Reprinted with Permission from The Pantagraph By Paul Swiech, Pantagraph Health Editor; Photo by David Proeber BLOOMINGTON — Tylin Davis learned what it meant to be a father when his fiancee had a medical complication following the birth of their daughter and was rushed to emergency surgery. “I prayed to God, ‘please don’t take my…

Reprinted with permission of WGLT By Charlie Schlenker Ending the food desert that stretches from the west Bloomington Walmart to the Main Street Kroger is a priority for the West Market Street Council. Project Coordinator Laurie Bell said they have met with Mayor Tari Renner and Bloomington’s Economic Development Department about the plaza at Howard…

Reprinted with permission of Peoria Journal-Star By Nick Vlahos, Photo by David Zalaznik It isn’t every day the Deer Creek District Library receives a $2,000 anonymous donation. Come to think of it, it might not be any day. At least not any day in the two decades Carlene Mathis-Kull has worked there. “It was such…

Editor’s Note: Jerome Maddox is Vice President of Illinois Prairie Community Foundation’s Board of Directors By Ryan Denham; Photo by Jeff Smudde Reprinted with permission of WGLT A huge crowd marked Armed Forces Day on Saturday by honoring the life and death of Sgt. Anthony R. Maddox, a former Bloomington-Normal resident who died six years…

Reprinted with Permission from The Pantagraph By Kelsey Watznauer, Pantagraph Education Reporter NORMAL — Autism Awareness Month has been about more than awareness in McLean County Unit 5. This month, the district is working toward acceptance — one puzzle piece at a time. Each school in the district has sold puzzle pieces throughout April to…

Reprinted with Permission from The Pantagraph By Lenore Sobota, Education Reporter; Photos by Lewis Marien BLOOMINGTON — When you visit an after-school art class with children from kindergarten through fifth grade, you expect a bit of chaos, questions, curiosity and chatter — not a lot of deep thought and introspection. But sometimes the most insightful…

Reprinted with Permission of The Pantagraph By Derek Beigh, Pantagraph Reporter NORMAL — Normal’s “hidden hero” is hidden no more — and will stay in hearts and minds for generations to come. Nearly two years after he was killed during a successful raid on an Islamic State compound in eastern Afghanistan, Normal native Sgt. Josh…

Reprinted with permission from The Pantagraph By Paul Swiech, Pantagraph Health Editor; Photo by Lewis Marien NORMAL — Most people have experienced trauma by age 18, but healing is possible. And we’re all a part of the healing process. That was a message Tuesday at a forum on trauma and its effect on children. Hosted…

‘Classrooms & Community’ Complements Smithsonian’s ‘Crossroads: Change in Rural America’ Display In a perfect example of how small rural communities can rally around a common goal, the residents of Atlanta and Logan County came together to create a new exhibit for the Atlanta Museum. Called “Classrooms & Community: Changes in Rural America’s Sense of Community,” the…

Reprinted with permission from WGLT By Eric Stock, WGLT Reporter; Photos by Eric Stock Human service organizations, colleges and universities and other institutions are having to rely more on charitable giving due to uncertain state and federal funding in recent years. That increasingly essential revenue stream has become complicated by new tax rules that remove some…