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.

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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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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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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