On a sunny evening, Dalesha Richardson stands on a courtyard sidewalk near her Springfield apartment. Holding her white cane horizontal to the ground, she is playing the part of a train crossing gate. “Tickets, please!” she calls out as her 3-year-old son, Elijah, barrels toward her on his white balance bike. Elijah is a big […]
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Double vision
Springfield School District 186 faces challenges familiar to many urban school districts. Academic achievement at district high schools lags behind state averages. Parents are voting with their feet as they choose to live outside the district or enroll kids in private schools. Segregation remains and demographic trends are ominous. During the past 15 years, white […]
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A second chance in life
More than 150 people who attended a free program in Springfield on Oct. 19 emerged with a possible second chance. The Expungement and Record Sealing Summit, hosted for the second year by the Sangamon County Circuit Clerk’s Office, gave pre-registered participants free, full-service assistance to get their adult criminal records possibly expunged or sealed. Volunteer […]
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School segregation’s new frontier
New Berlin, a village with 1,500 people separated from the outskirts of Springfield by 12 miles of pale blue skies and sunlit cornstalks, still has many hallmarks of a small town. It hosts the county fair, with chili cookoffs, livestock exhibitions and country music stars drawing crowds during the long days of June. Tractors occasionally […]
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CENSORED 2020
Every year, Project Censored scours the landscape for the most important stories that the mainstream corporate media somehow missed, and every year the task seems to get a bit stranger. Or “curiouser and curiouser” as suggested in the subtitle of this year’s volume of their work, Censored 2020: Through The Looking Glass, which includes their […]
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Small town with big plans for growing groceries
It will be a small grocery store in a small town, but its developers hope it will impact area food production, buying and consumption trends in a big way. Market on the Hill in downtown Mt. Pulaski will open in the spring of 2020 and will feature locally grown fruits and vegetables, locally produced meats, […]
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All charged up
If Mayor Chris Koos looks pleased as he tells the tale, it’s understandable. It was about five years ago, the mayor of Normal recalls, that that a barely known entrepreneur came to town looking for bargains. The Mitsubishi plant was closing after more than 25 years of building cars in the town about half the […]
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Listen to the dead
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, cemeteries were the first public parks. Women strolling with parasols and families spread out on blankets enjoying a picnic would be a common site. The living paid respect to their loved ones and celebrated their own lives. Oak Ridge Cemetery, no doubt, would have been a popular […]
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This zoo is becoming a whole different animal
Things are looking up at the Henson Robinson Zoo. Built in the late 1960s and opening in 1970, Henson Robinson has been the area’s top attraction in central Illinois for those hoping to see rare and beautiful animals. Jeff Mitchell, general curator at Henson Robinson, has been with the zoo for a year and a […]
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Attracting teachers 101
It appears that until very recently Illinois has been trying to make the career of teaching seem as unpalatable as possible.“For many years there’s been a lack of respect for the educators in our schools,” said Kathi Griffin, president of the 135,000-member Illinois Education Association. “The funding has been diminished so much over the years […]
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Rochester turns 150. Let’s party.
The Rochester Park and adjacent Stone House historic park will be a sea of activity and celebration during the weekend of Sept. 13-15 as the town commemorates its sesquicentennial, 150 years since it was incorporated in 1869. There will be a 5K/10K walk/run, pancake breakfast, carnival, car cruise, vendors, speakers, reenactors and music. Carolyn Moore […]
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Summer, kids and so many parks
Jessica Handy became a licensed foster parent last year, and now shares her home with 18-year-old K, plus K’s two sons, M (4) and B (just turned 3). A few months ago, just on a whim, they decided to embark on what they called the “Summer Park Challenge” – visiting every public park. The first […]
