Millions of people are shopping online for the holidays in 2020 and many others will be looking for ways to use that online shopping against you. Their called scam artists and they are looking to steal your identity or your money. Jolene Barnes from Country Financial Insurance joined WKEI recently to talk about ways you can protect yourself while shopping online. If you are going to shop online, these tips can help keep you safe while you do it.

Dr Mark Meeker, Vice President of Physician Services at OSF Healthcare, joined WKEI on Tuned In to talk about a new COVID-19 treatment called BAM. BAM is the first FDA approved treatment for COVID-19 and it is now being administered to certain specific COVID-19 patients at particular OSF Healthcare locations in Illinois. The treatment is aimed at high risk patients, those with underlying conditions or ages that put them more at risk than average patients. We talked to Dr Mark Meeker about BAM and about the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine that is set to start to be administered to healthcare workers at OSF on Tuesday.

There is no Christmas Party for the folks at the State Bank of Toulon this year due to COVID-19. So, instead of throwing a party, the State Bank of Toulon has taken their Christmas Party money and pooled it to buy gift cards from local businesses throughout Kewanee, Galva and Toulon. Those giftcards are now going to be given away to those who stop into a State Bank of Toulon branch and sign up or drive thru the State Bank of Toulon drive up window. You can sign up to win one of many, many local giftcards that the State Bank of Toulon are purchasing in order to support the local business community. Nichelle More and Mark Riewerts from the State Bank of Toulon talked about this generous giveaway on today's edition of People to People on WKEI.

New Executive Director of the Princeton Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Jenica Cole visited the WZOE studios recently. She’s been on the job for just over a month and says everyone has been great in helping her get acclimated to her new position, especially the chamber board and her administrative assistant, Deb Cools.

Jenica grew up on a farm near LaMoille and says Princeton was her “second town” as a youngster so when the chamber position became available she wasted no time in applying. She says she’s always been a people person and those skills also served her well in her previous work in medical sales.

Cole says she was pleased with the success of the recent downtown Christmas walk and is looking forward to the 5th annual Light Up Princeton event which puts a spotlight on houses throughout the community with impressive holiday lighting displays.

You never know when she will be popping up on Facebook Live to giveaway chamber gift certificates and other prizes at all hours of the day or night.

You can learn more about the chamber at their Facebook page and their website.  Jenica especially suggests you check out the Facebook group Princeton’s Historic Main Street- Holiday Shopping.

Heartland Connections want to put smiles on peoples faces this holiday season with video messages featuring you! Whether you're sharing greeting, playing or singing a song or reciting a poem, share your video with Heartland Connection so it can be part of a special video message being given to seniors around the country to let them know we are thinking of them this Holiday season. Visit Cheerrr.com to share your video message.

Thanks for helping The YWCA by Regional Media

PrEP at The Whiteside County Community Health Clinic by Regional Media

December 7th to the 11th is National Cancer Screen Week. It's a week that means a great deal to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, himself a prostate cancer survivor. Having had a family history of prostate cancer, Attorney General Raoul was advised at a relatively young age to start getting prostate cancer screenings. This advice may have saved his life as at the age of 51, the Attorney General was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer. His history of previous scans indicated that they had caught the cancer in an early stage and he was able to have surgery to remove the cancer before it could spread. Now, the Illinois Attorney General is reminding everyone that early detection is best for your overall health.

Normally, for Katie Laleman from the Henry County Farm Bureau she'd be returning from Chicago just in time for her December appearance on WKEI. Chicago is home to the annual Illinois Farm Bureau Policy Meeting. This year however, due to COVID-19, no travel was necessary. The annual Farm Bureau Policy Meeting was held via the Zoom app. That didn't stop the meeting from making an impact and set policies that will carry the Farm Bureau into 2021 and the arrival of a new Presidential administration. We talked to Katie Laleman about what was discussed at this years policy meeting of the Illinois Farm Bureau on the Wednesday edition of Tuned In on WKEI.

How have the folks at Abilities Plus weathered the storm of 2020? It's been tough but they've managed to maintain many of the services they provide while innovating new ways to remain connected to and aiding their clients amid the storm of COVID-19. Recently, clients of Abilities Plus received a care package of cleaning supplies, a part of an ongoing effort by the Kewanee Area United Way to make sure those in need get needed supplies. One our People to People program we spoke with Julie Landwehr from Abilities Plus and Linda Blair from the Kewanee Area United Way to talk about this effort and the partnership between Abilities Plus and the Kewanee Area United Way.