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This week, the Mercyhealth campus on Rockford’s West Side officially got the green light to permanently shut down its mental health unit.

On Tuesday, the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board voted 5-0, in favor of allowing Mercyhealth to shutter its mental health unit at the Rockton Avenue campus. 

Danielle Angileri is with the National Alliance on Mental Health of Northern Illinois. She said these services are more vital than ever. 

SEIU Local 73 confirmed that its bargaining units reached contract agreements with the University of Illinois at Chicago after more than a week on strike. Workers returned this morning.

SEIU member Alicia Uwumarogie confirmed, “The strike is over and that we are leaving the picket lines victorious in so many areas.”

The “wins” in the new agreements include increases in shift differentials, bilingual pay for hospital workers and the workers of the division of specialized care for children.

In April, Illinois Valley Community College’s servers shut down. It happened soon after COVID-19 closed down the campus and shifted classes online. Hackers locked the college out of its own networks. That caused its website and email system to crash. 

In the directory where files should be, the hackers left a message demanding cash for ransom.  

When I was a kid and fought with my siblings, the first weapon we raised was the pointing finger. My mother, now 97, would say, “Well the one thing we have plenty of right now is blame -- and it won’t get this fixed!” Then walking away from us, she would call back, “Figure this out -- now.” With that we were left on our own, the message was clear, stop finger pointing and fix it or we would all be in trouble.

Organized workers at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Rockford continued their strike this week as contract negotiations continue.  

Carmen Garcia has worked for the UIC division of specialized child care for more than 20 years. She says she and her coworkers just want a fair contract like other staff are already getting. 

 The DeKalb Police Department may be sporting body-worn cameras sooner than anticipated.

The DeKalb City Council unanimously approved a contract with Axon Enterprises, Inc. to purchase body-worn cameras for the police department. DeKalb City Manager Bill Nicklas says it’s a step in the right direction.  

On the night of September 16, a still unknown perpetrator spray painted the “n-word” on the Center for Black Studies at Northern Illinois University. During the subsequent informational town hall, unnamed individuals attempted to sabotage the evening by interrupting speakers, interjecting racial slurs, and posting provocative and deceptive texts, once again hiding in the shadows.

Shopping carts are normally used to carry food and other store items, but one Aurora food pantry pushed its carts in a different direction for Hunger Action Month and another is highlighting local restaurants.

Illinois has devoted more than $230 million across every county in the state for COVID-19 contact tracing.

Life. What's it all about?

This question steamrolls over me now and then.

Alan Watts in his 1951 essay on finding meaning in reality said: “If the universe is meaningless, so is the statement that it is so… The meaning and purpose of dancing is the dance.”

I think I get it. Perhaps it's as simple as the small photo I hold. A photo that got me thinking about this life stuff. It was taken 28 years ago. A family reunion shot. Marking the day many of us we were together ... at least for a while.

The Northern Almanac is adapted for broadcast by Clint Cargile and presented in collaboration with the NIU 125th Anniversary Oral History Project.

Find the original story at NIU’s 125 Key Moments website:

• Huskie Bus Line transportation system is born (1971)

In current uncertain times, I have found wisdom in a surprising place -- the movie Frozen II. In it, Anna says that when you’re up against a challenge and aren’t sure what to do, “do the next right thing.” An important precursor to this is advice from the 1989 Spike Lee drama, to always do the right thing.

I’m a person who likes to know what’s coming. Confession: I sometimes skip ahead when reading and sneak a peek at upcoming chapters. We can’t do that in real life, good thing.

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A uniquely Midwestern art exhibit found a way to crown its winners despite the pandemic. 

The 16th annual Farms & Barns exhibit features 82 artists’ original works celebrating country life.  Some include photography, wood carving and mixed media. This year, the art show honored eight local and regional artists.

Michael Glenn, the executive director of The Next Picture Show in Dixon, said the process for awarding the artists is different due to the pandemic. 

Welcome to Poetically Yours, where you'll hear the voices of Illinois poets as they share their words about the world around them. This week features Paula Morhardt. Her poem is called, "Forever Goes On."

Forever Goes On

Just when I think I am coming to a good resolution,

I find something of yours.

Today it was a shirt that hadn’t yet been washed,

and it smelled like you.

The wave came crashing down,

and I fell to the floor,

There’s a new housing rental assistance program available in areas around Cherry Valley.

The Community Action Agency announced housing assistance funds are available to those who experienced hardship related to the COVID-19 pandemic. $69,000 dollars will go to residents in the 61016 zip code for immediate use, which the state health department has deemed as especially impacted by the pandemic. 

We’ve got a special episode this week. Remember a few months back when we heard from those valedictorians about what it was like graduating in the strangest senior year ever? And remember when we heard from some parent surveys about the challenges of learning from home a few episodes ago?

Well, today we’re hearing from the kids just starting their school journey: elementary schoolers from pre-K to 5th grade in the West Aurora School District.

When I was 17, my goals were to turn 18, graduate from high school, attend the University of Illinois, and make my way in the world.

Like many of my friends, I owned a rifle.  It was stored safely on a rack in my bedroom, except when I was target shooting or small game hunting.

When I headed to college in the fall of 1969, that rifle remained 150 miles away, still on my bedroom wall. The thought of taking it to a protest or demonstration would have seemed ludicrous.

America has probably not been this divided -- or this uncivil -- since the Civil War. Differences of opinion have resulted in, not surprisingly, ad hominem attacks. I’ve found the use of misogynistic and anti-Semitic language especially troubling. And lately, I’ve also noticed social media pundits using a variation of what I’ll call the “r” word, an outdated and unacceptable way to describe special needs individuals.

A Rockford youth summer apprenticeship program has ended and the fruits of the participants’ labor are ready to be revealed.   

SPARK! -- or -- Significant Public Art Apprenticeships in Rockford began back in July. One of the projects includes works that were done at the Nicholas Conservatory.   

Among the themes are social justice artwork and digital journalism skill-building.  An animation video that highlights youth interviews of community participants sharing what Black Lives Matter means to them will be on display.