Judy Smith, president of Avenue Thrift Shop, signed up last year for Put Illinois to Work. She trained workers so they could advance to another job but says by the end of the program she would consider the experience with PIW trainees “a headache,” and the source of more problems than she has had in […]
springfield
Posted inOpinion
Death and dishonor
The motives people have for entering the public sphere often are murky. Their motives for leaving it prematurely are usually even more so. Tim Davlin is only the latest of several Illinois public men to have killed themselves recently. Four such deaths have occurred in Chicago since 2007, the latest being Phil Pagano, for 20 […]
Posted inOpinion
Toward a farm-fresh food system
Readers of the brand new Illinois Times might not have learned learn much about who controlled the Illinois House, but we reported so diligently where they could buy farm-fresh eggs that it became a standing joke around the office. It was 1975. Anti-corporatism, pesticide paranoia and food faddism had come back into vogue. We joined […]
Posted inNews
People with disabilities seek independence
Health care reform could be a big plus for the disabled, says one Springfield disability advocate, but only if the state fundamentally changes how it handles those with special needs. Tyler McHaley, president of Springfield Area Disability Activists (www.disabilityactivists.org), shared that message Nov. 16 with the Health Care Reform Implementation Council, a collection of state […]
Posted inOpinion
Warrior days
It’s that time of year again, when youth gangs dressed improbably in bloomers and armed with basketballs rumble at the gym to defend the honor of the Red and Black or the Green and White – or, as in my case, the Blue and the Gold. In the mid-1960s I proudly, if ineptly, represented Washington […]
Posted inNews
The Ambassador of Salsa
Pulsing Latin rhythms echo through the cavernous gymnasium at Springfield College, as a handful of college students take their first few steps into the world of salsa dancing. Some glide gracefully across the floor, while others seem to move with leaden feet, but each of them is smiling. That’s thanks to the magnetic charisma of […]
Posted inNews
Burglary ring busted, but some escape punishment
A local burglary ring responsible for numerous break-ins during the past several months has been busted, but several people implicated in the crimes remain free. On July 23, the Springfield Police Department announced the arrest of five young men who were allegedly responsible for around 100 instances of theft from homes and cars in Springfield […]
Posted inNews
Conflicting stories in fight with county board member
A recent fight involving a county board member at Grand Valley Village in Springfield left one young man hospitalized and in police custody, but the youth’s parents say the police got the story wrong. On Oct. 10, Sangamon County Board member William “Bill” Moss, a Republican, got into a fight with a 16-year-old Grand Valley […]
Posted inNews
Voters to decide on sales tax for schools
If voters next week approve a referendum raising Sangamon County’s sales tax rate from 8 percent to a maximum of 9 percent, it would reaffirm a philosophical shift in school funding already begun by the Illinois state legislature, says David Root, superintendent of Williamsville schools. Without sales tax revenue, school funding in Illinois is based […]
Posted inNews
Traveling gold buyers play lowball
A group of traveling gold buyers visited Springfield last week, raising questions about their business practices and associations with a convicted fraudster. A group calling themselves “Estate Buyers Group” set up shop at the Ramada Springfield North, 3281 Northfield Drive, from Sept. 27 to Oct. 2, in what it called the “original Buying Roadshow,” inviting […]
Posted inNews
A computer for every kid
When a lesson on loom use in Iran unexpectedly transcends into a dialogue about the global equality of humankind, a teacher has to wonder what went right. Layne Zimmers, who helped guide her sixth-grade students through that very lesson, says she knows exactly what it was – technology and the ability to access the world […]
Posted inNews
Former Springfield firefighter sexually abused granddaughter
Her voice faltered and her arm shook slightly as she identified in court the man who touched her inappropriately and betrayed her trust. The 19-year-old college student wiped away tears as she described how, at age 12, her grandfather had fondled her breast after she confided in him an intimate and embarrassing secret. It was […]
