Lethal texting

Trying to get teens to stop texting while driving

Sometimes when 21-year-old Ian Tate is going for a drive and his phone lights up with a new text message, he’ll use one hand to reach for his phone, leave his other hand on the wheel as he reads

Veteran receives care and wants others aware

Before having extensive dental work, Kirby Carlson would cover his mouth when he talked to hide his teeth. The 40-year-old Persian Gulf War veteran of Springfield has since found his confidence

Including agriculture in the broadband plan

Illinois farmers have been taking a new approach to managing their crops, with a little innovation and a little assistance from their cell phones. New mobile technology, plus the effort to make broadb

Parents need to have their voices heard at school

Coalition works to bridge achievement gap for minorities

A growing number of parent “no-shows” at parent-teacher conferences and a consistently poor performance of low-income and minority students have one coalition looking for ways to rebuild t

Industrial acreage to become wildlife preserve At Illiopolis plant, Monsanto partners with area scho

At Illiopolis plant, Monsanto partners with area schools

Illiopolis residents might soon have a new area to relax and visit geese, quail, pheasants and other native wildlife within their natural environment. The agriculture company Monsanto has 14 acres of

With classrooms scarce, teachers get carts

Students aren’t the only ones who need to worry about getting to class on time this year. Traveling teachers, known as “teachers on a cart,” will also be shuffling through the crowde

Illinois tiptoes toward regulating insurance rates

Feds require state to get more involved

Before national health reform became law, if Illinois health insurers wanted to increase their rates, most were not even required to inform the Illinois Department of Insurance of that rate change.Alt

Arts are the main course, not dessert

The arts are infinite and inexhaustible. Every artistic production sustains each hungry member of its audience for years, not just for a moment. That’s how Peter Sellars sees it. Sellars, an int

Concussion? Go to the bench.

New law requires trainer’s OK before athlete resumes play

It was a typical evening of basketball practice in 1997 and a young A.D. Carson wanted nothing more than to be in the game. However, another player had just accidentally stepped on his head, and Carso

Illinois starts work on health care reform

Looking forward to seeing her son one evening, Maurine Magliocco of Springfield got a call saying he had fallen ill and wasn’t going to come. He was debating going to the emergency room. Even th