2+ day, 15+ hour ago  (905+ words) From left, Berenise Barajas, Khloe Winston-Fischer and Dagon England talk about which topic they will focus on during a youth council meeting. Rantoul Mayor Sam Hill III asks members of the youth council questions during a meeting at Village Hall....

1+ week, 1+ day ago  (948+ words) Before computers and smartphones or anything digital, and before TVs were common, there was the great and glorious outdoors for kid play: ditch banks to run; dilapidated, abandoned houses and barns to explore; tall weed patches to crawl through; trees…...

3+ week, 6+ day ago  (560+ words) Marco Nieto and Joel Danowitz A first-in-the-nation law that would prohibit banks and cred" It doesn't matter whether students find speech by other students offensive, Firs" Joining the show Tuesday: birthday girl Reagan Schluter, who'll belt out the national anthem…...

1+ mon, 3+ week ago  (1797+ words) Janet LeRoy just hit her 40th year teaching at Leal Elementary, and she has no desire to leave anytime soon. Janet LeRoy holds up a school picture of the first year she taught. Retiring third-grade teacher Janet LeRoy poses with students,…...

2+ mon, 3+ day ago  (377+ words) Diamond Posey has worked as a kindergarten aide at South Side Elementary School, Champaign, for the last four years. When Diamond Posey began teaching as an aide in Casey Gossman's first-grade classroom four years ago at Champaign's South Side Elementary…...

2+ mon, 1+ week ago  (442+ words) It's that time of year, when the "Best of 2025" lists come out. Here are two of my favorites, which were included in Publisher's Weekly's lists, along with several others. "Let's be bees," the text begins. "Let's Buzz." Bold, warm crayon…...

2+ mon, 3+ week ago  (663+ words) Leal Elementary School kindergarten teacher Amanda Nelson spreads out newly-purchased toys in her Urbana classroom Thursday. A CU Schools Foundation grant paid for the toys for inclusion in kindergarten lesson plans. Jamie Jones said the newly-purchased toys will help students…...

3+ mon, 3+ week ago  (857+ words) Total enrollment on the UI's flagship campus exceeded 60,000 for the first time. SPRINGFIELD " Enrollment at public universities in Illinois grew to a 10-year high of 189,791 students, a 2.3 percent increase over last year, according to figures released by the Illinois Board…...

9+ mon, 2+ day ago  (1528+ words) The author with her father, Rudy Frasca, on his 86th birthday in 2017. With Father's Day approaching, I thought it appropriate to dedicate today's column to the dads in our lives. All the dads. The young dads, the old dads, the grandpas....

5+ mon, 6+ hour ago  (1006+ words) "I try to maintain a good work-life balance, and travel and time with family are very important to me. I fully believe that time away makes me better at my job " or at least more pleasant to be around." "I'm…...