Letters to the Editor

A WhiteWashed Past As controversy over Civil War monuments has gripped the nation, the state of Illinois needs to stop whitewashing our own slave-owning past in its official telling of history. Some of that whitewashing tars some of our most prominent public spaces. In 1918, in a stunning display of political and moral relativism, Illinois […]

A DEEPER HOLE I write to congratulate Bruce Rushton on his fine article titled “Can I see your papers? No!” in the Nov. 16 issue of Illinois Times. In a time when libraries are faltering with fewer people actually coming and sitting in a reading room to do research, it is sad to see the […]

ROUND UP FOR HOMELESS A sure sign that winter will be here before we know it was the opening Sunday (Nov. 12) of our city’s overflow shelter.Thanks in part to the many generous CWLP customers who already “round-up” their bills to next dollar, the overflow shelter was able to add 18 more beds and other […]

FOXES GUARDING HENHOUSE In light of the recent complaints or accusations against some people in the Illinois legislature, I was shocked to learn that the so-called Illinois Legislative Ethics Commission is composed of eight lawmakers themselves. The worst yet, the same commission or the same eight lawmakers have the final approval over the appointment of […]

WEAK KNEES CAN’T KNEEL Strong knees bow and kneel boldly for justice. Weak knees will never kneel for justice; they stumble and fall down to every wind and force of power. To be clear, every football player that took a knee for justice during the National Anthem had strong knees. Their knee bowing is a […]

TAKING A TOLL ON ME On July 27, I didn’t have the necessary change for tolls, but knew I could pay for them online. Law requires payment of tolls within seven days. After checking online for several days, I was finally able to pay my toll charges that were posted on Aug. 2. This past […]

PORT-A-POTTIES DOWNTOWN The current introduction of port-a-potties to the City of Springfield and the downtown area originated out of SearchLight: A Beacon for Serving the Homeless Community. Vice President of SearchLight, William Mercer, gave the SearchLight executive board a report regarding an oversize homeless man in a wheelchair. Because of his size and his wheelchair, the […]

  TOWNSHIP SUCCESSESAs the executive director of the Township Officials of Illinois, I would like to comment on the story by Bruce Rushton (“Outdated?,” Illinois Times, Sept. 21). In his piece, he examines the topic of township consolidation at length. The fact of the matter is, cherry-picking townships as a unit of government that should […]

A SICKENING STINK This is in regards to Scott Faingold’s article titled “Humane Society takes larger role in Illinois ag” (Sept. 21). We live in Hancock County, in the small town of LaHarpe. There are several different roads leading out of town and about half of them go close to hog confinements. There are more […]

LOST FAITH IN MACARTHURI lost faith in making MacArthur Boulevard better (“Mixed bag on MacArthur,” Bruce Rushton, Sept. 14) when Roberts Auto was “not allowed” to build there and a Dollar General went in instead. The straw that broke my back was the treatment of the owner of the Shell service station. That was a […]

  CRITICAL OF COALReading the Sept. 7 “Guestwork” column by Rep. John Cabello (see “Coal critical to power future in Illinois” at illinoistimes.com, I wondered if Rep. Cabello was bought or simply hoodwinked. His arguments make little sense. The regulations he despises are there to prevent pollution, not just carbon dioxide. Coal is the dirtiest, […]