Crystal R. Smith — Loves Park, IL (formerly of West Frankfort)

September 26, 2018 By Leave a Comment

Crystal R. Smith, nee Guill, 97, of Loves Park, IL and formerly of West Frankfort, IL, passed away on Tuesday, July 3, 2018.

Crystal was born September 30, 1920 in West Frankfort and was the seventh of eight children born to Charles and Ermie Guill. Crystal was a loving mother to Carl, Donna, Theresia and Charlotte, a cherished grandmother to grandchildren Douglas, Bryan, Lisa, Jeffrey, Walter, Dennis, Christopher, Tricia, Kirsten, Bradley, Tracy and Kerry, a proud great-grandmother of 18 great-grandchildren and a proud great-great grandmother of 12 great-great grandchildren.

She was the fond sister of the late Howard, Lena, Enos, George, Francis, William and Harold. Crystal loved tending flowers in her garden, enjoyed quilting, sewing, poetry, reading, traveling to Hawaii and baking. Crystal had a special place in her heart for her two cats.

In celebration of her life, a graveside service will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, September 30, 2018 at Ten Mile Cemetery, in McLeansboro, IL.

Filed Under: Obituaries

Illinois employers more open to hiring people with felonies

September 26, 2018 By Leave a Comment

Illinois businesses are taking another look at hiring people with criminal records amid changes to state laws and evolving attitudes.

Continue reading at Illinois News Network.

Filed Under: Breaking News

Critics threaten litigation over rollout of Illinois’ automatic voter registration

September 26, 2018 By Leave a Comment

Voting rights advocates critical of how Illinois has rolled out automatic voter registration say they’re considering a lawsuit because the implementation of the law is behind schedule, but Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White said he won’t be intimidated by threats.

Here’s a link to the story at Illinois News Network.

Filed Under: Breaking News

New SIU department focuses on ‘social determinants of health’

September 26, 2018 By Leave a Comment

SPRINGFIELD — Informing medical students about the social and economic hardships that can influence the health of patients and intervening to alleviate those problems are primary goals of a new department at Springfield’s Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.

Here’s a link to the story at the Southern Illinoisan.

Filed Under: Breaking News

Retired school buses assist with Illinois pumpkin harvest

September 26, 2018 By Leave a Comment

KEENES — This time of year, some employees at Frey Farms ride school buses to work.

Here’s a link to the story at the Southern Illinoisan.

Filed Under: Breaking News

Walter Wendler: The Squeeze

September 26, 2018 By Leave a Comment

The Squeeze

The birthrate in America has been on the decline. In 2016, with slightly less than 60 births per 1000 women, a historic low was realized. This marks universities. Those most affected by decreasing birthrates will be regional campuses like West Texas A&M University.  Institutions not among the elite private or the flagship public institutions will struggle for new students according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

Walter V. Wendler

Added to the sheer decrease in the number of students is a downward trend in college preparedness according to the National Assessment Governing Board, confirmed by the National ACT.  Declines in readiness are apparent in English and math, while reading and science have seen slight increases.  Variation occurs based on race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and geography. Too frequently, finger pointing follows these findings. Some suggest our education standards have collapsed and blame families and high schools.  There is a measure of truth in these laments, but universities must recognize a changing “feedstock.”

Nathan D. Grawe, of Carleton College in Minnesota, confirms these impacts on enrollment in regional universities.  A limited number of states will see growth in college attendance. California and South Carolina will grow, and some remain relatively unchanged, Texas and Florida are examples. Grawe predicts an impending decline nationally of 15% of college age, college ready, students.

A complicating factor to this challenging news for most universities is the dramatically increasing cost of college attendance, and the debt that follows crippling personal and community economic and cultural prosperity.   The causes of the cost/debt debacle are debated to death inconclusively.  The problem is especially pervasive in the U.S.  The Atlantic catalogs a number of issues.  Only Luxembourg spends more per college student than America. The seemingly risk free student loans, increased spending on intercollegiate athletics, four-star dormitories, free flowing cappuccino, and a fountain of frills in college life are blamed. Careful assessment shows that the higher costs are usually associated with personnel and core services. U.S. institutions spend twice what Finland, Sweden and Germany spend on essential academic services.

Indebtedness and the legitimate fear of it drives students to find other avenues to approach career and life aspirations.  An increasing number of prestigious corporations do not require a college education.  Google, Penguin Random House, Hilton, Apple and IBM among others find ways to separate the grain from the chaff absent a traditional BA or a BS.

Texas has become a battleground for neighboring states to recruit college students. Tuition discounts, scholarships, comparative in-state tuition pricing structures, and a host of other attractions make responsiveness to in-state populations vitally important.

Elite private and state flagship universities are immunized for their attractiveness to qualified students, and family ability to pay the going rates for such educational experiences. The workhorses of American higher education that serve over half of the enrolled students, regional campuses such as West Texas A&M University, are in the jaws of the vice.

There are positive courses of action. First among them is for regional universities to reject envy of “big brother – big sister” campuses. Focus, distinctiveness, careful attention to efficiencies, and ultimate value in the relationship between what students pay and what pragmatic utility follows the walk across the stage.  Institutions that over promise and under deliver on educational value will suffer.

Campus responses to declining enrollments and increasing costs are not uniform across the nation. For example in Ohio, the graduating high school population in the next 15 years is predicted to drop by 12%.  College enrollment declines are expected to follow that trend. This will affect the 13 public colleges and universities in Ohio. In addition, international student enrollment is decreasing. Combined, these effects have less effect on flagships like Ohio State University, but a significantly greater impact on institutions like the University of Cincinnati according to Caroline Miller, the vice provost at Cincinnati.

Similar circumstances are fermenting in Virginia’s public institutions.  The challenges are manifest in different ways for on-campus and online enrollment. Surprisingly, Liberty University the private behemoth, has maintained steady on-campus enrollment of about 15,000 students but has seen a significant drop of 5,000 students in online registrants bringing to 75,000 — down from 80,000 students — Liberty’s total university enrollment.

In addition, some highly regarded, historically effective public flagships are challenged. The University of Mississippi, known for deep traditions in university life on its Oxford campus and exceptional academic programs last year lost almost 2% of its enrollment.

These forces suggest that regional institutions, and even a few major public and private universities, must attend to their mission and make the college experience responsive to the needs of their students, and distinctive to the region in which the campus resides.

Absent these actions, the squeeze may become a choke, and drain the life out of some institutions if the facts of the current college calculus are disregarded or ignored.

Filed Under: Columns

Your Daily Prayer: A Prayer for Missing Peace

September 26, 2018 By Leave a Comment

Your Daily Prayer Devotional Banner

A Prayer for Missing Peace
By Mary Southerland

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  – Philippians 4:7, NIV

I know people who would give every penny they have and every possession they own for an hour of peace. In fact, I have been in that place myself. The difference is that the Prince of Peace is my God and because He lives in my heart, so does peace. Yes, sometimes I allow the stressors of life to crowd in and try to smother that peace. I am so thankful that the peace of God is eternal and beyond human understanding.

As you face the storms of life, face them with God at your side – knowing that He is Lord of the rocking boat and Keeper of the waves. He rides upon the storm clouds of life, flinging peace into the tempest-filled heart.  God is Peace. And when we know Him as our Lord and have made Him the boss of our lives – we will know Peace.

Make a list of every “storm” you are facing today. Surrender each one to God, asking Him to fill its place in your life with His peace. Now, choose to walk in that peace today. When you are tempted to slip back under the crashing waves, remember that the storm now belongs to your Father.

Father God, my heart is filled with chaos and confusion. I feel as if I am drowning in my circumstances and my heart is filled with fear and confusion. I really need the strength and peace that only You can give. Right now, I choose to rest in You.

In Jesus’ Name I pray,

Amen.

Editor’s Note: Content taken from the Girlfriends in God devotional, How to Find Your Missing Peace, written by Mary Southerland. You can read the piece in full here. All rights reserved. 

Filed Under: Columns

Pastor Rick Warren: Use Your Resources to Encourage God’s Family

September 26, 2018 By Leave a Comment

By Rick Warren

14

”Love one another with mutual affection” (Romans 12:10 NRSV).

God wants you to invest in other people in God’s family. This is what I call the “Mutual Fund.”The Bible says in Romans 12:10, “Love one another with mutual affection” (NRSV).

How do you invest in this Mutual Fund? By using some of your money to encourage fellowship, to build relationships, and to demonstrate love.

Anytime you give your money to God, it draws you closer to God. Anytime you give your money to someone, it draws you closer to that person. When you give money to people in your small group or invest in your small group, you grow closer to them. Anytime you write a note of encouragement, you’ve invested in the Mutual Fund. Anytime you prepare or buy a meal and take it to somebody who’s sick, you’ve just invested in the Mutual Fund.

Anytime you open up your home to your small group and you provide refreshments and that costs you, you’ve just invested in the Mutual Fund. Anytime you provide a babysitter for somebody who needs to go to a conference or retreat, you’ve invested in the Mutual Fund. When another believer is discouraged and needs somebody to talk to and you take that person out to lunch and pay for the meal, you just invested in the Mutual Fund.

You can give to God, and God says that’s storing up treasure in heaven. But you can also give to other people. God says that when you do that as an act of love, it’s like banking it in heaven. Anytime you use your funds to show love to somebody else in the family of God, you’re investing in the Mutual Fund.

Why should you do this? Why should you give to encourage fellowship? The Bible says, “This service you do not only helps the needs of God’s people, it also brings many more thanks to God. It is a proof of your faith. Many people will praise God because you obey the Good News of Christ—the gospel you say you believe—and because you freely share with them and with all others” (2 Corinthians 9:12-13 NCV).

You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.

Filed Under: Columns

Jurors shown animated video at officer’s murder trial

September 26, 2018 By Leave a Comment

CHICAGO — Lawyers for a white Chicago police officer who fatally shot a black teenager presented an animated video to jurors on Tuesday that was intended to show the officer’s perspective during the shooting and support his claim that he feared for his safety.

Here’s a link to the story at the Southern Illinoisan.

Filed Under: Breaking News

Cardinals suffer another costly loss to Milwaukee

September 26, 2018 By Leave a Comment

If the Cardinals had another in their series of chances Tuesday night to answer Milwaukee, to whack back in the game and prove equal to their rival, it would have to happen without leadoff hitter Matt Carpenter and manager Mike Shildt.

Here’s a link to the story at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Filed Under: Sports
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