LACON - When Lacon native Adam Dorsey took a teaching job in the Chinse city of Suzhou in 2013, it was partly to spend some time living in a "a starkly different environment." China certainly provided that, and teaching math and science to high school students preparing for universities in the West provided income to help pay down student loans that had accumulated while he attended Illinois State University.

PEORIA - Two new Tri-County Area cases of COVID-19 were reported Sunday by the Peoria City/County Health Department.

LACON - The Marshall County Board has formed a special COVID-19 committee to focus on certain issues related to impacts of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

While African-Americans make up just less than 15% of Illinois' population, they account for about 43% of the state's 596 COVID-19 fatalities and 28% of its 17,887 confirmed cases, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

With the time to harvest corn and soybeans in central Illinois still several months away, it is much too early for area farmers to predict what kind of yields they will see.