Feature

Teshome Campbel PHOTO BY PAT YEAGLE Teshome Campbell doesn’t hold any grudges. Not against the public defender who failed to call crucial witnesses on his behalf. Not against the many judges who dismissed his claims of injustice. Not even against the people who lied about him in court and caused him to spend 18 years […]

Illinois is one of three states with an income tax that doesn’t tax retirement income. ILLUSTRATION BY RICK NEASE/TNS Illinois is one of only three states that has an income tax but exempts all retirement income. Politicians, along with advocacy groups, have long pushed to keep it that way. But amid the spiraling state budget […]

CARTOON BY CHRIS BRITT Nearly 20 years ago, former Gov. Pat Quinn looked like a proverbial pauper. Quinn had less than $150 in his campaign war chest as of June 30, 1998, a seminal moment for campaign funds in Illinois. As part of a campaign-finance reform bill passed by the legislature that year, money collected […]

It’s been more than four years since a bipartisan, government-backed study recommended that hundreds of Illinois small police and fire pensions be fused into a single, unified investment group. And what’s happened since? Nothing. Inertia has set in, despite the backing of Gov. Bruce Rauner, key lawmakers, public pension experts and municipal finance professionals who […]

BEST IN SHOW and Amateur – People FIRST PLACE “Final Act” PHOTO BY MARCIA MAHONEY The annual contest sponsored by Illinois Times and Prairie Art Alliance, now operated by the Springfield Art Association, to find the most captivating Images of Illinois continues. This year’s submissions led jurors along the sidewalks and into the skyscrapers of […]

CARTOON BY CHRIS BRITT Fancy cars. Luxury hotels. Trips to the tropics and beyond. Money paid to “unknown.” Meals bought in bars without kitchens and money sent to an address that doesn’t exist. All this and more appears on campaign disclosure reports filed by Illinois legislators, who are barred from spending campaign money on anything […]

ILLUSTRATION BY JOSEPH COPLEY Someone may have to die before this is resolved, and even that might not be enough. That’s the consensus among several social service agencies in Springfield which are running on fumes as a result of the state budget crisis. The list of organizations and programs being starved is long and sobering: […]

PHOTOSHOP ILLUSTRATION BY JOSEPH COPLEY It’s tough being a government watchdog in one of the nation’s most politically corrupt states. That’s the message from those who’ve run state Inspector General agencies responsible for uncovering wrongdoing at the highest levels of Illinois government and from those outside the halls of power who chart their actions, a […]

On Monday, Feb. 8, Illinois Times invited a small group of leaders in the Springfield visual art community to a luncheon at the Inn at 835 for the purpose of discussing the current state of presenting, creating and promoting visual art in the area. Springfield has long boasted a varied and vibrant selection of creative […]

Vern LaGesse, executive director of Friends of Sangamon Valley. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE Wherever you are right now, odds are the world surrounding you is made of human-designed objects. With a stretch of the imagination, perhaps this world can become one of nature, filled with acres of prairie, woods and wetlands, inhabited by creatures of […]