I don’t often look at calendars – so often they remind me that there is an editor somewhere, impatiently drumming his fingers on his desk because the article draft I’d promised him is late. But look at a calendar one must do occasionally, and last week it reminded me that it has been 35 years […]
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There goes the neighborhood
A new playground in Springfield’s Gehrmann Park will serve as an anchor in a neighborhood that is revitalizing itself one step at a time. On Sept. 25, about 200 volunteers converged on Gehrmann Park in the Enos Park neighborhood of Springfield to construct a donated playground in a single day. Featuring what Derek Harms, director […]
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Mother of beaten girl questions sheriff’s investigation
The recent beating of a Springfield woman has the victim’s mother questioning how the Sangamon County Sheriff’s office handles criminal investigations. Violet Procarione of Springfield says her daughter, Connie Procarione, 18, had been drinking, though she was underage, at a friend’s house on July 11 when she fell asleep on the couch and awoke to […]
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Group wants local rail jobs
A Springfield-based community group is hoping to make the contentious arrival of high-speed rail into a blessing by making sure 30 percent of the jobs from the project go to local disadvantaged workers. The Faith Coalition for the Common Good hosted a public meeting Aug. 19 at Union Baptist Church to discuss the coming project’s […]
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Springfield health center expanding
Ask Racine Freeman how long she has been a patient at Capital Community Health Center in Springfield, and she chuckles. “A long time…a long time,” she says with fondness in her voice. Freeman says she also became a member of the CCHC board of directors about a year ago because she wanted to give back. […]
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Sangamon County sells off 109 tax-delinquent properties
An annual countywide property auction last week brought in $40,000 more this year than last, but county officials say the total could have been even more. On Aug. 11, Sangamon County held its yearly public auction of properties with delinquent taxes, selling off 109 properties and raising $95,275 in revenue for the county. Last year’s […]
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Closed murder case still raises questions
On a mild November night in 1993, three young men went into a below-ground stairwell at Ridgely Elementary Schoolm 2040 N. Eighth St., in Springfield. Two of them left on foot; the third left in a coroner’s body bag with two gunshot wounds to the head. The murder of 14-year-old Harold “H.P.” Page III on […]
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Cohen: ‘Illinois needs honesty, not perfection’
Illinois hasn’t heard the last of Scott Lee Cohen. After winning the Democratic Party’s nomination for lieutenant governor in the February primary election, Cohen bowed out of the race, and he is now running for governor as an independent instead. Last week, he met with the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce as part of his […]
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Census shows more minority businesses
When Michael Pittman first began publishing the Capital City Courier newspaper in Springfield in 2006, he wanted to address issues facing an African-American audience – issues he says often aren’t important to mainstream media. “It was something I always wanted to do,” Pittman says. “The emphasis for me was being an alternative source of news […]
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Access 4 could return soon
After seven months of silence, Springfield’s public access television channel may soon return to the airwaves, but the group trying to secure the channel’s future has no means to produce new content. When Comcast cable company closed its Access 4 studio on Dec. 4, 2009, the 70-plus locally-produced shows on Springfield’s public access television channel […]
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Green for governor
If you knew where to look you might have seen him – bearded, bespectacled and biking through Springfield. Looking more like a college professor than a politician, the Green Party candidate for governor, Rich Whitney, spent May 20 through 28 riding his bike and various trains on a 650-mile tour across the state to promote […]
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Springfield minorities stopped more often
Minority drivers in Springfield had more than double the chances of being pulled over by police during 2009 compared with white drivers, according to data on traffic stops released July 1 by the Illinois Department of Transportation. The data come from the Illinois Traffic Stop Statistics Study, which directs police agencies to collect information about […]
