Author: joeward7

Editorial Board
The State Journal-Register

The editorial board of The State Journal-Register offers this week’s Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down:

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Thumbs Up: To initial funding of MacArthur Boulevard improvements.

About $30.5 million, to be used between South Grand Avenue and Wabash Avenue, was identified in the recently released Illinois Department of Transportation $23.5 billion Road plan. Preliminary engineering work is scheduled for next year.

We agree with Ward 7 Alderman Joe McMenamin who said infrastructure improvements would create momentum for the boulevard’s redevelopment. Earlier studies and plans

Brenden Moore
The State Journal-Register

City residents will get the chance to discuss issues facing their neighborhoods directly with city officials as annual ward meetings start Monday.

The first meeting will be held for residents of Wards 5 and 6 at 5:30 p.m. Monday at Hanson Professional Services, 1525 S. Sixth St.

Langfelder said he expected some items to come up at each meeting, like

Brenden Moore
The State Journal-Register

Wild Birds Unlimited has been a mainstay on MacArthur Boulevard for more than a quarter century — longevity that owner Wade Kammin attributes to the street’s high traffic count and being “accessible from all sides of town.”

It is a good place to do business, Kammin said, and there have been several improvements along the boulevard over the years with older, dilapidated buildings being torn down and new anchors, like supermarket chain Hy-Vee, rising up.

Yet even as the corridor has shown these new signs

Dean Olson
The State Journal-Register

With encouragement from two aldermen, the Springfield Planning and Zoning Commission has recommended that the city add two business-zoning categories to the areas in which marijuana dispensaries could open after Jan. 1.

The commission voted 8-1 Wednesday night, with Silas Johnson the only dissenter, to add the B-1 and B-2 zoning categories as suggestions for the Springfield

Brenden Moore
The State Journal-Register

While the debate over now-scrapped plans to develop a comprehensive center for the homeless on the city’s near east side brought out significant divides in the broader Springfield community, a notable subplot has played out in city council chambers as the frustrations many aldermen have with Mayor Jim Langfelder have come out into the open.

Disgruntlement that had previously been

Brenden Moore
The State Journal-Register

Mayor Jim Langfelder said Tuesday he will not veto a zoning change the Springfield City Council approved that would pave the way for a $3 million center to provide comprehensive mental-health, primary-care and housing services for Springfield’s homeless.

Langfelder’s decision may be a moot point, however, as Memorial Health System, a major player in the project, is no longer willing to provide mental-health services as planned at

Beth A. Rogers
The State Journal-Register

On Sept. 24, I attended the Springfield City Council’s Committee of the Whole meeting along with Anita Bedell of the Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems and other citizens to voice our concerns on the recent legalization of recreational marijuana.

Several citizens commented on the destructive cost to society on the use of recreational marijuana. Gary Pierce, a local alcohol and drug counselor, has a major concern for the youth and homeless. He said

Brenden Moore
The State Journal-Register

The Springfield City Council is moving forward with amending the city’s video gaming ordinance after voting it out of committee Tuesday with some slight modifications.

Reflecting changes in state law, the ordinance would increase the number of video gaming terminals allowed per establishment from five to six. It would also increase several fees associated with applying for and operating video gaming terminals in town. It also calls for

Brenden Moore
The State Journal-Register

The Springfield City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to impose a local 3% tax on marijuana sales, the maximum allowed under state law. The tax would be added to the city’s regular sales tax.

The revenue generated from the marijuana tax would be split — half going toward funding police and fire pensions, and the other half to fund economic development projects on the city’s east side.

The council also voted to pass a resolution proposing updates to the city’s zoning code to allow

Brenden Moore
The State Journal-Register

With the blessing of the Springfield-Sangamon County Planning Commission, an affirming vote from the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission last month and much public debate, the Springfield City Council appears poised to approve a change in zoning designation that would allow for the development of a comprehensive center for the homeless on the city’s near East Side.

The project is being lauded by homeless advocates as an all-in-one facility meant to address the root causes of homelessness by offering mental health, health care and emergency shelter services 24 hours a day.

But the proposed site, a vacant building at