Little boy joins elite police unit

BENTON (AP) — A visit to a special police training exercise made Eli Levandowski-Gifford's day.Eli, a Benton first-grader who was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic neuroendocrine carcinoma tumors last year, was invited to stop by as Illinois State Police SWAT, methamphetamine team and Southern Il ... Read More »

Woman collects money for ALS Foundation

GLEN ELLYN (AP) — Tracey Kreiling has fond memories of her father while she was growing up in Florida.

Decatur has silk flower maestro

DECATUR (AP) — The man who arranges silk flowers into memorials never disappoints a faithful customer, living or dead.

Boy a chess prodigy

MOUNT ZION (AP) — Without hesitation, Aydin Turgut already has his opponent in a panic as he moves his chess pieces into the perfect position.

Food & Drink

Weighing benefits of greater muscle mass

Have you ever heard the riddle that asks “Which is heavier, a pound of feathers or a pound of gold?” My question is, which one takes up more space? Consider your body. While a ... Read More »

Artisan sandwiches

Pretzel bread a hot dining trend brought home ... Read More »

Health

Weighing benefits of greater muscle mass

Have you ever heard the riddle that asks “Which is heavier, a pound of feathers or a pound of gold?” My question is, which one takes up more space? Consider your body. While a ... Read More »

Prepare kids for healthy summer eating

Backpacks will soon be stored for the summer and school buses will be parked in the garage until August. Summer vacation brings more freedom for kids and often a less structur ... Read More »

Technology

CDC app lets you solve disease outbreaks at home

ATLANTA (AP) — You may not be a disease detective, but now you can play one at home.The nation's public health agency has released a free app for the iPad called "Solve the Ou ... Read More »

New BlackBerry won't be released until March

NEW YORK (AP) — Research In Motion Ltd. unveiled new, versatile BlackBerrys after excruciating delays allowed Apple, Samsung and others to build commanding leads in an indust ... Read More »

Personal Finance

Don’t push good bird out of nest just yet

Dear Dave,My younger sister moved to Atlanta, and she came to live with my husband and me a few months ago. She’s 19, has a job, and is attending a local college. But even tho ... Read More »

Cars drive couple into debt, tough situation

Dear Dave,I’m 27 and married, and we have two kids. I make $90,000 a year, but we have $80,000 in consumer debt – $48,000 of which is in car loans. The rest is credit card deb ... Read More »

Blogs

» Out Here
Out Here

Good or bad? Depends on who you ask

Sometimes readers ask for more good news in the paper. They say we in the media only cover the bad. But one person's positive is another's negative.
» Extra! Extra! - A blog by Chris Heimerman
Extra! Extra! - A blog by Chris Heimerman

My kind of game

I would have gladly paid to take in the game I covered Saturday morning in Morrison.

Reader Poll

Memorial Day weekend heralds the arrival of summer vacation season. How much time do you plan to spend on vacation?

1 week
2 weeks
3 or more weeks
No vacation this year