The Herald-News • Sunday, September 20, 2015
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Rain washes out Friday football United It happens at least once every prep football season – Mother Nature gets in the way of cheering on our teams when she unleashes a torrent of rain and hurls lightning down from the heavens. That happened Friday night for us here in the Joliet and Morris area, with most of our teams either canceling or rescheduling their games. As is becoming habit for our sports and web staff, they spent much of Friday night using our sports Twitter account at @HeraldNewsSport – although usually they are doing so to provide updates on scores. On Friday, they used it to tweet out updates about cancellations and rescheduling
VIEWS Kate Schott of games. We did our best to get to as many of the games rescheduled for Saturday as possible; some of the later games might not be in Sunday’s edition so check out Monday’s editions for any missed action. As always, we try to get recaps and photo galleries on our websites as soon as possible after the games, and I encourage you to check out the website Saturday mornings when there isn’t a rain delay to get caught up
on how local teams fared the night before. ••• Our first Everyday Heroes appreciation breakfast was held Sept. 11 at the Joliet Country Club. It was the best start to my day in a long time. The 130 people there were among our 16 recipients, who represented the best of Will and Grundy counties by their selfless actions and giving hearts. Who wouldn’t feel inspired when sitting near those who only think of helping others? Our friends at Joliet Community Television recorded the event, and are kindly showing the half-hour program on Channel 6 when
they can fit it into their schedule (visit shawurl. com/250l for a list of programming on JCTV). You also can view the event on YouTube at https://youtu. be/lgJvQ4UfUzk. I hope you enjoyed the Everyday Heroes special section in last week’s Sunday editions. I haven’t enjoyed editing a series of stories as much as I did those 16. Thank you for reading The Herald-News.
their fields. Chen-taung Wang, deputy minister of Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture, told the small crowd gathered that the Taiwan Vegetable Oil Manufacturers Association plans to buy between 96 and 107 million bushels of soybeans over the two-year period from the United States. He said based on today’s
See TAIWAN, page 33
See UNITED WAY, page 33
Delegates sign letter of intent to buy corn, soybeans By HEIDI LITCHFIELD hlitchfield@shawmedia.com
Heidi Litchfield – hlitchfield@shawmedia.com
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner signs an intent to purchase agreement Friday with Yau-kuen Hung, chairman of Taiwan’s Vegetable Oil Manufacturers Association. goodwill mission included directors from the Bureau of Energy, Taiwan Sugar Corporation and College of Bio-Resources & Agriculture, as well as China Grain Products Research and Development Institute. The 18-member delegation toured farms in the Mazon area with representatives from the Illinois Corn Marketing Board, Illinois Soybean Association and the Illinois
Department of Agriculture. “It’s my first time visiting a cornfield,” said Chao-Yih Chen, chairman of the Taiwan Sugar Corporation. “I rode on a harvester today and they leave everything in the field but the corn. That is very good and sustainable.” He said he was surprised at the scientific way farmers use technology today and was amazed at the different monitors they watch as they are in
By FELIX SARVER fsarver@shawmedia.com JOLIET – United Way of Will County needs feedback from residents countywide as it develops a strategic plan to further support partner agencies that meet needs ranging from food assistance to domestic violence counseling. Beginning Wednesday and ending Oct. 2, United Way of Will County will distribute a community survey seeking input on important social issues affecting the fourth-largest county in Illinois. United Way of Will County has Get more than 40 involved partner agencies it helps Visit www. fund, includuwwill.org ing Catholic to view Charities and Guardian An- the survey gel Communi- Wednesday. ty Services. Mike Hennessy, United Way of Will County president and chief executive officer, said the survey is part of a strategic planning process that follows several years of challenges for the nonprofit organization. He said the agency is looking for feedback from donors and nondonors alike. “What do they think about us and what are the challenges and needs that exist based on their perspectives? ... What role can United Way play taking a lead effort if no other groups are moving forward on certain issues?” Hennessy said. United Way of Will County has received fewer donations and a number
• Kate Schott is editor of The Herald-News, the Morris Herald-News and Herald Life. She can be reached at kschott@shawmedia.com or 815-280-4119. Follow her on Twitter @Kate_Schott78.
From Illinois’ farm fields to Taiwan
MAZON – An agriculture group from Taiwan stopped Friday in Mazon as part of its 10-day tour with the U.S. Grains Council that included stops in Kentucky, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Washington, D.C. The group was at the Doug Harford farm in Mazon to sign letters of intent to purchase Illinois corn and soybeans in 2016 and 2017. Gov. Bruce Rauner was on hand with the associations and representatives of the Taiwan Feed Industry Association and the Taiwan Vegetable Oil Manufacturers Association to sign the letters. “We thank Taiwan for their continued support of the state’s agriculture industry,” Rauner said. “Agriculture helps our state secure a strong position in the global economy. We look forward to a long, continued relationship with our friends from Taiwan so that together we can help feed the world.” The 2015 agriculture trade
Way to gather input