•May 14, 2025•
Sarah Bush Lincoln is teaming up with the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois to host a kidney screening event from 10 am to 2 pm on Friday, May 23, in the Lumpkin Education Center, located in Entrance C at the Health Center.
Read More•May 14, 2025•
The Windsor Storm Library book club will meet on Thursday, June 5th, in the meeting room at 6:00 p.m. Join them for tea and conversation regarding their May selection, “Wild Dark Shore” by New York Times bestselling author Charlotte McConaghy and check out a copy of their June selection, “The Book Blub for Troublesome Women” by Marie Bostwick, a New York Times bestselling author, as well.
For more information, visit their Facebook page, call (217) 459-2498, or email WindsorLibraryJess@gmail.com
•May 14, 2025•
On Saturday, June 21st, at Crowder Park in Bethany, beginning with sign-ins at 10:30 a.m. the Bethany “Bake off” will begin with judging of items submitted at 11:30.
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•May 14, 2025•
by Jody Boulay
As Memorial Day approaches, Americans nationwide prepare to honor the brave men and women who gave their lives in service to our country. Ceremonies will be held, flags will be flown at half-staff, and families will gather to pay tribute. But amid the solemnity and gratitude lies a quieter, often overlooked truth. Many of our heroes return home not to peace but to a new battlefield, one waged within.
It’s a battle that doesn’t make headlines and is waged silently behind closed doors, far from the front lines. Military service members and veterans face unique and profound challenges that can linger long after their tours of duty end. While we rightfully celebrate their courage and sacrifice, we too often fail to recognize the invisible wounds many carry, particularly those that lead to substance use disorders.
Read MoreState lawmakers must curb illicit vape sales in Illinois
In my professional life as a former senior special agent with the ATF and now as an educator teaching in secondary and higher education throughout Illinois, I have a unique view into both the criminal underworld and the communities it harms. I strongly support HB2634 because I believe it is critical to protect our state from the dangerous networks infiltrating our schools and neighborhoods through the illicit vape trade.
From an enforcement perspective, illicit vape sales and associated crimes aren’t isolated violations. They are part of complex trafficking systems that rely on cross-border deception, shell distributors, and digital marketing aimed squarely at minors. I’ve seen these products come through ports mislabeled as electronics, sold in stores without any oversight, and end up in the hands of teenagers who don’t understand the risks.
Read MoreThe Hike to Mattoon
•May 14, 2025•
by Janet Roney
When I was a child, my Grandmother Shuman told me that when my great-grandmother Mary McPheeters Shuman was a little girl playing in her yard, Abraham Lincoln once waved at her as he rode by on the old Charleston Road that passed through our family farm. That story and others inspired my life-long interest in local history and old trails.
In the summer of 1982, I suggested that our family hike the old Charleston Road from our home north of Sullivan to Mattoon. Our son, Clay, was twelve and daughter, Cynthia, just nine, but we were used to short hikes. On nice summer evenings, the kids and I, plus our dog, Ernie Bob, often walked down the road to visit Roger’s 92-year-old Grandfather Hall, about two miles, round trip.
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