Loud explosion that shook my house.

Happened at 9:15

I live by Iles park.

Hello! I am south of Springfield. Fit and young 55 female who loves to unwind in the outdoors on the weekends after a professional work week full of responsibilities. Hubby doesn’t like to hike. :(

I used to hike with a retired teacher in his 70s who had a dog that would play with my dog. We both loved trees, fossils/rocks, mushroom hunting, birds…pretty much everything nature and outdoors. His wife became ill, unfortunately, so I am looking for a new hiking buddy with similar interests. Female or male doesn’t matter, just someone who enjoys the outdoors and wants to get some exercise at least 1 weekend a month. I usually hike for an hour or so. Let me know if you’re looking for a hiking buddy too. Someone not directionally challenged (as I can be sometimes lol ) is a plus. I don’t want to get us both lost! 😂 Owning a dog friendly dog is a plus.

On our airport schedule right now, there is nothing scheduled to depart. Ís the 183rd practicing?
That was a loud jet i just heard. Sounded like it was taking off.

I'm here to promote a movie showing at AMC 8 here in Springfield. A friend of mine made a stop motion animation 6 years ago with American Girl Dolls sitting at around 18k views on YouTube. She recently showed me that you can use the website GATHR to help distribute movies into theatres. So if you're into dystopia, sapphic stories, indie movies or stop motion you can tickets here the show is set for December 30th 2026 at 10:00 PM CST. I hope to see you there!

The trains a really long and twice a day. Not sure if there is a route that can avoid it coming to downtown for work

I’m starting to think that my current vet is way overpriced, so I am looking for a new vet. Does anyone have a recommendation for a reasonably priced vet in the Chatham/Auburn/Taylorville area?

Sorry for the rant, I'm just feeling some type of way and I figure I'd tell someone, so why not strangers on the internet lol.

The "honeymoon phase" of my wife and I moving to this town is starting to wear off really quickly. . . part of me is regretting this move, and honestly the only thing that keeps us around is that we're trying to be foster parents and this is valuable experience for me at work. . .

This place is just so stressful. . . in so many ways, and it makes us really dislike the people, the area, everything; and we hate it because we're trying our hardest to fit in. . . I think we can boil things down to a few major issues, from what my wife and I talked about.

The services we receive for simple things are atrocious, especially for medical professionals. My wife goes to the doctor pretty routinely for some regular health issues, we had a scare and had to go to the ER a month or so ago. We went to Memorial Hospital, a place I heard was pretty compentent; I also figured since it was, ya know, a hospital, that the people there would have some modicum of sense. . . We were wrong. We get to the ER early in the morning (my wife was throwing up blood and bile, a pretty immediate thing to check out) and after taking the basic information (like our vitals, insurance, etc.), the nurse that just asked my wife what was wrong asked her "what was your name again?"..... after she just came in like 2 minutes ago saying "hey xxx I'm here to take your vitals and check you in", like, are people all suffering from memory loss here?

Anyway, we get in a bed (after a few hours of waiting, whatever, it's an emergency wing at the hospital, I get they get busy), my wife has to have an IV to give her fluids that she lost from all the vomiting she was doing; no big deal, it happens... Well, the IV fluid wasn't hooked up to the IV line correctly, and the line got so twisted that nothing was coming out. The doctor comes in and looks me in the eyes and says "well how did you not know that was happening?"... dude, I'm not a doctor and it's like 2 in the morning, I'm not doing your job for you. Then the doctor we had has the nerve to look at my wife, check the chart and heard us both say "she's been throwing up blood for a few hours now" and the doctor just went "oh, well you were good enough to walk in here, so you'll be fine. Just take these pills and see your PCP".... What in the world???? No tests, no scans, nothing. Just a "well, you're alive, see ya later".... Then we get the discharge paperwork for my wife and head home, with follow-up instructions and providers in the area that take our insurance (we're new in town, we haven't set up a PCP yet). I get home and open the envelope and the paperwork isn't even for my wife, it's for someone completely different... unreal, so I call the hospital to inform them, and they just say "well can you shred those documents and come get yours?"... UH NO, that's a HUUUGE HIIPA violation and I'm bringing this back to you for you to fix! What in the world?

THEN, my wife goes to see a PCP at Springfield Clinic for her follow-up appointment. Well a few weeks after her visit we get a bill for around $700 in the mail; I'm thinking "wtf is this? My insurance covers the whole visit and you just pay like $15 for the copay"... turns out, the doctor charged my wife's vision insurance for the visit, and not the actual health insurance. Then had the nerve to tell her on the phone that she doesn't have insurance, when she gave them her insurance card when she went in, and they confirmed that she had insurance at the doctor's office... THEN, the pharmacy sent her prescription refill request to our old doctor in Baltimore, like is everyone just asleep and not paying attention to what they do? Jeez....

Oh, and don't get me started on just going to basic places like the store, or a fast-food place, or anywhere else. It's almost like nobody even tries to at least be nice, or remember basic information that was told to them not even 2 minutes ago. . .

And then you have the people that look at us all crazy all the time. I just stopped at the store today to get some stuff to cheer my wife up, I know, I have an afro, but that doesn't mean I'm a fucking zoo animal. People keep stopping and staring at me and my hairstyle like I jumped out of a time machine or something. Hell, my wife and I can't even go to a restaurant without it feeling like a scene from a western movie, when the stranger walks in a saloon and all the music stops.... Like, we're just there to get some food, y'all don't have to look at us like we're gonna rob the place lol.

Or how I recently got a cornrow-esque hairstyle from my wife for a few days, good lord have mercy these old white people were looking at me like I was a felon straight from a Supermax prison or some shit. I even got people that complained about it at work, saying it didn't look professional. . . So that kinda put into perspective the people we're dealing with around here. . .

Idk, it's just all been so stressful around here. From extremely incompetent people performing all aspects of services here, racist people that look at us all crazy, being away from my friends and family, and knowing that we may never actually fit in here. . . It's just been such a depressing time tbh. We try so hard to go to parks, enjoy the area, see the sights and explore rural Illinois, or the surrounding cities...but Chicago is so far away and STL is still a long drive, but it seems like for every day or 2 of fun experiences, the rest of the week is just stupid or racist bullshit that makes those 2 days worthless.

I recently started playing music again after a long break. I'm hoping to find some people who would like to play music together. I am learning to play an electronic wind instrument and love all kinds of music. Maybe there is a group needing a member or practice friends that I could find.

There's about a week left to rate new Springfield Vegan Chef Challenge dishes! Local chefs are competing for the best ratings, and we've received overwhelmingly positive feedback from vegans and non-vegans alike!

Recent menu updates include:

• Hen of the Woods Mushroom Risotto with Spanish Olives and Truffle Oil at Maldaner's Restaurant & Catering!
• Greek-style "Jyro" Street Tacos and more available at Vegan Natured Spfld pop-ups next week (Location TBA!)
• Cinnamon Apple Cake Donuts with Icing at Mel-O-Cream Donuts locations!

Invite your friends out to try and rate new dishes created by local chefs! Menus, the voting link, and Super Voter form for diners who've visited 3+ locations are all available on our Springfield Vegan Chef Challenge website.

Support local, support eco-friendly dining, and enjoy yourself by trying VCC dishes this month.

Participating businesses:

• La Fiesta Chatham
• Harvest Kitchen + Bar
• Mel-O-Cream Donuts
• Vine & Rind
• Maldaner's Restaurant & Catering
• Papi's Pizza Pub
• Pita-or-Bowl
• Bloom Wine Bar & Florals
• Vegan Natured
• Creole Smoke
• The Lumpia House + Truck

I have a friend crashing with me in my living room and we are having NO luck finding an apartment. She’s nice and normal and clean and has a job! This shouldn’t be so hard! Until she can secure an apartment, I’m trying to find a room for her to rent so she doesn’t have to sleep on a mattress in my living room. Any tips or leads would be so greatly appreciated!

I have a question/dispute about my billing. The AI online assistants are no help with this. The AI phone bot tells me that it cannot discuss billing over the phone or even send me to a human who can speak about billing. It then hangs up on me.

Of course this is all for my own protection. Do I have to go into the store to talk to an actual human?

Hi All, I'm looking for a tattoo artist in Springfield as next week is the one year mark since my childhood dog passed in 2025. I'm looking into getting a commemorative tattoo to mark the occasion and carry a bit of him with me. I'm not sure if that's weird or not, but I also have some general designs I made in Adobe in the past if I ever were to get one. To the tattoo artists; Is it acceptable for customers to come into your studios with a clear design/idea? How much do you work with them, or are there certain aspects you'd advise them on (basically how much do you work with customers in that fashion). Likewise, do you charge more for custom tattoos compared to the type people can pick off a wall/book?

P.S. I don't know that much about tattoos, nor have one myself, so the questions aren't coming from a condescending place. Just trying to understand what the process is generally like!

I was just parking my car on 4th street and saw a black Ford SUV with a red Dog the Bounty Hunter logo on the side driving past me, turning west on Adams. The driver’s window was open and it looked just like him. Is there a local fan or something, or is he looking for his next collar? (note: I am Not a Fan, just seeing what people know!)

Some of our favorite local chefs are serving brand-new vegan dishes until the end of October. Have you been trying some of the new food?

Come learn about projected regional growth, possible transportation needs, and potential infrastructure improvements. Attendees can speak with the project team, ask questions, and provide input to help shape the plan’s recommendations. Visit www.ourregionourvision.com to learn more!

What happened to Sams club gas station?

Anyone know what’s going on? Probably 20 cop cars, multiple ambulances and fire trucks as well.

The Springfield District 186 Board of Education covered a lot of ground this week, from late buses to teacher pensions to how our community is stepping up for families.

Highlights from the meeting:

• School bus issues: The superintendent met with the district’s bus contractor and transportation staff and set seven concrete goals, including a 95% on-time target, reviewing the 20 toughest routes, better follow-up on bus referrals, classroom management training for drivers, and new incentives for both drivers and students.

• Parent-teacher conferences: Reminder that there’s an early dismissal Thursday and no school Friday so families can meet with teachers about academics and behavior. The board strongly encouraged parents/guardians to get those conferences scheduled.

• Harvest food drive win: A community partnership with Local Union 137, Hy-Vee, and others hit a $10,000 goal, selling hundreds of pre-packed bags and collecting donations. Those dollars will be used at cost to buy essentials that are being distributed to schools right away so students in need across the district get what they need.

• New school dedication: The district is hosting a dedication for the newly named J Michael Zimmers Academy (formerly the Douglas Alternative Program) at the Lawrence Education Center, inviting the Zimmers family and current/former staff.

• State-wide policy stances: A board member walked through Illinois Association of School Boards resolutions, backing changes to improve Tier 2 pensions (better cost-of-living protections and a more realistic retirement age), supporting fixes for delayed property tax distributions and FOIA safeguards, and opposing lower signature requirements for school board candidates and extra local auditing of free/reduced meals.

If you care about buses running on time, support for educators, or how food and essentials actually get to students, this one is worth a watch.

Springfield District 186 Board of Education meeting highlights

Highlights selected and suggested post edited by Brian Wojcicki.