast about their accomplishment. Yes, they admitted, it was only a partial pay-down. The debt is $4.5 billion, and they patched it with $2.7…
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…
