•April 2, 2025•
Sports card and memorabilia dealers and collectors will be at the Decatur Civic Center, 1 Gary Anderson Plaza, Decatur. on April 12 from 9am-3pm for the second annual “Play ball! Sports card and memorabilia show.” History of the Heartland is sponsoring the event. Admission is free.
by Cheri Burcham
Extension Educator
U of I Extension
Several of our family life educators including Emily Harmon have become certified in teaching Tai chi and have been offering classes. Emily has written this article to explain the benefits. She says: “Tai chi is the practice of slow, gentle movements while having a meditative state of mind and mindful breathing. This form of exercise has been found to be a safe exercise because of the slow, gentle movements. Tai chi was originally founded in China, but you can see it being done worldwide today.”
I’m sure I am like many of you who have seen tai chi being done by others, or maybe you have even done it yourself. It was honestly something I was never interested in for one reason or another. Last summer, a group of Extension Educators were trained in Tai Chi for Arthritis and Fall Prevention. This was completely out of my comfort zone but something I wanted to push myself to do. Going through the training, I learned that this isn’t a high-intensity exercise, like doing a set of high jumps. Just like the definition of tai chi says, it is a very mindful exercise that incorporates your whole mind, body, and soul.
Read MoreScholarships for students in 10-county region
Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Foundation raised nearly $30,000 at the 41st annual Cheers! event to support the SBL Volunteer Guild Scholarship Program.
Cheers!, a high-energy cocktail party, was held March 1st at the Foxmore in Shelbyville featuring the band 8South to nearly 300 in attendance. The event also hosted a Texas Hold‘em style Poker Tournament which had 31 participants. This year’s grand prize winner, Eric Hutchinson, who won 4 Green seat Cardinals Baseball tickets valued at $1,500, donated by Roy Schmidt Honda. Winner of the raffle prizes were: Jenna Vogel, who won a pair of diamond earrings valued at $2,000, donated by Towne Square Jewelers; and Adam Lehman who won a Nashville, TN package including a two-night stay at the Graduate Hotel, valued at $650.
Read More•April 2, 2025•
Lake Land College is offering a new, flexible program format for all Heating, Ventilating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration (HVAC-R) classes.
Under the new format, HVAC-R classes start every three to four weeks, allowing students to begin at nearly any time rather than having to wait for a new semester. All classes are held in the evening to accommodate students’ work schedules.
Read More•April 2, 2025•
HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital is expanding its out-patient laboratory hours to provide greater convenience and accessibility for patients. The new hours, now in effect, offer early morning, extended evening, and weekend availability, making St. Mary’s the only facility in Decatur to provide after-hours outpatient laboratory services. The new outpatient laboratory service hours are Monday - Friday from 5:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday from 7:00 to 11:00 a.m.
Read MoreLetter to the Editor
Sometimes we find a pearl of wisdom in an unlikely spot. Ed Dunphy, a familiar name in the Illinois ag community, often told an amusing story that offers this. He has been gone for a number of years, but his story is worth repeating.
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by Tammie Sloup
FarmWeek
Applications are open for a piece of $10 billion in economic assistance available through a new USDA program. The Emergency Commodity Assistance Program (ECAP) provides payments to help farmers mitigate high input costs and low commodity prices from the 2024 crop year.
Authorized by the American Relief Act of 2025, payments are based on planted and prevented planted crop acres for eligible commodities. To streamline the process, Farm Service Agency (FSA) will begin sending pre-filled applications to farmers who submitted acreage reports to FSA for 2024 eligible ECAP commodities. However, farmers do not have to wait for their pre-filled ECAP application to apply and can visit fsa.usda.gov/ecap to apply using a login.gov account or contact their local FSA office to request an application.
Read MoreOnline auction runs through April 6th
•April 2, 2025•
An 1881 U.S. $10 gold coin, an 18-karat yellow gold chain link bracelet, and a baseball card with a piece of Joe DiMaggio’s bat are among the unclaimed property items being auctioned online through April 6. The spring online auc-tion includes vintage pocket watches, currency notes from various countries, and (25) 1 oz., .999 fine silver rounds.
“Our online auction is open to everyone, not just collectors. It’s a convenient way for people to shop for their personal collection or find a one-of-a-kind gift, like a piece of a Joe DiMaggio baseball bat,” said Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs, whose office oversees unclaimed property in Illinois.
A total of 100 lots will be auctioned, some featuring multiple items. To view auction items, go to the catalog on the HiBid website: https://hibid.com/catalog/627601/lincoln-auction--illinois-state-treasurer-unclaimed-property .
Read More•April 2, 2025•
The Sullivan mens track team dominated the six team meet they hosted last Wednesday night, finishing 48.5 points ahead of second place Villa Grove. Redskin Mason Booker was a standout as he reset his own school record in the 110m hurdles with a time of 15.89. The following Redskin athletes earned points.
Mason Booker: 2nd 110m Hurdles, 2nd 100m
Colt Wilson: 6th 100m
Deaiden Arnold: 1st 200m, 3rd Long Jump
Rhett Lehman: 2nd 400m
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