New Illinois $15 minimum wage bill reopens wage fight
Study links diet soda to higher risk of stroke, dementia
WASHINGTON, DC (Fred Barbash – The Washington Post. Please Click to read the full story. Here is an excerpt) Americans trying to stay healthy have abandoned sugary drinks for diet drinks in droves over the past few decades on the theory that the latter is better than the former. Now, more evidence has emerged to refute that rationale. Indeed, a new study shows an association between diet soda and both stroke and dementia, with people drinking diet soda daily being almost three times as likely to develop stroke and dementia as those who consumed it weekly or less. “This included a higher risk of ischemic stroke, where blood vessels in the brain become obstructed and Alzheimer’s disease dementia, the most common form of dementia,” said Matthew Pase, a Boston University School of Medicine neurologist and the lead author of the study published in the journal Stroke.Steel guitar show opens in Mt. Vernon
Preparations Underway for Wastena Street Project
Engineer Rodney Potts discusses the widening project of Wastena Street from South Main to South McLeansboro (William McPherson Gazette Photo)
Fighting hunger one plate at a time
BENTON, IL (Holly Kee, Benton Evening News- Please click to read the full story. Here is an excerpt) Good nutrition is one of the most important building blocks for a solid foundation that has far-reaching implications for a child’s future physical and mental well-being. However, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 13 million children under the age of 18 live in households where they are unable to consistently access enough healthy food necessary for a healthy life. While the school breakfast and lunch program helps with that, when school is not in session, many of these children go without. The consequences of malnutrition can be severe, affecting cognitive development in young children and school performance in older children. In addition, research shows that with hunger also comes more frequent illness and higher health care costs.MADIGAN HAS SPENT NEARLY $170,000 IN CAMPAIGN FUNDS ON BASEBALL TICKETS IN 2017
Franklin County Sheriff’s office recent arrests
The following are recent arrests by the Franklin County Sheriff’s office.
Car thefts reported on Northwest Corner of Benton
by Steve Dunford
From social media reports, and confirming with Benton Police, there were some vehicles broke into and vandalized, on the Northwest part of town. The are hit extends from Mitchell and 5th Streets, and around Maple Street, over to Election Drive.
For those that are not from town this is the area west of North Main (Route 37) from around Farm Fresh to the Driver’s License Facility.
Please make sure to lock your vehicle, and keep all valuables out of sight.
RLC Culinary Arts program establishes first articulation agreement
ReAnne Palmer – Rend Lake College Public Information
Chefs and entrepreneurs alike have a new option to continue their education through Rend Lake College and beyond with a new articulation agreement with Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIU-C).
RLC graduates with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Culinary Arts Management can now transfer seamlessly into Carbondale’s Bachelor of Science degree in Hospitality and Tourism Administration. The transfer students would begin the four-year program at SIU-C as juniors and complete classes on campus for the remaining two years.
Chef Robert Wilson, Culinary Arts Lead Associate Professor, said creating this agreement with SIU-C was important to students who wanted to continue on for an advanced degree, but not leave the area.
“We started this project about five years ago, and it took until recently to agree on a 2 + 2 approach. With this agreement, students graduating with an associate degree can enroll at SIU as a junior and only need to complete 60 more credits,” explained Wilson. “Right now, we’ve only had two students continue on to SIU, but we hope to see more of that in the future.”
RLC graduates will have to have an overall grade point average of 2.0 with a required list of classes to be completed at RLC. Many of those courses fall in the culinary arts program, but also include general education courses in business, communications, computer science, English, and psychology.
Once they transfer, RLC students will be in the Hospitality and Tourism Administration program at SIU-C, which falls in the College of Agricultural Sciences. Wilson said this is a bonus, because a hospitality degree expands opportunities beyond a two year culinary arts degree.
“With an associate degree, a student can become an executive chef, a restaurant manager, and even a restaurant owner, but with a bachelor’s degree, that same student can become a general manager at a hotel and be the chef’s boss,” said Wilson. “A bachelor’s degree opens up a lot more mid- and high-level corporate management jobs.”
Steven Stephens kills himself
![Pennsylvania State Police investigate a car and probable suicide of the Cleveland Facebook killing suspect in Erie, Pa. on April 18. The car was stopped near Buffalo Road and Downing Avenue. [GREG WOHLFORD/ERIE TIMES-NEWS] (Greg Wohlford)](https://www.franklincounty-news.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Steve-Stephens-1.jpg)
Pennsylvania State Police investigate a car and probable suicide of the Cleveland Facebook killing suspect in Erie, Pa. on April 18. The car was stopped near Buffalo Road and Downing Avenue. [GREG WOHLFORD/ERIE TIMES-NEWS] (Greg Wohlford)
