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Following Gov. Bruce Rauner’s call for pension reform and tax cuts in Wednesday’s budget address, state lawmakers and midterm election candidates voiced dissent over what some called another unbalanced budget. “We still don’t know if he’s going to get some of the reform initiatives through, whether it’s from the pension cost shift [or] the selling […]

 Tim Landis, longtime reporter for the State Journal-Register, has died.  Landis, 66, was found dead this morning by his wife, according to the Sangamon County coroner’s office.  “She woke up this morning and found him unresponsive,” said Jim Allmon, chief deputy coroner at the coroner’s office. She called EMS, but he was gone.”  The death […]

Click here to download a copy of the arbitrators’ decision. Freshly arrived in our mailbox this morning is a copy of arbitrators’ decision in labor negotiations between the union representing city police officers and the city. And it appears to be a defeat for Mayor Jim Langfelder. The city has known for weeks that it […]

Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder has chosen Val Yazell, a business development consultant, as the city’s new economic development director. Yazell, who starts work Monday, replaces Karen Davis, who resigned her position last summer after two years as the city’s economic development director. Yazell will work under contract and on an interim basis. She said that […]

 By an overwhelming margin, Springfield police officers have said that they have no confidence in Chief Kenny Winslow. “Police officer morale over the last few years has gotten so low that action needed to be taken,” wrote Grant Barksdale, president of Police Benevolent and Protective Association No. 5 in a memo to media outlets sent […]

Springfield will take a step toward becoming a quieter place as the city gets set to close railroad crossings at five intersections on Third Street. The Illinois Commerce Commission has approved the closures, Ward 2 Ald. Herman Senor announced Thursday at a ward meeting in Central Baptist Church. Public works director Mark Mahoney said the […]

 A panel of arbitrators has decided to side with the Springfield police union over the question of a residency requirement for city police officers. A written decision has not yet been issued, but multiple sources have told Illinois Times that the city did not prevail in its quest to require police officers to live within […]

Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder has reduced hours at the Wet Bar, a downtown watering hole that’s known as much for fights and disturbances as drinking. Effective immediately, the bar at 221 South Fifth Street must close at 1 a.m. instead of 3 a.m., according to the mayoral order issued Thursday. The mayor’s action came shortly […]

Logan County sheriff Steven Nichols says that his office will review security procedures after a convicted burglar fled the courthouse on Wednesday afternoon. Daron Mauney, who has a long criminal history, was facing revocation of probation on a burglary conviction when he ran. He remained at large on Thursday morning. “My guys chased him, but […]