Woodstock shoppers will be able to “Shop, Save, and Win” again this year at locally owned independent retailers while the city tries to figure out the impact the program has on holidays sales. The City Council last week approved spending $15,000 for the program, sponsored by the Woodstock Area Chamber of Commerce & Industry, up […]
Blain’s Farm & Fleet has been around Woodstock for 60 years – all around town. Originally located at 229 Main St., the store held a presence as one of the only mass-merchant retailers in the town for several decades. The store later moved to Eastwood Drive at U.S. 14 before setting up shop in 1999 […]
The news broke in the middle of this season’s Bears quarterback controversy. On Sept. 28, the Chicago Bears announced that the team had signed an agreement to buy Arlington International Racecourse in Arlington Heights. The $197.2 million sale will not close until late 2022 or early 2023, according to Churchill Downs, owner of the racetrack. […]
The unassuming retail space at 203 Main St. in Woodstock has notched another successful launch of a local business. In the past decade, the 600-foot storefront next to Classic Cinemas served as an effective incubator for Ethereal Confections and the Sugar Circle before their moves to larger retail outlets on the Woodstock Square. Success has […]
The legalization of cannabis in Illinois produced no shortage of interest in growing the crop, processing it, and transporting the resulting products. But as local entrepreneurs have discovered, it’s a long journey from applying for one or more of the several types of licenses to getting a business up and running. And there are plenty […]
Growing up in small-town Kentucky, my brother and I were quick to notice anything unusual in food presentation at our house, be it a leaf of lettuce under the cottage cheese or a little shaved chocolate atop a scoop of ice cream. “Fancy,” we’d say. “Just like downtown,” our mom would respond. With the Sept. […]
If you’re a child visiting the Woodstock Square at Christmastime, a pilgrimage to Santa’s Hut is a must. Special events, such as the Lighting of the Square and the Christmas parade, have a high “wow” factor. There are even some stores that no child would object to visiting – checking out the trains as they […]
Staff Report news@thewoodstockindependent.com McHenry County College this fall has welcomed a new crop of students in its entrepreneurial agriculture program, which is designed to prepare both degree-seeking students and food and farm innovators for a future in the regional food economy. The program trained its first group of students last year. “Our students are gaining […]
When he thinks back on his growing up in Woodstock, Jose Cazares remembers the teacher who had the biggest impact on him. At then-Northwood Elementary School, Mr. Peters was Cazares’ fifth-grade teacher. “He was a big guy, with a beard,” Cazares said. “He looked like Santa. “Mr. Peters would describe his family with such love […]
One week ago, John Harding, with mixed emotions, cleaned out the office he had maintained at Berkshire Hathaway Starck Real Estate at 1710 S. Eastwood Drive. Much of the 10,000 square foot building was the headquarters of Harding Real Estate beginning in 1992, through Prudential Starck’s purchase of Harding in 2013, and after Prudential Starck […]
Larry Lough is editor of The Independent and reports local news.
Janet Dovidio has been a freelance correspondent for The Independent for eight years.
Susan W. Murray wrote for The Independent, covering various beats, from 2005 to 2008.
Tricia Carzoli is a freelance writer and photographer that on community news.
