Dr. Terrance Jordan did not like attending school as a youth. “I had bad experiences in school growing up in rural Mississippi,” Jordan said. “I was mistreated by teachers and by some of my peers, so going to school was not something that I had any desire to do.” Jordan, a self-professed slow learner at […]
Cover Story
Posted inArts & Culture
The Wedding Issue 2026
More than 40% of engagements in the U.S. occur between Thanksgiving andValentine’s Day, so this is the time of year many couples are startingto plan their weddings. We talked to area business owners involved inthe wedding industry to find out the latest trends. Couples are focusingon more personalized details and experiences to engage their guests,rather […]
Posted inNews
“This is chemical trespass.”
More than 700 Illinois schools are within a quarter-mile of crop fields, yet state law doesn’t require pesticide applicators to notify them before spraying. Advocates say a new notification proposal would give educators and park staff time to move children indoors and reduce exposure. This story was originally published by Investigate Midwest. When the wind […]
Posted inNews
Behind the scenes at District 186 schools
The 2025 Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) Report Card that tracks performance at the state’s public schools showed that six Springfield District 186 schools had improved their designations and four schools’ designations had declined (“State report card improves for District 186,” Dec. 4). Related The ISBE Report Card ranks schools’ performance with the summative […]
Posted inCommunity & Lifestyle
Healthy, Wealthy & Wise 2026
Trying to maintain or improve our physical health is an important aspectof being healthy, but certainly not the only one. Our annual health andwellness issue also looks at the importance of mental health and simplesteps we can take to improve not only our diet but our overall well-being. Related
Posted inNews
Project Censored 2025
Half a century ago, Peter Jensen launched Project Censored, in part as a response to how the Watergate break-in was covered. Richard Nixon didn’t censor the initial reporting, but he didn’t have to. The press simply didn’t cover it with any serious scrutiny until well after Nixon was elected. The story didn’t reach the American […]
Posted inFilm
Best films of 2025
The major film studios are in a desperate spot, still not having recovered from the mass exodus to home viewing that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. Getting enough viewers to theaters to justify the huge budgets for tentpole movies has proven difficult. Once sure things, such as Marvel films or big-budget action movies, are no […]
Posted inRemembering
Remembering 2025
Our annual REMEMBERING edition, the last issue of the year, reminds us small-town folks that people we thought we knew we didn’t know as well as we wish we had, and those we didn’t know, we wish we had known. It reminds us that many more have died this year than we could possibly write […]
Posted inNews
Meet Springfield’s lasagna lady
Beth Rees is trying to make Springfield a better place, one lasagna at a time. She rents a modest house on the north end with her husband and two daughters, works a full-time job and, like many people, has sometimes struggled to keep the bills paid and put food on the table. For the past […]
Posted inNews
Kids with many needs have few options
The family of a nonverbal 11-year-old boy with autism who lives at a Hope Learning Academy residential home called Illinois Times in late August, detailing how the child, Noah, was admitted to HSHS St. John’s Hospital in Springfield with a blood infection and bruises all over his body. He stayed at the hospital for multiple […]
Posted inReGen
REGEN – Grownups getting stronger
The articles presented in our special section beginning on page 14 constitute the winter edition of REGEN, for “Grownups getting stronger.” Published quarterly by Illinois Times since 2020 as a standalone magazine, REGEN has highlighted active and energetic seniors (who don’t like being called seniors). The first issue explained, “We reject the notion that older […]
Posted inNews
State report card improves for District 186
Six schools moved up, four moved down, and overall things seem to be improving with proficiency, graduation and chronic absenteeism rates. That in a nutshell is the finding for Springfield’s District 186 schools in the 2025 Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) Report Card that tracks performance at the state’s public schools. Lanphier High School […]
