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This year marks the 50th anniversary of Illinois Times, a remarkable achievement for a locally owned, independent publication. Over the past few decades, changing trends in readership and advertising have led to steep declines in the number of newspapers nationwide, with the pandemic only accelerating the demise of many publications. Northwestern University’s Medill School of […]

Last summer, a group of people attempted to disrupt a popular Levitt AMP concert on the Y Block in downtown Springfield. They were angry about the recent murder of Sonya Massey, and the scene grew tense, with Springfield police moving in. Someone called Sunshine Clemons, co-president of Black Lives Matter SPI, who was leaving a […]

Tears welled in Rich Scheib’s eyes as he thought of his son, Wade, who died of a drug overdose on Dec. 7. Scheib said the first time he realized his son was using drugs was when he suffered an overdose four years earlier. “I just didn’t think he was that type of person. I just […]

Two recently opened rooms overlooking Springfield Clinic’s main campus hold the promise of shorter waits for patients who need the blood vessels feeding their hearts examined or treated for potentially life-threatening blockages. Two miles away, a new Urgent Care Plus, scheduled to open in January near Springfield’s two acute-care hospitals, is designed to serve many […]

Several local small businesses, faced with plummeting sales entering this holiday season due to unforeseen circumstances, have turned to a new method of keeping the doors open – pleas for help from the public. A growing number of small business owners have recently posted heartfelt pleas on social media about not being able to pay […]

Antwaun Readus Sr. started to choke up at the podium as he described how he has been called upon to use his barbering skills to prepare as many as 10 Black adolescents and young men for casket viewings after they became victims of violence. “Do you know how hard it is to sit here and […]

District 186 graduation rates are returning to pre-pandemic levels, but the district continues to struggle with low attendance rates, according to 2024 Illinois Report Card data released Oct 31. Half of the district’s schools are performing below state standards, and Nicole Nash Moody, assistant superintendent of teaching, learning and school culture, says attendance “makes a […]