Bonney Hogue Patterson saw her neighbor’s killer twice in the days surrounding a brutal sexual assault and murder that in 1978 shook the town of Marion, where Mt. Vernon native Patterson had moved just months before the homicide. The first time, the stay-at-home mother of two watched the serial killer – at that point just […]
Rachel Wells
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Non-union company wages labor war on three fronts
A non-union contractor suing Springfield School District 186 for rejecting the company’s construction bid last month has filed a second lawsuit over a related matter – this time in Effingham County courts, solely against the Illinois Department of Labor and its recently dismissed director, Catherine Shannon. It’s the newest approach – one of three so […]
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Advocates: States must prepare for Alzheimer’s boom
Springfield resident Tom Berkshire, 68, is married to a woman, 66-year-old Charlotte, who was diagnosed with dementia about five years ago. Suffering from frontotemporal dementia, Charlotte can no longer speak, has lost her ability to understand and, though now losing the ability to walk, was once at risk for wandering. Though Tom is lucky enough […]
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Choice schools
District 186 Superintendent Dr. Walter Milton dreams of a Springfield public school system full of “choice,” with a series of magnet schools, which accept students regardless of where they live within the district, that teach the three R’s with unique approaches and focused missions. To that end, the district opened in August the new Capital […]
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Candidates eager to lead District 186
On April 5, voters in four of seven sub-districts will be asked to choose who they want representing them on District 186’s school board for the next two years. The 10 candidates, all of whom participated in a recent Springfield Parents for Public Schools forum, have varied backgrounds and professions but all say their past […]
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UIS incident involves coach, parent and athletic director
The University of Illinois Springfield’s campus police department is investigating allegations of harassment involving the school’s outgoing athletic director, a controversial coach and a former player’s parent, who is also well known to the U of I system for his activism. All three – athletic director Rodger Jehlicka, women’s basketball coach Marne Fauser and parent […]
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Home birth bill takes a baby step for midwives
Every time Sheri Brinkmeyer ponders having a third child, she can’t help but think that her family’s recent relocation to Springfield wasn’t the best move. She’s afraid the state’s lack of midwife licensure will mean giving birth in a hospital, like she did with her first child when she felt poked, prodded and bossed around. […]
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Bringing back MacArthur Blvd.
The plan is in place, a commission has been formed and an air of energy is all about, but it could be awhile before those driving up and down MacArthur Boulevard can actually see the fruits of a major collaborative redevelopment effort now underway. The MacArthur Boulevard Business Association (MBBA) last week unveiled the final […]
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CWLP readies for greener future
A contract requiring Springfield’s public utility to be more environmentally responsible doesn’t expire for another six years, but local activists are already urging the city and its residents to start thinking now about how today’s decisions can determine City, Water, Light and Power’s seemingly distant future. In 2006, the Sangamon Valley Group of the Sierra […]
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School turnaround
When Springfield Art Association director Betsy Dollar moved to town a little over a year ago, she learned early on of the poor reputation of McClernand Elementary School, the building at North Sixth Street and Enos Avenue directly across the street from her organization’s headquarters. Ninety-four percent of the school’s students are considered low-income, about […]
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All but married
As Susan Frain and Susan Faupel sit next to each other discussing civil unions, civil rights and the basic notions of partnership and commitment, they laugh, they listen and they remember the other’s part in past dialogues played out over the course of their 23-year relationship. Intellectual equals with similar liberal notions and anti-establishment ideals, […]
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Now, how about equal rights for singles?
Illinois’ civil union law undeniably brings a greater sense of equality between same-sex couples and married couples. That’s a good thing – love is love, and if married couples get hundreds of benefits and protections, same-sex couples should have that opportunity too. But now that the law has passed, it’s time to look beyond what […]
