COVER STORY
National parks crisis hits home
National parks are facing a triple whammy – underfunding, reduced staffing, and what some call unprecedented federal oversight. Central Illinois is home to three National Park Service (NPS) sites, including the Lincoln Home, and they’ve been affected, too. While effects vary…
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#MeToo at the Muni
Springfield Municipal Opera is facing criticism, resignations of cast members from several of the season’s musicals and a boycott of…
A deflated event
The hot air balloon portion of Balloons Over 66 Weekend in Lincoln, a festival that has been one of the…
New Mental Health Board convenes
Retired Judge Steve Nardulli was elected chair of the Sangamon County Mental Health Board at its first meeting May 27…
Downtown Springfield bill fails to come to fruition
In the waning hours of legislative session, the Illinois General Assembly got close, but failed to pass a bill that…
POWER Act data center regulation won’t move forward this spring
Conversations about the POWER Act, a multifaceted data center regulation bill, are not over yet, even though the bill wasn’t ready…
Session slog ends in $56B budget, new taxes on social media companies, crypto, fantasy sports
Illinois lawmakers approved the state budget early Monday morning after slogging through the night, enacting new taxes on businesses and…
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NEWSLETTER
News
Jury awards $38 million to woman injured by operating room equipment
A Sangamon County jury awarded $38.4 million to a former HSHS St. John’s Hospital employee who was injured when a…
Durbin warns of deep divisions in farewell address to Illinois lawmakers
As he closed his address before gathered members of the Illinois General Assembly and Gov. JB Pritzker in the Illinois…
Illinois lawmakers pass landmark AI accountability bill
Following in the footsteps of New York and California, Illinois state lawmakers passed a bill Wednesday that seeks to increase…
He wants his backhoe back
Mike Eyer has a beautiful spread in Jacksonville at the intersection of Poor Farm and Sugar Hollow Roads. A little…
opinion
Letters to the Editor 06-04-26
GOOD WORK I always knew that The Outlet under Michael Phelon’s leadership would be a success, and this shows that “the proof is in…
Pappas’ megaprojects “study” not her best work
Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas released a “study” last week about the state megaprojects proposal including a new Bears stadium complex that was mostly…
Letters to the editor 5/28/26
We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to editor@illinoistimes.com. NEED MORATORIUM I wish…
Through the looking glass
What follows is a fun story about a city, a court and a cause. I am moved to write about it because it’s important…
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Food and drink
Canned goods for the summer
The height of the summer produce season may seem like an odd time to lean on canned and jarred ingredients,…
Getting sauced: The magic of romesco
I just picked up my first bunch of local asparagus at the farmers’ market. In anticipation of grilling outside, I…
Five simple salad dressings
We finally enjoyed our first homegrown salad this week. Normally we’d have been feasting on greens much sooner, but an…
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Music
In tune with June
Let’s take a walk (don’t run) through our upcoming entertainment adventures for this week in the capital…
Movin’ on from May music
As the merry month of May comes to a close this weekend, we can look back on…
Memorable Memorial Day weekend music
Mayday, mayday! Look out, folks, it’s already Memorial Day weekend with summer time fun just around the…
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ARTS AND CULTURE
Masters of the Universe is fun, Backrooms leads nowhere
Fun is front and center in this Universe Realizing their mistake in passing up the opportunity to license toys for a little movie named Star…
We Are Warped Festival
LIVE MUSIC | Hear seven bands and help the APL, too OK, music fans, here’s your chance to see seven bands in one place this…
Romance Poem
I grew up during WW2 when gas and tires were rationed. A couple times when an in-town boyfriend wanted me to come over, his folks…
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Best Of Springfield 2025
See the results Every year, we ask our opinionated readers to tell us about their favorite people, places and things in the Springfield area. Over the decades we’ve been doing this, we’ve continued to tweak both the process and the results issue to try to keep things fresh and interesting. While anything food-related typically dominates…
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