Cover Story
Economic gaps persist for Blacks
When Astria Campbell works as a substitute teacher at inner-city schools in District 186, she often asks her middle and high school students what they want to be when they grow up. The most common answer is to work in the same low-wage jobs as their parents. Campbell, 42, who grew up in a working-class…
Lake Springfield zoning dispute and Animal Control debate
A heated debate over a zoning variance on Lake Springfield set the tone at this week’s council meeting. Arguments flew about fairness, process, and whether the city is setting a precedent for future lakefront properties. Council members called for a long-overdue update to the land use plan, and some shared what they learned from meeting…
Ageism: The last acceptable prejudice?
Quick! Finish this sentence with the first words that come to you: Elderly people _______________________. Did you make a positive statement? Then good for you; you haven’t bought into the stereotypes of this youth-obsessed society! Or perhaps it’s just that you’re a “senior citizen” like me who chafes at the persistently negative images of older…
Lawmakers seek to reverse Illinois law penalizing companies that boycott Israel
A growing number of state lawmakers are moving to repeal a 2015 Illinois law penalizing companies that boycott Israel to protest its policies toward Palestinians. Amid concerns about Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, lawmakers in Springfield supporting human rights for Palestinians have increasingly signed on to legislation opposing the decade-old anti-boycott law. But so far,…
SHS basketball coach termination and new SCOPE fees
The board voted to terminate the Springfield High basketball coach after a public appeal and discussion, welcomed a new student board member, celebrated student achievements, approved a SCOPE fee increase, and discussed a possible new junior high wrestling program. Watch full meeting on YouTube.
UIS commencement is an exciting time for graduates and their families
Earlier this month, I stood on the stage at Sangamon Auditorium and shook more than a 1,000 hands as we honored the University of Illinois Springfield Class of 2025. It was a weekend full of pride and reflection. Commencement is one of the most meaningful times of the year for me, and this year was…
Rep. Fred Crespo kicked out of caucus
House Speaker Chris Welch took the extraordinary actions last week of permanently kicking Rep. Fred Crespo, D- Hoffman Estates out of the House Democratic caucus, stripping him of his legislative staff, removing him from his appropriations committee chair’s position and booting him from the bicameral Legislative Audit Commission. Speaker Welch also suspended a Democratic staffer…
Governor’s office cuts revenue projection by $500M in latest downward estimate
Gov. JB Pritzker’s office is now projecting state revenues to come in about a half-billion dollars below the baseline projections assumed during his February budget address. The latest downward revision comes as lawmakers are entering the final two-week stretch to approve a budget before their May 31 deadline amid increasing economic uncertainty. While Pritzker’s office…
Does protesting really work?
As an organizer for the 50501 movement, organizing protests to protect the Constitution and our democracy, I sometimes hear nonparticipants question whether protesting really makes any difference. Some people claim that it is merely symbolic or that it only makes the protesters feel better by allowing them to publicly vent their frustrations. The study of…
Field of dreams
Things are progressing quite nicely with Scheels Sports Park at Legacy Pointe, according to all the principals involved. After years of uncertainty over its viability, a 180,000-square-foot dome is slated to be inflated in the latter part of June, with sports activities expected to start in October. The grand opening of the park’s primary money-making…
Exploiting Emma Shafer’s memory
In the wake of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s visit to Springfield, there are recriminations and explanations. On May 7, Noem visited Springfield and held a news conference near the home where community activist Emma Shafer was slain in July 2023. Police believe her former boyfriend, Gabriel Calixto-Pichardo, whose mother brought him to the U.S.…
Towns depend on immigrant labor
Rural Illinois communities like Beardstown in Cass County and nearby Rushville in Schuyler County, which rely on immigrant labor to keep local economies afloat, risk depression or even collapse under President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration policy, according to immigration advocacy representatives. Formerly known as the Oscar Meyer meatpacking plant, and eventually changing ownership to JBS…
State to end health coverage program for immigrant adults
State officials are on track to shut down a program at the end of June that provides publicly funded health care coverage to more than 30,000 non-U.S. citizens in Illinois, including many who are in the country without legal authorization. A legislative oversight committee took no action May 13 on a set of administrative rules…
A history steeped in faith and advocacy
A historic 1840 bell will peal forth loudly from the tower of Westminster Presbyterian Church on May 18, calling parishioners to gather in celebration of the church’s 190th anniversary. Inside, starting at 10 a.m., a festive service will include trumpets, three special anthems – including one from 1835 (under the direction of Dale Rogers) and…
Letters to the editor 05-15-25
HAVE EMPATHY Thank you to Illinois Times for reporting on the 50501 protests (“Protests continue in Springfield,” May 8). Reading the online comments was appalling – so much hate and vitriol right here in Mr. Lincoln’s hometown. Trump’s efforts to turn us against each other are clearly working. Those of us that support due process…
Barn Cats
Dear Sibs, I expect reimbursement by Dad for most things, but here’s one bill he shouldn’t see. The barn cats wane and wax, depending on the number of kittens. We got rid of some by taking them to a nearby farm. The mother cat, preferring the pickings here, came home over the field. They…
Torah provides a framework for freedom
Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, which falls this year on Monday, June 2, originated in biblical times as an agricultural festival, the culmination of the spring grain harvest, which began around the time of Passover with the reaping of barley and concluded with the gathering of wheat. It was also the commencement of the season…
Crabcakes that actually taste like crab
On the reality TV show Kitchen Nightmares, renowned British chef Gordon Ramsay visited struggling restaurants as a troubleshooter and tried to turn them around. Ramsay would often order crabcakes because they are a simple dish that could be a reliable indicator of a restaurant’s food quality and cooking standards. He could tell if the restaurant…
Music in mid-May
Somehow, someway we’ve already reached the middle of May for 2025 with a jam-packed schedule of live music coming your way. Fairs and fests, plus fun in the sun give us a weekend of entertainment enjoyment waiting for you to just show up. Let’s take a look-see. You know we’re going to start with Thursdays…
STC’s Sound of Music climbs every mountain
“What’s going to happen is going to happen. Just make sure it doesn’t happen to you.” – Max Detweiler in The Sound of Music. Two characters in The Sound of Music, Max and Elsa, choose to remain neutral for the sake of comfort and safety during the rise of Nazi Germany in 1938. Their attitudes…
Presentation to explore how nature influenced architect
Renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright once wrote, “I go to nature every day for inspiration in the day’s work.” It surely did influence his designs and motifs. Take, as one example, the sumac in the art glass windows at the Dana-Thomas House in Springfield. In this event, Dr. Rodney B. Dieser, a professor at University…
Editor’s Note 5/1/25
So far nobody is calling President Trump antisemitic because he did not make a stop in Israel on his current Middle East tour of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates. “This is good for Israel, having a relationship with these countries,” Trump said, not untrue. Nor was Trump called antisemitic for circumventing Israel to…
Explore your creative side with LLCC this summer
Last summer, I had the chance to visit Lincoln Land Community College’s first Media Makers Camp. As I arrived at our Medical District location in downtown Springfield, I didn’t know what to expect. I knew that participation was good, with all the seats having filled. I knew that the professor who was leading the camp…
Hurry Up Tomorrow a vanity project for The Weeknd, Summer of 69 a Risky Business redux, Swing Bout a gritty morality tale
Ego runs riot in Tomorrow The very definition of a vanity project, Trey Edward Shults’ Hurry Up Tomorrow is a pretentious, misguided-from-the-word-go dive into the psyche of its star Abel Tesfaye, A.K.A. The Weeknd. This extended therapy session is ego messaging of the highest order, a narcissistic, woe-is-me examination of the trials and tribulations that…
