City Beat

     THE MOST difficult aspect, in my opinion, of the council/manager form of government, is striking a balance between the mayor, city council and city manager — where everyone stays within the boundaries of their elected, or appointed, offices.      When that “balance” gets somewhat “out of balance” it is not the best of atmospheres for the…

     • SHOCK! I learned just before going to press on this week’s print edition of the Decatur Tribune that Decatur City Manager Tim Gleason had resigned from his position!  (An update about his resignation is now published elsewhere on the site.)         It is no secret there has been a lot of pressure applied…

     It doesn’t seem possible that it has been 24 years since America was attacked on 9/11.      I shot the photo on the front page of today’s edition of the Decatur Tribune, and many others that day as the community came together in Central Park to pray for the nation.      Each year, I publish a reminder…

     This week’s “Scrapbook” feature on pages 4 and 5 of the print and online editions of the Decatur Tribune reads like something out of a Wild West movie!      It is about a running, blazing gun battle between a suspected horse thief and a posse led by the city marshall that was fought in Decatur a…

     When the last class to graduate from Decatur High School gathered in front of the Decatur Civic Center in 2007, as part of their 50th class reunion, I was asked (as Decatur’s mayor) to address the group.      The classmates were at the civic center because it stood where Decatur High School stood when they were…

          The Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police (ILACP) announced the results of the 2025 Speed Awareness Day since last we met.      The annual event held on Speed Awareness Day held on July 23, 2025, was in partnership with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), and law enforcement…

    This week’s “Scrapbook” feature, on pages 4 and 5 of the Decatur Tribune print and online editions, was written by Mark W. Sorensen, the Official Macon County Historian and the history consultant to the Heart of Illinois Community Foundation’s “Untold Stories” project.      As I looked it over, it stirred a lot of memories that I…

     I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that every summer passes more quickly than the previous one.      I don’t know if it is because I get older every summer (birthday in August), or have too much to do when the weather is hot, but I can’t believe that area schools are already…

     The return of the WSOY Community Food Drive will happen on Friday, October 3rd, 2025, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Airport Plaza Kroger on Rt. 36 (1818 Airport Plaza, Decatur).      As indicated in an article on page 7 of this week’s print and online editions, about this year’s food drive: “Macon County…

     My “Viewpoint” column on page 3 of this week’s print and online editions is a little different  as it is filled with the names of downtown Decatur businesses in the early 1960s.      As I wrote at the beginning of that column, I’m not sure that many of today’s residents, who never knew that downtown, realize…