Corn Belt-Okaw Valley merger to be called Illini Prairie

Central Catholic will be one of 10 high schools in the new Illini Prairie Conference. (Photo by Madison Roberts/You Name It Sports)
Central Catholic will be one of 10 high schools in the new Illini Prairie Conference. (Photo by Madison Roberts/You Name It Sports)

By Greg Halbleib

The merger of the Corn Belt and Okaw Valley will be known as the Illini Prairie Conference.

Ten high schools will form the new conference, including Corn Belt entries Central Catholic, Illinois Valley Central, Olympia, Pontiac and Prairie Central, joined by current Okaw Valley members St. Thomas More of Champaign, Monticello, Rantoul, St. Joseph-Ogden and Tolono Unity.

Student bodies from all participating schools submitted names for the conference, and principals unanimously chose Illini Prairie.

The new conference begins play during the 2017-18 school year.

 

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…