The Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln is giving 40 college-bound students in central Illinois a boost with more than $42,000 total in scholarships. The Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln and the Frontiers International Springfield Club teamed up to give each student an award of between $500 and $5,000. The Frontiers International […]
Neil Schneider
Posted inNews
Manure rules
Large livestock farms would have to pay for pollution permits under legislation headed to Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk. The Clean Water Funding Fairness Act, which passed through the Illinois House and Senate on May 22, would force factory farms, commonly referred to as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), to pay an annual fee for permits […]
Posted inNews
Action Now protests federal budget cuts
A group of 15 to 20 individuals and members of Action Now gathered outside Republican headquarters in Springfield May 10 to protest and question the decision making of U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson. Johnson, R-Urbana, who previously had shown support for the recently passed $ 3.6 trillion federal budget chaired by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, […]
Posted inNews
Run to remember a special veteran
When Brian McMillen walked into her office at Lincoln Land Community College in 2002, Jenny Gietl knew there was something special about him. McMillen had just returned from his second year of active duty in the U.S. Air Force, where he was stationed in Saudi Arabia and Romania, and was looking for a job in […]
Posted inNews
Should Illinois release old and costly inmates?
In 2010, Illinois prisons held 223 C-Number inmates who had been there for more than 30 years. These inmates were a part of a sentencing scheme from a different era. C-Number inmates are prisoners who were sentenced before 1978 to indeterminate sentences – prison terms that only specify a range of years the inmate must […]
Posted inNews
How will retirements affect Springfield?
Gov. Pat Quinn’s pension proposal has led to an increase in state employees applying for retirement, which could negatively affect Springfield businesses. According to the State Employees Retirement System, more than 4,000 workers have applied to retire during this fiscal year, which is an increase of 40 percent from last year. Of the 4,000 who […]
Posted inNews
Children’s library is more than books
When the Northside Community Children’s Library opened its doors in October 2011 it was originally supposed to offset the closings of the north and west branches of Springfield’s Lincoln Library. Six months later, the library in the basement of Third Presbyterian Church on North Seventh Street has developed into more than just a place to […]
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Nature’s friends
When the Friends of the Sangamon Valley – formerly known as the Friends of Carpenter Park – was established in 1998, the organization began by targeting one piece of land to preserve. The target was eight acres of land that was to be developed for a hotel, located at the 322-acre Carpenter Park north of […]
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Don’t lie to your doctor
A middle-aged man sits in a chair in a Springfield exam room, facing Dr. Joshua Ellison of North Dirksen Medical Associates, a division of Memorial Physician Services. As Ellison looks through the man’s medical charts, he asks a few questions to get to the root of the man’s health problems. “How many beers do you […]
Posted inOpinion
The new 96th
Five candidates are running, but only one will win the race to represent parts of Springfield and Decatur in the new 96th Representative District. The first leg of the race is the March 20 primary election that will eliminate all but two candidates. To this point the Republican candidates are running a clean campaign, while […]
Posted inNews
Senators say nursing home rule not followed
When Gov. Pat Quinn signed a nursing home reform bill last year, it was supposed to make sure nursing homes had enough actual nurses. Quinn approved the law on July 26, 2010, mandating that nursing homes kept a minimum ratio of nurses to patients. But that hasn’t happened, according to state Sen. Jacqueline Collins, D-Chicago. […]
