News Progress

•November 3, 2021•
By Cheri Burcham
Family Life Educator

In our area the harvest season continues with those long hours and irregular mealtimes for farm families. Extension Educator Mary Liz Wright wrote this article about feeding those out in the fields safely. Mary Liz says: for generations, families have packed food into their cars to share a meal with those working in the field. We must remember that just as we need to fuel and tune up the equipment, the same thing is true for our bodies. We want to make sure we are giving our bodies what they need---no junk in our gas tanks—this time of year we need the high-octane supercharged stuff!
Here are a few tips to help you keep your family well-fed in this hectic season:

· Food safety
· Bring hand sanitizer and baby wipes for pre-meal hand “washing” Read More

•November 3, 2021•
State Representative Brad Halbrook invites residents in the Findlay area to meet him on November 8th at the Findlay Community Building to discuss state issues and concerns. Rep. Halbrook’s Traveling Office Hours bring his office to communities throughout the district to better assist those who want to discuss issues face to face with him and his staff. Read More

New mandate will cover 55,000 workers

•October 27, 2021•
By Jerry Nowicki
Capitol News Illinois
jnowicki @ capitolnewsillinois.com

Gov. JB Pritzker announced an executive order Friday that will add day care personnel to the list of professions that must either be vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to weekly testing.
The governor’s office said it expects the order to affect 55,000 individuals in the state, although many of them may have already received a vaccine.
“Vaccinations offer life-saving protection for the people who receive them and make the community safer for the people who can’t – including the babies, toddlers, and young children not yet eligible for the vaccine,” Pritzker said in a news release. “By extending vaccine-or-test requirements to those who work at licensed day care centers, we are adding another level of protection for our youngest residents and preventing outbreaks in daycare centers as more and more parents return to work.”
Children under 12 are not yet eligible to receive any of the approved vaccines in the U.S., although Pfizer has asked federal regulators to approve its vaccines for children aged 5 to 11. Children 12 years of age and older are currently eligible for that vaccine. Read More

•October 27, 2021•
By Jim Baumann
NP Guest Writer

What is it with Southern states and double letters? You have Tennessee and Mississippi, for starters, each of which uses just four different letters. Come on, there is so much more to the alphabet!
Consider one of my new favorite towns — Chattanooga, Tennessee.
With that many double letters, you’d think there would be a contraction for it other than “Chatt” and “Nooga.”
Which, of course, brings me to Millennium Park in Chicago.
That’s two L’s and two N’s. Yes, two.
Someone at City Hall, in hastily putting together a parade route to celebrate the Sky’s winning the WNBA championship last weekend, misspelled the name of Chicago’s quintessential park by shaving off the second N.
Fans seemed to find the celebration nonetheless.

Forever and a T
Among the avalanche of news releases I received the other day was one with a decidedly consumer-friendly bent, especially given the eternal shortage of toilet paper. Read More

•October 27, 2021•
The Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal (OSFM) encourages everyone to keep fire safety tips in mind when putting up Halloween and Fall decorations. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) decorations were the first thing to ignite in roughly 800 reported home fires each year. More than two of every five of these fires occurred because the decorations were too close to a heat source, such as a candle or hot equipment. Read More