People

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Ford County circuit clerk leaving after 15 sweet years

PAXTON – Residents of Paxton have a sweet tooth for Kamalen "Kammy" Johnson's cookies.

Soon, instead of heading to the Ford County Courthouse to get their fix, residents will have to find Johnson elsewhere in town.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Urbana's original Dumpster diver turns trash into treasure

URBANA – Jim Payne is a one-man recycling program.

He walks the streets each morning, as he has for 25 years, sifting through your trash for the treasures within.

Payne is waging a private crusade to stop the Earth – or at least his corner of Champaign-Urbana – from becoming the desolate, trash-strewn planet in the Disney film "WALL-E" (which he liked, despite having no use for TV).

Champaign doctor seeks lasting tribute to America's pastime

Local physician David Fletcher could easily qualify for another sort of academic degree: doctor of baseball.

How much does Fletcher love the game? Let us count the ways:

Friday, August 15, 2008

Great Impasta owner honored for commitment to downtown

CHAMPAIGN – Harold Allston expects to move The Great Impasta to a new location next year, but the Champaign Downtown Association wants him to know how much it has appreciated his being downtown.

The Champaign restaurateur is the association's 2008 recipient of the Seely Johnston Downtown Commitment Award.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Champaign teen is seventh of seven siblings to go to 4-H event

With seven kids in the family, sibling rivalry is no foreign concept to the Hays family of Champaign.

But that doesn't mean a little competition doesn't have its benefits.

By this fall, rivalry among the Hays siblings will have taken all seven to the National 4-H Congress, an annual event attended by more than 1,000 4-H members from all 50 states, where activities include workshops and service projects.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Urbana councilman was fiercely devoted to constituents

URBANA – Joseph Whelan was known to most Urbana residents as Mr. Republican, the only elected Republican in Urbana city government for many of his 26 years of service on the city council.

But to his two granddaughters, he was the man behind "the candy tree."

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Community Action Team boosts policing in Garden Hills

Champaign police were busy Wednesday night in the Garden Hills neighborhood with a shooting and an unrelated home invasion.

In contrast, two weeks earlier, a group of juveniles swarmed around Champaign police officers who passed out stickers to kids at the Joann Dorsey Homes.

Paxton restaurant's event to benefit 10-month-old with cancer

PAXTON – Organizers are calling Aug. 12-16 "Willamina's Week" in Paxton.

Willamina Clayton is the 10-month-old daughter of Will and Katie Clayton. She has been diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer and is currently undergoing treatment at Riley's in Indianapolis.

Urbana organic farm tasting success and sustainability

Bill Bagby calls his business Tiny Greens Organic Farm, but with it he's gone green in big ways.

Foremost among those is the underground cement building in which sprouts and baby micro-greens are grown, some hydroponically, and some in the company's own compost mix.

Arthur businessman's service suits customers just fine

ARTHUR – Let's speak frankly: Larry Welton, a State Farm Insurance agent for 46 years, is not the easiest guy to fit.

That's why this 71-year-old from Clinton has, for about 30 years, been making the 55-mile drive to the quiet town of Arthur.

His destination is Delbert's, the men's clothing store where he buys custom-fitted suits and where he receives the kind of service that if a Las Vegas trip is in the works, Welton's wife can call the store and sales manager Linda Ingles will review Welton's measurements on file, pick out a few golf shirts and mail them to the Weltons' home.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Heritage students enjoy experts' work in creating gardens

HOMER – Master Gardener Joan Lane, with support from naturalist Suzanne Smith, designed and maintain the prairie courtyard garden at Heritage Elementary School in Homer.

The two women volunteer their time in this and two other gardens at the school.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Couples to wed on 'auspicious' date - 8/8/08

Amy Simpson and her fiance, Dan "Pete" Peterson, aren't the superstitious kind.

Simpson – a former Danville resident who now lives in Chicago – had a much more practical reason for wanting to tie the knot today, 8-8-08.

"I had to be clever for Pete," she said with a laugh. Remembering important dates isn't his forte. "I told him, if he forgets this one number, he's in trouble."

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Wall of Fame nominations being accepted at Danville High

DANVILLE – Do you know a distinguished Danville High School alum or attendee who would like to hang around with the likes of Gene Hackman and Dick Van Dyke?

You may want to nominate him or her for the school's Wall of Fame.

Centennial High School alum busy in first month on 'dream job'

CHAMPAIGN – On one of his first days on the job as Centennial High School principal, Justin Moore heard the music coming from near the school's parking lot, and he had to go outside.

He stood and listened to the Centennial fight song as the marching band practiced for the Fourth of July parade.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Retired teacher puts her cooking craft into book form

URBANA – Shirley Splittstoesser's idea of fun may seem like work to some folks.

She loves to cook, then write about cooking and teach it to others.

"Cooking truly has been my hobby," she said.

Growing up on a farm in Minnesota, her idea of a good time was "cooking up a storm. My sister never understood it, but it was fun to me," she said.

Golf outing all about remembering friends, helping others

Golfing and having a good time were two of Ryan Riddell's favorite pastimes. So his friends have decided the best way to honor his memory is to organize an annual golf outing with a big dose of fun thrown in.

After Mr. Riddell and his friend, Mark Prasse, were found slain in Mr. Prasse's rural Chrisman home a little more than six months ago, friends started searching for a way to honor their buddies, while doing something to benefit others.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Mahomet-Seymour, Western grad begins Peace Corps journey

Sitting on an Air France plane July 9, preparing to fly overseas for the first time in her life, Mary Scott yelled over the voices of 47 fellow Peace Corps volunteers traveling to Africa.

"I just graduated from college, and nothing is holding me back," said Scott, a Mahomet-Seymour High School graduate before going to Western Illinois University. "I love the idea of foreign travel, of foreign countries and of foreign languages."

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Longtime friends remember close-knit Urbana neighborhood

URBANA – They were labeled as from the wrong side of the tracks when they were growing up.

For a fact, they lived north and east of railroad tracks that separated their neighborhood from most of the rest of Urbana. Their six-block neighborhood faced East University Avenue between the National Guard Armory and Woodland, or Sanitary, Park.

Calabrese not backing down from 'Goliaths' in election

He just turned 21, his biggest issues have been Chief Illiniwek and campus bars, and he's facing down an incumbent state representative.

He's Frank Calabrese, not a very scary young man. But an Illinois Democratic Party leader who has advised Bill Clinton is the lawyer who challenged his election forms.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Color this cancer survivor an appreciative pink

 

CHAMPAIGN – Petrea Nelson is in the pink.

Builder's profits from home sale go to Big Brothers/Big Sisters

CHAMPAIGN – Jim Walder's heart is in the right place, according to Dick Dechert, president of the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Central Illinois.

Breakfast planned to aid 5 children whose parents died in crash

BROADLANDS – A pancake and sausage breakfast Sunday will benefit the children of a Broadlands couple who died in a recent accident.

The youth group at Broadlands Community Church, 300 N. Lincoln St., will host the event from 7 to 10 a.m. A raffle will take place at 8:45 a.m.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Believe it or not, Tod & John's tavern in Urbana turns 30 today

URBANA – A clue to John Messman's sense of humor was posted inside the door of his tavern this week.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Prosecutor: Smith told police he drank three beers

URBANA – University of Illinois basketball player Jamar Smith told police he drank three beers when he was arrested last weekend, a prosecutor said in court Wednesday. But Smith's lawyer denied the accusation on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the Champaign County state's attorney's office filed a petition to revoke Smith's probation and obtained a warrant for his arrest.

AMBUCS campers gather for night of dancing in Danville

DANVILLE – For one night, they flapped their arms like a chicken, waved their hands in the air like they didn't care, courtesy of Will Smith, and cheered the good old boys along with Waylon Jennings – all at the GAO Grotto.

The boat club played host to at least 120 physically and developmentally disabled adults Wednesday night as part of AMBUCS Summer Camp's annual summer dance. AMBUCS hosts a second one in December.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

16-year-old dancing phenom creating her own moves

CHAMPAIGN – Becky Ramos dances across the studio floor in a series of jumps, her ruffled red skirt floating out around her, a smile on her face, her arms gracefully extended.

The music changes and she moves across the floor in a series of pirouettes, then ends with several jumps.

The only evidence of the hard work beneath the graceful exterior is the thump-thump of her toe shoes on the wood floor and her heavy breathing when she finishes.

"This variation is exhausting," said her teacher, Luciana Rezende, after asking Becky if she needed a breather and some water. "Thank goodness she likes jumps."

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Urbana Class of '62 reunites; alum on trail of classmates

The person who keeps the 1962 Urbana High School alumni loyal to the class motto and class get-togethers is Linda Racer Ogle of Champaign. "I'm the glue that keeps us together," Ogle admitted.

The classmates meet Saturday night for a reunion at the Laborers Union Hall in Urbana.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Illini guard to speak after memorial golf scramble in Gibson City

GIBSON CITY – Illini point guard Trent Meacham will be the featured speaker at a banquet Monday, following the Greg Arends Memorial Golf Scramble at Railside Golf Club in Gibson City.

Both golfers and nongolfers are invited to the banquet beginning at 5:30 p.m. following the golf tournament. Dinner reservations alone are $10 and can be made by calling Bonnie Arends of Melvin at 388-2401

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Catholic Heart Workcamp 'changes kids' hearts'

CHAMPAIGN – They don't call it the Catholic Heart Workcamp for nothing.

There's hard, messy work involved, and no pay for those who do it – not a blessed cent – except the heartwarming feeling you get from helping somebody in need.

"It changes kids' hearts," said Mickey Nickrent, who has been running one of these camps in Champaign County this week for the first time.

Last dance director at National Academy of Arts dies at 80

CHAMPAIGN – The last dance director of the former National Academy of Arts in downtown Champaign died Saturday.

Jan Petrus Bosman, 80, died at 12:05 p.m. Saturday (July 19, 2008) at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, where he was a guest artist at Jordan Academy of Dance at Butler University.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Champaign soldier Tuttle will head back to Iraq on Thursday

CHAMPAIGN – They met over a pizza, or several. She was his boss at Papa John's and they "fell for each other right away."

"We liked each other right away; we hit it off right off the bat. I wasn't one of those mean bosses," Erin Tuttle said.

Now, Joseph and Erin Tuttle are together in their Champaign home – until Thursday, when Staff Sgt. Joseph Tuttle leaves to resume his second tour in Iraq.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Woman turns late husband's hunting jacket into teddy bear

CHAMPAIGN – When Jackie Sansone and her husband of 54 years went deer hunting together, sometimes she would lay her head on the shoulder of his hunting jacket.

A year ago, Henry Sansone Jr. passed away, and Jackie went to live in Heartland Health Care Center in Champaign.

To mark their wedding anniversary of June 6, Jackie spent Monday finishing up a Memory Bear, a teddy bear made from a loved one's clothes – in this case, the well-worn hunting jacket that still bears a faint impression of her husband.