The 94th District state representative died with his wife, Chris, and his daughter, Alison, by his side.

Macomb…With wife Chris, and daughter Alison by his side, State Representative Rich Myers passed away Wednesday evening.  The 62-year-old Myers had been diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier this year.  A state lawmaker for 16 years, Myers had recently been re-elected as State Representative of the 94^th District and was optimistic about his recovery and courageously fought the disease to the end.   The family is requesting privacy during this difficult time.

Funeral arrangements for Representative Myers are pending and details will be forthcoming.

Myers was a farmer in the Colchester area and was a Western Illinois University alumnus.

“Rep. Myers was an outstanding legislator and a friend.  He always kept his family, his district and our state as his top priorities and represented them exceptionally well.  My thoughts and prayers are with his family during their time of grief.”

-Rep. Tom Cross

Illinois House Minority Leader

“Representative Rich Myers gave us 16 years of public service,” said state Sen. John Sullivan, D-Rushville.

“Rich Myers was a loyal Western Illinois University alumnus and was a tireless advocate for higher education in the state of Illinois,” WIU President Al Goldfarb said.

Macomb, IL…On Thursday, State Representative Rich Myers (R-Colchester) was honored with the Illinois Chamber of Commerce Champion of Free Enterprise Award for his outstanding legislative record of supporting pro-job and pro-business policies in the General Assembly.  Over the past five General Assemblies Rep. Myers has averaged an over 90% pro-business voting record.

“The national recession combined with Illinois’ terrible budget situation has created an unstable, unreliable economic environment throughout the state,” said Rep. Myers.  “If we are going to return Illinois to national economic leader we must create a positive business environment where the private sector is not hampered with higher taxes and additional regulations.  It is imperative that we put in place policies that encourage growth and investment here in Illinois, and capitalize on the immense talent within our state.”

The Chamber’s ratings are based on legislators’ votes on the key business legislation of the 96th General Assembly. The votes in the Senate and House are selected based on their impact on the business community and, to a lesser extent, the gap between opposing views on the issue. The votes are weighted accordingly.

“The Illinois Chamber of Commerce is proud to recognize legislators that have made special contributions in the defense of free enterprise, and the furtherance of economic opportunities for Illinoisans,” said Todd Maisch, the Chamber’s Vice President for Government Affairs.  “Legislators with Illinois Chamber ratings averaging 85% or better over the previous three General Assemblies have demonstrated their commitment to legislation that frees the entrepreneurial spirit and qualify for the award.”

Macomb Mayor Mick Wisslead said Myers touched many lives in western Illinois.

“He was a real gentleman and a statesman,” Wisslead said. “The great thing was that he was able to work on both sides of the aisle, and that made things easier for the city of Macomb. He will sure be missed.”

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn also remembered Myers in a statement Thursday.

“Rich was a good man who served the people of Illinois for many years with a servant’s heart. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him,” Quinn said.

MACOMB, IL — Illinois is poised to take advantage of some sectors of the new green economy, according to a recent Rural Research Report from the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs. The report, “Which Green Jobs Look Promising for Rural Illinois?” defines green jobs and suggests opportunities that are easily within the grasp of Illinois communities because many of the necessary skills for these positions are already available in the workforce. Authors John Gruidl and Ilya Markov, both from the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs, conclude that rural Illinois is well positioned to capture many green jobs, particularly in the construction and agricultural sectors.

According to the report, green jobs are associated with green products or services that use resources more efficiently, provide renewable sources of energy, lower greenhouse gas emissions or otherwise minimize environmental impacts of human activities. The overwhelming majority of green jobs are in occupations that many people already work in today.

For example, increasing the energy efficiency of buildings requires construction managers, roofers and heating/air conditioning installers. Manufacturing wind turbines requires machinists, sheet metal workers and truck drivers. Producing new crops for bio-fuels requires farmers, truck drivers and farm-product suppliers. In addition, all these industries require support activities performed by lawyers, accountants, office clerks and salespeople.

Three green sectors seem particularly well suited to rural Illinois:building retrofittingwind poweradvanced bio-fuelsRural Illinois has basic locational characteristics required for businesses to succeed in these industries, including a skilled workforce for building retrofitting, sites with sufficient wind speed and wind power, as well as fertile and abundant agricultural land for growing biomass for bio-fuels.

Green jobs span a variety of skills and educational backgrounds. But many of these jobs are “mid-skilled” jobs that require education past high school but not a college degree. Green jobs in engineering and construction will be modifications to existing jobs, likely requiring learning new skills and methods. Community colleges and universities in rural regions can change training programs, in such fields as construction and engineering, to incorporate green technologies and techniques.

Furthermore, the greening of the economy will provide entrepreneurial opportunities, such as auditing the energy efficiency of buildings and designing and installing new green products to reduce energy consumption.

In the long run, greening the economy could benefit small towns in Illinois. Young people often move from their hometowns because of limited job opportunities. By expanding rural employment in construction and agriculture, among other fields, the green economy may enable more young people to remain or return to their rural communities.

You can obtain a copy of the report by contacting IIRA at the phone number below or download the report (PDF file) from our website at www.iira.org/pubs/publications/IIRA_RRR_711.pdf.

Western Illinois University is an Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity institution. For more information about the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs, see www.IIRA.org. If you care to comment about this column, contact Collins at (800) 526-9943 or T-Collins@wiu.edu.

Copy By: WIU

MACOMB, IL — Mark your calendars and join faculty and staff members from several Western Illinois University departments and west central Illinois education and business communities to celebrate WIU’s College of Education and Human Services’ Eleventh Annual Tech Fest on Wednesday, April 21.
 Slated for 11 a.m.–1 p.m. in the Horrabin Hall gym, “Technology Theater: Tech Fest 2010″ will feature an array of exhibitors and participants, including exhibits and presentations from students at Macomb High School, representatives from the Illinois Virtual School, McDonough District Hospital and Apple, Inc.

In addition, various disciplines and departments at WIU will be showcasing their forays into, and innovations in, technology, with exhibits from education; geography; art; broadcasting; law enforcement and justice administration; instructional design and technology; dietetics, fashion merchandising and hospitality; health sciences; and the College of Fine Arts and Communication (COFAC) and the University Relations office. At 1 p.m., there will be a drawing for an Apple iPad. Contestants must be present to win.


“Technology increasingly impacts education and human services — from the systems we use to provide students with instruction and to get work done, to the ways that we share educational, instructional and professional information. Tech Fest provides us with an excellent venue through which to demonstrate how technology connects the many disciplines within the University, as well as how the University and its many entities are connected to the Macomb community and west central Illinois region and beyond,” said College of Education and Human Services (COEHS) Dean Nick DiGrino.

Tech Fest 2010 will be held during COEHShowcase: COEHS Week 2010. For more information about COEHS Week, see wiu.edu/coehs/showcase.

For more information, visit wiu.edu/coehs/TechFest/ or contact Dana Moon, director of marketing and community relations, at (309) 298-1690 or DM-Moon@wiu.edu.

Copy By: Teresa Koltzenburg

MACOMB, IL – - Miss Illinois 2009 Erin O’Connor, who is a Western Illinois University theatre-acting major and dance minor, was interviewed on ABC7 Chicago (WLS-TV) Jan. 11 by Hosea Sanders.

The interview, which is available at http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?sectionresources&idr11510, includes a look at the upcoming Miss America Pageant (www.missamerica.org) at 7 p.m. (CT) Saturday, Jan. 30 in Las Vegas, which will be televised live on TLC; as well as O’Connor’s platform, which is skin cancer education and prevention. The 20-year-old lost her mother to melanoma in May 2007.

“Since that time, I have devoted myself to skin cancer prevention by working as an advocate for the American Cancer Society,” said O’Connor, who was a team captain in a Spring 2009 Relay for Life event at Western that raised $1,500 for cancer research. She also speaks to schoolchildren about skin cancer prevention.

For her talent, O’Connor (Evergreen Park, IL) will perform ballet en pointe to Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.”

O’Connor was crowned the 2009 Miss Illinois June 20 at the Miss Illinois Pageant in
St. Charles.

She has performed in University Theatre productions, unrehearsed Shakespeare plays through the theatre department and two major dance shows each year. O’Connor plans on returning to Western to finish her degree in theatre and possibly pursue a Master of Fine Arts degree.

She is the daughter of Terrence O’Connor and the late Mary Kay O’Connor of Evergreen Park and a graduate of Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School (Chicago).

Copy By: Bonnie Barker

MACOMB, IL – Former Western Illinois University Education Professor Victor Rich, and his wife, Jeanne, of Galesburg (IL), recently received the highest award given from Silliman University  in the Phillippines for their years of volunteer service.

The Riches, who are the first Americans to receive The Order of Horace P. Silliman, were honored at a reception in Orlando, FL in July. The award is named after the individual who founded Silliman in 1901.  Rich and his wife volunteered at Silliman University during the summers, from 1983 until 1992.

At Silliman, Rich taught undergraduate and graduate courses and student-teacher classes. He also developed new courses for the university and gave numerous lectures at area colleges and community organizations.

According to the Riches, they were so enthused by a volunteer nurse in Central America who had spoken at their church that they applied for voluntary services through the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia (UBCHEA) and found themselves at Silliman University in Dumaguete City, Phillippines. From 1983 to 1987, the Riches would spend the summer months at Silliman, and following Victor’s retirement in 1989, they returned for a full eight months of service.

Rich joined Western’s faculty in 1963, teaching education classes at the Western Illinois University Graduate Center in the Quad Cities, retiring in 1989. Prior to teaching at Western, Rich taught math and science at Abingdon Junior High School.

Copy By: Darcie Shinberger

The service is open to the public as well as members, friends and former members.

The church, north and east of Woodhull, is closing for several reasons: an aging congregation, lack of rural growth, a declining member work force and member demographics, according to member Sherry Griffin of Galesburg, daughter of Dorothy and the late Don Nelson, longtime members of the church. She said the decision was not based on finances.

Read Galesburg.com full article here.