Thursday, June 26, 2014 12:01 am

About history, so what?

Schools are underfunded and people are sick. You want funding to study the past?

Erika Holst, Springfield historian and curator of collections at the Springfield Art Association, is guest columnist this week while Jim Krohe takes a week off. Your favorite dyspeptic is away this we...

Thursday, June 19, 2014 12:01 am

Board games

Who should control Lincoln’s museum?

By Bruce Rushton

Steven Beckett pleads naive.When he drew up a bill to divorce the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, the University of Illinois law p...

Thursday, June 19, 2014 12:01 am

Lincoln’s extended family

Keeping track of 18 nieces and nephews was a big part of life in Springfield

By Erika Holst

Ask someone how many children Abraham Lincoln had and they are likely to answer correctly (four) and will probably be able to name some if not all of them: Robert (born 1843, the only one to sur...

Thursday, June 12, 2014 12:01 am

The future of power

Electricity may soon get cleaner … and a lot more expensive

By Patrick Yeagle

Climate change is happening already, and climate scientists say the more the globe heats up, the more humans will suffer.Summer heat will last longer and bring hotter average temperatures. Wildf...

Thursday, June 12, 2014 12:01 am

Travel to simpler times

For quilts, family-style food and Amish heritage, visit Shipshewana, Indiana

By Mary Bohlen

The horse’s hooves clip-clop along the pavement, pulling the black buggy in the early morning mist. The aroma of cinnamon rolls and berry pie wafts from the bakery, tempting all who pass by. H...

Thursday, June 5, 2014 12:01 am

Blazing trails the right way

By Naomi Greene

Ever since humans could stand upright and walk, they would create paths to destinations that attracted them out of necessity or curiosity. Except for paved roads, things have changed little in s...

Wednesday, June 4, 2014 09:34 am

SOHO turns 10

Eric Welch’s passion project celebrates music and charity

By Scott Faingold

Twenty years ago, Eric Welch had a vision. “I was 21 years old,” he recalls, “and I’d started going out to the bars and seeing local bands that I was thrilled by. Then I would go downtow...

Thursday, May 29, 2014 12:01 am

In central Illinois, VA means delay

The national scandal hits home. An underfunded overworked health care system needs reform.

By Zach Baliva

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs scandal is starting to hit closer to home. It was late 2013 when Dr. Sam Foote filed a complaint with the VA Office of Inspector General and met with news...

Thursday, May 22, 2014 12:01 am

Let’s go to the races

Sign up for one of these events, then train for it. If you enter, you’re a winner.