The Land of Lincoln Honor Flight is kicking off the 2024 flying season on May 14 with Mission #70.

The first flight of the season will serve 94 Veterans including 15 Korean Era veterans, 79 Vietnam era veterans from Bloomington, Champaign, Chestnut, Clinton, Decatur, Farmer City, Lincoln, Mahomet, Mason City, Mt Zion, and Normal.

Veterans will represent all branches of the military as well as the Air National Guard and the Army National Guard.

These 94 veterans and their Guardians will report May 14th at the Abraham Lincoln Capitol Airport at 4 AM to travel to Washington DC on a chartered Sun Country 737 aircraft to visit the World War II, Korean and Vietnam War memorials, as well as Arlington National Cemetery Tomb of the Unknowns, the Lincoln Memorial, the National Air & Space Museum in Chantilly, Virginia, the US Marine Corps Memorial and the US Air Force Memorial.  

This day of honor is provided at absolutely no cost to our veterans and is completely funded by donations from the general public.

A central Illinois outdoors official says they are noticing an increase in fishing and hunting thanks to easier access to licensing.

Department of Natural Resources Conservation Police Capt. John Williamson indicates they have seen an increase in activity thanks to outdoorsmen or aspiring outdoorsmen being able to get licenses through the DNR website and app.

The spring trout fishing season recently opened and those fishing license renewals came up on April 1.

dnr.illinois.gov has all the licensing information and regulations. You can also apply for those licenses online or through the Illinois Outdoors app.

A Clinton grocery store owner is working to keep grocery prices down in the middle of some worst inflation he's seen in his career.

Dave Jackson owns the Clinton Save-A-Lot in Clinton and explains the challenge is keeping food prices down while making a profit. He calls the last four years the most challenging he's ever been through.

Coming out of COVID, finding certain items could be challenging, and the specific items that would be low in supply but high in demand would change from week to week or month to month. Jackson says they are, for the most part, getting items in regularly now. 

According to Jackson, he hears often from customers their appreciation of his efforts to keep prices low and indicates they get customers from all over central Illinois that come to Clinton to shop at Save-A-Lot.

As far as inflation, Jackson says some items will return to normal or close to what they were before COVID but other items he says you will not see go back down.

As the fresh produce season rolls in, Save-A-Lot will, and already is, advertising locally grown produce they'll have on its shelves. You can keep up with what they have by stopping into 205 East Washington Street in Clinton or finding them on Facebook. 

Last month, the Neighborhood Care Center of DeWitt and McLean Counties hosted its first-ever gala fundraiser.

The event was a huge hit according to Mandi Ries, communications coordinator for the Neighborhood Care Center, and reports the gala was a huge success and felt they did a good job making it fun and unique for those who paid to come out.

For the Neighborhood Care Center, the dollars raised from last month's event in Heyworth will go right back into its budget to invest in people in the community. Ries says they are steadfast in believing God will provide for their needs financially and otherwise. 

According to Ries, the night had a lot of purposes for them but one of them was to bring the two networks together and demonstrate the reach each center has.

Ries looks forward to having another gala next year, likely back in Heyworth. She says they are already looking at dates for the event and are planning for another April event. 

The Mississippi River impacted by low water levels last summer and fall. Are things improving this spring?

Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford speaking to the RFD Radio Network this week.

Governor JB Pritzker has floated the idea that about a billion dollars is needed to rebuild and replace two prisons - one in suburban Will County and another in Logan County.

There has been worry that the woman’s correctional facility in Logan County would be torn down but not rebuilt in the same area and now a recent IDOC report says it prefers the woman’s prison to be moved to Crest Hill and built next to a new Statesville Correctional facility. Governor JB Pritzker says a long process still needs to play out before any prison closes and jobs and prisoners are moved from one part of the state to another.

Logan currently serves as one of the state’s two prisons from women. Much of its structure dates back 90 years ago.

The American Red Cross is in need of blood during the summer months at least as much if not more than during the rest of the year, according to the head of the agency. 

As a rule, donations fall off between May and August, but there are numbers that indicate they are seeing the lowest number of donors in the last 20 years or so. Red Cross Executive Director Beth Elders says they need more people to donate as often as they can.

She says it’s important that donors make an appointment to give now before heading out for summer activities to help maintain a stable blood supply in the coming months. You can find information about how to donate here: www.RedCross.org