Galesburg In Focus

The Knox County Fair turns 175 this year — and it's going out with a bang. Literally. Knox County Fair Board members Josh Smith, Ted Inness, Mallory Tolley, and Darcy Thorpe joined Galesburg In Focus on July 4 to preview the 175th Knox County Fair, opening Monday, July 6, in Knoxville. Topics covered in this interview include: The fair's history since 1839 — the Galesburg rivalry, the Kentucky Der...

Tompkins State Bank President C.L. Cummings joins Galesburg In Focus host Chris Postin for a wide-ranging conversation on community banking — what it means, why it matters, and how a bank founded in Avon in 1884 has grown to serve four communities across the region. Topics covered in this interview: What makes a community bank different from a large national institution — and why that difference m...

OSF HealthCare Managing Medical Director Dr. Josh Carpenter joins Galesburg In Focus host Chris Postin for a Men's Health Month conversation on the health risks facing men, why they avoid preventative care, and what they can do to change that. Topics include: Why men delay care even when they recognize warning signs Heart disease — the number one killer of men in the United States Cancer screening...

Lauren Deppee, marketing manager and speech therapist, and Sarah Meyers, executive director and owner, from Way to Grow Pediatric Therapy joined Chris Postin on Galesburg In Focus on Saturday, June 6. Way to Grow, based in Peoria, has expanded its services to the Galesburg area, operating out of Ascent Church. The practice serves children birth to age 18 and their families across central and west...

The Railtown Rumble is rolling into Lincoln Park in Galesburg tomorrow, Sunday, June 7, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. — and if history is any guide, the prime parking spots will be filling up by 7. Greg "Chops" Bacon, Rod Run coordinator, and Donnie Rosenberry, treasurer of the New Limited Rods of Western Illinois, joined Chris Postin on Galesburg In Focus on Saturday, June 6, 2026, to talk about the show...

A new specialty clinic is now open in Galesburg for patients dealing with wounds that won't heal — and the director says the most important thing patients can do is not wait. Audra Baker, director of OSF Wound Care at OSF HealthCare St. Mary Medical Center in Galesburg and OSF Holy Family Medical Center in Monmouth, joined Chris Postin on Galesburg In Focus on Saturday, May 30. Listen to the full...

Chris Rennau has spent more than 20 years in agricultural and commercial lending — working for one of the largest ag lenders in the world, managing multi-state portfolios, and financing operations across dozens of states and several countries. Then he chose Galesburg. Rennau, Senior Vice President and Senior Credit Officer for Tompkins State Bank, joined Chris Postin on Galesburg In Focus on Satur...

Knox College's all-time leading scorer Bria Medina joined WGIL's Jay Redfern on Galesburg In Focus to talk about her journey from Galesburg to the University of Iowa women's basketball program and the Big Ten — what the Des Moines Register called one of the most unlikely stories in college sports. Topics covered in this episode: The moment Iowa assistant Randi Henderson texted her — and what Medin...

OSF HealthCare St. Mary Medical Center has expanded its emergency department — and the managing medical director who helped make it happen joined Galesburg In Focus to explain what it means for patients in Galesburg and the surrounding region. Dr. Nathaniel Baker joined Galesburg In Focus host Chris Postin on Saturday, May 16, 2026. Listen to the full interview above. Topics covered in this interv...

Andy Gibbons arrived at Knox College in 1991 with no salary and no promise of a job. He retires at the end of June as the second all-time winningest football coach in school history — and the man who built Knox's strength and conditioning program from the ground up. Jay Redfern sat down with Gibbons in the WGIL studio for a full conversation on his retirement. Topics covered in this episode: What...

The Orpheum Theatre is closing out its 2025-26 season with two very different — and very special — shows. Orpheum Theatre Executive Director Andrew Driscoll joined Galesburg In Focus with Chris Postin to talk about what's ahead. The interview airs Saturday, May 9, on Galesburg's Morning News at 8:10 a.m. on WGIL 93.7 FM and 1400 AM. Listen to the full interview above. Topics covered in this interv...

Five free concerts are coming to the Opera House Plaza in downtown Canton this summer — and the lineup includes Taylor Swift and Garth Brooks tribute acts, a Van Halen experience, a Fleetwood Mac tribute, and a three-time Grammy-nominated group from Nashville. Jennie Grove and Alesia Shaw, board members of the Canton History & Arts Alliance, joined Galesburg In Focus with Chris Postin to preview t...

Graham Medical Group is expanding its orthopedic services in Galesburg — and for many residents, it means procedures they once had to travel out of town to get will soon be available right here. Alivia Derham is an orthopedic nurse practitioner at the Graham Medical Group Center for Ambulatory Care and Imaging Center in Galesburg. She grew up in Abingdon and lives in Knoxville, and she joined Chri...

The seventh annual Veteran & Senior Fair is coming to The Vault in downtown Galesburg on Wednesday, April 29, from 9 a.m. to noon — and this year is shaping up to be the biggest yet. Illinois State Representative Dan Swanson, Megan Brown of Seminary Estates, Bridgette Teel of Hawthorne Inn Assisted Living, and Tracy Lannholm of Seminary Manor joined Galesburg In Focus to talk about the event, the...

Zach Yoder is the newly appointed president of three OSF HealthCare facilities in western Illinois — OSF St. Mary Medical Center in Galesburg, OSF HealthCare Holy Family Medical Center in Monmouth, and OSF HealthCare Saint Luke Medical Center in Kewanee. He joined WGIL's Chris Postin on Galesburg In Focus for a wide-ranging conversation about his background, his vision for the region, and what's c...

John Driscoll, Reference and Young Adult Librarian at the Galesburg Public Library, joins Galesburg In Focus to preview Saturday's Teen & Adult Job Fair — and to talk about what the library is becoming for this community. The Teen & Adult Job Fair is Saturday, April 11, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Galesburg Public Library Community Room. It is free and open to the public. Nearly 40 employers are expec...

He was the voice that brought Galesburg basketball into living rooms across Knox County for eight years. Bill Pearson called four state tournament runs from the WGIL booth — including the 1965-66 season that produced a second-place finish at state and a vinyl album that preserved those memories forever. At 88 years old and living in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, Pearson joined Jay Redfern on Gales...

Sixty years ago this week, the Galesburg Silver Streaks played for a state championship at Assembly Hall in Champaign. They came within one game of winning it all. On the 60th anniversary of that championship game, WGIL's Jay Redfern sits down with Dale Kelley and Barry Swanson — a star guard and a key starter from the Class of 1966. Barry is also the author of Streaksburg, a memoir about Galesbur...

Advanced robotic surgical technology has arrived in Galesburg. OSF HealthCare's St. Mary Medical Center is now home to the Da Vinci 5 surgical system — and since August, the surgical team has completed over 150 cases. A second platform, the Ion robotic bronchoscopy system for lung care, launched Feb. 5, 2026. Susie Melvin, Director of Perioperative Services for OSF HealthCare's Upper Western Regio...

On March 5, 1976, the Galesburg Silver Streaks walked into Thiel Gym and did something nobody outside their locker room thought was possible. They beat undefeated, No. 1-ranked Peoria Richwoods 85-79 in overtime — a regional championship game that Galesburg has never stopped talking about. Fifty years later, two of the players who made it happen joined Jay Redfern on Galesburg In Focus to tell the...

After 50 seasons, Galesburg's Joe Thompson is hanging up the basketball whistle for good. Licensed by the Illinois High School Association in 1975, Thompson has officiated more than 3,000 games, worked state finals in basketball, volleyball, and softball, and been inducted into three halls of fame. He sat down with WGIL's Jay Redfern to reflect on a five-decade career that began when a spectator a...

Scott Swiler, Hospice Care Consultant for Beacon of Hope Hospice, joins Chris Postin on Galesburg In Focus to discuss one of the most misunderstood parts of healthcare: hospice care. For many families, the word "hospice" feels heavy, final, and scary. But modern hospice is a comprehensive support system designed to extend quality of life—not a last resort when all hope is gone. Swiler addresses co...

This episode of Galesburg In Focus features host Chris Postin in conversation with Meta Rask, Manager of Medical Exercise, Weight Management, Cardiac & Pulmonary Rehab at OSF HealthCare. Meta oversees the OSF Weight Loss Center at the Peoria Riverplex, where a multidisciplinary team treats obesity as a chronic condition tied to heart and lung health. The program goes beyond one-size-fits-all solut...

Host Chris Postin talks with Kate Johnson, manager of women's services and digital care for OSF OnCall, and Amy Mefford, lead advanced practice nurse for OSF OnCall obstetrics, about a mobile unit launched last summer to support pregnant and postpartum women in Galesburg and nearby counties. The program, backed by a $1.5 million grant from Meridian Health Plan, targets Medicaid-enrolled patients f...

On this episode of Galesburg In Focus, host Chris Postin is joined by Jim Anderson and Mitch Clodfelter of North-And. Co., along with Lance Tarochione of DEKALB & ASGROW. They recap the 2025 harvest — a season of extremes with wind events, down corn, and record-dry conditions that caused massive yield variability even within the same county. Despite challenges like disease and low moisture (some c...