Cover Story

When there is so much confusion in this nation’s politics, when misinformation itself is on the ballot and election deniers campaign for election, it is more important than ever to vote. A vote is an endorsement of the process, and marks each voter as a participant in a system under attack. If the process thrives […]

In a congressional district drawn to favor Democrats, Republicans believe they have reason for optimism. But just how much optimism is justified remains a bit of an open question for the Illinois 13th Congressional District, which pits Republican Regan Deering against Democrat Nikki Budzinski. Deering, 46, and Budzinski, 45, are both seeking political office for […]

Farmers and landowners in Christian County have joined more than 100 residents of Sangamon, Morgan and 10 adjacent counties to formally challenge a proposed pipeline that would carry liquified carbon dioxide from the Midwest halfway across the state for permanent underground storage in central Illinois. Citizens Against Heartland Greenway Pipeline was granted intervenor status this […]

Leo the cat was not happy. Leo had been brought into Five Star Veterinary in Springfield because of a severe loss of balance, and he fought with a fury the staff who tried to examine him. The noise that Leo produced was the textbook definition of “caterwauling.” Meanwhile, the Five Star waiting area and the […]

Chase Wilhelm thinks of Ignat Striletskyi’s journey, which brought the 18-year-old from Ukraine to Springfield shortly after the Russian invasion in February, as a piece of fabric that a higher power must have helped create. “It’s a mystery of God,” said Wilhelm, 38, a Montgomery County resident, state worker and ordained Disciples of Christ minister. […]

Dec. 3, 2019, is stamped in Betsy O’Brien’s brain forever; it was the date that she was raped by someone she trusted. For two-and-a-half years, O’Brien says she has been fighting for justice, and she is angry because she believes the Springfield Police Department did not diligently pursue her case. The term “rape” conjures up […]

The last Clay County farmer elected governor was John Riley Tanner in 1896, but Darren Bailey hopes to be the second. In fact, Bailey took the doorway from what was Tanner’s house and made it the entryway to his living room. One way or another, through that portal, a governor will have walked. Earlier this […]

When Market on the Hill opened in 2020 in downtown Mt. Pulaski, its founders took the producer-to-consumer concept of the farmers market one step farther. Now, the community grocery store’s organizers are thinking on a much larger scale. “At the time we were putting the market and grocery store together, we also, on a parallel […]