Lakeisha Purchase took part in phone calls unrelated to her job at the Illinois Department of Transportation for almost half of the time she was supposed to be working during an 18-month period in 2021 and 2022, a state report says. Purchase, 35, a former Capital Township trustee and the Springfield Ward 5 alderperson since […]
IDOT
Posted inNews
IDOT spends $143,000 on zombie-themed seat belt ad
IDOT’s “Driving Dead” short film on seat belt use features an armored Mustang with a machine gun and actor Michael Rooker from the “Walking Dead” TV series about zombies. PHOTO COURTESY IDOT In a dusty, dimly-lit warehouse, a horde of zombies closes in two men with high-powered firearms trying in vain to escape through a […]
Posted inNews
Sniffing out trouble
Springfield patrol officer Dave Pletsch prepares for a training search with his dog, Utah, in a building on the Illinois State Fair Grounds. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE Inside a livestock building on the Illinois State Fairgrounds, a man is hiding stashes of marijuana, methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine in state-owned work vehicles parked inside for the […]
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Drug dogs fail the sniff test
Flip a coin and pick a side. Repeat 50 times. Chances are, you’ll guess the coin toss more often than drug-sniffing police dogs in Springfield found contraband during traffic stops in 2012. Traffic stop data reported by the Springfield Police Department shows the police found contraband in 25 percent of searches prompted by a drug […]
Posted inArts & Culture
See them
A.B.A.T.E. (A Brotherhood Aimed Toward Education) of Illinois motorcycle organization has a ride planned for Sunday, May 5, for motorcycle awareness month. The ride starts at the Illinois Department of Transportation parking lot. There will be food, beverages and A.B.A.T.E. products available for purchase between 8 a.m. until the group leaves at 1 p.m. All […]
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Minorities disproportionately stopped and searched
A study of traffic stop data released by the Illinois Department of Transportation shows minority drivers in Illinois and in Springfield are more likely than white drivers to be stopped and searched by police. Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union is pushing the federal government to investigate racial bias in traffic stop searches. The IDOT […]
