It won’t be long before winter sets in and the inevitable happens - the power goes out. Being stuck without electricity or trying to drive in a winter storm can turn from inconvenient to dangerous in no time. Being prepared can make it a little easier when an emergency strikes.

It's that time of year again. It's time to start thinking about buying gifts, or what to bring to one of the many holiday parties you're invited to.

Jackie Bordewick calls herself a “tightwad.” “I grew up with no credit cards, no nothing. When I got married in 1965, we didn’t have money. I always looked for ways to save money, and now I do it automatically. I’ve been cheap all my life,” said the Springfield woman. This year, she skinned, chunked and froze tomatoes from her backyard garden, which yielded 38 bags.

Now that Kent Gardener Maggie L. Moor-Orth's garden has been cleared of plant debris and added to her compost pile and her wheat cover crop is growing, it is time to do some maintenance and proper care of gardening tools.

Kent Gardener Maggie L. Moor-Orth shares a November garden calendar update.

Three years after it started, the  final Laps of Love walk in memory of Harry Roberts is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 8. Organizers have already raised more than $16,000 from local businesses, which, when added to the proceeds from the 2006 and 2007 walks, brings the total money raised to six figures.

Follow along as chef Mitzi Stinson creates a white bean and chicken chili dish.

I have written about daylight saving time before — so frequently, in fact, that I have written the sentence "I have written about daylight saving time before" before. I am thinking about writing it again, right now, because I am making a galvanizingly important point here, and also because if I keep writing it over and over I can get this column done quicker and return immediately to the couch, where I can continue immersing myself in the rich and rewarding world of the Ice Road Truckers.

Since retiring as a Methodist minister, Robert H. King has been a pimp, a judge and, well, God himself. And it’s all happened thanks to AgeQuake Theatre, a local acting troupe created specifically for senior citizens. It was the brainpower of 68-year-old Joan E. Kole, a lifelong actress who found there were fewer and fewer roles available for her as she aged.

Like many of its survivors, Deborah Breiter hopes there comes a day when no one has to hear their doctor say “You have breast cancer.” That she may have had a hand in bringing that day about excites the Rockford College professor of chemistry and biochemistry about a research project she started work on at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford during a 2006 sabbatical.

Too bad my kids got stuck with me as their mother. Not because I’m not a loving mom. Not because I don’t joke or snuggle on the rare weekend mornings when we don’t have to dash off someplace. Not because I don’t read to them, discuss current events, help them with their homework or watch movies with them while piled under a cozy blanket in the family room. It’s because I’m a lousy sports mom with a bad attitude.

When I'm at a liquor store, it's not unusual to see someone staring at shelf after shelf of craft beer, grab a couple, read the labels before putting them down and walking out with a 12-pack of Budweiser.

The 22nd annual Amish Bike Tour gets underway Oct. 25, with Mayor Carleton E. Carey, left, firing the starting gun on Legislative Mall in Dover. Approximately 100 bicyclists took off at 8 a.m. for the bike ride, which had been delayed from the original date in September due to Hurricane Hanna. Mother Nature again made her presence known, however, as rain sprinkled the riders for the first hour.

Costumed kids are going to be eating a lot of junk this week, so consider sneaking in a little nutrition with these mini-muffins made with oats, low-fat yogurt, raisins and pumpkin.

I contend that I’ve always looked forward to Halloween because of its dark overtones and celebration of fantasy. My mother says it’s because of the candy. She’s probably right.