Cover Story
The Old State Capitol renovation
“The Old State Capitol is not just a building but an artifact, with numerous stories to tell,” says Justin Blandford, superintendent of Springfield’s state historic sites for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The state of Illinois is making a major investment to preserve this historic and iconic landmark. A $1.65 million capital project is…
Survey reports more mental health struggles and less trust in police
Many Sangamon County residents struggle with their mental health, see race as a barrier to career success and distrust police. Those are among the findings of a University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) citizen survey. UIS conducts the survey on local quality of life every two years. The most recent results were announced in late September.…
roe v wade poem #2
roe v wade poem #2 during the great depression my aunt cooked for the road crew her husband worked on: pittance pay for both they had a toddler couldn’t afford another child so when my aunt got pregnant she aborted herself – probably with the time-honored coat hanger – got septicemia nearly died – two…
Swan song for James Bond, a moving Mass, but Titane stalls
Die provides Craig with memorable exit Let’s get what’s wrong with No Time to Die out of the way – it’s too long by a good 20 minutes, and its villain is from central casting. Beyond that, Daniel Craig’s swan song as James Bond is one of the best in franchise history, a genuinely thrilling…
Get rid of hazardous waste Oct. 23
Now is a good time to clean out your garage and basement and get rid of unwanted products that shouldn’t be thrown into the garbage. The city of Springfield is collaborating with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency for a household hazardous waste collection on Saturday, Oct. 23, at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. This is open…
Stopping stigma
People who struggle with mental health disorders often also struggle with stigma. This year, Gift of Voice – an Edwardsville-based technical assistance and mental health training center led by those in mental health recovery – kicked off its Disclosure Scholarship. Winners were announced last month. The scholarship awards students who have gone public with their…
Sweetening the shot
Teresa Haley, president of the Springfield NAACP chapter, lost her father to COVID-19. He died of complications from the disease in December. “I was only able to see him a few times before he died and we could not touch him,” Haley told Illinois Times. The nursing home Haley’s father was living in shut its…
Sports subsidies
Rich people own professional sports teams, and for some reason, politicians just can’t resist shoveling cash their way. My first exposure to this concept came on June 30, 1988, a few minutes before midnight. I was following Gov. James R. Thompson at a dead run, charging from the Senate chambers to the House in the…
Don’t throw away your Swiss chard stalks
The restaurant I’ve been working at serves over 200 guests a day and we go through a lot of vegetables. When the produce orders come in, our prep cook, Alberto, trims off the parts that won’t be used and transfers them into plastic boxes to be put on the shelves of the walk-in cooler. The…
“Her Majesty will see you now.”
For the many fans of the Netflix series The Crown – and for anyone wondering just how good theater in Springfield can get – Spencer Theatre’s production of The Audience, playing through the weekend at the Hoogland, is a must-see. The Spencer, with Julie Staley as producer, launched pre-lockdown with Blithe Spirit. As we continue…
Fall for the music
As we delve into the second weekend of October, reminders of seasonal changes are all around us. To music-goers in Springfield, that means we’re nearing the end of the year for our many outdoor beer/music garden spaces and popular open-air festivals. Let’s do our best to enjoy the sweet sounds under the skies, trees, tents…
Hope in sentencing
People serving life prison sentences deserve to have hope that they may someday be free. That is the contention of a group of Illinois lawmakers who want to make inmates sentenced to lengthy prison terms eligible for parole. “We just want to reestablish hope within the prison system,” State Rep. Rita Mayfield, D-Chicago, said. The…
Editor’s note 10-07-21
The best part of refurbishing the Old State Capitol is the plan to renovate the interpretation of the building as a monument to freedom and equality. Abraham Lincoln wasn’t pure on issues of race, but he steadily progressed as an antiracist, and in the building in June 1858 he said the nation, divided over slavery,…
Can Don Harmon and JB Pritzker get along?
At the end of August, after the Illinois Senate had been unable to find a consensus on the massive climate/energy bill and punted the issue to the House, I asked Senate President Don Harmon during a press conference why he hadn’t addressed Gov. JB Pritzker’s list of problems, legal and otherwise, with the Senate’s proposal.…
We have a city plan. Now what?
The biggest hurdle in Springfield’s urban planning process is the actual implementation of our comprehensive plan. The most recent one, Springfield’s 2037 Comprehensive Plan, references transit and also calls for individual neighborhood plans to be developed. It was approved by the city council, but other levels of government have to go along with it, voluntarily,…
