The last F-16 assigned to Springfield’s 183rd Tactical Fighter Wing thundered into the air Sept. 23, 2008, and then circled back over the base to make a final pass. With the plane’s departure at 9:36 a.m., the unit’s 60-year tradition of flying fighters out of Springfield ended.
Tag Archives: Springfield
Day after the CWLP plant explosion
Springfield Mayor Tim Davlin and City Water, Light and Power general manager Todd Renfrow talk about the power plant explosion the day after it happened. The explosion was Nov. 10, 2007; this news conference was convened Nov. 11, 2007.
State trooper funeral
I covered the funeral of Illinois State Police trooper Brian McMillen, who was killed in an early morning crash east of Springfield. The funeral was in Taylorville on Oct. 31, 2007. I shot video, and SJ-R photographers Justin Fowler and T.J. Salsman shot stills. The result was this touching tribute.
Gun buyback results unveiled
City officials show off the hundreds of firearms turned in during a gun-buyback program. Oct. 29, 2007.
Cops get pied in the face
Springfield-area police officers take a pie in the face as part of the annual Badges for Life summer blood drive. Sept. 5, 2007.
An inside look at Dallman 4 construction
Overturned semi
A truck hauling large pieces of concrete overturns at Veterans and J. David Jones parkways in Springfield.
Ursuline Academy named an endangered property
Anti-war protest in downtown Springfield
A group of men and women protest on the five-year anniversary of the war in Iraq.
Puppy stolen from the APL
Sue Pilger from the Animal Protective League talks about a break-in at the shelter in March 2008, during which a sick puppy was stolen.
Polar plunge
I covered the local polar plunge in 2008 and shot video of the frigid fun. You’ll notice there was snow on the ground. This was a fun event to video and write about. I think this is my favorite video of the ones I’ve shot and edited.
The Yule Blog
I blogged Black Friday shopping in November 2008. I’m not sure who was up in the middle of the night reading about all the shoppers standing out in the freezing cold in anticipation of rock-bottom prices on DVDs and toys, but the blog was a hit the next morning once people got up.
You can read my black Friday blogging here.
Throughout the holiday season we posted various seasonal news items, videos, links, recipes and other tidbits at the Yule Blog. We also posted on the blog a fun little idea I came up with and executed with the help of photographer T.J. Salsman. The idea was to solicit from readers messages they might want Santa Claus to recite to their children on video. We dubbed the project “Santa Shout-outs.”
We asked parents to submit their children’s names, ages, hometowns and an item they had on their wish list for Christmas. We had dozens of replies — so many we had to break the video into three segments to make it easier for parents to find their child’s shout-out.
The response from parents was fantastic. Many wrote us to say their children were amazed or speechless when they watched the video and heard Santa with a personalized greeting for them.
The early bird gets the $15 DVD player
I’ve done two stints as The State Journal-Register’s morning-after-Thanksgiving Black Friday reporter, and they probably won’t be the last time you’ll find me shivering in front of Best Buy or Toys R Us, talking to bargain-driven shoppers Thanksgiving night.
I have to admit, though, it’s a pretty fun assignment. Photographer T.J. Salsman photographed the fun and he produced this great video. It’s one of my all-time favorites at the paper.
Early Birds / Some deal-seekers stake out stores overnight to get goods
Nov. 24, 2007Little can come between a serious bargain hunter and the come-hither allure of a $200 desktop computer, an $800 big-screen high-definition television or a $15 DVD player – not a shower of icy snow, sub-freezing temperatures or even long lines.
Let the seduction begin.
Springfield stores were flooded as early as 4 a.m. Friday, as day-after-Thanksgiving holiday shoppers began their search for reduced-price televisions, computers, game systems and other items.
Many shoppers lined up Thursday afternoon and earlier. Some skipped Thanksgiving dinner with family for the chance to land $2 DVD movies and board games for Christmas gifts.
Those waiting in line chatted with each other, made new friends, plotted their in-store strategies, played board games, ordered pizza, drank coffee, talked on their cell phones and shivered in the chilly November darkness.
Like most years, near chaos was narrowly averted after Johnny-come-lately “line jumpers” did what they do best – cut in line.
Some shoppers walked out of the stores victorious and satisfied with their efforts. Others left disappointed and empty-handed.
These are their Black Friday stories.
Best Buy
Blue and gray camping tents. The hum of propane heaters and the scent of toasted marshmallows. People nestled inside sleeping bags and pizza deliverymen pulling up with hot pies.Must be a scene from the local campground, right?
Wrong. It was the scene outside Best Buy, 3193 S. Veterans Parkway, on Thursday night.
“That’s what I’m talking about right there, boys,” proclaimed Greg Farley about 9:30 p.m., as a family member fired up a second heater that had run out of propane earlier.
Farley, his father, James Farley, and six other family members huddled together outside the Best Buy entrance.
They arrived at midnight Wednesday and spent all Thanksgiving Day outside the closed store, waiting for their chance to buy advertised $229 laptop computers for youngsters in the family.
“We had a lot of people pull up and ask what time they open,” James Farley said. “We do this every year. We’ve been first in line the last two years.”
Under a green shelter canopy behind them was a Springfield foursome – Rhonda Royer, Dan Means, Jeff Smith and Deanna Burgess.
They arrived at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, pleased with their No. 2 spot in line, and set up shop: chairs, sleeping bags, blankets, a kerosene heater, a folding table full of snacks and warm drinks and games to pass the time. They erected the tent when it began snowing.
“When I got home from work yesterday … I knew it was going to be 22 degrees tonight. I told Rhonda to bring the blankets, and I told Jeff to bring the tent,” Means said. “Rhonda’s mom brought turkey dinner for us.”
They were in search of Christmas gifts for their children and other items, including computers, a small television, a “Hannah Montana” DVD game, cameras and a game chair.
Chad Walton, a trucking company owner from Springfield, got in line about 6:30 p.m. Thursday and estimated he was roughly the 70th person in line. It was his fifth or sixth year lining up for Black Friday specials.
“I come here every year. It’s the only day I request off,” he said.
Walton was in search of a global-positioning system advertised for $119, a $200 desktop computer and a camera.
“Everybody’s pretty cool out here. If you’ve got to go to the bathroom, they’ll hold your place in line for you. The veterans, like me, watch out for people. The camaraderie’s good. It’s fun,” he said.
“People will drive by all night and laugh and point at you, but when you’re walking out with your stuff, and they’re just pulling up …”
He walked away with everything he wanted except for the computer.
Another group also missed out on the bargain-basement computer. Carmen Jones and several friends drove all the way from Smithville, about 80 miles northwest of Springfield, and got in line Thursday afternoon, confident they would be able to get one of the computers for her family.
However, she said, several “line jumpers” – the bane of hard-core Black Friday shoppers – sneaked in line in front of them, and the computer vouchers were gone by the time Best Buy employees got to Jones’ group.
“I can cry you a river because we don’t even have a computer at home. This was going to be our first computer,” she said.
Gamestop
Nothing was going to stand between three Rochester teenagers and a Wii game system.Elliot Batten, 17, Justin Emmons, 17, and Matt Emmons, 19, for weeks have been calling stores all over the Springfield area – even stores in Chicago – in a quest to track down one of the elusive game systems.
Every phone call resulted in disappointment. None of the stores had the systems. Then they learned Gamestop, 2845 S. Veterans Parkway, expected to have nine Wii systems on Friday.
Eureka.
So the trio set up camp outside the store at 9:50 p.m. Thursday, armed with multiple layers of clothing, hats, a blanket and the determination to power through sub-freezing overnight temperatures. They not only were first in line, they were the line until Friday morning.
“We might be a little extreme, but we’re not taking any chances,” Matt Emmons said.
“Our parents were like, ‘You guys are crazy. Just keep warm,’” said Batten, who was wearing four shirts and a coat. “It’s going to go so fast. This is all I want for Christmas.”
The three teens didn’t think they would have any trouble passing the time; among them they had a laptop computer, cell phones and an iPod. They laughed at the suggestion Thursday night that they might change their minds when temperatures dipped to the forecast low of 22 degrees.
“It ain’t gonna happen. We’re teenagers,” Batten said.
Sure enough, they were still waiting outside the store at 6 a.m. Friday, and their spirits were still high. That’s what the lure of a Wii will do to a teenager. Four other people were in line behind them.
“It was really cold, but other than that it was fine,” Batten said. “We sat in the van for about an hour to warm up. There was nobody else out here, but I was holding onto the door handle ready to jump out. We didn’t feel so bad when other people got here.”
Circuit City
“It’s not so much the heat that gets you, it’s the humidity,” joked Andy Polley, as he and a group of nine others huddled in a circle at the entrance to Circuit City, 3051 Wabash Ave., Thursday night.The large, spirited group earlier had been several smaller groups of people, but once the temperatures plummeted and the snow began falling, they decided to “circle the wagons” in the interest of keeping warm. Four women, also part of the group, huddled in a red tent next to them.
They all arrived about 4:30 p.m. Thursday and were in the market for computers, televisions and other electronics.
“This is my third year in a row. This is my first year buying something, though,” one of the men said.
Polley, 25, of Springfield said the decision to go to Circuit City was “pretty spur of the moment.”
“I just grabbed every blanket and hat. I just called up my friends (Thursday) and said let’s do this,” he said. His hat of choice was a large furred number with earflaps, fit for the tundra or the North Pole.
As cold as it was, the jokes and zingers were in ample supply.
“Some of these guys are just here for comic relief,” Polley said, as some of the group laughed about the challenge of keeping warm.
They ordered pizza, shared warm, foil-wrapped hot dogs, cookies and hot drinks, and spent a lot of time “just talking” to pass the hours.
“Three waitresses from Denny’s came by earlier and brought 12 cups of coffee and coupons for 20 percent off breakfast,” Polley said. “How’s that for marketing?”
Toys R Us
Rachel Bowman wanted to take advantage of the early Friday morning door-buster sales at Toys R Us, 2701 S. Veterans Parkway, but she didn’t want to stand outside in the cold darkness alone.So she agreed to pay her sister $30 to stand outside with her, starting at 10 p.m. Thursday.
“I planned on coming out here at 1 a.m., but the more I sat at home, the more I got nervous that other people were thinking the same thing, so I came out,” she said.
Bowman, who has children ages 7 and 3, said she wanted to buy two MP3 players, a karaoke machine and maybe some other items.
“My first Black Friday time was last year. I went to Target, and that was like crazy, too. I went there at three or four in the morning, so by the time I got there, the line was all the way around the building. People were passing TVs over each other’s heads,” she said.
Shelly and Scott Huckabay have done the Black Friday thing before. Difference is, it was in California, where there’s no such thing as a wind chill.
“It’s so cold,” Shelly Huckabay said as the Jacksonville couple shivered under blankets about 11 p.m. Thursday just outside the Toys R Us entrance. An icy wind whipped around the northeast corner of neighboring Babies R Us and blasted the couple as well as Bowman and her sister.
The Huckabays were waiting in line for Christmas gifts for their 6- and 7-year-old children, including 60-percent-off Microsoft Zune MP3/video players and other items.
Scott Huckabay said they were doing their best to fend off the cold.
“We layered up. We put on layers of clothes. We have blankets, coffee and soda. Yeah, I have my ice-cold drinks,” he joked. “Next year, I’m bringing a tent and a heater.”
He and Bowman agreed there is a great deal of strategy involved in Black Friday shopping – deciding when to go, how to prepare, where to head once the store opens, how to guarantee you get everything you’re after.
“This is war games out there. This is shoppers’ war games,” he said.
Homeless man beaten to death outside library
Lincoln Library, the public library in Springfield, became an unauthorized homeless shelter of sorts the summer of 2007. For some reason, numerous homeless people began spending their days and nights hanging around and sleeping on the sidewalks outside the library instead of at the shelters downtown.
Things came to a head one night in July, when one homeless man beat and stomped to death another homeless man outside the library. I learned that the victim, Timothy Ryan, hadn’t always been homeless and that he, in fact, had family here in the city.
I attended Tim’s funeral and remember looking at all the photographs of him as a child and a teenager, wondering how he got into the situation he was in and thinking about how difficult it must be for a parent to watch it happen.
Homeless man beaten at library / On life support; suspect in custody
July 28, 2007A 45-year-old homeless man on Friday remained hospitalized in critical condition after having his head stomped on, allegedly by another homeless man, outside Lincoln Library Thursday night.
The victim was on life support at St. John’s Hospital, authorities said.
Robert B. Jones, 45, was arrested a short time after the attack.
He was charged with aggravated battery and is being held in the Sangamon County Jail on $200,000 bond.
The attack happened about 8:40 p.m. Thursday on the north side of the library, 326 S. Seventh St. Police have not said if they know what prompted the attack.
For more than a year, the library has been the center of a communitywide debate about how the city deals with its homeless population. A dozen or more homeless men and women have congregated on the property day and night, setting up sleeping areas on the plaza and keeping mounds of tarpaulin-wrapped belongings with them.
Police have received complaints about homeless people pestering passers-by, urinating on the outside of the building, fighting with each other and using drugs or alcohol.
The city this summer began paying for a storage unit elsewhere for the library homeless to keep their belongings during the day.
In addition, city workers began documenting all the homeless people at the library in order to try to help them with such needs as jobs, housing and transportation to other cities.
Sandy Robinson, the city’s director of community relations, who has been involved with the assistance effort, called Thursday’s attack disappointing.
“It’s sad and tragic, really, that we seem to be making progress with these issues on a number of fronts and seem to have outside influences that continue to throw up additional hurdles,” he said.
“This is what appears to be an incident that could have occurred virtually anywhere in the city – two individuals get into an altercation and something tragic happens. I don’t think it has anything to do with them being homeless, but it obviously is going to take on that perspective.”
Robinson said he is familiar with both men, but more so with Jones, who had been scheduled to meet Friday with city employees to talk about housing. Jones was a regular user of the storage unit – he was there as recently as 4:30 p.m. Thursday – and has had some “pretty significant interaction” with city employees.
Jones, who has a regular income, had stayed at one of the local shelters for a couple of weeks within the last month, but then returned to the street, Robinson said.
He said Jones was soft-spoken and withdrawn, and case managers who had talked to him thought the attack seemed out of character.
However, arrest records tell a different story.
Jones was arrested about 9:30 p.m. June 21 at Ninth and Carpenter streets, where he allegedly had attacked a 50-year-old stranger. A witness flagged down a patrol officer, who reported he had seen Jones kicking the man multiple times in the head and body.
When the officer ordered Jones to the ground so he could be arrested, Jones allegedly tucked his arms under his body so he couldn’t be handcuffed. He cooperated after the officer threatened to use pepper spray on him.
The victim said he had never seen or talked to Jones before.
Jones also was arrested May 18, after he and his girlfriend were caught trespassing at St. John’s Hospital. According to police, a security guard at the hospital about 9 a.m. told Jones and Dorothy J. Valentine, 46, who also is homeless, that they had to leave or be arrested for trespassing.
Six hours later, the guard found them having sex in a fifth-floor restroom and had them arrested.
Ward 5 Ald. Sam Cahnman, whose area includes the library, said that while he agrees Thursday night’s incident could happen anywhere, it’s more likely to happen where people congregate, which underscores the need to find a solution to the homeless problem at the library.
Cahnman is drafting an ordinance that would allow a homeless fund check-off on all City Water, Light and Power bills. Customers could choose to have their bills rounded up to the next dollar, and the difference would be used to help the homeless.
“I think there’s been a lot of improvement recently with the introduction of the (storage unit),” Cahnman said. “It seems like there are a lot fewer people out on the north end of the library than there used to be.”
Another ordinance awaiting city council approval would authorize the library to spend $18,050 on 16 security cameras to be installed inside and outside the building, including in the parking garage. Guards would monitor the cameras.
“It didn’t really have anything to do with the homeless, it’s just a security thing,” said Ernie Slottag, spokesman for the mayor’s office. “We have them on the other buildings already, and since the library is part of the municipal complex, it’s only fitting that they have them too.”
Robinson said he believes the attack will prompt some community discussion.
“I’m just hoping that, like many tragedies, that something positive can come from it,” he said.
Murder victim recalled fondly / Hadn’t always been homeless
July 31, 2007It takes a special person to play Santa Claus effectively, but Timothy Ryan had what it takes.
He was cheery and compassionate – a real people person, said those who knew and loved him, including his father.
“I worked for the state, and one Christmas, he came walking past my office into the back area of the building where the state had a print shop, and he walked around and gave candy canes to all my employees, calling them by name,” an emotional Don Ryan recalled Monday.
“When he walked out of the building, he said, ‘Merry Christmas to all, and Merry Christmas to you, too, Don.’ It was three days before I realized it was him.”
Those are the type of memories that are helping Timothy Ryan’s family and friends cope with his murder.
Ryan, 45, died Friday after being beaten outside the north side of Lincoln Library the evening before. The attacker stomped on Ryan’s head for reasons unknown, police said. A homeless man, Robert B. Jones, is being held in the attack.
Ryan, who also was homeless, at one time worked in mail and messenger service for the Illinois Department of Central Management Services and in the duplicating area for the state Department of Professional Regulation.
His father said his son’s death is difficult to talk about and declined to discuss the circumstances of Ryan’s homelessness.
“This is a celebration of life, and we want to talk about the good aspects. That’s the way I want to remember him,” Don Ryan said. “I hope something good comes of it with the library situation. It’s very unfortunate, and some of those people are wonderful people.”
Charges against Jones, 45, were upgraded to first-degree murder on Monday. He made his first appearance in court and did not respond to any questions from Associate Circuit Judge Robert Hall, instead standing still with his head cocked to the right.
First assistant state’s attorney Steve Weinhoeft cited Jones’ 29 prior arrests and eight convictions dating back to 1980 in asking that his bond be increased to $500,000 from $200,000. Hall agreed.
Jones had been charged with aggravated battery, but Weinhoeft asked the court to dismiss that charge in favor of three counts of first-degree murder.
Jones’ last conviction was for misdemeanor battery earlier this year.
Hall appointed the Sangamon County public defender’s office to represent Jones. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 16.
The attack on Ryan happened about 8:40 p.m. Thursday. Police have not yet said what they believe prompted it.
“We’re still trying to determine the exact motive,” said Springfield police spokesman Sgt. Pat Ross.
Sangamon County Coroner Susan Boone said an autopsy showed the fatal injury was to the back of Ryan’s head behind his ear. She said he had no other injuries.
Steve Brown, spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, on Monday said he knew Timothy Ryan in the 1990s from Play It Again Sam’s, a bar that used to be on Monroe Street near the Stratton Building. Brown said he wanted people who may have encountered Ryan to be able to put a face to his name.
“He was a funny and kind of playful guy. Like just about anybody, when he had too much to drink, he could be kind of obnoxious,” Brown said.
“I knew he had taken a turn sort of for the worst, but I don’t know that he ever was a menace to anybody or harmed anybody, and he certainly didn’t deserve the fate it is alleged he was dealt.”
‘Simpsons Movie’ passes go quickly
You can’t live in Springfield without writing at least one Simpsons-related story. In my case, I staked out the line outside the local convention and visitors bureau in July 2007 when they handed out a limited number of passes for a special screening of the new Simpsons Movie opening that summer.
‘Simpsons Movie’ passes go quickly / Each one good for two admissions to special screening
July 24, 2007Adam Stogdell, 19, kept an eye on the office of the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau all weekend, looking for signs of life.
Had he seen a line of “Simpsons” fans forming outside the front door, he was prepared to park and stake out a spot for himself in line.
By 10 p.m. Sunday, however, the anticipation had become too much. There still was no line, so Stogdell parked in front of the Seventh Street office, pulled out a chair and cooler and started a line himself.
“Honestly, there just is not much to do on a Sunday night,” said Stogdell, an engineering student home for the summer from Berea College in Kentucky.
By 8:20 a.m. Monday, a line of 90 fans eager for a pass to see a special Thursday night screening of “The Simpsons Movie” stretched down the street and around the corner.
At 8:30 a.m., officials at the convention and visitors bureau started handing out 75 passes, each good for two admissions to the screening, and 500 special-edition posters touting the film and declaring it was “filmed in Springfield, Ill.”
Fifteen minutes later, the passes were all gone, much to the disappointment of fans 76 and beyond.
“It’s just another in a string of disappointments,” said Eve Fischberg, 49, of Loami, when she learned she and her 15-year-old son, Aaron Staley, had missed the movie pass cut-off by just a few people. Fischberg was referring to Springfield’s disappointing loss of hosting rights for “The Simpsons Movie” premiere.
Springfield, Vt., beat out Springfield, Ill., and 12 other Springfields around the country in an online popularity contest to host the premiere, which was held Saturday.
“We’re the obvious choice. Everyone knows it’s us,” said Staley, a student at New Berlin High School. “We’ll let the baby have its bottle.”
Fischberg said she thinks “The Simpsons” TV series is one of the best-written shows on television.
“At its heart, there’s a real warmth and a decency about it. It’s really wonderful,” she said.
The two, who got in line at 8:10 a.m. Monday, will see the movie later.
Tim Farley, director of the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, said ticket distribution went smoothly, though employees felt a little bad for the woman who was 76th in line.
“That’s the one that was really sad,” he said. “But I think the posters really softened it. They got second place, just like the city did (in the premiere contest).”
By 3 p.m. Monday, 400 of the posters had been snapped up by people who trickled in and out all day.
The visitors bureau received a total of 150 passes. Of those, 75 were given to people who were featured in or worked on the contest video, as well as to some bureau staff members who worked on the project. The other half were distributed to the public.
Matthew Mau, 23, of Chatham got in line at 11:30 p.m. Sunday for a shot at a movie pass and poster. He said he enjoyed being in line – he was right behind Stodgell – even if it was tough to stay perky.
“I actually fell asleep a few times, but they woke me up. It’s been fun,” he said. “I’ve just been watching ‘The Simpsons’ for a long time, and I enjoy it. The movie has been 16, 17 years in the making, and it should be good.”