Illinois

URBANA – City planning staff and Mayor Laurel Prussing are recommending against designating the Historic Lincoln Hotel as a local landmark, saying it could hinder the new owner’s chances of establishing a viable downtown hotel.

The landmark issue will come up for consideration at Monday’s city council meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. at the Urbana City Building, 400 S. Vine St.

Prussing said in an interview that to preserve the hotel for future generations, it must be a viable business. She said she therefore is opposing the landmark designation.

“The essential purpose of that whole building was to be a hotel,” Prussing said.

(Read the full post about ‘Urbana recommends against landmark designation’…)

Got some old documents you want to get rid of, but you worry about identity theft?

A Danville bank will offer free shredding for three hours Saturday morning.

The First Midwest Bank, 100 N. Gilbert St., will host the free shredding event for customers and non-customers alike.

“We feel it’s our responsibility to help educate clients regarding issues like identity theft, and … events like this obviously contribute to improved security of an individual’s personal information,” said Janet M. Viano, group president of retail banking, in a release.

Old files, bills, financial statements and other documents that should be disposed of securely will be shredded.

(Read the full post about ‘Danville bank offers free shredding service’…)

BLOOMINGDALE, IL - Congressman Peter J.

(Read the full post about ‘Roskam reaffirms Congressional support for troops and veterans’…)

by Mark Rhoads In Decatur, Illinois in 1866 a national organization of Union veterans was founded called the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR).  It would eventually include more than 400,000 members in the 1880s.  Former Union Democrat Congressman John A. Logan of Murphysboro, who later became a Republican to campaign for the re-election of Abraham Lincoln in 1864, stood against popular sentiment in southern Illinois to support the Union.  He became a major general during the Civil War.  After the war, Logan was a Republican congressman who managed the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson.  He later became a US Senator from Illinois and the 1884 GOP Nominee for Vice President on a ticket with James G. (Read the full post about ‘The Illinois Roots of Memorial Day’…)

from IR reader Chuck Emmert: We are about to enter the summer and BBQ season. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking activity, as it’s the only type of cooking a ‘real’ man will do, probably because there is an element of danger involved. When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion: Routine… (1) The woman buys the food. (2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes dessert. (3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill - beer in hand. (Read the full post about ‘BBQ season’…)

As if Democratic control, out-of-control gasoline prices, a housing crunch and rising unemployment weren’t enough to stress us out, the first mosquito samples of West Nile virus appear in Tazewell and DuPage counties. . .

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The state public health director says mosquito samples collected Tazewell and DuPage counties are the first positive test results this year for West Nile virus in Illinois.

Health officials say it isn’t unexpected to receive positive West Nile results by this time. Last year, the first report of West Nile in mosquito samples came on May 7 in DuPage County.

(Read the full post about ‘West Nile virus re-appears’…)

Stairwell Sisters are an all woman acoustic bluegrassy juggernaut from San Francisco. This, their third recording, has been produced by the great Lloyd Maines. The band’s name comes from the fact the two founders perfected their harmonies by practicing in a stairwell (great reverb in there dont’ cha know!?). “Shuffle And Shine” chronicles the hard times of a shoe shiner the band recently encountered. With lines like “Landlord’s back at my front door…what I wouldn’t do for a steady paycheck…” and its depression era string band sound in this age of near or full-on recession, when a shortage of “good” jobs looms, and the housing crisis just keeps getting worse and worse it’s as topical as anything Woody et al composed. (Read the full post about ‘Stairwell Sisters - “Get Off Your Money” (riyl The Duhks, Crooked Still, Infamous Stringdusters etc)’…)

A couple of weeks ago, I was telling a friend how much I liked the new Sheryl Crow album, “Detours.” Against all odds, I told him, it is my current front-runner for my album of the year.

(I even blogged about it a few months ago.)

My friend made a face indicating an unpleasant odor had wafted his way.

“I just don’t need somebody like her telling me how to run my life,” he said. “She had that whole thing about using one square of toilet paper …”

True enough.

(Read the full post about ‘Odd karma’…)

Former Herald & Review chief photographer Dennis Magee and his family lost their home Monday in the tornadoes that went through Iowa.

There were no injuries, but the house suffered so much damage, the Magees have decided to start over.

If you wish to contribute to a relief fund for the Magees, or simply wish to send along best wishes, e-mail H&R staff artist Jean Zerfowski at jean.zerfowski@lee.net.

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Take the “Director Who Films Your Life” quiz, and let me know if you get a different director than my friends and I wound up with.

(Just for your information, you don’t have to register with the site.

(Read the full post about ‘Dennis Magee, directors, Che and The Rock’…)

Not Just another 3-day weekend holiday . . . with heartfelt gratitude, let us salute our troops, the sacrifices they’ve made in the past, the present, and surely will in the future.