“There has to be community engagement on the sale of this campus,” said Ward Five alderman Andrew Proctor at a public meeting held Monday, July 16, regarding the sale of Springfield’s sprawling branch campus of Benedictine University, headquartered in Lisle. The property has been unused since the conclusion of the 2018 spring semester and the […]
News
Posted inNews
It’s a bird, it’s a plane…
As birds go, Mississippi kites are not classic beauties. They are gray, like pigeons or seagulls. One of the smaller members of the raptor family, Mississippi kites are, by definition, birds of prey, although they stick mainly to June bugs and other insects. Be careful: The birds are known for swooping down, dive-bomber style, on […]
Posted inNews
Weed better get some Febreze
I’m sober, but my boyfriend smokes pot. I’m fine with that, but I don’t want him smoking in the house. He says it’s his house, too, so I’m not being fair. Plus, it is cold in the rural area where we live and it rains a lot, so he’d have to put on a jacket, […]
Posted inNews
Council rejects library camping ban
Fifteen years after the city declared a goal of ending homelessness in a decade, Springfield still has plenty of homeless people but no solid plan to address the issue. The latest proposal by Mayor Jim Langfelder failed Tuesday as the city council in a 5-5 vote rejected his plea to close library grounds after hours […]
Posted inNews
Hundreds rally for immigrant families
Under a blazing sun at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 30, approximately 500 people gathered at the Old State Capitol plaza for a rally in opposition to current federal immigration policy. Part of a coordinated nationwide effort and organized locally by nonprofit organization Action Illinois, the speakers at Springfield’s rally mainly commented on the recent family […]
Posted inNews
Grant marches from Springfield Thursday night
A bookstore in downtown Springfield aims to educate visitors on the vital role Illinois played in the Civil War. Every Thursday night during the summer, Books on the Square, 427 E. Washington St., presents “Illinois and the Civil War.” A host of authors, scholars and historians conduct seminars analyzing Illinoisans who shaped the outcome of […]
Posted inNews
HISO Music is moving on up
Since 2014, Springfield-based multiple-platform entertainment conglomerate HISO Music has been building its business steadily, to the point where it has started to feel growing pains. Now the company is preparing to open a new, self-contained complex at 1401 S. Fifth St.The brainchild of relentlessly energetic and positive 28-year-old CEO Ayo Abitogun (see “The business of […]
Posted inNews
ALPLM foundation sells Monroe memorabilia
A dress once worn by Marilyn Monroe fetched $50,000 last Saturday as the struggling Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation sold eight non-Lincoln items at a Las Vegas auction. Seven photographs of Monroe with Carl Sandburg collectively brought $15,000. A Sandburg bust proved exactly that and remains the property of the foundation, having failed to attract […]
Posted inNews
Civil War Thursday nights
A bookstore in downtown Springfield aims to educate visitors on the vital role Illinois played in the Civil War. Every Thursday night during the summer, Books on the Square, 427 E. Washington St., presents “Illinois and the Civil War.” A host of authors, scholars and historians will conduct seminars analyzing Illinoisans who shaped the outcome […]
Posted inNews
State’s top Lincoln expert on shelf
Astute observers may have wondered why Samuel Wheeler, Illinois state historian, was the one who showed off Lincoln relics to a reporter in a recent CBS News spot that ran coast-to-coast, putting the fundraising travails of the presidential museum’s private foundation in the national spotlight. Isn’t that a job reserved for James Cornelius, curator of […]
Posted inNews
Phishing for cash?
A New Jersey pharmacy has sued a Springfield payment processing firm and its owner, claiming that she either stole more than $5 million or bought into a phishing scheme that resulted in a seven-figure loss. While her attorney disputes both the theft accusation and the size of the loss alleged by Empire Specialty Pharmacy, Debbie […]
Posted inNews
Making Springfield a stop on the monarch migration
One of the first reported sightings of a monarch butterfly in the Springfield area was on May 9, according to the website Journey North. The first monarchs usually arrive in April and May. Beginning in February, monarchs – which weigh no more than a paper clip – begin an amazing 3,000-mile journey northward from their […]
