Cover Story
Addressing children’s mental health
Anxiety, depression and other mood disorders in children have become more prevalent due to influence from a rapidly increasing number of technology and social media offerings in the past two decades. “I feel like we have an anxious generation,” social worker Melissa Warwick told Illinois Times in her Auburn Community School District office. Students try…
Amid backlash, Pritzker calls for leaders — especially Trump — to tone down rhetoric
Gov. JB Pritzker said political leaders — starting with President Donald Trump — need to do more to condemn political violence. “He actively fans the flames of division, as he did on Friday, regularly advocates violence for political retribution, and in more than one case, declares we are at war, not with a foreign adversary,…
Jim Edgar, Illinois’ 1990s-era moderate GOP governor, dies at 79
Jim Edgar, Illinois’ 38th governor who served from 1991 to 1999, died Sunday after disclosing an aggressive cancer diagnosis earlier this year. He was 79. Though he’d been out of power for 26 years — more time than the two decades he spent in office as an elected official — the former governor was still active…
With few meetings left, Massey Commission urges public participation
The Massey Commission is asking Springfield residents to attend its monthly meeting on Monday, Sept. 15, and participate in an open forum where community members can provide input on the commission’s recommendations before its final report is submitted. “This is not a meeting to watch from the sidelines,” Adam White, the commission’s public engagement coordinator,…
Sources: Darren Bailey to run for governor again in Illinois
Darren Bailey plans to run for governor for a second time in 2026, Capitol News Illinois confirmed with sources close to the campaign. The former state senator and farmer from Clay County would become the highest-profile Republican to enter the race, having lost the 2022 campaign against Gov. JB Pritzker and a close primary race…
Goodies Detour
Summers we went to a small lake near Beloit. Mom wanted to keep us kids away from farm machinery. We took my goat; she was a nuisance on the farm. When we walked along the cottage row on our side of the lake we had to put the goat in our rowboat and row her…
Letters to the editor 9/11/25
We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to editor@illinoistimes.com. GREAT PROJECT Thank you to Yolanda Rice for investing in this community (“Former King’s Daughters Home to house nurses,” Aug. 28). I hope there is an open house when the project is complete. I remember…
Cracks in the earth
“Lutheran high school as hellmouth?” is a headline that I’d hoped to read when I heard that the ground at 3500 W. Washington beneath Springfield’s new Lutheran High School opened up beneath it in 2022. Disappointingly, no bloody hand had thrust up out of its grave to pull innocents down into the bowels of the…
New law increases mental health access for college students
As part of efforts to increase mental health care across the state, Gov. JB Pritzker signed a law last month requiring public colleges and universities to have a certain number of mental health professionals available to students. University of Illinois Springfield, one of the state’s smaller public universities, is in line with the new mandated…
Culinary gold
With tomato season in full swing, so is the jar of rendered bacon fat that lives in my fridge. A happy byproduct of countless bacon and tomato sandwiches, this culinary gold has been finding its way into everything from salad dressing and snacks to soups and even cookies. A versatile and old-fashioned ingredient, many have…
September-ing some music
After a spell of wonderful weather, we’re back to a few heated days, but don’t let that stop you from enjoying our outdoors shows coming up and those inside as well. Let’s go see what we can find. Thursdays continue to deliver the goods including the monthly Thursday Night Live area music showcase at Motorheads…
Annual ride, ceremony mark Sept. 11, 2001 attacks
We’ll never forget the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and the lives that were lost that day when this nation was attacked by terrorists. This Sunday at Hall’s Harley-Davidson, you can take part in an annual ride and ceremony to the state Capitol that marks that terrible day. Lineup for the parade begins at 9…
Banning printed materials
An emergency rule being implemented by Illinois prisons may soon deny prisoners access to letters, cards and books sent to them by family members. Department of Corrections officials are concerned that drugs such as fentanyl are being smuggled into prisons through inmate mail. But critics say the measure is overtly cruel and will do little…
Editor’s note 9/11/25
This upcoming 50th anniversary of Illinois Times has us digging deep into the archives, call it IT archivology. Here’s an issue from May 16, 1991. Things were so different back then. A cartoon by Bob Waldmire showed a limo with VIPs, one balloon saying, “What’re we doing in this neighborhood?” Another VIP answers, “This place…
Springfield Clinic seeks new west-side location
Springfield Clinic wants to use the former site of Ashley Furniture Outlet and Barney’s Furniture on Springfield’s west side for storage and eventually for retail sales of medical equipment and devices. The multispecialty physician group’s request for zoning to allow for those plans at 1987 Wabash Ave. will be considered Sept. 17 by the Springfield…
