Letters to the Editor

ELIMINATE LIBRARY FINES We were excited to open up the Illinois Times Best of Springfield 2019 issue and see that “Eliminate library fines” was literally front and center in the issue as Best Idea (Oct. 24). It’s an idea that I have been talking about since my first interview with the city, as I had […]

COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDEDNow that AFSCME employees are receiving back pay for step increases, with interest to follow soon, let’s have a round of applause for Rep. Tim Butler for this overdue largesse. Some might think Mr. Butler spent the last four years defending the indefensible union-busting efforts of former governor Bruce Rauner for no […]

BUILD ON OUR HISTORYLast week’s cover story (“All charged up,” Oct. 3) had me comparing Springfield to Bloomington/Normal – again. In 2017, McLean County’s planning director spoke to Inner City Older Neighborhoods (ICON) about the true cost of urban sprawl. Couple that with envy over Uptown Normal’s 20-year investment in urban renewal. It’s hard to […]

A NEW PLAN FOR TREESPeople are talking about the new urban forestry commission, which met for the first time on Sept. 11. Commissioner Rianne Hawkins has publicly stated the city has no tree planning. I disagree for the following reasons. First, the city has made a concerted effort to eliminate trees downtown. On Capitol Avenue […]

TIME FOR CHANGE“We can no longer save the world by playing by the rules because the rules have to be changed. We need a system change, rather than individual change, but you cannot have one without the other. And so I ask you to please wake up and make the changes required possible. To do […]

JUST SAY NOI went to the city council meeting where the topic of selling recreational marijuana in Springfield was on the agenda. I could tell from the comments of several of the members that their minds were already made up before the meeting started. All of my comments, and others too, dealt with the destructive […]

WORTH A CHANCE Last week’s article on the Knights of Columbus raffle said the savvy gambler would be better off at a casino than buying into the K of C drawing (“Big money,” Sept. 5). Bruce Rushton quoted blackjack at 0.99 odds (meaning the bettor loses, on average, one percent of each bet) and video […]

BAN DICAMBAWhoever extended the deadline for dicamba application to July 15 should be asked to resign (“Dicamba is proving a headache for some Illinois farmers,” Aug. 15). The Illinois Department of Agriculture has informed me as of July 29 that my off-site misuse complaints for soybeans, trees and health hazards will not be investigated for […]

MEMPHIS MAKES FOR MEANINGFUL CONVERSATIONS It isn’t often that artists are able to use their platform to introduce conversations. Our goal, as staff members of Memphis: The Musical, was to not only tell stories of dignity for black people, but to also provide a story that could resonate with others and lead to enlightening conversation. […]

NOT THEIR COUNTRY In his recent opinion column (“Guns, guns, guns, guns,” Aug. 15) Bruce Rushton correctly wrote, “The Second Amendment needs to go.” It shouldn’t have come to that, however.  It should have been enough to have more correctly applied the amendment and not to have allowed what retired Chief Justice Warren Burger described […]

PARTICIPATE IN ASSISTING THE HOMELESS A recent article covering a proposed Health and Housing Center troubled me (“Done deal? Look before making Ward 2 a dumping ground again,” Aug. 1).  The article stressed negativity and discontent. Homelessness in Springfield is a huge challenge and needs answers to questions and positive clarification of facts. Only the […]