1. Town Hall to answer questions about tax increase
2. HCC athletes excel academically
3. VOICES receives funding from 100 Women Who Care of Stephenson County
4. The Educational Opportunity Center at Highland
5. PlayCore Award to Blackhawk Elementary School
6. Downtown Freeport news
7. Ryan Zuravel, Imagineer
8. FREEPOD is now an official 501c3 organization

EXTRA: Podcast Deep Dive

After our weekly podcast stories, stay tuned for 5 Questions in 5 Minutes where we ask Ronnie Bush, a candidate in a previously contested Stephenson County Board race, about his priorities. Here are the questions:

• What skills would you bring to this office that would make you an effective Stephenson County Board member?
• If elected, what is the most important issue you would want the Board to address?
• Why is this issue important to County residents?
• What steps would you recommend the County Board take to resolve that issue?
• What is one thing that voters may not know about you that you'd like them to know?

FREEPOD also contacted the two Republican candidates in the race to represent the 17th Congressional District in the U.S. Congress multiple times. They did not respond but here are their websites:

• Scott Crowl    https://crowlforcongress.com/
• Joe McGraw   https://judgejoeforcongress.com/about-joe