Literacy at the laundromat

Family Pride Laundry in Springfield has a new spin for its customers: a children's library.

The idea of turning a corner of the laundromat into a place where youngsters can read originated with Amanda Brown, a 20-year-old student at University of Illinois Springfield.

"I was just really attracted to it because I love working with kids. And I thought this would be a perfect way to be able to help the community," said Brown, who is studying elementary education and communications.

UIS, roundtable to host webinar on overcoming misinformation during pandemic

The University of Illinois Springfield Center for State Policy and Leadership and the Community Health Roundtable will host a free public webinar titled “Overcoming Misinformation during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Mainstream and Social Media, Public Health, and Outreach to the General Public and Disadvantaged Populations” at noon Friday via Zoom.

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Dr. Marcel Yoder explains sports psychology and the importance of mental health | Community Voices

Dr. Marcel Yoder is the Faculty Athletics Representative at the University of Illinois Springfield. He spoke with Community Voices about sports psychology and how people can use mental training to stay grounded during athletic activities as well as other activities such as music performance.

This story appeared on WUIS on Oct. 26, 2021.

Listen to the story online.

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UIS students trick-or-treat for a cause

University of Illinois Springfield students went trick-or-treating for a cause Sunday.

Seven teams of students traveled around the Capital City asking for canned food donations to be donated to the Central Illinois Food Bank.

Organizers say that the annual event is an important one, and that the goal this year was to collect 10,000 pounds of food.

This story aired on WICS Newschannel 20 on Oct. 31, 2021.

Read the entire article online.

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Majority of those surveyed by UIS have considered moving out of Sangamon County

New data offers a glimpse as to how Sangamon County residents are feeling during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

University of Illinois Springfield published its biennial citizen survey on Tuesday. Similar to its 2019 findings, there was an even split among the 726 survey respondents on whether Sangamon County is headed in the right direction.

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Local economy getting better but still a long way to go

The U.S. economy is getting better, but at a slow rate.

A local economist said there is still a way to go before we’re back to pre-pandemic levels.

Kenneth Kriz, an economist professor at the University of Illinois Springfield, said smaller cities and towns tend to have lower unemployment rates

“In terms of where we are at in the economic cycle, we’ve recovered quite a bit of the way from the bottom of the cycle but we’re not all the way back.”

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Local experts and community leaders address housing disparities in Springfield

Community leaders and experts held a webinar on Wednesday about the housing challenges in Springfield.

This was part of a series through the University of Illinois Springfield and the Citizens Club of Springfield called Confronting Inequities.

Wednesday's webinar focused on housing disparities within the community.

They touched on the housing issues facing people of color and immigrants to include the access available to stable housing and possible solutions.

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