Participants in recent Annie’s Project training program are back row L-R, Jennifer Hackman, Kris Hahn, Rachel Dolaz, Tara McCausland, Brandy Garlisch, Connie Cowan, Ashlee VanEtten. Second row L-R, Leonda Markee, and Emily Schoenfelder. Front row, seated L-R, Anna Behrends, Ashtyn Stufflebeam, and Linda Garlisch.  (Photo courtesy of Annie’s Project)

STATE

Bill would include LGBT history in schools

A plan requiring public schools to teach a unit on the role and societal contributions of gays, lesbians and other LGBT individuals has advanced in the Illinois Senate.

The Senate Education committee has endorsed the measure 8-2, after a House committee approved a nearly identical version of the plan. If enacted, Illinois would become just the second state to approve an LGBT inclusive curriculum.

The proposal requires all elementary and high schools to teach a unit studying the role and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the history of the country and state.

The measure would also have schools use more inclusive and “non-discriminatory” textbooks going forward. Such inclusion would include the fact that Jane Addams was a lesbian.

Supporters say the measure is consistent with current law, which requires students learn the contributions of other under-represented groups, including African-Americans, Hispanics and Asian-Americans.

School boards would determine how much instructional time is spent on the subject. But the curriculum must reinforce that all people, no matter their sexual orientation, “have a right to be treated with civil, legal and human rights.”

Conservative groups have taken issue with the measure, calling it unnecessary and ideologically driven.

Boy George brings show to state fair

Boy George and his band Culture Club will bring their iconic 1980s sound to the Illinois State Fair Grandstand on Aug. 10. Joining Culture Club will be Tom Bailey, the lead singer of another popular ’80s British group, the Thompson Twins.

Culture Club has been called one of the most influential groups of the 1980s. Bailey, who now performs with a new band, still plays many of the Thompson Twins’ hits in his show.

Tickets for the show are being sold by Ticketmaster for $22 to $42.

COUNTY

Farm women receive education targeting them

Twelve farm women from Tazewell County and nearby Mason and Fulton counties have improved their management and decision making skills by participating in and completing a training program especially for them.

Called Annie’s Project, the project is designed to help farm women advance in the complex world of agriculture. Instruction was given last month at the Mason County Extension office in Havana and was co-sponsored by University of Illinois Extension, Fulton-Mason-Peoria-Tazewell Unit and Mason County Farm Bureau.

During the Level 1 instruction, several agriculture industry professionals lectured about topics that included goal setting, business planning, family communications, keeping track of financial records, interpreting financial information, understanding insurance options (liability, health, life, long-term care, crop, etc.), land values and leases, retirement and estate planning, risk management, and federal farm programs.

Annie’s Project Level 1 will be presented again in the spring of 2019, in Peoria County. For more information about Annie’s Project contact Christine Belless, Extension program coordinator, at cbelless@illinois.edu or call 309-547-3711. 

MORTON

Police department will accept unwanted medication

April 28 is the next National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, a movement across the country that aims to provide a safe, convenient and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications.

The Morton Police Department, 375 W. Birchwood St., will be a drop-off location this year. The department will accept medications from 10 a.m.- 2 p.m.

PEKIN

Square dance lessons offered

The B-n-B Club hosts square dance lessons from 7 to 9 p.m. every Tuesday at the Miller Senior Center, 551 S. 14th St., Pekin. Cost is $4 per person. Curt Braffet will be the caller. For information, call 239-849-4090.

HOPEDALE

Wellness center reopens its market

The Spring Market is returning to Hopedale Wellness Center and will be held 9 a.m.-12 p.m. April 21, offering the public an opportunity to celebrate small local businesses. The fair contains a variety of booths, and no two vendors sell identical products. There will also be a raffle for a three-month couple’s household membership at the Wellness Center.

The market will be open, rain or shine, inside the Hopedale Wellness Center, 222 NW Grove St., Hopedale.

–Tazewell County News Briefs–