COVER STORY
Phoenix Center facing closure
Two years after Sara Bowen-Lasisi began working for the Phoenix Center, she realized the Springfield nonprofit appeared to be overbilling the state for grant-supported HIV testing. But Bowen-Lasisi said the questionable practice was openly admitted and encouraged by the former executive…
LATEST NEWS
Sangamon County approves data center
Sangamon County Board members voted 17-10 to approve a $500 million data center project on April 7, just weeks after…
Marc Ayers to resign from County Board
Springfield resident Marc Ayers isn’t ruling out running for Ward 7 alderperson or mayor in April 2027, or maybe another…
Sangamon County seeks applicants for Mental Health Board
Following voter approval of the March 2026 referendum, Sangamon County is now accepting applications for individuals interested in serving on…
County Board could approve data center 15 days after tabling proposal
Pushback from citizens and threats of voting out board members might not prevent the Sangamon County Board from approving a…
A battle for control
At the March 31 Springfield City Council meeting, several members expressed discontent with what they feel is a lack of…
UIS union begins strike
Members of the University Professionals of Illinois (UPI) Tenure / Tenure Track union of University of Illinois Springfield officially began…
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NEWSLETTER
News
Mass text message
Many Sangamon County residents received a text message around 4:45 p.m. on April 1, promoting the proposed CyrusOne data center…
Sangamon County Board still considering data center proposal
One day after the Sangamon County Board voted March 23 to table a data center proposal, the city of Aurora,…
Historic properties for sale
Historic buildings in downtown Springfield have been put on the market. Several properties along South Second, as well as on…
Illinois Times partners with podcast
Karen Conn was recently interviewed on Tony Stang’s podcast, The Mosiac Project. Stang is the pastor of Central Baptist Church,…
opinion
Letters to the editor
WE’RE ALL COMPLICIT These data centers concern me. The only thing I feel a rational person can do is significantly reduce their reliance on…
Poll: Cost of housing a problem in Illinois
A YouGov poll conducted last month shows Illinois registered voters overwhelmingly believe that the cost of renting and buying a home is a problem…
Why the UIS faculty are on strike
An art professor at UIS told me her supply budget hasn’t changed in more than a decade. She covers the shortfall out of her…
Armory 2.0
How nice to see construction cranes instead of wrecking balls around the Illinois State Armory. Having kvetched for years about its neglect by the…
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Food and drink
Strawberry season
Many may be surprised to learn that strawberries are not technically a fruit or even a berry. Botanically, strawberries are…
The French Connection
One of the most rewarding aspects of travel is discovering local culinary traditions – those storied techniques and heritage dishes…
Two cheers for chives
The past week was a tough one for plant lovers. The first half of the month was unseasonably warm, precipitating…
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Music
Bring on April music
For some reason things feel like they’re moving rapidly right now as we are set up to…
Midweek music muster
Hello everyone to the month of April and all the music therein. We missed making an April…
Music through March
Here we go into the last weekend of March with weather that to say the least –…
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ARTS AND CULTURE
The Drama serves as a cautionary tale, Thrash a silly, welcome respite
Smart Drama a cautionary tale for today A cautionary tale for today, Kristoffer Borgli’s The Drama is a movie that thrives on making its characters…
Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon
SPORTS | Run where Lincoln walked on Saturday This annual event immerses runners in Lincoln history unlike any other race! The race starts and finishes…
Mary Lincoln’s dress of defiance
In May 1861, Mary Lincoln posed for what was likely her first official portrait as first lady with the highly respected Washington, D.C., photographer Mathew…
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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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