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Episode 35: Matt Yeager (Early Access)
Hey there! It feels so great to be back in the saddle of releasing new episodes of Kankakee Podcast. After being off for two and a half months, it’s time to get back to business. Thank you for patience. I’m excited to welcome one of Kankakee County’s most well known singer/songwriters and musical performs, Matt…
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Episode 35: Matt Yeager (Extended Version)
Hey there! It feels so great to be back in the saddle of releasing new episodes of Kankakee Podcast. After being off for two and a half months, it’s time to get back to business. Thank you for patience. I’m excited to welcome one of Kankakee County’s most well known singer/songwriters and musical performs, Matt…
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Kankakee Public Library Helped Kent Wade “Shake the Fear”
Hello and welcome back! For this week’s Black History Month feature, we are going to be highlighting the ever-popular Kent Wade! Although many of us know Kent as the county’s “Library Guy”, we may not know exactly how he earned that nick-name. Well, look no further! As Kent explains in episode 3 of Kankakee Podcast,…
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Jake Lee: Kankakee’s First County-Wide Elected African American Auditor
Hello and welcome black! This week’s Black History Month feature is going to be spotlighting Kankakee County Auditor, Jake Lee. Before Jake Lee became Kankakee’s first county-wide elected African American auditor, he held many different roles. As we learned from his conversation in episode 16 of Kankakee Podcast, Jake is a Navy veteran, father, multi-degree…
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Kankakee Navy Veteran Creates Comic Book Series
Hello and welcome back! Did you know that Kankakee county is home to an original comic book series? For this week’s Black History Month feature, we are going to be discussing the story and artwork of original comic book creator, Darrell Damper. In addition to being a self-taught artist, Darrell is a Navy veteran, father,…
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Derek Grant Is A Walking Miracle
Hello and welcome! It’s now February, which means it’s officially Black History Month. In honor and celebration of Black voices, Black identities, and Black success, we are going to be featuring all of Kankakee Podcast’s African American guests on the Kankakee Podcast blog. A guest will be featured each week of February to recognize each…
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How Long Does It Take To Dig A Grave? Bill Yohnka Enlightens Us.
When I sat down with Bill Yohnka for episode 22 of Kankakee Podcast, I had no idea we would end up talking about digging graves. It turns out, Bill’s grandfather was a gravedigger in Kankakee County. His grandfather passed down those skills to Bill’s father, Dennis, and eventually Bill learned. So I asked Bill on…
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Lupe Carroll almost played for Justin Bieber
When local singer/songwriter Lupe Carroll was on Kankakee Podcast in June of 2021, he told us SO many incredible stories. Including how he almost met and played for Justin Bieber. Once a year Lupe spends a week performing for guests at a luxury ranch resort in Missoula, Montana. It’s called, The Resort at Paws Up.…
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Nick Huffman Almost Left Kankakee For Good
One of the most popular episodes of Kankakee Podcast is number thirteen with Nick Huffman, the owner of The Looney Bin in Bradley. There are so many great things I took away from that episode. One of the things I often think of is right in the beginning of the episode when Nick said he…
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Why We Need To Retrain The Way We Think Of Kankakee County
I know many of us here in Kankakee County have been somber since Wednesday, December 29th, 2021. The main cause of that being a shooting that murdered Bradley Police Sergeant Marlene Rittmanic and injured, Officer Tyler Bailey. I posted a comment on one of The Daily Journal articles on Facebook about how many area towns…
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Episode 34: 10 Most Listened to Episodes of 2021
Here’s who made the cut for the 10 most listened to episodes of Kankakee Podcast in 2021! Did your favorite make the list? Listen to this episode to find out! Special thank you to: Seth & Mary Burkey, Josh LaMore, Brianna Whittler, Franklin & Anna Weber, Dawn & Jim LaMore, Lizzie Yolich, Noble Dairy Queen…
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Episode 33: Travis Garcia – School Resource Officer
I’m pleased to welcome the very first police officer to be a guest on Kankakee Podcast, Travis Garcia. Originally from Indiana, Travis made his way here about ten years ago and started working for the Bourbonnais Police Department. It wasn’t too long after he started patrolling the streets that he became the School Resource Officer…
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Jake LaMore Reads The Polar Express
I want to take this time to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting Kankakee Podcast and LaMore Media L.L.C. in 2021. I’d like to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Growing up, one of my favorite Christmas books to read was The Polar…
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Episode 32: Dawn Broers – Fortitude Community Outreach
Fortitude Community Outreach is a grassroots nonprofit in Kankakee County that provides emergency shelter, street outreach, transitional housing, and workforce development for the homeless. The backbone of this wonderful organization is founder, Dr. Dawn Broers, PhD, LCSW. Dawn and I had a great conversation starting from where she grew up in Indiana to what the…
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Episode 31: Jack Klasey – The Storyteller
Jack Klasey is a man of many talents. Excuse the pun but I would say he’s a, “Jack of All Media”. I’ve always considered him to be a one of the greatest Kankakee County Historians but as I learned during this episode he prefers to be known as a storyteller. Whether you know Jack from…