Here is video from the body-worn cameras of two Sangamon County sheriff’s deputies who entered Sonya Massey’s Woodside Township home on July 6. Massey, 36, received a fatal head wound, allegedly from a 9mm handgun fired by Deputy Sean Grayson. Grayson, 30, has been charged with first-degree murder in the incident, and authorities have said […]
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New election district may benefit Springfield’s east side
A new election map approved by the Illinois General Assembly could result in better representation for Springfield’s east side. Ward 3 Ald. Doris Turner testified at a May 24 hearing of the Illinois House and Senate redistricting committees, telling lawmakers that a new election district joining Springfield’s east side with much of Decatur could aid […]
Minorities, women poorly represented on city payroll
Minorities are poorly represented in the City of Springfield’s work force, according to an Illinois Times analysis of city employment data, which shows that white workers make up more than 92 percent of city employees. Data filed by the City of Springfield with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission show that as of June 30, […]
Why are there so few black farmers?
Urging his fellow lawmakers to release funding for a discrimination lawsuit originally settled more than a decade ago, U.S. Sen. Roland Burris last month pointed to the increasingly homogenous culture that is Illinois farming. The still unreleased funding would go to farmers, or former farmers, who had been affected by systematic racial bias in the […]
Census shows more minority businesses
When Michael Pittman first began publishing the Capital City Courier newspaper in Springfield in 2006, he wanted to address issues facing an African-American audience – issues he says often aren’t important to mainstream media. “It was something I always wanted to do,” Pittman says. “The emphasis for me was being an alternative source of news […]
