Riverside Healthcare recently completed naming all the winners of the 2025 DAISY Award. The monthly award recognizes nurses who were nominated by patients for their excellent care.

Lemont High School honored its February students of the month at the district’s board of education meeting on Feb. 17

The Quad Counties Black Hall of Fame celebrates excellence, preserves community legacy and inspires future generations through recognition and storytelling.

Tom Melms has been named the Glen Ellyn Park District Volunteer of the Year.

Montini Catholic High School Broncette Coach and alumna Eugenia Wasson Scavone recently won the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Spirit Coach of the Year Award

Cody Dailey, a college and career counselor at Lyons Township High School has been named a recipient of the Award of Excellence in the Student Support Personnel category by the Illinois State Board of Education

Wheaton's Community Relations Commission is seeking nominations for the city's 2026 Good Citizens Awards through March 31.

Jennifer Van Dusen is a veteran fifth grade educator at Prairie Point Elementary School with nearly 30 years of experience.

The National Digital Inclusion Alliance named Lake County as a 2025 Visionary Digital Inclusion Trailblazer for its efforts to close the digital divide.

State Rep. Brad Fritts, R-Dixon, has presented the Lee County Drug Court Team with a certificate of recognition and commemoration for the effort, dedication and hard work that has led to the success of Lee County’s drug court program.

Gurnee Park District’s director of parks and planning, Kraig Owens, has been honored with the Jim Berousek Distinguished Alumnus Award from Western Illinois University.

We invite Will County organizations to submit a brief biography of their honorees.

Monthly winners receive prizes and advance to the final round for a shot at top honors in the forest preserve district's “Preserve the Moment” photo contest.

The Distinguished Alumni Award is bestowed in recognition of a particular achievement of noteworthy value, a series of such achievements, or a career of noteworthy accomplishments that bring honor to the college.

Last year’s staff of “Menagerie,” Lyons Township High School’s student literary magazine, has received a REALM First Class Award from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) for its 2025 publication

Thirteen leaders in high school activity programs across the country – including a Sterling educator – have been selected to receive a National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Citation.

The restoration of more than 600 acres at Lockport Prairie and Prairie Bluff preserves took six years of work by the Forest Preserve District of Will County, the Army Corps and Resource Environmental Solutions LLC.

The Silver finalists in the 2025 Culver’s Crew Challenge competition represent the top 45 restaurants within the franchise.

Dixon Police Officer Collin Grady was honored at Monday’s Dixon City Council meeting for his actions Jan. 8 that saved the life of a driver whose vehicle struck a house and a gas line.

The Kendall County Employee of the Year Award Program honors outstanding employees who consistently go above and beyond in their work and service to the community.

Sam Ramirez, program director of Dixon’s WIXN 95.1 and 1460 AM, River Country 101.7 and The Rock 95.7, received the certificate last week from state Sen. Li Arellano, R-Dixon

U.S. Rep. Jonathan L. Jackson, D-Chicago, will speak at the African American Business Association's 2026 Martin Luther King Jr. Brunch & Celebration in Joliet.

Northwest Illinois Economic Development, along with UMB Bank, has announced the presentation of the 11th Genz Small Business Development Fund Award to Dittmar Farms and Orchard of rural Elizabeth.

Campbell Brock, a mechanical engineering major from Port Byron, was one of several members of the Space Raiders, Milwaukee School of Engineering's Lunabotics student organization, who were recently featured on a low-orbit space satellite.

Ashley Vilona, emergency department manager at Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, has been recognized as the 2025 Nurse Leader of the Year for Advocate Health’s Illinois Division.

Larry Ubben of Mt. Morris received the 2025 Community Champion of Ogle County award on Dec. 11 at the Excalibur and Excelsior awards ceremony in Rockford.

Ogle County Educational Cooperative and Chana Education Center recently announced that Lynn Kalnins has been chosen as the Illinois Principal Association Northwest Region Middle School Principal of the Year.

CGH Medical Center in Sterling has been named a recipient of the inaugural Illinois Birthing Hospital Quality Excellence Award.

The Oswego Police Department has been accredited since 2005. CALEA accreditation is considered the gold standard in public safety.

Sauk Valley Community College student Nara Hardesty has won first place for the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Award for the 21st annual Illinois Emerging Writers Competition.

The Sauk Valley Area Chamber of Commerce is now accepting nominations for the Sauk Valley Area Chamber Champion Award — the region’s highest honor recognizing exceptional leadership, service, and community impact.

A Rock Falls public school was ranked in the top 10% of all Illinois schools by the state board of education's 2025 report card data.

Founded in 1940, First State Bank has served local families and small businesses for generations. They now serve communities across the region with 19 locations.

Dixon Deputy Police Chief Aaron Simonton was awarded at the Dixon City Council meeting Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, for saving the life of a man who was choking at an Elgin restaurant.

Laura J. Cook, county clerk and recorder of Ogle County, was recently recognized with the Commitment to Service Award for outstanding dedication and commitment to public service.

Larry B. Miller, a retired pharmacist, was inducted posthumously into the Illinois Aviation Hall of Fame on Oct. 16, 2025.

The Glen Ellyn Park District has been honored with the Pat Miller Community Engagement Award from the DuPage Monarch Project for its innovative Habitat Heroes volunteer program

When Maribel Rodriguez began working at a McDonald's restaurant 10 years ago, she had no idea what was in store for her. She found out this week what can happen.

The City of Rochelle’s recently-renovated and repainted water tower near the Illinois Route 251 overpass was recently nominated for Tnemec Company’s nationwide 2025 Tank of the Year contest.

Sterling Federal Bank, a trusted icon in Sterling, was named one of the nation’s most extraordinary banks on Sept. 25, 2025, by The Institute for Extraordinary Banking.

Stirling Hebda, a seventh grader at Thomas Jefferson Junior High School in Woodridge, has received national recognition for his outstanding achievement in financial education.

Bolingbrook High School celebrated the surprise recognition of Assistant Principal for Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Jaclyn Lennox with the Milken Educator Award at an assembly on Thursday.

Jeremy “The Amazer” Haak’s greatest magic trick is no illusion – it’s how he turned a childhood fascination with magic into a career that has captivated audiences for more than three decades.

Lyons Township High School has been selected as one of the 28 schools across the state to receive the inaugural Illinois Governor’s Blue Ribbon Schools Award for exemplary academic performance.

Gwen Strum, a lactation consultant with the Women’s Health team at OSF HealthCare Saint Katharine Medical Center, Dixon, has received the “I am an OSF Nurse” award in the category of Exemplary Professional Practice.

Carroll Prince, of Watseka, was recently crowned the AMHR Nationals Princess at the 2025 American Miniature Horse Registry National Show, which was held Sept. 4–13 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Selmi’s, located in Rock Falls, is a family-owned farm, apple orchard, and greenhouse that has served the region for four generations.

The center earned the Clinical Distinction Award for demonstrating “exceptional success by meeting or exceeding clinical benchmarks,” according to a news release from Silver Cross Hospital.

Lee County volunteers were recognized at the 2025 University of Illinois Extension Master Gardener Conference for their outstanding contributions to projects such as the Lee County Jr. Garden and Kids in the Kitchen program.

Downers Grove resident and Montini Catholic High School senior Laddie Asay is the 2025 Bumber’s Corner Locker recipient, named after 1989 Montini graduate and football standout Brad Bumber.