An apartment fire put Willie Taylor out of his home two years ago on Springfield’s east side and threw his life into chaos. A survivor of two strokes who deals with high blood pressure and other health problems, Taylor, 71, is on more stable footing these days. He attributes the improvement to Derek Rimelspach, a […]
Newsletter – Main
Posted inNews
Protecting properties in perpetuity
The property is accessed by a bucolic, barely two-lane road that winds its way through a canopy of trees, occasionally revealing hardy corn stalks on each side reaching for the rural Menard County sky. An inconspicuous sign near a private residence marks the spot where Abraham Lincoln’s first sweetheart, Ann Rutledge, died in a log […]
Posted inNews
City Council adopts cited property registry
The Springfield City Council passed an ordinance Tuesday night creating a registry of properties with repeated housing code violations. The registry will include rental properties, personally owned residences and commercial properties – but not all of them. This is not the comprehensive landlord registry advocates have pushed for since the council voted it down two […]
Posted inNews
Billboard promoting far-right group Proud Boys springs up in southern Illinois
A billboard rising from a Clinton County cornfield near Breese that appears to be a recruiting tool for the Proud Boys — a far-right extremist group tied to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol — has touched off outrage in the small southern Illinois community. The sign is located at Old U.S. Route […]
Posted inOpinion
Unlikely bedfellows
Some Republicans in Illinois have taken to regularly bashing Republican state legislative leaders for seeking support from the Illinois Education Association, a teachers’ union that has for decades worked to help elect Republicans who are sympathetic to their issues. With longtime wealthy Republican contributors and fundraisers dying, moving to warmer climes and/or retiring, the IEA […]
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Massey Commission strives for long-term change
While Illinois law enforcement agencies will soon be required to ask for, and provide, entire employment records for any applicants seeking to become a police officer, the Massey Commission is seeking to continue its work in order to actualize its upcoming recommendations. The law was a response to the killing of Sonya Massey, who called […]
Posted inNews
Springfield woman elected president of the National Organization for Women
Kim Villanueva of Springfield is the newly elected president of the National Organization for Women (NOW). She is moving to Washington, D.C., to become the paid CEO of NOW after serving in a volunteer capacity with the organization for decades. She previously worked at the Illinois Community College Trustees Association for 40 years as director […]
Posted inNews
Lead lines in legal limbo
Springfield, like so many other metropolitan areas, has thousands of service lines connected to the city’s water mains that are made of lead. While those lines have a protective coating lining the interior of the pipes and are chemically tested twice a year, environmental organizations and the Environmental Protection Agency argued all lead pipes need […]
Posted inNews
Combating homelessness
There are signs of progress, as well as frustration, in the efforts to reduce homelessness in Springfield. Advocates say more work is needed to expand housing options and street-level outreach to help people who cycle in and out of homelessness amid a 40% increase in rental costs in Illinois since 2020 and a lack of […]
Posted inWatch Public Meetings
Landlord registry debate and housing enforcement challenges
The City Council debated a new proposal to crack down on repeat property violators, including a landlord registry and higher fines. Some felt the plan didn’t go far enough, calling for mandatory inspections before and after tenants move in. Others argued the registry is long overdue and should cover every landlord, while concerns were raised […]
Posted inNews
Naturalization ceremony at the State Fair
The Illinois State Fair is home to many iconic American traditions and Midwestern staples, from 4H displays to corndogs and lemon shake-ups. This year, for the second time in a row, it was also home to the American tradition of welcoming new citizens through naturalization. The ceremony fell on Governor’s Day, with Gov. JB Pritzker […]
Posted inNews
Pritzker signs police background check expansion in Sonya Massey’s honor
Police agencies in Illinois will soon be required to do more thorough background checks on prospective officers. The measure signed by Gov. JB Pritzker Tuesday came in response to the July 2024 shooting death of Sonya Massey in Sangamon County by a sheriff’s deputy. Massey had called police to report a prowler and was in […]
