Richard Jenkins in a scene from “The Shape of Water,” for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He will be the guest of honor at a reception and showing of the film Oct. 30 at the Egyptian Theatre.

STATE

No. 1 health issue Googled in Illinois: stress

Got a question about your health? Most likely you have turned to Google for the answer. If so, you are not alone.

The Medicare review site, MedicareHealthPlans.com, took a look at the most frequently searched health symptoms of the past year on Google Trends. Then the researchers clumped these symptoms and similar ones together and ran them back through Google Trends to see which states had the highest search volume for each. Their results suggest which symptoms concern the most people in each state.

In Illinois, stress is the No. 1 researched ailment. In addition to Illinois, the results show a Stress Belt running through Iowa, Missouri and Kansas. In fact, stress was the most Googled symptom in one-fifth of all states.

Up in Minnesota, they’re searching for clues about irritability. Michigan residents are  concerned about stuffy noses. In North Dakota, the concern is irritable bowel. Residents of South Dakota worry about headaches; and in Nebraska, signs of low testosterone are an issue.

Health care experts advise using caution when searching the Internet for answers to medical questions. They say that people need to be critical thinkers, use good judgement and remember that there is a lot of misinformation out there. And, Googling doesn’t replace a professional diagnosis.

DeKALB

Richard Jenkins guest of honor at reception

The Egyptian Theatre will welcome home native son and Academy Award nominee Richard Jenkins, whose films have been showing in a series at the theater, 135 N. Second St.

A special reception with Jenkins as its guest will be held Oct. 30, before the showing of the final film in the series, “The Shape of Water.” The movie won 2018 Academy Awards for Best Picture, Director, Original Music Score and Production Design; and Jenkins received a Best Supporting Actor nomination.

Jenkins, who grew up in DeKalb, is a two-time Academy Award nominee with one Emmy award under his belt. His career spans nearly 40 years with many impressive roles in his more than 100 films.

Every Tuesday this fall, the Egyptian has shown a film that Jenkins personally selected as one of his favorites in which he acted. The series will end at 7 p.m., following the reception. The reception will begin at 5 p.m. Tickets are limited and cost $50. All funds raised will benefit the Egyptian Theatre. Each ticket includes entry into the reception, appetizers, a champagne toast and a cash bar.

Movie tickets are being sold separately. They cost $8 for adults and $6 for students and senior citizens. Friends of the Egyptian Theatre members save $2. Tickets can be purchased by calling 815-758-1215, in person at the box office and online at egyptiantheatre.org.

NIU study: More tornadoes in Midwest, southwest

A Northern Illinois University professor has helped to produce a study about the frequency of tornadoes in the country. The study finds that over the past four decades, tornado frequency has increased over a large swath of the Midwest and Southeast and decreased in portions of the central and southern Great Plains, a region traditionally associated with Tornado Alley.

The study, by meteorology professor Victor Gensini of Northern Illinois University and Harold Brooks of NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Okla., found significant decreasing trends in frequencies of both tornado reports and tornado environments over portions of Texas, Oklahoma and northeast Colorado.

Tornado Alley remains the top zone for tornadoes in the United States, but other areas, including the so-called Dixie Alley that includes much of the lower Mississippi Valley region, are catching up.

The researchers identified significant increasing trends of tornado reports and tornado environments in portions of Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee and Kentucky.

The researchers tracked the number of tornado reports from 1979 to 2017, while also investigating regional trends in the daily frequency of tornado-environment formation over the same time period, using an index known as the Significant Tornado Parameter (STP). Frequently used for predicting severe weather, the index captures the coexistence of atmospheric ingredients favorable for producing tornadoes.

Both the number of actual tornado reports and the historical STP analysis showed the eastward uptick in tornado frequency. The researchers cannot say for sure whether the eastward shift in tornado reports and environments might be caused by natural or human-induced climate change.

Chicago Bears honor NIU’s ROTC, military sciences director

Lt. Col. Karl Nilsen, NIU Military Sciences Department chair, was the Soldier of the Game during the recent Chicago Bears-Seattle Seahawks game at Soldier Field.

A deserving member of the military is honored during an on-field recognition during the third quarter of each Bears home game.

Nilsen was commissioned as an aviation officer and pilot of the AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter in 2002 after graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He has deployed three times in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn with the 4^thInfantry Division and Office of Security Cooperation – Iraq. His numerous awards and decorations include; The Bronze Star; Meritorious Service Medal; Air Medal; Iraqi Campaign Medal; Senior Aviator Wings; Air Assault Badge; and Combat Action Badge.

A solider selected for this honor has to be nominated by another service member or his/her leadership; be a solider in good standing and have been deployed to a combat zone at least once.

GENOA/DeKALB/SYCAMORE

Bank offers perks at fall event

Heartland Bank and Trust Co. will host its Fall into Free event Oct. 26. Local offices are extending an open invitation to customers, residents and businesses to join in celebration with refreshments, gifts, one-day-only offers and a chance to win a $500 Visa Gift Card.

Local Heartland Bank offices are at 327 W. Main St. in Genoa; 913 S. Fourth St. in DeKalb; and 124 S. Main St. and 1985 DeKalb Ave. in Sycamore.

For more information about the event, visit hbtbank.com.

–DeKalb County News Briefs–