Rep. Michael Zalewski People convicted of low-level crimes in Illinois could soon see less time behind bars, but that doesn’t mean Illinois is going soft on crime. State lawmakers during the spring legislative session approved the creation of a committee to reconsider sentencing guidelines. However, the legislator who pushed the idea says it’s about being […]
Patrick Yeagle
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Inside the Bel-Aire Motel
Joe Landry (left) and Franklin Fite (right) both say the Bel-Aire is their home. They say they don’t want to leave and have nowhere else to go. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE Franklin Fite is a collector. The small, one-room apartment he shares with his wife at the Bel-Aire Motel in Springfield is decorated with Pez […]
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Fracking fast track bill defeated
Illinois is taking too long to approve regulations for a controversial oil and gas drilling method, according to a coalition of businesses. They simply asked lawmakers to speed things up with legislation to circumvent the rulemaking process. The bill infuriated many environmental groups and ignited a flurry of calls to legislators that killed the bill […]
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Medical marijuana rules spark concerns
Speaking from his wheelchair, Dennis Garland of Chatham addresses regulators in a May 21 public hearing on medical marijuana, urging the state to roll the program out immediately. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE Illinoisans want their medical marijuana sooner, cheaper and with fewer restrictions. At a May 21 public hearing in Springfield, several speakers asked the […]
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Illinois almost out of time to get $500 million
If state lawmakers don’t act soon, Illinois could miss out on hundreds of jobs and $500 million in federal dollars to establish a state health insurance marketplace. As end of the spring legislative session approaches on May 31, the Illinois General Assembly is running out of time to implement a pillar of the federal insurance […]
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Downsizing government by ‘smart streamlining’
Illinois has more local units of government than any other state in the U.S., but consolidating some of those units could make the government more efficient. That was the message at a May 20 forum in Springfield, bringing together the Chicago-based Better Government Association and the Citizens Efficiency Commission for Sangamon County. The two reform […]
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A life-or-death decision for Dallman power plants
PHOTO BY RACHEL WELLS CWLP power plant Springfield City Water, Light and Power must decide whether to upgrade or decomission its three oldest boilers in light of changing pollution regulations, and the utility’s decision could affect the cost of power in Springfield for decades. An environmental compliance study commissioned by CWLP in December 2013 explored […]
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Livestock industry opposes feedlot registration
Livestock producers in Illinois oppose a regulation that would require feedlots to register with the state, but a legislative panel appears poised to approve the regulation. The proposal is part of a series of changes to how Illinois regulates confined animal feeding operations, known as CAFOs, after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered changes in […]
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Maintaining the momentum
As Lanphier High School faces the end of a major federal grant, the school’s leadership is working to prolong the improvement there even after the money dries up. Long stereotyped as Springfield’s worst high school, Lanphier has worked to transform itself over the past three years, enabled by a federal School Improvement Grant that expires […]
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‘Clerical error’ means headaches for SIU union
Employees at SIU School of Medicine protest the school’s assertion that they are no longer in the AFSCME Local 370 union. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE A group of unionized employees at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield claims the school is illegally trying to force them out of their union. With signs, chants […]
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A martyr or a menace?
Jeremiah Elugbadebo of Springfield runs Joyce’s Community Home for Adults, two houses for people with mental and physical disabilities. The houses have been cited several times for alleged violations by city building inspectors, but Elugbadebo says he is providing a valuable service for people who might otherwise be homeless. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE Correction: This […]
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Telling their stories
Springfield photographer Adam Smith, left, is producing a documentary film about the homeless people with whom he spent the past three months. Bill Guyer, right, is one of Smith’s subjects in the film. PHOTO BY PATRICK YEAGLE In the middle of the gazebo at Washington Park in Springfield sits a homeless man named Bill Guyer. […]
