Illinois Weekend Digest

AP-Illinois stories for the weekend of Jan. 18-19. May be updated. Members using Exchange stories should retain the bylines and newspaper credit lines. If you have questions, please contact the AP-Illinois desk in Chicago at 312-781-0500 or [email protected]

Saturday:

EXCHANGE-FLOOD AFTERMATH

BUFFALO, Ill. — Ron Brougham, 59, didn't know where to start. It was July and, sitting on a bench outside the converted doctor's office he calls home in Buffalo, he stared at the big pile of debris in his yard. Before unprecedented flooding on the Mississippi River last spring, that debris had been the drywall, insulation, flooring, furniture and other accoutrements that made up his home. Although he and others had sandbagged his house just off Front Street, they finally conceded it to the rising river. By Alma Gaul. The (Moline) Dispatch and Rock Island Argus. UPCOMING: 640 words, photo. https://bit.ly/2t68Ftm

EXCHANGE-CRITICAL PLACES

ELWIN, Ill. — ZIP code 62532 appears in blue numerals on the front of the Elwin post office, a shack-like structure on South Taylor Road with 52 neat P.O. boxes behind a worn front door. Even though the tiny space — the public area is maybe the size of a freight elevator — is open from 7:15 to 11 a.m. weekdays, it's an important linchpin in this unincorporated Macon County area south of Decatur. “I think they really, really appreciate it,” said 40-year resident Kathy Isome. “There’s just something about having a small-town post office.” BY Kennedy Nolen. The (Bloomington) Pantagraph. UPCOMING: 1, 220 words, photo. https://bit.ly/35uhV7H

Sunday:

EXCHANGE--COMMUNITY COLLEGES-MINORITY STUDENTS

PALATINE, Ill. — Growing up in the Northwest suburbs, Daliyah Sanders often felt isolated from her peers as the only black student in her class practically since kindergarten through high school. "It's been my reality my entire life," said Sanders, 19, of Schaumburg. It's why connecting with peers and professors in college was an important motivator for Sanders to stay in school. That and getting a tuition-free full ride at Harper College in Palatine through the One Million Degrees program, which helps hundreds of community college students succeed in the classroom and beyond. By Madhu Krishnamurthy. (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald. UPCOMING: 1,035 words, photo. https://bit.ly/36nnZAa

EXCHANGE-GARDEN CLUB PROGRAM

DECATUR, Ill. — Grace Baity is intrigued by the Kids Club Turtle Creek Garden program. The sixth grade student at Garfield Montessori School found out about the club from a friend and applied last summer to be one of the apprentices who take care of the garden. "We were keeping the tools in (social worker Marilyn Stevens') car," Grace said. "I started making bracelets and raising money to buy a shed to keep the tools in." Kids Club is a cooperative venture between First United Methodist Church and Good Samaritan Inn. On the last Saturday of the month, when Good Samaritan is closed, the church invites kids up to age 12 for lunch and enrichment activities. By Valerie Wells. (Decatur) Herald & Review. https://bit.ly/2ZXkXAn