National parks are facing a triple whammy – underfunding, reduced staffing, and what some call unprecedented federal oversight. Central Illinois is home to three National Park Service (NPS) sites, including the Lincoln Home, and they’ve been affected, too. While effects vary by park, across the nation they include altered history, fearful staff, reduced hours and […]
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#MeToo at the Muni
Springfield Municipal Opera is facing criticism, resignations of cast members from several of the season’s musicals and a boycott of concessions sold at performances over its response to sexual harassment allegations by females against a fellow volunteer actor. “I will not stand by while people are being harmed,” Nate King told Illinois Times on May […]
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A deflated event
The hot air balloon portion of Balloons Over 66 Weekend in Lincoln, a festival that has been one of the biggest annual attractions in Logan County, has been canceled for 2026. However, Lincoln Mayor Tracy Welch offered hope that hot air balloons will be seen during the Aug. 28-29 event in some fashion. Seth Goodman, […]
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New Mental Health Board convenes
Retired Judge Steve Nardulli was elected chair of the Sangamon County Mental Health Board at its first meeting May 27 and said the board will need to invite more public input. Overall, administrative duties and the Open Meetings Act took center stage at the inaugural meeting as the board appointed officers and considered hiring an […]
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Downtown Springfield bill fails to come to fruition
In the waning hours of legislative session, the Illinois General Assembly got close, but failed to pass a bill that would create multiple government boards to promote redevelopment of downtown Springfield. Sangamon County Board Chair Andy Van Meter said he expects elected officials to keep working on the proposal. The Senate approved an amended House […]
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POWER Act data center regulation won’t move forward this spring
Conversations about the POWER Act, a multifaceted data center regulation bill, are not over yet, even though the bill wasn’t ready by the General Assembly’s May 31 deadline. That means pending data center projects will not be subject to guardrails proposed in the bill, such as water use reporting, community benefits agreements and requirements that data […]
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Session slog ends in $56B budget, new taxes on social media companies, crypto, fantasy sports
Illinois lawmakers approved the state budget early Monday morning after slogging through the night, enacting new taxes on businesses and authorizing less spending than what Gov. JB Pritzker proposed in February. “It’s allowed us to be prepared for the great reality we face today,” Senate Democrats budget leader Elgie Sims, of Chicago, said during debate. […]
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Jury awards $38 million to woman injured by operating room equipment
A Sangamon County jury awarded $38.4 million to a former HSHS St. John’s Hospital employee who was injured when a defective operating room boom collapsed on her, finding the medical equipment manufacturer to be liable. The several-hundred-pound boom, used for docking medical equipment on a swivel arm, injured Stacey Brown to the point of requiring […]
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Durbin warns of deep divisions in farewell address to Illinois lawmakers
As he closed his address before gathered members of the Illinois General Assembly and Gov. JB Pritzker in the Illinois Capitol on Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin invoked the words of another favorite son of Springfield. “Abraham Lincoln, in the House Divided speech that he gave here in Springfield, gave a grim warning that the […]
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Illinois lawmakers pass landmark AI accountability bill
Following in the footsteps of New York and California, Illinois state lawmakers passed a bill Wednesday that seeks to increase transparency and accountability among the largest and most capable artificial intelligence models. Senate Bill 315 passed unanimously in the House with Wednesday and now heads to the governor for consideration. Legislators modeled the bill after 2025 […]
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He wants his backhoe back
Mike Eyer has a beautiful spread in Jacksonville at the intersection of Poor Farm and Sugar Hollow Roads. A little dirt road off of Sugar Hollow leads to Eyer’s cute little farmhouse, replete with a trailer and mini-excavator, swirling gnats, a massive pasture out back and a backhoe parked off to the side of the […]
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A “Survival Revival”
Community activist Reggie Guyton has lived life increasingly aware of the inequities aimed at people due to their skin tones and inability to pay for things that bring them joy. Guyton, a historic actor at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, grew up in University Park, a village in the south suburbs of Chicago. […]
