CARTOON BY CHRIS BRITT The Springfield Park District police department doesn’t sound like a tight ship or a fun place to work. Consider a memo titled “Rumors” that former Capt. Jonathan Davis wrote to his officers in January 2014. “Recently, it has been brought to my attention that there are many rumors floating around the […]
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Smart on crime
Each year, Illinois spends about $1.3 billion to lock up more than 48,000 prisoners. Nearly half of those who are released return to prison within three years. Parolees in Illinois face significant barriers to getting jobs, finding housing and even obtaining health care, which vastly increases their likelihood of committing new crimes. By all accounts, […]
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Summer Movie Preview 2015
It’s summertime and at the movies that means two things – superheroes and sequels. Of the mainstream films being released between June and Aug., more than one-third will be followups, TV takeoffs or tales featuring meta-humans. Most of the rest will be comedies, animated features, horror flicks and teen movies. However, each summer season has […]
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We’ve come a long way. There’s a long way to go.
PHOTO BY WALLY SKALIJ/TNS Springfield PrideFest marks the first festival of the season celebrating Pride for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Illinoisans, our families, friends, allies and neighbors. On June 1, we will be marking the first anniversary of statewide marriage equality in Illinois. This is certainly a season to celebrate. Here in Illinois, […]
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A black outlook
A decade ago, Chris Cline was sitting at the top of the proverbial coal heap. Cline, who made his fortune mining coal in Appalachia, bet big on Illinois coal at the dawn of the 21st century, quietly securing sufficient reserves in the Land of Lincoln to make his company, Foresight Energy, founded in 2006, one […]
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Battling rape on campus
Polly Poskin, executive director of the Springfield-based Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault, hopes to see schools respond more compassionately toward rape victims. Photo BY PATRICK YEAGLE Julia Dixon only knew her attacker a few hours before her exciting new college experience became a nightmare. It was her second weekend at college, and Dixon, then age […]
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Treatment instead of jail
There is a court reporter in the courtroom of Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge John Madonia on this Friday afternoon. That’s a bad sign. If everyone here in Sangamon County’s fledgling mental health recovery court was going to therapy sessions, testing clean for drugs, not getting arrested and otherwise behaving themselves, there would be no […]
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Edwards Place comes alive
In photo, from left to right, are Ted and Dawn Henry in character as Elizabeth and Ninian Edwards, Pam Brown and Fritz Klein in character as Mary and Abraham Lincoln, Drs. Sandra Yeh and Greg Kane in character as Julia and Senator Lyman Trumbull, Laura an COVER PHOTO IS BY BILL STOKES, PUBLISHER OF SPRINGFIELD […]
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Return of the mighty mustang
Two young mustangs take a break from frolicking in the mud at a federal wild horse facility recently reopened in southern Illinois. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE In a muddy corral on a hill in southern Illinois, dozens of horses chomp on hay and cautiously eye the cowboy-boot-clad visitors who walk past their pen. When a […]
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Images of Illinois
Adult Amateur – People 1st Place & Best In Show – “The Blacksmith” by RT McDonald Click Here to view all the Images of Illinois 2015 winners From Chicago’s tallest towers to Lincoln’s log cabins, across the sweeping plains, through rivers, streets, rails and woods, the submissions for the Prairie Art Alliance’s fourth annual Images […]
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On the stump
Making points: Candidates Jim Langfelder, left, and Paul Palazzolo, right, have carved out differences between themselves but share the same goals for the city. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE It is near the end of a grueling day on the campaign trail. The two candidates for Springfield mayor are sitting side by side in a Lincoln […]
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The wrong guy
Angel Gonzalez was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he was driving the wrong vehicle. Were it not for his 1979 Cadillac sedan, Gonzalez probably would have never become a suspect in a 1994 rape at an apartment complex in Waukegan. Gonzalez spent nearly 21 years in prison for the crime, until […]
