Auburn rallies for Ryken

Small-town support helps family fight cancer

Probably never realizing how her friends and neighbors would later prove her right, Christy Codron Bailey explained several months ago on the school district webpage why she so enjoyed teaching at Aub

Nurturing natural heritage

Menard County woods, prairie returning to former glory

Five years ago, a 68-acre stretch of land just south of New Salem, with its unique hills and valleys, had one thing in common with most of the rest of Illinois – it looked nothing like what the

RFK Jr. outlines energy vision

Speaking just 30 minutes away from where developers plan a major “clean” coal project, one of the nation’s leading environmental lawyers last week bashed the coal industry as dirty,

Bedbugs are back - in Springfield

UIS incidents prove old ailment back in full force

Once nearly eradicated, bedbugs are back in full force and not just in cities like New York and Chicago – Springfield’s got ’em too.The flat, brown, oval-shaped critters are about a

Plugging leaks in MacArthur’s market

Draft master plan and analysis for MacArthur Boulevard released

MacArthur Boulevard is missing out on about $87.7 million of potential annual retail sales, according to a market analysis performed as part of the corridor’s redevelopment strategy. 

Storm over sewers

Recent flooding highlights Springfield’s infrastructure needs

While relaxing in Florida on a Wednesday in May, Ruth Yu received one of those phone calls – the kind with the potential to destroy even a perfect vacation. On the other end of the line was her

Why are there so few black farmers?

Discrimination case highlights state’s farm demographics

Urging his fellow lawmakers to release funding for a discrimination lawsuit originally settled more than a decade ago, U.S. Sen. Roland Burris last month pointed to the increasingly homogenous culture

Report criticizes ‘clean’ coal plant

Developer of Taylorville facility says legislature already answered the questions

The Illinois Commerce Commission is neither ‘for’ nor ‘against’ the Taylorville Energy Center – officially. But good luck finding anything project developer Tenaska can b

Farmer sells produce online

Award-winner looks for ways to extend the selling season beyond farmers markets

Summertime farmers markets have helped Chad Wallace of Oak Tree Organics prove the worth of small-scale, organic farming. But they’ve also taught him that packing up the produce and putting on t

Why Illinois lost the race

Not enough local support for federal education reform

After waiting to sign on to Illinois’ application for federal Race to the Top funding until after the state lost out in round one, in part due to inadequate local district and teacher union supp