The Illinois State Supreme Court today ruled that settlements reached in malpractice claims against the company that provides care for inmates in Illinois prisons are public records. The ruling ends a legal battle that began four years ago, when Illinois Times asked the Illinois Department of Corrections for a copy of a settlement reached in […]
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“There’s nothing sneaky here”
Time is short to put together a proposal for a university campus in downtown Springfield, according to Andy Van Meter, chairman of the Sangamon County Board. If a package isn’t ready within two months, Van Meter said, the project that could turn four blocks over to Southern Illinois University and the University of Illinois Springfield […]
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SJ-R veteran reporter set to depart
Dean Olsen, longtime State Journal-Register reporter, is leaving the paper for a job in media relations and communications for Memorial Health System. His last day at the paper will be Dec. 13. Olsen has worked at daily newspapers since 1982 and at the SJ-R since 1999, starting out as a statehouse reporter and becoming the […]
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Evidence of huffing found in homeless man’s demise
A homeless man found dead a week ago had apparently been huffing, according to Springfield police reports. In September, Ahmad Basheer Verdell became the face of homelessness in Springfield as he urged the city council to approve an east side homeless center on 11th Street that would also include a detox unit and services for […]
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Breasts, Viagra and hotel sex
An investigator with the inspector general’s office for the state Department of Human Services remains on the job despite findings that he has sexually harassed employees of agencies that hold DHS contracts. According to a report released last month by the state Executive Ethics Commission, Manuel “Manny” Zepeda told three women employed by Marcfirst, a […]
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Springfield teachers reject contract offer
Springfield school teachers tonight rejected a contract offer that appears to include raises of nearly 14 percent over two years for some teachers.Under the rejected proposal, the lowest base salary for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree would be $40,776 in the 2020-21 school year, up from $35,869 in the contract that expired in August, […]
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Rosario gets probation
Samuel Rosario, the former Springfield cop found guilty of official misconduct for a 2017 fistfight with a civilian, was sentenced to probation this morning. During the proceeding, Sangamon County state’s attorney Dan Wright and defense counsel Dan Fultz revealed that Rosario, prior to trial, had refused to promise that he would never again be a […]
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Not his first rodeo
State Rep. Luis Arroyo, D-Chicago, arrested and charged with attempting to pay a $2,500 bribe to a state senator, has been in trouble before. Chicago Police Department records show that Arroyo was arrested twice during the 1970s and once in 1997. In 1974, a police report shows, he was arrested on suspicion of auto theft. […]
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Killer will remain locked up
Gary Schmitt, who killed his father with a rock, then nearly killed two women with a knife, will remain locked up at McFarland Mental Health Center instead of being released to a Springfield group home, a circuit court judge has ruled. In an order issued Friday, Effingham Circuit Court Judge Kimberly Koester ruled that Schmitt, […]
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Safe travels
Carla Knorowski, chief executive officer of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation, has resigned. In a press release, the foundation says that Knorowski has accepted a position as president and chief development officer for the U.S. Naval War College Foundation in Rhode Island, effective Jan. 1, 2020. Knorowski was an unpaid trustee of the Rhode […]
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Pritzker names ALPLM board members
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has named five appointees, including former U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood, to a board charged with overseeing the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. The appointments announced today come one week after Pritzker terminated Alan Lowe as the institution’s director. Lowe, hired in 2016, was the fourth director of the institution – not […]
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Another one bites the dust
Alan Lowe, executive director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library, has been let go. No reason for Lowe’s departure was given in a memo to staff distributed today and informing employees that Lowe is no longer a state employee. Lowe was terminated by the governor’s office, according to an entry in Capitol Fax, a political […]
