Kevin Greene of Springfield still remembers getting his first bicycle as a child. “It took me a long time to figure out how to ride a bike, but once I learned, I never looked back,” Greene said. “That bicycle meant freedom.” Greene, chairman of the Springfield Bicycle Advisory Council, hopes the adoption of a bicycle […]
sangamon county
Posted inNews
Citizens’ Efficiency group questions state fire tax
If you bought fire insurance from an out-of-state company, you indirectly helped pay for health club dues, parking fees and shoes for the Springfield Fire Department. That’s because an obscure state tax routes millions of dollars directly to fire departments around the state each year. The Citizens’ Efficiency Commission for Sangamon County issued recommendations last […]
Posted inNews
Phone a friend
Karen Zangerle dials the number and waits expectantly as a young man answers with a gentle tone. Zangerle explains that her husband has lost his job and the family won’t be able to pay an upcoming utility bill. As the young man on the phone tells her where she can find assistance, a knowing smile […]
Posted inNews
Enos School replacement plan under fire
A Springfield nonprofit is asking the state to put the brakes on a plan to replace an elementary school building located north of downtown. Jerry Jacobson, spokesman for the nonprofit historic preservation organization Save Old Springfield, sent a letter to the Illinois State Board of Education on Monday, asking the state to reevaluate whether it’s […]
Posted inNews
Prosecutor faces voters
Ron Stradt says he’s running for Sangamon County state’s attorney to restore trust and integrity to government. “If you work in the county building, you can get away with just about anything,” says Stradt, who got more than 46 percent of the vote four years ago when running for state’s attorney against John Schmidt, who […]
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Springfield father cleared of shaking infant daughter
Richard Britts of Springfield told the police again and again that he never harmed his then three-month-old daughter, Saniya. “Right now, I know all fingers are pointing at me, man, but I love my baby,” Britts told police in a January 2010 interview. “I would never hurt her like this, man.” A jury last week […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Ghost writer
Local songwriter, guitarist and singer, Tom Irwin, performs a one-night show outside at Theatre in the Park, Kelso Hollow in Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site, on Saturday, July 7, at 8 p.m. Sangamon Songs, the name of Irwin’s latest CD and this program, includes stories and songs inspired by the 1893-94 journal of 16-year-old […]
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Two Springfield couples fight for same-sex marriage
Randy Walden did everything right, but it wasn’t enough. When Walden’s partner of nine years, Curt Sills, was diagnosed with cancer in 2002, Walden and Sills drew up documents giving Walden power of attorney and placing Walden in Sills’ living will. As Sills grew weaker in 2004 and had to be taken to the hospital, […]
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City proposal could spur action on civil union benefits
The City of Springfield is one step closer to an agreement on health benefits for civil union partners of city employees and retirees. A committee composed of representatives from the city and labor unions previously decided to allow civil union partners of city employees and retirees to get city health insurance, but a judge’s ruling […]
Posted inOpinion
Fountain of death
How did that song go again? I had it right on the tip of – oh yeah. “I hope I die before I get old.” Apparently you have a good chance to doing just that if you live in Sangamon County. A health research center at the University of Washington in Seattle recently published the […]
Posted inNews
Not too young to know
At least 21 children between the ages of 12 and 14 had the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia in 2006, according to the Sangamon County Department of Public Health. That startling fact illustrates the growing trend of young people contracting STDs across the nation. One Illinois activist and lobbyist is pushing the state to modernize sex […]
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Plenty of room at the inn
Sangamon County is considering options for its juvenile detention center that remains largely empty a dozen years after it opened. Possibilities include closing the center or remodeling space so that adult inmates can share the building that opened in 2000 at a cost of $13.7 million. “Everything is on the table,” said Mike Torchia, director […]
