The 19^th annual Southern Illinois Irish Festival is coming to the region the weekend of October 2-4, 2015. The opening concert in Carbondale on Friday October 2 features the Chicago Irish duo “bohola,” at the Varsity Center for the Arts. The outdoor Celtic Fair, on Saturday and Sunday October 3-4, will be at Walker’s Bluff Winery, northeast of Carbondale.

The band “bohola” features Chicago Irishman Jimmy Keane on accordion, and Dublin native Pat Broaders on bouzouki and vocals. Their band was the “Celtic Connections Album of the Year” winner in 2002 and 2004, and Jimmy Keane was all-Ireland champion on piano accordion for five consecutive years. Doors at the Varsity open at 7:00, and the concert starts at 8:00 on Friday October 2. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students, and $5 for children, available at the door or through the Festival website.

The Celtic Fair at Walker’s Bluff will run from 11:00-7:30 on Saturday October 3, and from 11:30-6:30 on Sunday October 4. Admission to the Festival grounds will be $10 per adult, and free for children under 18. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs. Check www.walkersbluff.com for access roads.

The Celtic Fair will feature two outdoor stages both days, with music and dance performances by St. Louis Irish Arts, and music by bohola, The Dorians, Roisín Dubh, E.L. Kurtz, Wil Maring & Robert Bowlin, Carter & Connelley, Banjovi, The Storm Crows, Blackberry Blossoms, and more. The Festival includes food and drink for sale, merchandise vendors, Scottish Highland Games demonstrations, pipers Les Lannom and Sean Folsom, bouncy houses for children, an Irish children’s village, Professor Play’s balloon creations, and Magic Storyteller Chris McBrien.

Irish Festival programs will be distributed with the Weekend Times on newsstands the weekend before the Festival. Additional information and concert tickets are available at www.silirishfest.org or by calling Mike Shanahan at (618)549-3090.

INA, Ill. – Find out more about trips to Costa Rica and the New England islands through Collette Vacations during an informational meeting next week at Rend Lake College.

Those interested in attending one of the two Collette Vacations in 2016 are invited to an informational meeting at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 15, in the Historic Schoolhouse on the Rend Lake College Ina campus. The meeting will discuss the two trips, as well as cover details about early booking and discounts.

The first trip to Tropical Costa Rica is scheduled for February 1-9, 2016. On this trip, students will spend the first two days in the capital city of San Jos visiting the INBioparque, a natural park and research station. There, attendees will experience up-close views of many different animals and insects, including a butterfly garden.

Next comes a taste of the outdoors with a visit to the Poás Volcano, a boat tour of Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge, and the La Fortuna Waterfall. Attendees will then travel to Monteverde and experience the Santa Elena Cloud Forest via a canopy tour. The trip will spend the last few days on the central Pacific coast at Tamarindo Beach and visiting a coffee plantation.

The Tropical Costa Rica tour costs $2,699 per person if registering as doubles. The tour includes 14 meals (eight breakfasts, one lunch, and five dinners) and round trip air from Lambert Airport in St. Louis. An optional three-day extension trip costs $449 per person and includes eight meals (three breakfasts, three lunches, and two dinners).

The second trip, to the Islands of New England, is scheduled for June 17-24, 2016, and begins in Providence, R.I. In the first three days, attendees will tour some of New England’s historic and charming cities, including Newport, R.I.; Boston; and Cape Cod, Mass. Along the way, see the Marble House in Newport, visit the legendary Plymouth Rock, and board a reproduction of the Mayflower ship at Cape Cod.

Days five and six will include a ferry trip to the island of Martha’s Vineyard and a stop in Hyannisport to visit the Kennedy compound and a Kennedy Memorial. The remaining days will include stops in Nantucket and Provincetown, Mass., and a whale-watching cruise on Cape Cod Bay.

The Islands of New England tour costs $2,629 per person if registering as doubles. The tour includes 11 meals (seven breakfasts, one lunch, and three dinners) and round-trip air from Lambert Airport in St. Louis.

For more information, contact RLC’s Community and Corporate Education Division at 618-437-5321, Ext. 1714 or 1380, or at commcorped@rlc.edu.

WASHINGTON, DC— Congressman Peter Roskam (IL-06), co-chair of the House Republican Israel Caucus, called on the Obama Administration to release the contents of two side agreements negotiated between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

As required by the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (INARA), the measure directs the House Parliamentarian to not recognize the 60-day congressional review period until the side agreements are transmitted to Congress. It also prohibits the President from lifting statutory sanctions against Iran until Congress has the opportunity to both fully review the JCPOA and related documents, including side agreements, and to vote on a disapproval resolution.

Click here to read the full resolution.

“In May, the House and Senate overwhelmingly passed and President Obama signed into law the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, which requires the Administration transmit to Congress all documents related to the JCPOA —including side agreements—prior to a 60-day review period and subsequent vote,” Roskam’s office said in a statement.

A day after the nuclear accord was announced, reports surfaced that Iran and the IAEA struck two side agreements related to Tehran’s past nuclear work. In what Roskam calls a “clear violation of federal law,” repeated requests from leading Democrats and Republicans to review the side agreements were rebuffed by the Obama Administration.

“Congressional briefings provided by Administration officials are a legally insufficient substitute for providing the actual text of these documents,” Roskam said. “Therefore, I raise a question of the privileges of the House insisting that, until the Administration complies with the law, Congress should not vote. All Members of Congress, regardless of their position on the nuclear deal, should demand the robust and transparent review process necessary to cast a fully informed vote.”