A baseball season that was in jeopardy just six short months ago turned out pretty well for the Springfield area.

The following is an excerpt from a column by the University of Illinois Springfield Director of Graduate Public Service Internship Program Sherrie Elzinga. This column appeared in The State Journal-Register on June 20, 2021. 

June graduation celebrations always include the opportunity to congratulate recent college graduates on their undergraduate degrees and pose the inevitable questions about future employment. 

When John Hanlon started his career as a lawyer in 1983, he knew of only one case where an innocent person had been cleared of a crime: Sam Shepphard, the Ohio physician exonerated in 1966 of killing his wife.

The University of Illinois Springfield Innovation Hub, the UIS Center for State Policy and Leadership and the Community Health Roundtable will host a free public webinar titled “The Lasting Effects of COVID-19 on Patients, the Health Care System and the World” via Zoom at noon Friday.

Blake Jones, a sophomore runner on the University of Illinois Springfield men’s track and field team, placed third in the 5,000-meter run at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championships on Saturday.  

Jones finished the race in 14 minutes, 15.12 seconds to become the first male UIS runner to earn All-American honors and the first in school history to score a point in a national meet.  

Local experts will talk about the history of Juneteenth during an online panel discussion.

The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) Center for Lincoln Studies will host a discussion called "Why Juneteenth: Remembrance and Reflection."

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day and Emancipation Day, takes place on June 19. It commemorates the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Texas learned that slavery was abolished and they were free.

The 2021 Sangamon County Citizens Survey has been sent out.

The survey, which has been conducted every other year for the past 10 years, asks for residents' opinions on important topics related to the community, equality, COVID-19, trust and confidence, economy and employment, and demographics.

The survey is a collaborative effort between the University of Illinois Springfield Center for State Policy and Leadership, Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln, and United Way of Central Illinois.

This story aired on WAND TV June 7, 2021.

Illinois colleges and universities are pushing for most students to get vaccinated against COVID-19 before they return to campuses in the fall.

The state's largest private universities are mandating the vaccine for those who return to campus this fall, while the public systems are taking a more incentive-based approach.

University of Illinois Springfield junior Lexi Dhamrait of Springfield was in New Orleans with UIS administrator Mark Dochterman on an annual spring break service trip when they got word from the university system that in-person classes were canceled for the rest of the semester.

The University of Illinois Springfield could return to a more normal atmosphere in the fall if the pandemic trends continue in the right direction.  The university system has announced it plans to offer more in-person classes starting in August, citing the rising number of people getting vaccinated as a main reason.