NORTHBROOK, Illinois, Sept. 13 -- Allstate, a property and casualty insurance company, issued the following news release: Allstate and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) are recognizing 22 student-athletes and one head coach for exemplary community impact by naming them to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. One player, Blake Corum, a running back at the University of Michigan, is on a mission to encourage others to dream big and serve their communities. Corum started a Giving Bac  more

CHICAGO, Illinois, Sept. 13 -- Commonwealth Edison, a subsidiary of Exelon, issued the following news release on Sept. 12, 2023: * * * Sixth annual Powering the Arts Grant Program expands access to arts and culture in northern Illinois * * * To increase access to the arts in northern Illinois, ComEd and The League of Chicago Theatres today announced they have awarded a total of $205,000 in funding to local community arts organizations committed to fostering artistic accessibility in northern  more

CHICAGO, Illinois, Sept. 13 -- Nexstar Media Group, a television broadcasting company, issued the following news release: NewsNation, the fastest-growing network in cable news, today announced that Connell McShane will join the network as host of the afternoon weekday program NewsNation Now from 3-5 p.m. ET, beginning Monday, September 25th. The show will broadcast from the new state-of-the-art studios in New York City with additional contributions from NewsNation's Headquarters in Chicago. Nic  more

NAPERVILLE, Illinois, Sept. 13 -- DeVry University issued the following news release on Sept. 12, 2023: DeVry University announced today the launch of its unique Artificial Intelligence (AI) Lab to help transform academic potential into academic performance and advance learner ambition. DeVry is reinforcing its commitment to closing the opportunity gap by providing an education tailored to address the needs of an AI-driven workplace. "Our nation's need for a skilled AI workforce increases each  more

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, Sept. 13 -- The Illinois National Guard issued the following news: Nearly 22 years after graduating from the Illinois Army National Guard Officer Candidate School, Illinois Army National Guard Soldier Paul Metzdorff, of Bloomington, was promoted to colonel in a ceremony at the Astroth Community Education Center, Heartland Community College, Normal, Illinois, Sept. 8. "Achieving the rank of colonel is quite an accomplishment in one's career," Maj. Gen. Rodney Boyd, Assist  more

CHICAGO, Illinois, Sept. 13 -- Gov. JB Pritzker, D-Illinois, issued the following news release on Sept. 12, 2023: Governor JB Pritzker announced $449 million in tobacco bonds have been retired through a defeasance, benefiting taxpayers through debt service savings and interest earnings in an aggregate of $50 million. "Today's action reflects Illinois' strong fiscal position and my continued commitment to responsibly manage the state's financial resources as we pay off the lingering debts from   more

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, Sept. 13 -- Gov. JB Pritzker, D-Illinois, issued the following news release on Sept. 12, 2023: Today, Governor JB Pritzker announced record-setting attendance totals for the 2023 Illinois State Fair. The more than 700,000 attendees over the 11-day event make the 2023 fair the most highly attended fair since industry standards were enacted. "Once again, the hard work of the Department of Agriculture and hundreds of dedicated fair staff have resulted in shattered attendanc  more

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, Sept. 13 -- The Illinois House Democrats issued the following news release: State Rep. Dagmara "Dee" Avelar, D-Bolingbrook, is prioritizing safe schools with a new law empowering school boards to hear sensitive information in a more private setting when considering matters of student and faculty safety. "The safety of our students, our teachers, and our community schools is paramount, but some of the most pressing safety matters--such as domestic abuse and stalking situa  more

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, Sept. 13 -- The Illinois House Democrats issued the following news release: State Rep. Jonathan Carroll, D-Northbrook, is cutting off a major source of profit for puppy mills and other for-profit operations that abuse animals by banning the use of credit, loans or installment agreements for the purchase of companion animals. Unethical breeders and pet stores often use these debt plans to charge high prices for animals who are often raised and kept in abusive conditions.   more

CHICAGO, Illinois, Sept. 13 -- The Illinois House Democrats issued the following news release: Drivers in Illinois will be prohibited from using videoconferencing or video chat applications such as Zoom or Google Meet while operating a vehicle under a new law passed by state Rep. Michael J. Kelly, D-Chicago. "As new technologies emerge, lawmakers need to be vigilant to ensure that the laws are updated to take them into account," Kelly said. "That's why, when I learned that existing laws around  more

CHICAGO, Illinois, Sept. 13 -- The University of Chicago issued the following news: * * * Center aims to establish a new field of physics to understand adaptation in living matter * * * The National Science Foundation has awarded $15.5 million to researchers at the University of Chicago over six years to establish a new field of physics that focuses on how living matter can store, retrieve, and process information. Known as the Center for Living Systems, it is one of four newly funded Natio  more

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico, Sept. 13 -- New Mexico State University issued the following news: The New Mexico State University College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences floral team won regional and national awards at this year's competitions. Ten members attended the national competition in July, sponsored by the American Institute of Floral Designers Annual Symposium in Chicago, Illinois, and placed first, second and fifth. Six members of the floral team attended the regional c  more

CHICAGO, Illinois, Sept. 13 (TNSres) -- Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine issued the following news release: * * * Scientists discover how stress activates the same receptors as THC * * * When you are under stress, your brain may release its own cannabinoid molecules to calm you down, activating the same brain receptors as THC derived from cannabis plants. But the brain activity patterns and neural circuits that are regulated by these brain-derived cannabinoid molecules   more

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 13 -- The Ohio Democratic Party issued the following news: According to a new report from Cleveland.com, Frank LaRose is set to fundraise with Illinois billionaire Richard Uihlein, one of the nation's biggest supporters of a nationwide abortion ban and the benefactor of LaRose's failed August amendment to make it harder for Ohioans to overturn Ohio's abortion ban. The news follows LaRose's admission that he would overrule the will of Ohioans and support a nationwide abort  more

CHICAGO, Illinois, Sept. 13 (TNSres) -- The University of Illinois at Chicago's School of Public Health issued the following news: The University of Illinois Chicago received $509 million in research funding during the 2023 fiscal year - an all-time high for Chicago's only public research university. The awards funded more than 3,400 projects spanning from the development of new medical treatments and evidence-based policies for violence prevention and sustainable cities to innovative research   more

CHAMPAIGN, Illinois, Sept. 13 (TNSres) -- The University of Illinois System Urbana-Champaign campus issued the following news release: JooYoung Seo, a professor of information sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, is developing a data visualization tool that will help make visual representations of statistical data accessible to researchers and students who are blind or visually impaired. The multimodal representation tool is aimed at the accessibility of statistical graphs,  more