LATEST NEWS
Frank Lesko challenges Doris Turner
Frank Lesko wants voters to send him to the Illinois Senate to cut the cost of government. Doris Turner wants…
Phoenix Center investigation concludes
The decision by Sangamon County prosecutors not to charge anyone connected with the Phoenix Center for fraudulently billing and cheating…
District 186 to dedicate academy in honor of longtime educator Mike Zimmers
The J. Michael Zimmers Academy, located inside Lawrence Education Center, will be dedicated on Oct. 22. Zimmers, a longtime Springfield…
Drinks and interruptions: Pritzker, Bailey meet in only governor debate of election cycle
Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker and Republican Darren Bailey spent an hour talking over and accusing each other of stretching the…
COVER STORY
Vigilante justice
Jeff Bast, who goes by Millstone the Klown on social media, says he is protecting children. His online following has brought scrutiny to people on the sex offender registry – and fear and lost work to people around them. Lucy Reid took down the signs in broad daylight. They had been posted around Winchester for…
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News
New bookstore opening downtown
Continuing a local trend that flies in the face of conventional wisdom about physical media, a new bookstore specializing in…
Former Massey Commission members ask police commission to expand its call
It’s been more than three years since Springfield’s Police Community Review Commission reviewed a complaint, and it won’t review any…
Vigilante justice
Jeff Bast, who goes by Millstone the Klown on social media, says he is protecting children. His online following has…
Pinball makes a comeback
It’s a Wednesday night, and most of East Adams Street is quiet. It’s been that way much of the time…
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Previous Issues
opinion
Ethics laws and good advice
The Legislative Ethics Commission Chair said last week that the LEC will meet soon and discuss whether to recommend changes to state ethics laws…
Landlord registry would harm tenants
A landlord registry in Springfield will vastly increase rents for many low-income tenants. Consider this scenario: A man buys a house in 2016 for…
Letters to the editor
NEED A LANDLORD REGISTRY While Molly Wallace was gathering information for her article, there were many tenants and employees who work with or for…
Ghosts
You know how some movie stars are when they try to make a comeback. Yeah, they’re a little old now, and not all the…
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Food and drink
The secret to tender meat
With soaring grocery prices, I’ve been passing up the expensive, well-marbled T-bone steaks for more affordable proteins. Top-notch ingredients will…
How to make homemade caramel
Making scratch-made caramel can be daunting. Between the intimidating prospect of boiling sugar and the risk of it seizing up…
Sweet starch science
In 2022, I worked in the research and development lab at Audrey Restaurant in Nashville. Our owner-chef, Sean Brock, and…
> More Food and Drink
Music
Mid-October music making
As we move away from a warm October and head into more seasonal weather, some cool events…
Hardcore sax and drums
The Get Free Music Series, presented by the Music Program of University of Illinois Springfield, continues its…
Chicago Farmer to perform Oct. 16 at Arlington’s
Cody Diekhoff – aka Chicago Farmer – is a central Illinois-based singer and songwriter. He and Micah…
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ARTS AND CULTURE
Health beyond the clinic: The small conversations with big impact
I have always believed that creating a healthier community requires more than treating illness. Good health begins with the basic things people need every day:…
Life a well-done romance, latest Sense and Sensibility adaptation is flat
Profound Life defies expectations A general description of Rachel Morrison’s Love of Your Life would surely do it a disservice. At first blush, one would…
The circus is coming, with a twist
Cirque Italia Metropolis, the European-centric, aquatic circus, is coming to Springfield from Oct. 23-26 at White Oaks Mall. The animal-free circus features a 35,000-gallon water…
> More Arts and Culture
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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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We are dedicated to giving our readers a source of news and opinions on local politics, communities, culture and the arts. We have the Springfield area’s most comprehensive calendar of events – coverage of movies, dining, music, visual arts and the printed word. We offer stories you won’t find anywhere else on topics ranging from city and state government to marijuana to prison reform to education.
