Every candidate has ideas for what they will do when they are elected mayor. Spend more wisely, they say. Encourage business growth, develop the medical district and bring in more tourists. Get rid of unneeded political hires and look for inefficiencies in city government. These are positive ideas, but they are hardly visionary, and every […]
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Parking war
Parking in Springfield is cheap. Visitors from Chicago sometimes joke that it’s cheaper to get a parking ticket here than to simply pay the meter in their city. But that could change with a proposed ordinance under consideration by the city council. On Jan. 25, the council considered a measure to double Springfield’s fine for […]
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There goes the neighborhood
A new playground in Springfield’s Gehrmann Park will serve as an anchor in a neighborhood that is revitalizing itself one step at a time. On Sept. 25, about 200 volunteers converged on Gehrmann Park in the Enos Park neighborhood of Springfield to construct a donated playground in a single day. Featuring what Derek Harms, director […]
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Group wants local rail jobs
A Springfield-based community group is hoping to make the contentious arrival of high-speed rail into a blessing by making sure 30 percent of the jobs from the project go to local disadvantaged workers. The Faith Coalition for the Common Good hosted a public meeting Aug. 19 at Union Baptist Church to discuss the coming project’s […]
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Sangamon County sells off 109 tax-delinquent properties
An annual countywide property auction last week brought in $40,000 more this year than last, but county officials say the total could have been even more. On Aug. 11, Sangamon County held its yearly public auction of properties with delinquent taxes, selling off 109 properties and raising $95,275 in revenue for the county. Last year’s […]
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East side wins housing grant
The sounds of nail guns and power saws filled the air in a section of the east side of Springfield last week. Men with tool belts worked feverishly to build a new home at the corner of 12th and Edwards streets, raising walls and covering the frame with plywood. Right next door, a rundown, boarded-up […]
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Fighting for space
In a flurry of precise motions, the young boy’s gloved fists shoot forward like a barrage of missiles, seeking an exposed cheek or unprotected stomach. The older, taller boy throws a hook, but 12-year-old Michael Turner-Bey ducks and lands a triple jab in the other boy’s ribs. “I like the training and the exercise,” Michael […]
