A year of disasters: Top ten local stories of 2013
Peoria's two UnityPoint-Health facilities have about 4,000 employees and serve more than 100,000 patients through their physicians' practices. The affiliation also brought Proctor's Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery and Hult Center for Healthy … Read more on Peoria Journal Star

Groton man's struggles fuel his drive to help others
Gardner bought a pair of slippers, visited his family in Chicago, and used the rest to start a fund to help recovering addicts. John Haugabook, off-campus coordinator for Stonington Institute, said he's called Gardner eight or nine times to help people … Read more on TheDay.com

Gun Control Battle Shifts To States After Newtown Massacre
In scores of statehouse battles, both gun-control and gun-rights advocates have notched wins since a mentally unstable gunman killed 20 first-graders and six adults at Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012. … That includes $ 2.2 … Read more on Huffington Post