Category Archives: News Briefs

2024 Conservation Cropping Seminar

News Progress Posted on by

•January 24, 2024•

Attention Illinois Farmers: the annual Conservation Cropping Seminar will take place Jan. 31, 2024 with virtual attendance available for a $15 registration fee. The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and soil and water CEUs will be available.

This event will cover how to improve soil health, cover crops, adopt new technologies, improve root health, manage nutrients and provide the latest agronomic research. A question-and-answer session with an Illinois farmer panel will be offered, as well as access to helpful resources.

Topics and speakers for this year include:

Alternative Farming Methods

  Greg Thoren-Stockton, Illinois farmer Read More

Master Gardener Spring into Gardening Event Offers Guest Presenters, a Silent Auction, Sales Booth, and More

News Progress Posted on by

•January 24, 2024•

Gardeners across the community can get excited about the 2024 growing season at the 14th annual Spring into Gardening event. The mini-conference offers expert presentations on industry-relevant topics, a silent auction, and a sales booth to get gardeners excited to “Spring” into gardening.

This year’s event will be held from 8:00 am to 12:30 pm on Saturday, March 2 at Wesley United Methodist Church, 2206 4th Street, in Charleston. Check-in will begin at 8 am. The cost of the event is $25 for those who pre-register and $30 at the door. Cost includes door prizes, resources, and refreshments.

Master Gardeners of Coles, Cumberland, Douglas, Moultrie, and Shelby counties are excited to have Illinois Botanizer, Chris Benda as the keynote speaker. Benda will present topics on Wildflowers for the Home Garden. Native wildlife needs native plants to survive and there is a lot the average person can do to create habitat for these organisms in their yards. Botanist Chris Benda will take the audience on a tour of Illinois by region, highlighting the many showy and interesting wildflowers that can be found in each region of the state. Emphasis will be on easy-to-grow species that are available in the nursery trade. Read More

State of Illinois Combats Human Trafficking and Supports Survivors

News Progress Posted on by

•January 24, 2024•

On Thursday, January 11, the State of Illinois recognized Human Trafficking Awareness Day, part of the larger Human Trafficking Awareness Month, in an effort to raise awareness about one of the most under-reported and under-identified crimes. Human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to control another person for labor or commercial sex act purposes.  Every year millions of men, women, and children are trafficked worldwide, including in the United States and in Illinois. Read More

Know Your Osteoporosis Risk

News Progress Posted on by

•January 24, 2024•

Bone is living, growing tissue that changes as a person ages. Although healthy bone can naturally diminish as a person gets older, seniors in particular are at elevated risk of osteoporosis, a bone disease marked by rapid bone deterioration. 

Osteoporosis occurs when bone mineral density and bone mass decrease, or when the strength and structure of bone changes, according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. Bone is constantly being broken down and replaced. When a person has osteoporosis, creation of new bone cannot keep up with the loss of old bone. Read More

Back Wages Totaling More Than $5 Million Owed to Illinois Workers

News Progress Posted on by

•January 24, 2024•

By Alex Abbeduto

Capitol News Illinois 

abbeduto @ capitolnewsillinois.com 

The U.S. Department of Labor is currently holding more than $5 million in wages owed to more than 7,000 Illinois workers, and the department has launched a new website in an effort to return it.

When an employee is underpaid for the work they do, the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division can launch an investigation. If it finds that the employee is owed money, known as back pay, the department collects the unpaid wages and attempts to distribute it to the employee. 

The new Workers Owed Wages website attempts to connect workers with potential unclaimed back pay.

“As you can imagine, sometimes the workers have moved or their addresses aren’t known and therefore, those are the workers, we term unlocatables, that we search for based on the best information we can. But sometimes we are unable to locate them,” Tom Gauza, district director of the U.S. Department of Labor, said.  Read More

Illinois Ranks as No. 1 Soy, No. 2 Corn Producing State for 2023

News Progress Posted on by

•January 24, 2024•

by Daniel Grant

FarmWeek

Illinois once again produced some of the largest crops of any state in the nation despite drought and other weather challenges last year, according to USDA’s crop production report re-leased Jan. 12.

Prairie State farmers produced 648 million bushels of soybeans in 2023 (down from 2022 but the most of any state nationwide) and 2.27 billion bushels of corn (up slightly from the previ-ous year and the second-most nationwide behind Iowa).

Statewide, yields averaged 206 bushels per acre for corn in 2023 (up 3 bushels from the No-vember estimate but down 8 bushels from the 2022 record) and 63 bushels for beans (up 2 bushels from November and even with last year). Read More

Pay Down Debt, or Invest my Money

News Progress Posted on by

•January 24, 2024•

Cheri Burcham

Extension Educator

University of Illinois Extension

Should I pay extra on my student loan or invest in a Roth IRA? Build up an emergency savings fund or pay off my credit card debt? Pay off my mortgage or put more money in my 401(k) re-tirement plan? These are great and common questions. Kathy Sweedler with University of Illi-nois Extension has written this great article to address that trending question - “Is it better to pay down debt or build up savings and investments?”

Kathy says that like many real-life questions, the answer is not black and white. The answer is likely to be based on both objective information as well as personal values. Here are two ques-tions I suggest asking yourself: “How can you get the most out of your dollars and what’s im-portant to you?”

Best buy for your dollar. Read More

A Look Back…1-24-2024

News Progress Posted on by

2014

Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond held an 18-9 lead at the end of the first quarter against Cerro Gordo-Bement and sprang to a 62-55 win and third place title.

Okaw Valley had its second consecutive victory, a 63-41 blowout of Atwood-Hammond. 

The Arthur-Lovington Knights overtook Okaw Valley in the LOVC tourney opener. The Knights rolled to a 61-37 finish after beating OV 60-25 two weeks prior.  Read More

Annual Hoop Shoot 2024

News Progress Posted on by

Photo submitted
Annual Hoop Shoot
Charleston Elks Lodge #623 hosted their annual Hoop Shoot on Saturday Jan. 13th. The Hoop Shoot is a Free Throw shooting Contest for Boys and Girls from ages 8 to 13. Five Local Winners will be advancing to the District competition in Tolono January 21st. Winners there will advance to State competition at Decatur on Feb. 17th. The winners representing the Charleston Elks Lodge in their age divisions are, 8-9 yr. old Girls Amelia Edwards from Westfield, 8-9 Boys Luke Biggs from Arcola, 10-11 Boys Nate Blaudow from Arthur, 12-13 Girls Kiley Grooms from Sullivan and 12-13 Boys Will Biggs from Arcola. The Charleston Elks would like to thank all who participated and helped to promote this years Hoop Shoot Contest.
Pictured from left are Luke Biggs, Kiley Grooms, Will Biggs, Nate Blaudow, Amelia Edwards.

Things To Know When Your Child With Disabilities Turns 18

News Progress Posted on by

•January 17, 2024•

By Ileana Saveley

Social Security District 

Manager in Decatur, IL

When your child turns 18 years old, they legally become an adult. This is an important time to consider their financial future – especially if they need additional care into adulthood. Here are 5 things that may help you prepare for this milestone:

1. Health and Welfare Decision-making

When your child legally becomes an adult, you can no longer make certain decisions for them about their health and welfare. However, you can stay involved through:

· A Representative Payee: Social Security will determine who best serves as a Representative Payee for your child’s benefits. To learn more about the Representative Payee program, read our webpage at www.ssa.gov/payee/index.htm. Read More