Amy Rasing joined the city’s Office of Planning and Economic Development in 2023 as a grant manager. In December, Mayor Misty Buscher nominated her as the new director of OPED, and her appointment was confirmed Jan. 7 by the Springfield City Council. She has worked more than 30 years in nonprofit agencies on the local, […]
David Blanchette
David Blanchette has been involved in journalism since 1979, first as an award-winning broadcaster, then a state government spokesperson, and now as a freelance writer and photographer. He was involved in the development of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and more recently the Jacksonville Area Museum. David and his wife, Sue, live in Petersburg.
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Q&A with Molly Berns
Molly Berns is a Sangamon County native who is retiring this month as executive director of the Springfield-Sangamon County Regional Planning Commission. She joined the SSCRPC in 2008 as the senior planner for land use and was promoted to her current position in 2018. Berns has a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s degree […]
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50 years of Massie Massie & Associates
Kent and Sue Massie found a surprise when they designed and oversaw the renovation of the Lincoln Park lagoon in Springfield. “We needed to excavate the ponds because they were filled with silt, and we discovered old bicycles and park light fixtures at the bottom of the lagoon,” Sue said. “The old light fixtures had […]
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UIS Performing Arts Center to close temporarily
Sangamon Auditorium and the UIS Studio Theatre, housed within University of Illinois Springfield’s Public Affairs Center building, will temporarily close starting in June 2025 for an extensive, state-funded, 15-month plumbing improvement project that will address ongoing issues with the facility’s 50-year-old infrastructure. Plans call for the auditorium and theater to reopen following the completion of […]
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Asking the public for help
Several local small businesses, faced with plummeting sales entering this holiday season due to unforeseen circumstances, have turned to a new method of keeping the doors open – pleas for help from the public. A growing number of small business owners have recently posted heartfelt pleas on social media about not being able to pay […]
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Q&A with Brian Barstead
Brian Barstead graduated from Illinois State University with a bachelor’s degree in medical technology and biology and initially worked for HSHS St. John’s Hospital in hematology. He met his wife Nancy there, and the couple has now been married 41 years. They reside in Rochester and have one adult son, Alex. After receiving an MBA […]
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Nickey Sperry teams up with Jim Wilson
Jim Wilson Interiors of Springfield is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, and its namesake says he never tires of seeing an interior design project come to fruition. “It’s a great feeling, it’s extremely fun to see something come to be that you have been working on,” Jim Wilson said. “From taking flooring and fabric […]
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Tiny houses, big controversy
Tiny homes have generated big discussion recently as the Springfield City Council tries to decide if it should provide financial backing for a resource center that would serve a planned east-side housing development for homeless veterans. As of press time the proposal by the city to commit $400,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant funds […]
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Q&A With Geoff Isringhausen
A Springfield native, Geoff Isringhausen is the dealer principal for Isringhausen Imports, a family-owned business located just a few blocks from where he was raised. He graduated from University of Illinois in 1982 with a degree in mechanical engineering and worked for a petroleum pipeline company in Atlanta before joining his brother, Rob, who had […]
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Q&A with Dan Mahony
Dan Mahony is originally from New Jersey and worked for higher educational institutions in South Carolina, Ohio and Kentucky before becoming president of the Southern Illinois University System in March 2020. He began his career in public accounting and later worked in intercollegiate athletics before holding faculty and administrative positions. He and his wife, Laura, […]
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Q&A With Bruce Sommer
Where were you born and raised, and what was your first job? I was born and raised in Springfield, and technically my first job was when I was 9 years old, emptying garbage cans at the family business. My first job after college was as an accountant at Boulder Medical Center in Boulder, Colo. How […]
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Del’s Popcorn Shop still popping after 90 years
Del’s Popcorn Shop is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year by taking its trademark popcorn and sweet concoctions to an ever-expanding global fan base, and the Springfield Del’s location is expanding to handle the additional demand. “Last December we became one of the top-selling products on Amazon in the popcorn category,” said Del’s chief operating […]