U.S. District Court Judge Colin Bruce has been barred from presiding over criminal cases due to ex parte communications with an employee of the U.S. attorney’s office about a criminal case while a trial was in progress. “This court is temporarily reassigning all cases in which the United States is a party that are pending […]
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Federal judge engaged in ex parte talk
A woman convicted of international parental kidnapping is asking for a new trial on the grounds that U.S. District Court Judge Colin Bruce sent emails to a paralegal in the U.S. attorney’s office about the case while her trial was in progress. The emails sent during the 2016 trial by Bruce to Lisa Hopps, the […]
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Residency? Not so fast.
The Springfield City Council is poised to water down an ordinance aimed at putting city residents to work on public works projects. The proposal before the council would cut fines for contractors who don’t use city residents to work at least half of the hours logged on public works projects worth at least $100,000. The […]
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Campaign for soil health
Farmers and environmentalists stand around a deep trench dug in a soybean field listening to Donna Brandt from the University of Missouri Soil Health Assessment Center. She climbs into the trench, digs out a clump of dirt and holds it up. She pulls it apart; the soil breaks off in plates. Moving a short distance […]
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Twenty-eight years for murder
There were 20 people and five boxes of tissues in the courtroom of Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge John Madonia Friday for the sentencing of Emmaline Osborne, who got 28 years for the 2016 murder of her girlfriend Amanda Kern. By the end of the three-hour proceeding, a sixth box of tissues was brought in […]
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State Fair revs up for 2018
There is a fresh coat of paint on the firehouse, roads have been repaved, flowers are in bloom and the 2018 Illinois State Fair is set to open on Thursday, Aug. 9. Fair manager Luke Sailer appeared at a press preview for the fair last week, touting this year’s eclectic Grandstand concert lineup (ranging from […]
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Sex in prison
A former Logan Correctional Center inmate has sued three prison employees, saying that she was sexually assaulted by a prison counselor, then suffered retaliation when her claims came to light. The inmate, identified as Jane Doe in her federal lawsuit filed last week, agreed to an interview, with her lawyer present, on the condition that […]
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Best Of Springfield Social Media Collateral
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Springfield High students to study abroad
Three Springfield High School students are about to embark on a one-year experience that will have a lifelong impact. Mandy Lynn, Maia Ojugbele and Yasmin Martinez-Powell are Rotary Youth Exchange students who will soon leave behind the familiar to study abroad for the coming school year. These three 16-year-olds will become part of a local Rotary […]
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Interiority gets exteriorized at UIS Gallery
A smiley-face pin balanced on a wall-mounted thermostat; an infant’s onesie reflected in an antique mirror; an office lamp propping open a window shade. The experience of walking through “Interior Space” – an installation which opened July 26 at University of Illinois Springfield’s Visual Arts Gallery – is something like wandering into a stranger’s sparse […]
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A way forward
Throughout July, three prominent Illinois politicians working together as the Anti-Harassment, Equality and Access Panel (AHEA) has been holding meetings across the state in order to engage women in conversation about their experiences of sexual harassment, inequality and barriers to access in the political arena, whether as candidates, campaign staffers or officeholders. The members and […]
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The fourth kind of corruption
Early on Wednesday evening, July 18, Springfield grassroots groups Action Illinois and Indivisible Illinois jointly held a rally in front of 18th District congressman Darin LaHood’s downtown office at Sixth Street and Monroe. The gathering, which attracted around 50 people with very little advance publicity and was part of a national vigil to “confront corruption […]
