Fletcher Farrar: Reporter at Large

The national economic crisis brings a sense of foreboding to a small city like Springfield. Sometimes the nation’s worst weather bypasses here; the coasts get the hurricanes, fires and blizzards, while we sit cozy, contending only with the aftereffects of others’ storms. So far here we’ve largely escaped the housing bust because we never had […]

Hunter Lake is a 40-year-old idea whose time, if there ever was one, has passed. The 3,010-acre lake would hold far more water than Springfield needs. There are less expensive alternatives, water conservation measures haven’t been figured into the city’s need calculation, and the proposed reservoir would destroy the trees, wildlife and cultural resources of […]

When I saw Newsweek on my caller ID a couple weeks ago I thought my subscription must have expired. Instead it was Michael Isikoff, the veteran investigative reporter. Isikoff had written articles from Washington for Illinois Times 30 years ago, and once visited here to cover the campaign of then-Congressman Paul Findley. Soon after that, […]

The 1821 Sangamon County commissioners established the temporary county seat on Spring Creek, so they named it Springfield. But the town’s real founders — Elijah Iles, Pascal Enos and Thomas Cox — liked the name “Calhoun,” for John C. Calhoun, the pro-slavery U. S. senator and one-time vice president from South Carolina. When southern politics […]

Untitled Document The tour begins on the Old State Capitol Plaza, by the law office where Lincoln walked to work. He must have stopped right here to talk, about the future of the country and the storms clouds gathering over it. “The courthouse square was the heart of the community,” says our guide, Anthony Rubano, […]

Now that the Illinois General Assembly has acted to restore Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s budget cuts — using a one-time-only gimmick to supposedly fund the deficit — it’s time to get serious about state revenues to prevent this budget brinksmanship from happening again. Even now the governor says revenues are going to fall short of what […]

Former Gov. George Ryan is remembered for two things. First, that he went to prison after being convicted on corruption charges. Second, that, in his final days in office, he cleared out death row by commuting the sentences of everybody in Illinois sentenced to death. Are the two related? That’s the question taken up by […]

The Prairie Capital Convention Center is the sleeping giant of downtown Springfield. Now 30 years old and showing signs of wear, the big gray box is about to wake up and make itself known in a couple ways. A big “entertainment initiative” has the convention center itself bringing lots of shows and concerts to Springfield. […]

The women who walk by my house, sometimes early in the morning, are always polite when I ask them to go work someplace else. If they don’t leave, I call the police, who come by if they’re not busy and move the women along. There are occasional stings, where several women are arrested and spend […]

Why has Gov. Rod Blagojevich declared war on Springfield? His latest assaults on the local economy make many ask, “What did we do to deserve this?” Those searching for answers say his attacks may be retribution for the fact that his approval rating in Sangamon County is a mere 12 percent or that the county’s […]

The news about traditional newspapering can only be described as dismal. Last week the editor of the Chicago Tribune and the publisher of the Los Angeles Times stepped down from their jobs as their newspapers were preparing for deep cuts in newsroom staff. The Wall Street Journal announced the departure of another half-dozen members of […]

Untitled Document Illinois Auditor General William Holland was so angry over the Department of Healthcare and Family Services’ delays in submitting information over the past year, he told them he was suspending all activity on his audit and wouldn’t resume until the “delinquent information” was provided. “For the first time in 15 years, I walked […]