The president of the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce updated local Chamber members Wednesday on issues before the state legislature that may impact local businesses.

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Lincoln College Theatre Department opens the final performance of the season, "Picasso at the Lapin Agile," on Thursday, April 19.
"Picasso at the Lapin Agile" is a comedy written by Steve Martin. The preposterous play places Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso in a Parisian café in 1904, before the renowned scientist transformed physics with his theory of relativity and the celebrated painter set the art world afire with cubism.

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Two years ago

Tracy Cline is passionate about two things – gardening and antiques. The 27-year-old Atlanta woman has parlayed these two passions into a successful second career with her business, Garden of Thyme Co., which sells unique home and garden accessories.

The city of Lincoln is observing Arbor Day 2000 by planting trees at two nursing homes, Maple Ridge Care Centre and St. Clara’s Manor. The trees are Aristocrat pear trees, ornamentals planted for the residents of the nursing homes to enjoy.

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Citizens in Lincoln will join thousands of individuals around the country as part of the National Trust’s Historic Preservation Week celebration. "Taking the Past Into the Future" is the theme of the week, with events scheduled May 7-14.

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How well do you know your elected and appointed officials in Lincoln and Logan County? Check today’s crossword to find out.

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National Arbor Day celebration

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The Logan County Board voted 9-4 to rescind their Jan. 16 vote to remain at large for purposes of electing board members. The board then voted, also by a 9-4 margin, to adopt the district form of election process.

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One way or another, change must come to Lincoln’s Central School. Built in 1915, the venerable structure must either be replaced or modified to meet the needs of today’s children and the safety measures required by the state of Illinois. Whatever the change is to be, the teachers who work in the building have drawn up a "wish list" they believe would provide the best educational setting for the children they serve.

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Joanne Durchslag didn’t come all the way from Federal Way, Wash., just for the food at Mary’s, but accompanying her parents, Edith and Jim Geary, to their favorite morning place was certainly a side benefit. "We come here for coffee about every morning," says Jim Geary, "and on Saturdays we usually have breakfast. It’s the best bacon and eggs in town."

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"I always knew music was going to be my life," says Tony Corpus. "And I knew when I was in high school I wanted to teach music." As the band instructor at Lincoln Community High School for the past nine years, he’s teaching music, and as a drummer for two different jazz bands, he’s making music. In addition, he’s teaching the jazz he loves to some of his regular band students.

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The double-wide trailer sits on Lazy Row in Atlanta. The tall, painfully thin transmission tower that is sending songs throughout central Illinois stands in quiet vigilance next to the structure. A chain-link fence surrounds the graveled property waiting to be covered in asphalt when the weather is good enough. Inside the building, workers toil to assemble modular furniture as plumbing, electrical and carpeting tasks wait to be completed.

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Who’s on first?  County board decision Tuesday may not tell us

The straw vote at last Thursday’s Logan County Board meeting shows us that the change from at-large representation to districts is not as easy as some would have us believe.
That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t happen. How the county is broken into districts, however, is probably more important than the decision to go that route actually is.

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Two years ago

Tina Workman named YMCA's top volunteer

Wins Larry Crisafulli Award at annual charter banquet

Described as a constant worker, behind-the-scenes organizer and avid YMCA booster, Tina Workman received the Larry Crisafulli Award at the Lincoln Area YMCA’s fourth annual charter dinner Saturday night at the Maple Club. The award, for excellence in volunteering, is named for the local Y’s first president, Dr. Larry Crisafulli, who attended the event.

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It is said that love makes the world go around. And with love, comes service. This past weekend the Logan County Unit of the American Cancer Society held its third annual Relay for Life at the Lincoln Park District facility. About 55 teams participated in the local event. Kathy Blaum and Mary Ellen Martin, co-chairs, spent countless hours planning, preparing and participating in this year’s walk-a-thon, which raises money for cancer research. Both women are cancer survivors.

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The Logan County Board will meet Tuesday at 7 p.m. to vote to rescind their vote to stay at large. This vote follows the April 3 referendum, in which voters indicated by a 3-1 margin that they wanted representatives elected by districts.

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An overview of local day cares and preschools

Choosing your child’s day care or preschool can be a difficult decision, considering location, hours, curriculum, staff experience. To make the best choice, parents have to locate each day care or school and interview the directors or teachers. This is a lot of work!

To help parents reduce some of their research time, LDN began to research local day-care centers and preschool programs.

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(Note: April 16, 2000, was a Sunday. No LDN files available for that date.)

One year ago

(Note: Since April 15 was a Sunday in 2001, selections are from articles posted on Saturday for LDN's weekend readers.)

Daily commuters between Lincoln and Mason City will be happy to know that plans are well under way at the state level to revitalize Route 10.  Anyone traveling that route will tell you that their vehicles have taken a beating driving the heavily patched-up strip of road.  The eastbound lane seems particularly rough. A number of other local roadways will also see restorations made by the state.

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A visit to St. Charles and Geneva

The phrase "river town" brings to mind bustling, rough-and-tumble spots — places like St. Louis or New Orleans. The river constantly brings new people and new opportunities, then carries them away again. But there is another kind of river town, the kind where the waters offer a bit of tranquillity, an antidote to change. That’s what the little Fox River brings to St. Charles and Geneva, busy Chicago suburbs that nevertheless have managed to hang onto their past. A vibrant downtown, beautiful old homes, vintage red barns and the timeless river all combine to give the towns a restful dignity.

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For Wilma Clark, it all started 16 years ago with a pack of free seed. Today she owns a rural San Jose business, Clark’s Greenhouse and Herbal Country, which is not only thriving but drawing customers from across the country for anise, yarrow, basil and sage.

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Ray Leesman says that he has lived in Lincoln for 80 years, "except for three years, nine months, and 27 days, when I was in the military." It was the Air Force, to be exact. "Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941, and I was drafted on February 13, 1942." On November 26, 1944, on a brief "pass" from the Air Force, Ray married a young lady named Gertrude from Mount Pulaski. They had met six months before the start of World War II. He was shipped overseas in April of 1945, only six months into their marriage. During his time in combat, Ray served his country and the world as a gunner scanner, flying 13 missions over Japan in a B29 Super Fortress bomber.

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