Democrats say sign theft up
Democrats say Joe Biden-Kamala Harris signs are getting swiped from Springfield yards in large numbers, particularly near Washington Park. Thefts date back a week, Democrats say, with the level of thefts rising last weekend. Doris Turner, chairwoman of the Sangamon County Democratic Party, called the thefts “criminal acts.” “We’re talking about thousands of dollars that…
COPS AND THE CITY COUNCIL
Last spring, Springfield City Council members promised change was a’coming to the police department. A proposal has arrived courtesy of Ward 3 Ald. Doris Turner, whose proposed ordinance released last week says that cops shouldn’t use rubber bullets or tear gas or chokeholds or no-knock warrants unless really needed. Pretty much, that’s what we already…
Child welfare officials cope during pandemic
Child welfare officials in Illinois told a panel of state lawmakers Sept. 14 that the COVID-19 pandemic has hindered but not completely prevented their efforts to monitor children at risk of abuse or neglect. “Without question, the pandemic has been and continues to be extremely challenging for all of us, both personally and professionally,” Marc…
Enos Park TIF renewal in jeopardy
Will a powerful economic development tool be renewed for Springfield’s Enos Park neighborhood, including the new downtown YMCA project? The clock is ticking for the Enos Park Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District, with one deadline already passed and supporters pinning their hopes on a renewal during the Illinois General Assembly’s fall veto session. However, there’s…
Killing fields
As agricultural sagas go, controversy over an herbicide that’s become ubiquitous in farm country would seem to have it all. Millions, if not billions, of dollars are at stake. Without dicamba, an herbicide first sold while the Vietnam War raged, big agriculture says the nation’s farmers would lose an important tool. Environmentalists warn that dicamba…
Getting to know buckwheat
Autumn is upon us. After a somewhat frazzled summer I’ve relished walking out into the deliciously crisp air each morning. My hysterical mess of a garden is often framed by a soft blanket of fog, punctuated with bright pumpkins, shriveled cucumber vines and dried up bean plants. A better gardener would have pulled most of…
Feeling fall music
As we approach our third weekend in September, the weather feels like fall and the music feels like it’s falling into place as well. As all scientific and medical advice advise against gathering inside in close quarters, our usual wind-down of outdoor gigs as the weather cools takes on new meaning in 2020. What’s going…
Unchained
Now if this bunch ever were chained, they’re now most definitely unchained, according to their band name and how they perform at live gigs. Based out of Rochester, music-making mates Ty Ellis (bass), Matthew Runions (percussion), Cooper Marx (guitar), Logan McKneelen (guitar), David Allen (vocals) and Lucas McCafferty (vocals) play, according to their website info,…
Liturgical Arts Festival of Springfield Mini-Festival 2020
The Springfield Art Association hosts a juried exhibition of liturgical and sacred art as part of the biennial, interfaith Liturgical Arts Festival. The exhibition offers education, inspiration and appreciation of the many forms of spiritual expression. With entrants from all over the nation, this juried exhibit includes ceramics, fiber, glass, jewelry, metal, mixed media, painting,…
Ketchup time
Mason City has a new police chief. Anthony McClure, hired during a special city council meeting held Aug. 31, once worked for Illinois State Police as a master sergeant. His state career ended in 2015, when the Illinois State Police Merit Review Board terminated him, finding that he was untrustworthy and unfit to be a…
Shopping at Sally’s
It was with great sadness that I read the article about the closing of the Salvation Army thrift store and rehabilitation center at 11th and Jefferson. I don’t live in Springfield any more. I haven’t lived there since I was four years old. I grew up and went to college in Champaign-Urbana. After graduating from…
Editor’s note 9/17/20
Racism seems intractable but it’s not. The Illinois Legislative Black Caucus is leading the fight against systemic racism by organizing an agenda of systemic reforms. Criminal justice, education, economic opportunity and health care are all getting a close look during legislative hearings. Overly harsh sentencing laws were the subject this week, with experts showing it…
Anger over dispensary scoring
There’s been much gnashing of teeth since the state announced that just 21 social equity applicants had qualified for regional lotteries that will award 75 cannabis dispensary store licenses. The 21 winning entities submitted well over 300 applications for those 75 licenses, which has forced a tie-breaking round. In total, 937 entities submitted 4,518 dispensary…
games poem #4
ever play mumblety-peg? me neither boys played it at my grade school with jack knives us girls peeped through the bushes from the girls’ side (no we didn’t mix, yes it was a public school) well you hammer a peg in the ground then go through a series of moves the knife having to land…
Letters to the editor 9/17/20
We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to letters@illinoistimes.com. —- HONOR PEOPLE OF COLOR I am in favor of renaming Douglas Park as Douglass Park to honor Frederick Douglass, whose courageous voice helped to enlighten so many white people in the 19th century and…
How best to help the homeless?
“Those are conversations and plans that should’ve been underway long before now,” said Ward 3 Ald. Doris Turner at a recent Springfield City Council meeting, referring to the lack of a plan for housing the homeless as seasonal cold draws near. Springing up in late July, an encampment for about 50 homeless people known as…
THEN AGAIN…
The Springfield City Council on Tuesday approved $3.15 million in public financing to create 41 apartments in the beleaguered Booth-Ferguson buildings in downtown. In late August, the council voted 8-2 to table the tax increment financing plan, citing worries that Rick Lawrence, the former developer who owes $1.2 million in benefits for workers who’ve done…
