•September 4, 2024•

by Cheri Burcham

Extension Educator
University of Illinois Extension    

As the end of summer draws near and schools supplies pop up in local stores, parents and kids alike start focusing on the new school year. While the new year brings a level of excitement and anticipation, parents wonder on how to make the new school year successful for their children. This article by Illinois Extension County Director Karla Belzer explains how to do this:

All parents want their children to become successful, caring adults. Similarly, many parents want to be involved with the formal education of their children. Sometimes, however, they don’t know where to start, when to find the time, or how to go about making positive connections with the school. Studies have indicated that children whose parents and/or other significant adults share in their formal education tend to do better in school.   Read More

•September 4, 2024•

How Raccoons Helped Save Illinois from Canada (continued)

by Janet Roney

If you have not kept up, let’s review the story behind this startling title.  First, gazillions of raccoons live in Illinois, but not many beaver. Beaver fur was in great demand in Europe in the 1600s because French Huguenot hatters had learned how to make waterproof felt out of beaver fur that was used to make waterproof hats for the French army. The health of the French army improved overall. Everyone soon wanted felt hats, and the supply of beaver in Europe dried up. The French and English then came to the Americas for more beaver fur.   Read More

2014

Despite a slight uptick from the last two months, Moultrie County’s unemployment rate in July was still lower than any other central Illinois county, marking an ongoing trend throughout the current year.

Early Sunday morning the Civic Center was flooded when one of the two 90 gallon water heaters misfired, causing steam. This in turn caused a solder joint in the 1-1/4 pipe to come loose and flood the floor in the gym and surrounding area.  Read More

by Cheri Burcham

Anyone that knows me knows that I am passionate about trying to save the monarch butterfly. Their population continues to decline and some of the reasons are preventable. One of them is mowing. I have shared this article before (maybe more than once) and would like to share it again. This article was written by Illinois Extension Educator Christopher Enroth and is so very important in monarch conservation. Christopher says: There is something about mowing that is so satisfying. What is it? The smell of cut grass? Taming an unruly landscape? To me, it is measurable progress. It seems so often that modern jobs give few tangible results. So much of our work is in the digital ether. After a full day’s work, I leave the office switching off my computer, and all my toiling vanishes with the click of a mouse. At home, I seek tasks of visual permanence by working with my hands, cleaning, and of course mowing. The desire to mow often expands beyond the yard as many landowners also mow road banks and ditches. However, the constant routine of mowing is harming the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus. Milkweed is the only plant that monarch caterpillars eat. Milkweed loss is one of the major causes of declining monarch populations.  Read More

•August 28, 2024•

As the new school year gets underway, the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) is reminding eligible taxpayers that they may claim back-to-school expenses for their K-12 students on their 2024 Illinois individual income tax returns.  Read More