The Phoenix Center invites the community to a weekend of celebration in honor of what would have been activist Marsha P. Johnson’s 80th birthday. The festivities include a fundraiser dance party, an afterparty and a free film screening, all paying tribute to the life and legacy of one of the most iconic figures in LGBTQ+ […]
Newsletter – Event
Posted inWatch Public Meetings
Student-led senior safety and city mowing costs
Students took the lead on a project that brought together generations —teaching internet safety to over 125 senior citizens and logging 600-plus volunteer hours. The board also broke down how grass cutting complaints trigger city action, why mowing a single lot costs $250 and why the city can’t always recoup those costs. A resident shared […]
Posted inWatch Public Meetings
Superintendent retirement and search process unveiled
: Big changes ahead for Springfield schools: The board heard a heartfelt retirement announcement from the superintendent after decades of service. The search for new leadership is about to be officially underway. Here’s what you need to know: – Details on the search process, including how it will be conducted – Information about the expected […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Weapons an unnerving look at missing kids, Red Sonja falls short
Weapons worthwhile despite questionable choices Zach Cregger’s Weapons is getting a great deal of press and it’s easy to see why. Not only did the film bring in nearly $43 million in its first weekend of release, an impressive number for a film of this sort, but its ending has left many viewers with a […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Scrumptious school lunches
Let’s be honest – packing lunches can be a drag. Whether it’s for a picky preschooler, a ravenous tween or just yourself, the daily grind of filling a lunchbox is not something many look forward to. The reality is, however, that eating fresh food prepared at home is one of the single most effective ways […]
Posted inArts & Culture
WWII Illiopolis ordnance plants
Thelma L. Ball, compiler, Illinois Munitions: A News Journal of the Oak & Sangamon Ordnance Plants, 1942-1950, Illiopolis, Illinois. Self-published, 2025. 350 pp., illustrations, newspaper list, index. Illiopolis today considers itself a village, with a population of 846 recorded in the 2020 census. It was even smaller in 1942 – about 700 people – when […]
Posted inMusic
More fair time music
Step right up as we consider the last weekend of the Illinois State Fair for 2025. Take a look around the area and generally go gallivanting anywhere and everywhere we can to search out the music-makers making music for you. With “no time like the present” as our motto, may I present to you my […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Traveling show prepares to dazzle capital city
Springfield, get ready for a circus like no other. Cirque Italia’s “Water Circus” is in town, featuring an international cast and crew of aerialists, jugglers, clowns, acrobats, contortionists and others performing a high-energy show with a custom-designed, traveling stage holding 35,000 gallons of water. The first show is 7:30 p.m. Friday. “We are not like […]
Posted inArts & Culture
UIS launches $42.5M Library Commons project
Excitement is growing at the University of Illinois Springfield as construction is underway on the new Library Commons building. The publicly funded project was made possible by a $42.5 million investment from the state of Illinois. The three-story, 52,000-square-foot building is being built next to the Student Union and is expected to open in 2027. […]
Posted inNews
A civic center for Jacksonville
A Jacksonville organization has signed an option to purchase the historic Illinois Theater building in the city’s downtown and has embarked on an ambitious three-month, $8.8 million fundraising campaign to finance the purchase and pay for the building’s transformation into a new multipurpose civic center. “This civic center will become not only a cultural hub […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Springfield boy places first in statewide photography contest
Ten-year-old Jerry Feng of Springfield took home top honors in the 2025 Cream of the Crop Photo contest, which encourages young photographers to share their vision of agriculture in the state. State Treasurer Michael Frerichs hosted a reception Aug. 8 in the Illinois Department of Agriculture’s tent at the Illinois State Fairgrounds to honor the first-place winners. […]
Posted inNews
Adventure awaits at the Illinois State Fair
“Adventure Awaits” is the theme of the 2025 Illinois State Fair, and that adventure this year includes a few new wrinkles such as a pickleball tournament, craft beer contest and the return of the Budweiser Clydesdales. But it all starts on Thursday, Aug. 7, with the Twilight Parade, and this year’s grand marshal is the […]
