Feature | Wednesday, July 16,2008

A stop on the freedom train

The capital city was an important station on the Underground Railroad

Untitled Document Part of the intrigue of the Underground Railroad is its mystery — we’ll never know the whole story. Its activists tried to keep their w

Feature | Friday, July 11,2008

How the SAAP began

Expansion of rights for criminal defendants prompted Illinois prosecutors to seek parity

By Dusty Rhodes

Untitled Document In the 1960s, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a series of decisions that provided indigent defendants the means to appeal. In Illinois, the financial responsibili

Feature | Wednesday, July 9,2008

Something special

A look at the unusual way Illinois prosecutes people with connections — and the Springfield attorney whose job it is to treat them just like you

By Dusty Rhodes

Untitled Document A Sangamon County public official gets caught in a cocaine scandal. The state’s attorney can’t handle such a high-profile case hims

Feature | Wednesday, July 2,2008

The Bush farewell tour

Will Durst to appear in Mason City next week

By Lawrence Crossett

Untitled Document Will Durst makes his living skewering politicians and showcasing the folly and hypocrisy that are rife in party politics. He does so prolifically through a wide

Feature | Wednesday, July 2,2008

On the beach

The city pledges that Lake Springfield Beach will be back one day, better than ever

By Amanda Robert

Nearly 35 years ago, a young Frank Edwards stood watch over Springfield Beach. As one of the summertime spot’s lifeguards, he su

Feature | Wednesday, June 25,2008

The Rico Act

Springfield’s teenagers say there was nothing to do here — until he came along.

By R. L. Nave

Untitled Document Just past midnight on a chilly February night, Club Chrome is heating up. The nightclub on Springfield’s south side is packed to the g

Feature | Wednesday, June 18,2008

Blood, sweat, and cheers

Springfield's ultimate fighters take it to the limit

By Amanda Robert

Justin Robbins knelt on the living-room floor in his Piper Glen home with his 4-year-old daughter, Sydney. The pair held hands, closed their eyes,

Feature | Wednesday, June 11,2008

The kingdom of the crystal skull

Forget Hollywood — the true story of the fabled relic, and its owners, is weirder than fiction

By C. D. Stelzer

Untitled Document Do you feel the love?” asks Bill Homann. He is sitting in an easy chair in the living room of his modest suburban tract home in Valparaiso,

Feature | Wednesday, June 11,2008

Forget Indiana Jones — meet Illinois Shapiro

A reincarnated Union general’s search for the lost crystal skull of Peru

By C. D. Stelzer

Untitled Document “You have to understand, I’ve been doing this for 25 years,” says Joshua “Illinois” Shapiro, “and for 25 years there were no

Feature | Wednesday, June 4,2008

Who'll unplug big media? Stay tuned...

Yes, there would be a world of difference between President Obama and President McCain

By John Nichols

Untitled Document On a Thursday in mid-May, the U.S. Senate did something that would have been unimaginable a decade ago. Led by Democrat Byron Dorgan, the s