DANVILLE – Falling snow in November, reminds us the holidays are right around the corner. For many residents, attending the Vermilion County Master Gardeners “Make a Holiday Wreath” class is a favorite tradition. Master Gardener Pat Sollars will once again demonstrate how to create a live wreath.

DANVILLE — In five months, the Golden Nugget Danville casino is targeted for opening.

Nearly every deciduous plant in the Illinois landscape has lost it leaves for the year, except for one standout. The non-native, invasive shrubs collectively referred to as bush honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.) have not quite lost theirs yet, which makes them really noticeable this time of year. …

DANVILLE — Another Danville Festival of Trees is in the books, with Scott Mathis taking home the festival cup for the top tree.

PONTIAC – State Senator Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) welcomed dozens of high school students to take a deep dive government and try their hand at the lawmaking process. The event was part of Barickman’s ongoing Youth Advisory Council (YAC) program, which is designed to engage young people…

CHAMPAIGN — Now that retailers are beginning to make over-the-counter hearing aids available, a local expert urges taking one main step before you buy:

The Hoopeston Public Library’s Drama Team will return to action Nov. 11 and Nov. 12 in “The Return of Buddy Egnew” an original drama written by Tom Sweeney.

As we transition from summer to fall and the temperatures start cooling off, many of us will be spending more time outdoors.

The anti-SAFE-T Act movement now has its own website — stopthesafe-tact.com — a group that included Vermilion County State’s Attorney Jacqueline Lacy and GOP gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey announced at a news conference this week.

One of my favorite plants of late summer is the tall and tasseled titan Joe-Pye weed. This common name refers to a number of native species that often require an additional descriptive word to identify individuals, although many of us drop the descriptor and simply say “Joe-Pye weed.”

Throughout the fall season, garden centers are filled with a beautiful selection of mums (short for chrysanthemums). In the garden, mums provide both a spectacular fall display and a late-season nectar source for pollinating insects.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony last week in Ogden officially opened another 1.5-mile stretch of the Kickapoo Rail Trail in eastern Champaign County.

All told, there are 43,876 state-authorized video gambling terminals in 8,072 locations across Illinois. In August alone, they took in $2,651,002,556.30 and gave back $2,424,054,191.18, adding up to net wagering activity of $226,948,365.12.

This past week was the fall equinox, which marks the beginning of autumn.

National Farm Safety and Health Week runs September 18-24. This year’s theme is ‘Protecting Agriculture’s Future.’

Earlier this summer, the monarch butterfly was in the news as the International Union for Conservation of Nature designated the migratory species as “endangered” on its Red List of Threatened Species. This announcement sparked some misunderstanding as many confused that with the U.S. Fish &a…

In football

The willingness to work hard appears to be in the blood for the Chesnut family. The children of Alan and Leesa Chesnut are known for their ability to give it their all when working on the family farm or for neighboring farmers. Two of them, who are in high school, have farmland that they rent.

The Class of 1957 was the first class to be graduated from the new Hoopeston High School. The class recently met on Aug. 6-7 to celebrate their 65th reunion with a luncheon at The Barn and a brunch at 112 in Hoopeston.

After missing the last few opportunities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the fifth Trees for Trash event was presented in Hoopeston Saturday morning.

Hoopeston Area High School crowned Billy Zarate and Tori Birge as this year's Prom King and Queen Saturday. The prom court is pictured here: front row: Prom Queen Tori Birge and Prom King Billy Zarate; back row: Emily Ray, Kira DeWitt, Lucy Lugo, Nick Hofer, Jonathan Herron and Logan Gonzalez.

Photo contributed

DANVILLE — Dean Carlton, an avid hot air balloonist, talented DJ and frequent community volunteer, has been named by the Danville Chapter of AMBUCS as the 2022 recipient of the First Citizen award.