Illinois

CHAMPAIGN – How do two couples work together daily for 25 years without killing each other, divorcing each other or splitting up the business?

“We respect each other. We talk about it,” said Maria Minneci, who works at Minneci’s Ristorante with her husband, Pete, and his brother and sister-in-law, Joe and Mary. “Communication is the best way to run a business.”

That’s the recommendation she gives Rob Meister and Jim Bier, who acquired the Italian restaurant from the Minnecis last week.

Minneci’s Ristorante marked 25 years in business Jan.

(Read the full post about ‘Minneci brothers’ secrets: Food, friendliness, respect’…)

Expect to see changes at the T.J. Maxx store in Champaign, if you haven’t been there in a while. A full remodeling job has been under way at the store at 21 E. Marketview Drive, and was nearly done as of late last week, the company said.

Some of the changes: A new checkout area designed to be faster, new dressing rooms and an expanded home department to add more furniture, according to Thea Houghton, a spokeswoman for the Framingham, Mass.-based chain.

There is also a new, expanded accessories department at the front of the store.

T.J. Maxx has more than 850 stores nationwide.

(Read the full post about ‘It’s your buiness: T.J. Maxx remodeling to deliver improvements’…)

CHAMPAIGN – As a grandmother of two, Elisa Testory could see there just weren’t enough places in Champaign-Urbana to play when the weather’s not so nice.

So she and her husband, Dave Bolt, have created such a place – an indoor, black-light miniature golf course – at one of their two Champaign bowling alleys, Arrowhead Lanes.

Called The Playground, it’s set to open around July 10, Testory said. And it will be available all year long, rain or shine.

The Playground isn’t just for kids, though the course’s four colorful themes – jungle, pirates, underwater and Aztec – may well appeal to the kid in everybody.

The miniature golf course was built inside a 12,000-square-foot addition at Arrowhead, a bowling alley that’s been at 1401 N.

(Read the full post about ‘Indoor course puts golf in a new light’…)

FARMER CITY – A power upgrade long in the works is now a reality at radio station WWHP-FM 98.3, better known as “The Whip” in Farmer City.

The upgraded transmitter now effectively doubles the station’s power, from 3,000 watts to 6,000 watts. The boost now allows the station and its advertisers to reach much larger markets, from Bloomington-Normal to the northwest to Champaign-Urbana in the southwest.

“We can literally reach over a half-million listeners now with the upgrade,” says Larry Williams, WWHP general manager, in a news release.

(Read the full post about ‘Transmitter upgrade doubles radio station’s wattage’…)

by Bill Beckman

The headline in the June 23rd Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reads "Planned Parenthood Hits Suburbia."  Now we have public admission from Planned Parenthood that they are targeting the "well-to-do" suburbs as they "follow the population" to find customers "who can afford to pay full price."  Planned Parenthood leaders "aim to rally support with upbeat marketing" and attract new customers with locations "in shopping centers and malls." Steve Trombley, the top executive in Illinois, observed, "I like to think of it as the LensCrafters of family planning." 

Planned Parenthood has "opened more than two dozen quick-service ‘express centers,’ many in suburban shopping malls.  Some sell jewelry, candles, books and T-shirts, along with contraception."  Leslie Durgin, a senior vice president at Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains observed, "It is indeed a new look…a new branding, if you will."

Of course, we were already reaching this conclusion as we have seen the expansion of Planned Parenthood into the Chicago suburbs of Schaumburg and Orland Park and the construction under deceptive pretenses of their abortion fortress in Aurora, IL.  That construction strategy was also mentioned in the WSJ article, which noted that "executives have designed the new health centers with fortresslike security" …

(Read the full post about ‘Planned Parenthood Hits Suburbia’…)

from Nicholas Vardy’s Global Guru

1. Myth: The collapse of subprime loans has destroyed more economic wealth more quickly than any other financial event in history. Nothing even comes close.

Reality: An even greater destruction of economic wealth has been occurring right under our noses. The economic value destroyed by the collapse of China’s Shanghai Stock Exchange since October is more than 3x that of the write offs from subprime loans ($1.2 trillion versus $390 billion) and already exceeds the amounts of the most pessimistic of forecasts for the subprime debacle. And this is a lot more money for China than it is for the United States.

(Read the full post about ‘Six Ways in Which the Word is Different from the Way You Think it is’…)

by Matt Gauntt

I never thought I would say this, but I agree wholeheartedly with Kofi Annan.

Although the former Secretary General of the United Nations and I have disagreed on most everything, I finally found a topic that we can agree to shake hands and sing Kum-By-Yah around the fire together.

Global Warming.

Now, dear reader, I know what you are thinking:  "Matt, you’ve been very critical of all of these left wing loonies on the topic of global warming, how can you agree with Kofi Annan now?  Has someone hit you in the head"?

No, I think Kofi is coming around to my way of thinking.

Mr. Annan (can’t call him Mr.

(Read the full post about ‘Global Warming: Kofi Annan is my Hero’…)

by Cal Skinner

The Algonquin Township Republican Central Committee held a fund raiser at Arlington Park Race Track on Friday afternoon. From left to right, I recognize 8th Congressional District State Central and Barrington Township Committeeman and Supervisor Gene Dawson, Algonquin Township Central Committee Chairwoman Karla Dobbeck, State Rep. Mike Tryon and McHenry County Recorder of Deeds Phyllis Walters.

FUNd Raising at the Races          

The Algonquin Township Republican Central Committee held a fund raiser at Arlington Park Race Track on Friday afternoon.

(Read the full post about ‘Algonquin Township Republicans Go to the Races’…)

by John Ruskin

In preparation for his next gubernatorial (or debt reduction) campaign in 2010, Joe Birkett has finally discovered corruption in Illinois. And Obama too!

Bully for him. Better late than never I guess.

* We have a story on this in the print edition todays, but it’s interesting enough that I wanted to cover it here, too.

The Red Cross has come up with a novel incentive for potential blood-givers – a VIP pass to The Vans Warped Tour. Dates for the tour within driving distance include Tuesday at St. Louis, July 31 at Indianapolis, Aug. 1 in Milwaukee and Aug. 2 in Chicago.

Acts on the bill include Gym Class Heroes, Story of the Year, Reel Big Fish, Horrorpops and Katy Perry.

You still have to buy a ticket to the show, but the pass will be given to everyone who donates blood. The drive is noon to 6 p.m. at the Decatur Red Cross office at 2674 N. Main.

(Read the full post about ‘Vans Warped blood drive, and a miniature link dump’…)