Circuit Judge Adam Giganti tossed the county’s first data center lawsuit Nov. 6 before the trial stage, writing that the Sangamon County Board “is responsible for the management of County funds, along with the authority to regulate issues including zoning, public health and building safety, among others.” The July 6 lawsuit sought a judicial review […]
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Feds, state restrict sales of hemp products
Prairie State Hemp is set to close this week as the state’s crackdown on hemp products will effectively kill the business, a store manager told Illinois Times. The final day of business for the retail store in downtown Springfield will be Nov. 11, as the state’s new regulations for all kinds of consumable hemp-derived products […]
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Illinois regulators say prediction markets are illegal gambling, but bettors love them
This story is a collaboration between Illinois Answers Project and Capitol News Illinois. On a recent Tuesday afternoon, at a small, round table in a spacious apartment in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, 19-year-old Oliver Wilson sits engrossed in front of two laptop screens, neither of which have anything to do with his introductory-level molecular engineering […]
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New bank names, branches for Springfield market
A nationwide uptick in mergers and acquisitions in the banking industry is having a visible effect on the Springfield market – with banks changing names and new players coming to town. According to national reports, merger and acquisitions activity rebounded in the U.S. banking market in 2025 after a slowdown in the previous two years, […]
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New hospital planned on west side
A freestanding, 60-bed hospital costing $66.3 million and focused on rehabilitation for people after strokes, brain injuries, fractures and a range of other medical problems would be built on Springfield’s far west side if state regulators approve the plan in the next month or two. The for-profit Rehabilitation Institute of Springfield would be built at […]
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Work underway at Town & Country Shopping Center
Site improvements are ongoing at Town & Country Shopping Center after a Missouri man bought the 65-year-old strip mall this year. Trent Overhue of Springfield, Missouri, repeated his prior commitment to make about $5 million in renovations at the complex on South MacArthur Boulevard in Springfield when contacted recently by Illinois Times. Overhue confirmed that […]
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New building for Mini O’Beirne Crisis Nursery
The Mini O’Beirne Crisis Nursery sits behind a white picket fence in a quiet, historic neighborhood on North Seventh Street. For nearly four decades the nonprofit has worked to prevent child abuse and neglect by providing free 24-hour emergency childcare to families in need. The nursery has been a neighbor to Fletcher Farrar and his […]
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UIS to demolish NPR Illinois headquarters
Plans to demolish the headquarters of Springfield’s public radio station and move the station elsewhere on the University of Illinois Springfield campus will create additional expenses for the financially challenged station but also opportunities. NPR Illinois General Manager Randy Eccles told Illinois Times the move will be a “pretty good result” after UIS officials said […]
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Manufacturing group highlights new UIS degree to support growth in automation
A manufacturing lobbying group made a stop in Springfield to highlight the launch of a new major at University of Illinois Springfield related to the growth in automation. The visit was part of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association’s “Makers on the Move” bus tour that seeks to celebrate October as Manufacturing Month and the growth of […]
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Bus Stop bar back on track after flooding
The grand opening of a new bar at the corner of Fifth and Monroe in downtown Springfield was set for Aug. 28 but had to be scuttled when a water main broke and flooded the entire block of Monroe between Fourth and Fifth streets the night before. Undeterred, the owners of The Bus Stop have […]
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Downtown dilemma in Taylorville
The Taylorville City Council is pushing forward with a planned $5 million renovation project downtown despite organized opposition and fears that disruptions caused by the work could decimate many businesses on the square. The project is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2027. It is to be funded with a $3 million state […]
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Breathing life back into Lincoln
The desire of a Peoria businessman and his wife to live out their Christian faith by helping a central Illinois community in need led to their recent purchase of the shuttered Lincoln College campus for a job-creating lease program. “We want life back on that campus,” John Wieland told Illinois Times in describing the $1 […]