A year ago, Rick and Carla Phelan were on the cusp of homelessness. They’d been there before, but pandemic was different. After two nights spent sleeping in their 2004 Buick LeSabre with their dog – their son stayed with relatives – the Phelans were among the first in Sangamon County to drive home that a […]
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Springfield’s man on Capitol Hill
When he first arrived in Congress after defeating incumbent Representative Paul Findley in the 1982 election, Richard J. Durbin wasn’t sure how long he’d be there. “Congressional staff wanted to talk to me about my retirement system choice. I said, ‘If I think I’m going to lose the next election, what should my choice be?’” […]
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Little Love Stories
She was right I was not sure about the future, but she was, and it has been wonderful. I was reluctant to have children, but she said I would love it. She was right! I did not want to travel and do adventurous things. She told me to get over myself and enjoy it. She […]
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Cockfight crusades
My first unforgettable cockfight was when I was 4-5 years old. My father has a black henny of Philippine Game strain which was decoupled early in the fight. Broke both two legs it seems. Down on the ground. But he is very feisty and game, pecking and trying to get up. Wings flopping to move […]
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National Park Service boundaries to expand
The Lincoln Home National Historic Site may soon be larger and tell more of Springfield’s history if several local organizations are successful in their efforts to expand the site’s boundaries to encompass the old and the new. The Elijah Iles House Foundation Board on Dec. 29 passed a resolution encouraging the National Park Service to […]
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Best films of 2020
Though it was achieved under tragic circumstances, Hollywood got its wish last year. The relationship between movie studios and those that exhibit their wares has always been contentious, a situation of dominance for the Tinsel Town titans who have the liberty to set the terms of how much of each ticket sold they take and […]
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Home for the holidays, sadly
All they want for Christmas is a job. As our COVID-19 guest stretches its uninvited stay into the end-of-the-year holidays, continuing pandemic restrictions and shutdowns have kept many Springfield area residents from the paychecks they desperately need. That means Christmas stockings may go empty in many households this year, the unemployment assistance system will remain […]
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Springfield dreams
A pandemic, a civil rights uprising, economic turmoil, an historic election – this year has brought many hardships. It has made the inequalities and divisions in our society more clear. It’s also been a time for reflection and change. Social service providers and community activists, already making do with a lack of resources, have been […]
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Bye Bye Bernie
After 30 years at the State Journal-Register, political columnist and reporter Bernard Schoenburg accepted a buyout and left the paper on Dec. 1. He began his journalism career at The Pantagraph in Bloomington and also worked at the Associated Press before coming to Springfield, where he became one of the state’s best-known political writers. Following […]
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Pandemic pastimes
If you wonder what many of us are doing during the pandemic and plan to continue for the upcoming holidays, look no further than the alphabet’s second letter. Bonding, booking, baking, birding and biking are popular ways to cope with the stress of the virus and stay-at-home directives. Bonding Ryan Leake, owner of Little Lincoln’s […]
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Janitors vs. germs
You touch it, they clean it. Possibly the most under-appreciated workers during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic are the men and women who scrub, wipe, spray, mist and disinfect the buildings used by students, travelers, businesses and diners. Springfield’s custodians and cleaning service employees are just as much on the pandemic front lines as health care […]
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Abortion haven
When Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in September, many began to lament the potential undoing of a host of human rights milestones. High among them was the federal decision on abortion access. In 1973, via the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, the Supreme Court ruled that a woman’s right to choose an abortion […]
