Articles

“At a time when it’s easy to take a step back, the Urban League is stepping up.” Those were the words of Springfield Urban League President and CEO Dr. Marcus Johnson during a Dec. 2 Springfield City Council meeting. Johnson was trying to convince the alderpersons to sell eight city-owned parcels of land on Springfield’s […]

Illinois lawmakers are poised to make a second attempt at passing a bill that would give state regulators more authority to control the rising cost of homeowners insurance. Gov. JB Pritzker called for the legislation last summer after Bloomington-based State Farm Insurance announced it was raising premiums in Illinois an average 27.2%, citing years of losses in […]

One way Illinois is promoting the development of affordable housing is by giving young entrepreneurs a boost. Fifteen up-and-coming affordable housing developers recently completed the second cohort of the Next Generation Capacity Building Initiative, or Next Gen. The program, sponsored by the Illinois Housing Development Authority and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, is designed to […]

How does a $35,000-a-year profit from a side hustle sound? According to AirDNA, a research firm that analyzes data of short-term rental markets in the U.S., that’s the average profit margin for property owners of Airbnb, and smaller competitors such as Vrbo, in Springfield. That put the city at No. 5 on its latest list […]

The National Association of REALTORS’ economic and real estate summit, held virtually in December, recapped the trends of 2025 and discussed what the coming year has in store for today’s homebuyers. Presenters were NAR’s deputy chief economist Jessica Lautz, who analyzes trends for NAR members and consumers; Nadia Evangelou, NAR’s senior economist and director of […]

Candace Silas is a Springfield native who has spent her professional career uplifting and empowering others. In September, she was named the new executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Sangamon County. Prior to that, she worked at Lincoln Land Community College, serving as director of the Workforce Empowerment Initiative, the Pipeline for the Advancement […]

A law that would make Illinois the first jurisdiction in the world to ban financial institutions from charging “interchange fees” on the tax and tip portions of debit and credit card transactions finally got its day in court Oct. 22, nearly 18 months after its passage. U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall’s ruling – expected in […]

Nestled in a lush, park-like setting in Girard, 30 miles south of Springfield, sits Courtyard Estates, a senior living facility that offers both independent and assisted living and boasts a story that spans 120 years. The origin of Courtyard Estates goes back to 1900, when the Church of the Brethren of Southern Illinois appointed a […]