We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to editor@illinoistimes.com.
---
SHE'S STILL GUILTY
Katherine Smith set the entire thing up ("Not present at crime, still charged with murder," June 27). She is guilty. Even if she didn't stab him, Charles Manson didn't kill anyone either, he just set up the murders. What is there even to argue about?
Graham Spiff Shipley
Via Facebook.com/illinoistimes
---
NOT GUILTY OF MURDER
One thing people are forgetting, or not even aware of, is Katherine Smith was actually being abused and manipulated by Dayne Woods, (the man who allegedly committed the murder). She is not innocent, but she is not guilty of murder, either. She was a young girl starved for attention from anyone who would give it to her. Yes, she made mistakes, but she was also afraid for her life as well, and people don't seem to even care about that.
Molly Sheridan Hobbie
Via Facebook.com/illinoistimes
---
PREDICTABLE OUTCOME
"But we should make people responsible for what they did, not for unimagined consequences," Scott Main, a criminal defense lawyer in Chicago who sits on the board of nonprofit Restore Justice, told Illinois Times. The outcome was totally imaginable, though. I hope the law stands. Just because you're too stupid to understand your crime can snowball once it's being committed doesn't mean you're not guilty.
Pam Novak
Via Facebook.com/illinoistimes
---
DISPROPORTIONATE CHARGES
I'm the wife of an inmate serving life without parole based on felony murder and accountability, who pled guilty when the state was incorrectly seeking the death penalty. I'm all for being held responsible for one's actions, but completely disagree with disproportionate charging and sentencing of an accomplice who had no belief that anyone would be injured, much less killed.
Linda Weirich
Round Lake Beach
---
VICTIMS' FAMILIES NEED CLOSURE
This article is so skewed toward supporting Chicago Democrats' push for more pro-crime legislation. Shame on you. They have already done too much damage to law enforcement with their SAFE-T Act. Maybe they can pass some legislation to pay all the legal fees for those accomplices. Oh wait, they already do – it's called a public defender. But let's tip the scales further to ensure the victims' families never get closure.
Candy Anderson
Via Facebook.com/illinoistimes
---
BRING BACK SIGNS
The minister, board of directors and members of the Abraham Lincoln Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Springfield have long endorsed steps that honored the victims of the 1908 Race Riot as well as affirming our support for Black Lives Matter-Springfield. As recently as last month, we joined with other members of the Springfield community in a well-attended public meeting, during which we called on President Joe Biden to designate the site of the 1908 Springfield Race Riot as a national monument. Several speakers mentioned how the diversity in the room reflected positive changes within Springfield during the past two decades.
However, the public has learned that the city recently removed the BLM-SPI Way and Reconciliation Way street signs. We recall that Reconciliation Way was installed in 2008 as a physical reminder that our community made a commitment to chart a better course for the future. We also remember that Springfield's designation of BLM-SPI Way occurred in 2021 following a series of massive protests by peaceful demonstrators in 2020.
We are disappointed that these designations have been removed. We understand that Ward 2 Ald. Shawn Gregory is working on a proposal that will restore these signs. We applaud his efforts and trust that the city council will adopt this measure.
Rev. Martin Woulfe
Anna Sabin, board president
---
RETHINK THE PLANS
One very simple improvement that could be done at the Illinois State Fairgrounds is to plant more trees ("Big plans for future of the State Fairgrounds," June 27). Throughout seven different governors' administrations, I have watched the gigantic, old-growth trees on the grounds fall to storms, age and ash borers, and nobody in all that time seems to be replacing those trees. They are what give the grounds their character and the shade people desperately need.
Grandstand Avenue, in particular, is an asphalt desert. While the replacement trees are growing, you could hang shade sails across that avenue from the poles, and the shade cloth could be subsidized by printing ads on them. A small version of shade sails is visible near the entrance to Happy Hollow and looks great.
The illustration seems to suggest they tear out the Food-O-Rama structure to make more unshaded, bare concrete, stamped to look like brick. That's going to be so fun on a 90-degree August day, especially after soaking up the sun's heat for eight hours. And no benches, tables or chairs in sight. You should make the architects actually come to the fair for more than a day before they start planning.
Mark Susko
Via Facebook.com/illinoistimes
---
MORE EVENTS
Make the fairgrounds the center of Springfield entertainment – festivals, art shows, farmers markets, dirt racing, concerts, literally anything.
Patrick Stewart
Via Facebook.com/illinoistimes