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Marine Band to Hog Days parade? Chamber director says there's at least a 50/50 chance Susan DeVilder The Star Courier KEWANEE — The executive director of the Kewanee Chamber of Commerce, Mark Mikenas, is attempting to secure a military marching band for this year’s Hog Days parade.  The stakes couldn’t be higher, said Mikenas, who has organized the annual Hog Days parade for over a quarter of a century. With the cancellation of last year’s festival and the downright awful year that people have gone through because of the pandemic, Mikenas said he would like to make this year special....

Hog Days Committee set to make their move Susan DeVilder Star Courier KEWANEE — The Hog Days Committee took time to “move the furniture around” at their monthly meeting Tuesday.  “Moving the Hog Days furniture” is what Co-Chair Larry Flannery jokingly calling the reconfiguration of several event placements in the downtown area. The move is required because the annual festival lost valuable real estate in front of Coco’s Cookies and Coffee on West Third Street and the adjacent parking lot, where several of the larger carnival rides have been located.  For the last several meetin...

Area's churches plot post-pandemic course Susan DeVilder The Star Courier On a Saturday in March, members of the Church of Peace set out with a lofty goal. Armed with door hangers, about 20 volunteers spread out from Kewanee to Neponset and the rural area in between carrying the message: Churches are open and your church family is missing you.  “Our goal was to get a door hanger on every residence,” said Andrew Christman, who does double duty as pastor for both the Church of Peace and the State Road Community Church.  Since the start of the pandemic, churches have shuttered their doors,...

Kewanee's United Methodist caught in middle of national theological debate Susan DeVilder The Star Courier Last month, conservative leaders within the United Methodist Church announced plans to form a new denomination, the Global Methodist Church, with a doctrine that would not  recognize same sex-marriage. The split will require churches across the country to pick a side, and in Kewanee, the pastor of the First United Methodist Church, said he has no idea which side that will be.  “Which way do I think it will go? I don’t have a clue,” said Kevin Drane, who has been the pastor of the...

Sen. Win Stoller builds support for small businesses tax cap Susan DeVilder The Star Courier After a breakfast meeting with Henry county officials and local leaders on Wednesday, Sen. Win Stoller dropped by  Country Morning Coffee in Kewanee to highlight legislation he’s recently filed with the Illinois General Assembly.  The bill, SB 2531, would allow small businesses in Illinois to avoid a $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions created in 2017 under the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Stoller’s  legislation could save small businesses thousands of dollars in federal taxes.  St...