Feature

Movies are about moments – big moments that erase our cynicism about cinema and remind us of its capacity to dazzle as well as touch us. This happens in a way only possible with a medium that seamlessly combines so many other art forms. There are instances that prompt us to consider things in a […]

Springfield Youth Performance Group. PHOTOS COURTESY SPRINGFIELD AREA ARTS COUNCIL The Springfield Area Arts Council’s annual First Night celebration is a year-end smorgasbord of art, music, dance, fireworks, friends and fun. It is also a fundraiser to benefit the various programs and services provided by the Springfield Area Arts Council, such as grants and resources […]

Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. PHOTO COURTESY WARNER BROS. PICTURES Hobbit: Armies  finally gets us back again And so, Peter Jackson’s Hobbit films have come to an end…at least I think they have. With these movies and the director’s Lord of the Rings features, you could […]

James Armstrong, known as “The Ambassador of the Blues,” just doing his thing. PHOTO BY DAVID J. SIMCHOCK Believe it or not, Springfield, Illinois, is red hot for the cool blues. The capital city is home to one of the oldest blues clubs in the nation, hosts a nearly 30-year-old weekly blues performance gig and […]

A handful of canoes and kayaks float down the Sangamon River near Petersburg. PHOTO BY DAN WILLIAMS, TREETOP PRODUCTIONS, INC.  View the plan online in a pair of PDF files here: http://bit.ly/sangamon1 http://bit.ly/sangamon2 ______________________________________________________________________________________ In the spring of 1831, when Abraham Lincoln was just 21, he and two other young men navigated a canoe down […]

Jennifer Gill inherited a district fresh from leadership and financial turmoil. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE Jennifer Gill wasn’t always a leader. Her days at Springfield High School were busy ones. She spent a year on the student council. Worked on the yearbook staff during her senior year in 1987. Belonged to the Spanish Club, the […]

About the articleThis article is the product of the first collaboration between Illinois Times and the Better Government Association. The BGA is an independent, nonpartisan and nonprofit government watchdog that specializes in investigative reporting with media partners throughout the state. The BGA’s Rescuing Illinois Project is an ongoing series of in-depth reports examining state government […]

City Water, Light and Power in Springfield faces a fiscal storm caused mainly by debt and unfortunate timing. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE Eric Hobbie calls it “a perfect storm.” One of the biggest squalls in the history of Springfield City Water, Light and Power looms large while Hobbie, chief utility engineer at CWLP, tries to […]

Our oceans are acidifying – even if the nightly news hasn’t told you yet. As humanity continues to fill the atmosphere with harmful gases, the planet is becoming less hospitable to life as we know it. The vast oceans absorb much of the carbon dioxide we have produced, from the industrial revolution through the rise […]

With a $2.6 million check from taxpayers in hand, the widow of the late Amon Paul Carlock, who died after a struggle with Sangamon County jailers in 2007, says that she doesn’t feel like a winner. “Nothing will bring Paul back,” says Mary Andreatta-Carlock. “There are no winners in this situation at all.” The settlement […]

p Tamikka Brents gets her hands wrapped before the Sept. 13 fight at the Prairie Capital Convention Center. PHOTO BY BRENDA PROTZ The outcome wasn’t what she had hoped for. Tamikka Brents doesn’t take losing lightly. “I hate losing. But I will just train harder. This just didn’t turn out like I had planned,” said […]