To the editor:

 SPRINGFIELD – A friend who is an old newspaperman contacted me the other day and wanted to know what I thought of the local newspaper no longer endorsing political candidates.

RANTOUL — A village loan committee said it won’t consider a local company’s zero percent loan request until it cleans up its property and pays past-due utility bills owed to the village.

RANTOUL — Only incumbents, except for village clerk, had picked up nominating petitions to run for Rantoul village office as of Monday morning to run in the April 6 consolidated election.

FISHER — The Fisher school board approved its fiscal 2021 budget following a public hearing which no one attended.

ROYAL — The Prairieview-Ogden school board approved its FY21 budget that is $292,118 in the black.

RANTOUL — Police are searching for whomever fired multiple shots that struck a vehicle during the weekend.

URBANA — A Rantoul woman told a Champaign County judge Friday that she felt coerced into performing oral sex on a paramedic in the back of an ambulance as she was being driven to a hospital.

URBANA — A 25-year-old Fisher man who said he’d been using drugs and alcohol since age 7 was sentenced Wednesday to 30 months of probation for two separate crimes.

URBANA — A Rantoul woman was sentenced to two years of second-chance probation after admitting she stole cash from her former employer.

RANTOUL — A Winter Warm-Up Program to raise $2,000 with a goal of clothing 100 underprivileged children is being held in Rantoul, and donations are needed.

RANTOUL — A Rantoul man has been issued a notice to appear in court for battery and assault after he allegedly harmed a 10-year-old girl Sunday at a local playground.

If you are a resident of Champaign County, you and I are co-owners of a marvelous natural treasure. I’ve known this for years, but was reminded this past March when almost every place I enjoy going was shut down by the pandemic.

RANTOUL — A domestic violence awareness vigil in Rantoul is planned for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, in front of the Rantoul municipal building, 333 S. Tanner St.

In 1722, Daniel Defoe, the author of “Robinson Crusoe,” wrote “A Journal of the Plague Year.” In 1665, the Black Death hit London and England. Defoe was only 5 years old at the time, but drawing on diaries left by an uncle, he wrote an account of the plague that was both horrific and heroic.

The village of Rantoul Public Works Department will begin flushing water mains during the weeks of Sept. 27 and Oct. 4.  

Sept. 23 — Country fried steak, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, Texas toast and fresh grapes.

SPRINGFIELD — I read The Atlantic magazine story asserting that Donald Trump denigrated America’s war dead, and then I cringed.

RANTOUL — Tyler Wilson said his 12-year-old son is having to work well past his bedtime to get all of his school work done in the remote learning portion of the BlendEd education program.

RANTOUL — The Rantoul Township High School board has adopted a fiscal year 2021 budget with a $2 million surplus.

RANTOUL — Area residents will be able to multi-task — getting three jobs done the same day —  at an event coming up this weekend.

LUDLOW — The village’s final copy of its revised code book should be in trustees’ hands prior to the village board’s October meeting.

Fisher golf

Paid obituary

RANTOUL — Police responded to a report of shots fired Friday evening in the 1200 block of East Grove Avenue.

URBANA — A man already in jail on three felony and two misdemeanor cases has been charged in the March holdup of an employee of a gambling café.

URBANA — A Rantoul woman who allegedly had cannabis plants growing in her home Thursday has been charged with possession of cannabis.

RANTOUL — One student and two Rantoul City Schools staff members have recently tested positive for COVID-19.

URBANA — An Urbana teenager who pleaded guilty to aggravated battery for his part in a Rantoul attempted drug-related robbery has been sentenced to nine months of probation.

URBANA — A Rantoul teen found in possession of a loaded gun and cannabis in July has been sentenced to five years of probation and 100 hours of public service.

SPRINGFIELD — When it comes to running for office, women just have to put up with a lot more crap than men do.

To the editor:

Prior to the coronavirus, our kitchen was just a room we had to walk through to get to the laundry. We wondered aloud whether we even needed a kitchen. The dishwasher doubles as a handy filing cabinet.

RANTOUL -- Two would-be robbers walked away from a Rantoul business without any money after they were thwarted by an employee Monday night. 

RANTOUL — Longtime Rantoul Public Works Director Greg Hazel will retire this year, and the village has started a search for his replacement.