City Beat
CITY BEAT: GENERAL PRIMARY ELECTION DAY IS ALMOST HERE!
Next Tuesday, March 19, is General Primary Election Day and there really doesn’t seem to be much interest in the campaigns so far. I’ve been editor of this newspaper for over a half century and over the decades interviewed candidates and covered campaigns extensively. I remember all of those election day…
Read MoreCITY BEAT: DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME AND OTHER ITEMS TO DISCUSS
Daylight Saving Time begins this coming Sunday, March 10. Do you turn your clocks up or back? The easy way to remember is that, in the Spring, when Daylight Saving Time begins you “spring” your clocks forward one hour. When Daylight Saving Time ends in the Fall, you “fall” back one hour.…
Read MoreCITY BEAT: DO YOU REMEMBER MILK BEING DELIVERED TO YOUR FRONT DOOR?
This week’s “Scrapbook” on pages 4 and 5 of the print and online editions of the Decatur Tribune is a look back at what I wrote about the history of milkmen in our community. I wrote and published the articles about our community’s milkmen about 30 years ago when I was able to interview some…
Read MoreCITY BEAT: EFFORT AGAIN UNDERWAY TO ELIMINATE A CITY’S PUBLIC NOTICES IN NEWSPAPERS
THERE IS another push by some Illinois lawmakers to eliminate a municipality’s public notices from being legally required to be published in the local newspaper. The Illinois Municipal League (IML) is advocating for municipalities to have the option to fulfill public notice mandates electronically. “People receive news and public information online or on their…
Read MoreCITY BEAT: ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF IMPORTANT HISTORY THAT WAS MADE HERE
• THE GRAND ARMY of the Republic (GAR), the national organization for veterans of the Union Armed Forces of the Civil War, was formed by Benjamin F. Stephenson, M.D., in 1866 in Decatur. Dennis Jewell authors this week’s “Scrapbook” on pages 4 and 5 of the print and online editions which details the history of…
Read MoreCITY BEAT: LOTS OF HISTORY MADE AT SEVERAL PLACES IN THE DOWNTOWN DECATUR AREA
As I’m walking to the downtown post office from this newspaper each day I often think of events that happened in downtown Decatur’s long history —at the very places I walk by, or on, each day. For instance, this week’s “Scrapbook” feature (pages 4 and 5 of the print and online editions) is about the…
Read MoreCITY BEAT: PEOPLE, PLACES AND POLITICAL TRACES
• DECATUR’S best known sculptor, John W. McClarey, died in a car crash west of our community on January 19. He was 88 years old. Mark W. Sorensen, the Official Macon County Historian who also served with John McClarey on the Board of the Illinois State Historical Society, is…
Read MoreCITY BEAT: SOME THIS AND THAT FROM HERE AND THERE FROM DOWNTOWN DECATUR
• THE ICE MAN — I was one of the crazy people who drove to the office early Monday morning when a layer of ice covered the roads because of the freezing rain. After telling staff members to stay home because it wasn’t safe to be outside I decided to head for…
Read MoreCITY BEAT: STEPHEN DECATUR HIGH SCHOOL’S 1962 STATE CHAMPIONSHIP WAS SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT
I’ve written a lot in the past several print editions about the search for memorabilia from the Decatur High School/Stephen Decatur High School’s existence and success — especially on the basketball court. Thankfully, trophies, plaques and other items from the high school’s past have been located and are being processed and inventoried so they will…
Read MoreCITY BEAT: UPDATE ON INVENTORY OF DHS/SDHS TROPHIES
After going to press with this week’s print edition of the Decatur Tribune I received an update on the inventory of DHS/SDHS trophies’ location from Denise Swarthout, Chief Communications Officer, Decatur Public Schools, who has been very helpful in our search. She sent me the following information Wednesday morning: “Here’s an…
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