I’ve known Dave McKinney, erstwhile Springfield bureau chief of the Chicago Sun-Times, for about three years now. We have lunch now and again. We’ll catch a Cardinals game when I can get free tickets. It was during one of these games that Dave told me about his new love, the woman who would become his […]
opinion
Posted inOpinion
Cue up the calliope. The city council is in session.
By virtue of remaining silent for the duration of Tuesday’s Springfield city council meeting, Ward 4 Ald. Frank Lesko, Ward 6 Ald. Cory Jobe and Ward 9 Ald. Steven Dove proved themselves the smartest of the bunch. There were ordinary people at the confab, but their troubles could wait until the end of the meeting […]
Posted inOpinion
Who you gonna call?
Mayor Mike Houston PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE I went to the Springfield Police Department last week to file a police report. What’s the offense?, the cop at the front desk asked. “Violation of the state Open Meetings Act,” I said. “Who did it?” the officer queried. “Mayor Mike Houston and the city council,” I answered. […]
Posted inOpinion
The benefits of doing business locally
In the smallest towns, bustling cities and everything in between, more citizens lament losing a sense of community and local character. Meanwhile, national chains and online megastores continue gaining market and pushing independent businesses to the margins in many sectors. This trend is considered symptomatic of our loss of community orientation, but could it also […]
Posted inOpinion
The citizen survey beneath the surface
The recently released Sangamon County Citizen Survey offers an interesting glimpse into the attitudes, perceptions and conditions that help shape our local community. Since surveys like this are not intended to determine fact, using the findings to draw definitive conclusions about complex issues is dangerous. But in public affairs a fine line often separates perception […]
Posted inOpinion
Shredgate: City’s actions, or lack thereof, stink
Don’t watch what we do, listen to what we say. That’s what politicians who behave badly would have the public do when the going gets weird. And what the city of Springfield is doing as Shredgate unfolds does a disservice to the word “weird.” What started all this was pretty simple. The city got tired […]
Posted inOpinion
Shell games and FOIA
Thank goodness for the government. That was the way that Silly Pretend Journalists, aka the Society of Professional Journalists, saw things eight years ago when they bestowed attorney general Lisa Madigan with the coveted Sunshine Award, akin to an Oscar from a group of navel gazers that purports to be a watchdog for the public […]
Posted inOpinion
Don’t let Springfield be Harrisburg, Pa.
Harrisburg, Pa., and Springfield have some interesting and frightening parallels. Like Springfield, Harrisburg is the capital city and the county seat. The city has a population of nearly 50,000 with a three-county regional agricultural area of approximately 500,000. Like Springfield, Harrisburg highlights its significance in American history and its economy is heavily reliant on government. […]
Posted inOpinion
Suing the city
I hate meetings. The tortured kabuki theater that is your typical city council/zoning commission/pick-a-public-body meeting rarely sets hearts afire. The script is usually bad, the bureaucrats, inevitably salaried, are always patient as they listen to the elected ask silly questions or loaded ones or no questions at all as they make their way to predetermined […]
Posted inOpinion
Freedom of Information should include judicial branch
For reporters, the Illinois Freedom of Information Act is both a helpful tool and a stumbling block. It grants access to governmental records and allows the public to hold accountable those who run our communities and our state, but it also lets certain governmental entities escape the public eye by hiding behind exemptions and technicalities. […]
