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EnglishWhat Sections and Features Are Available on the Illinois Times Website?
Updated
Illinois Times (illinoistimes.com) is Springfield's local source for news, politics, arts, entertainment, and culture. Its homepage organizes content into a handful of clearly labeled sections — Latest News, Cover Story, Newsletter, News, and Trending — plus a broader menu of topic categories and a newsletter signup. Use this guide to find the section you need without scrolling blindly.
Main homepage sections
| Section | What you'll find there |
|---|---|
| Latest News | The most recent stories, each with a byline and date. Examples from the homepage include site improvements at Town & Country Shopping Center, the Sangamon County Mental Health Board's first public engagement session, and a Get Out the Vote Rally at Union Baptist Church. |
| Cover Story | The week's featured in-depth piece. The current cover story is local election coverage: who's on the Nov. 3 ballot locally, from congressional races to contested Sangamon County Board seats and the sheriff's race, plus an overview of the landlord registry referendum. |
| Newsletter | Signup forms for the daily digital newsletter ("Today's Times") and a weekly events guide ("Events and Happenings"). |
| News | A running feed of shorter local items — candidate filings for city council and the Springfield mayoral race, the LLCC Police Department's new therapy dog, and a city council member's call for transparency. |
| Trending | The stories drawing the most reader attention, such as the Springfield mayoral race filing. |
Topic categories beyond the homepage
The site's navigation also points to these content areas:
- Opinion — columns and commentary, including Rich Miller, a named opinion writer.
- Food and Drink
- Music
- Arts and Culture
- Best of Springfield® — the publication's annual reader-choice feature.
- Previous Issues — archived back issues of the print edition.
Newsletter signup
The homepage carries two signup options:
- Events and Happenings — a weekly guide to what's going on.
- Today's Times — daily headlines delivered by email.
Both forms ask for a first name, last name, and email address. The cover story also invites readers to sign up for the daily digital newsletter "to get timely information about local" coverage.
Supporting local journalism
The homepage includes a prompt titled "LOCAL JOURNALISM MATTERS: SUPPORT THE ILLINOIS TIMES," asking readers to invest in community-focused reporting. This sits alongside news that Illinois Times received a $500,000 grant from the American Journalism Project, a national venture philanthropy organization dedicated to improving local news.
How to use the site
- Looking for a specific recent story? Start with Latest News or the News feed; both list items with dates and reporter bylines.
- Want the week's biggest piece? Go to Cover Story — it's the long-form feature, currently election-focused.
- Prefer email? Use the Newsletter forms for daily headlines or the weekly events guide.
- Browsing by interest? Use the topic menu (Opinion, Food and Drink, Music, Arts and Culture) rather than the chronological feeds.
- Looking for something older? Check Previous Issues for archived editions.
One caveat: the homepage excerpt shows dates in late October 2026, so the specific stories listed above will rotate as new coverage publishes. The section structure — Latest News, Cover Story, Newsletter, News, Trending, and the topic menu — is the stable part to navigate by.