News Progress

•May 7, 2025• How one Sullivan family revolutionized senior safety Submitted In the quiet town of Sullivan, Illinois, an idea was born that would eventually change the lives of hundreds of thousands of seniors worldwide. Ralph Kirk, a former English literature student, never imagined he would become a pioneer in medical alert technology. But his career and calling took a meaningful turn when he discovered how the developing field of computers could improve lives. After college, Kirk accepted a position as Manager of Electronic Data Processing (computers) at Chicago Wesley Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Computers were new then, and he … Read More

•May 7, 2025• by Cheri BurchamFamily Life Educator  Gardening season is almost here. It is a great family activity and beneficial to get children interested when they are young. Have you wondered if gardening outdoors with preschoolers would be too challenging? The Illinois Early Learning Project (IELP) has a tip sheet about teaching children to garden using planters/containers that I would like to share with you.  According to IELP, growing plants in containers of clean topsoil can be safer and easier for children than gardening in “plain dirt” on the ground. Here are some tips for gardening with children in … Read More

•May 7, 2025• Fiction: “2 Sisters Murder Investigations” (2 Sisters Detective Agency series #2) by James Patterson & Candice Fox; “25 Alive” (Women’s Murder Club #25) by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro; “Blood Moon” by Sandra Brown; “Bridal Shower Murder” (Lucy Stone series #31) by Leslie Meier; “Bury Her Twice” (Carolina McKay series #7) by Tony Urban and Drew Strickland; “Caught in a Trap” (Mysteries of Cobble Hill Farm series #12) by Beth Adams; “The Chow Maniac” (Noodle Shop series #11) by Vivien Chien; “Dead Broke, Colorado” by William W. Johnstone & J.A. Johnstone; “A Dragon of Black Glass” (Moon … Read More

Nelson Ford •May 7, 2025• by Janet Roney Murphy’s Law was alive and well in our family in 1988. I had several items on my “Oh, no!” list that year. At the top of the list were some family members’ illnesses and my little brother’s death. Then, there was the Drought of 1988.  City folks don’t like water rationing, high temperatures, and brown lawns during droughts. For farmers like us, who can only stand idly by while their crops shrivel in 90 to 100+ degree temperatures and weeks of no rain, droughts are catastrophes. The Drought of 1988 was a … Read More