Building on two consecutive years of record-breaking attendance, the Illinois State Fair will feature several star performers on stage, new and the usual vendors and a free parking promotion.

The earth provides an overabundance of food, but the distribution of that food is the struggle.

For Luke Schneider, military veteran, former firefighter and founder of Fire Department Coffee, the mission of his coffee company goes deeper than just a great cup of joe.

From as far back as he can remember, farming and the fire department have been a part Wade Knobloch’s life.

Steve Hirsch has been involved with volunteer fire departments his entire life.

The Badd Axe Ladies firefighter training program is opening up new career options for young women.

If it sounds like the Dixon Police Department was taking summertime fun seriously, that is because they were. And they had the viral social media posts to show for it.

Kyle Kellen doesn’t fly around Lee County in a traffic helicopter, but even so, when he’s off duty and out in public, he’s most likely to be recognized as the road-report deputy.

When a prospective pharmacy student tells Dr. Heidi Olson that they’ve never thought about pharmacy as a career before, the director of the RPHARM program at the University of Illinois College of Medicine doesn’t take it personally. She’s been there herself.

Whether it’s prescribing antibiotics for an infection, drugs to ease pain after surgical procedures, lifesaving insulin for diabetes or being a health-care provider for a rural community, rural pharmacists have always filled a unique role in the medical community.

When the alarm goes off at 3 o’clock in the morning, volunteer firefighters and emergency medical technicians answer the call. They roll out of bed, pull on their clothes and speed to the fire station.

Feb. 7 was a historic day for the Crawfordsville Fire Department. When they picked up one unit of low-titer type O whole blood, they became the first rural agency in the Midwest to administer whole blood on a ground ambulance.

Crawfordsville in west-central Indiana is in the middle of a maternity-care desert, where residents have little to no access to obstetrics care.

Folks across the country will celebrate the 50th anniversary of National EMS Week May 19-25, a chance to show gratitude for emergency medical technicians and paramedics who save lives every day.

Paramedicine programs are bridging the gap between at-home health care and the emergency room.

From his early days of riding the tractor with his grandfather and uncle, Joe Hassinger always wanted to be a farmer. A high school course piqued another interest and he was able to eventually converge those two interests into careers.

Brian Bressner’s interest in farming and the fire service began at a very young age.

We owe a great deal to those who provide emergency care, protection and support to our community. Their bravery is astonishing. They are always ready to dive headfirst into danger without batting an eye.

Read letters sent in to Agri-News for Thank You First Responders