•October 15, 2025•

Halloween is an annual celebration that many children and adults look forward to each year. From the mysterious and the macabre to the goofy and gregarious, Halloween speaks to people in many different ways. And with the opportunity to accumulate several pounds of sugary treasure after a few hours of trick-or-treating, is it any wonder celebrants love Halloween? While Halloween hijinks may be ideal fun for plenty of ghosts and ghouls, companion animals may not be so enthusiastic come October 31. In fact, Halloween can be a source of stress and even dangerous for many pets. Here are some things pet parents should keep in mind before Halloween.

•October 15, 2025•

Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) and Chapter, an independent Medicare adviser, are partnering to offer current and newly eligible Medicare patients free, unbiased consultations on choosing a Medicare plan that best fits their health care needs.

•October 15, 2025•

Mental health and substance use issues are common. Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. adults lives with a mental illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. From 1999 to 2016, 630,000 people died from drug overdoses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Give someone in your community a hand by learning how to recognize and respond when someone might need help with the free Mental Health First Aid workshop offered by the University of Illinois Extension and the North Central Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Center.  Mental Health First Aid is a skills-based program, where participants learn and practice a five-step action plan to identify common signs and symptoms of someone coping with mental health or substance use problems and how to help. Gain skills to feel confident interacting with a person in crisis and leave with resources to connect the person with appropriate care. Topics also include trauma, addiction, and self-care. This training is open to the public and is appropriate for anyone in the agricultural community. Participants will build skills by practicing with real-world, agriculturally based scenarios.

•October 15, 2025•

October is Infant Safe Sleep Awareness Month, and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) is reminding parents and caregivers of three steps they can take to create a safe sleep environment for infants in their care. It’s as simple as ABC - infants should always be placed to sleep ALONE, on their BACKS, and in a safe CRIB.

Unsafe sleep practices are a leading cause of death for infants across the United States, with 126 Illinois infants losing their lives before their first birthday in 2024. These tragic, and often preventable, deaths frequently stemmed from accidental suffocation due to infants being placed to sleep somewhere other than a crib or bassinet; sharing an adult bed; or sleeping with soft bedding or other items in the crib.