Dennis Yohnka: Trade bad TV for local theater

I don't think I really have to tell you this, but I am definitely over involved in TV.

Knowing that, I hope you will respect my words today when I suggest that there are at least two great reasons to get off of your couch — even in the midst of all the season premiere TV shows you can't wait to see.

Oh, I'm not going to suggest anything too strenuous on your part. I just want you to relocate where you're sitting. In fact, if you read to the end I'm even going to make this venture free for one lucky couple.

You see, instead of catching the next "Fast and Loud," "Project Runway" or "True Blood," I humbly ask you to set your recorder and go see some live theater. But, wait, before you label me as "hoity" and/or "toity," please read my side of this.

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As Kankakee regatta nears, local racers trade drivers' seats

A bizarre experiment in trading places will play out over the next two weekends in Kankakee.

Friday, champion boat racer Tammy Wolf, of Clifton, will test her racing skills on dry land — well, almost dry land. She's going to be behind the wheel of a stock car on the slippery, damp clay of the Kankakee County Speedway.

And, on the following Friday, Wolf will lead stock car driver Bill Stevenson — a Kankakee businessman, and part-time stock car driver, road racer and dragster pilot — through the boat racers' training program and out for a race that will be part of the annual Kankakee River Regatta.

Wolf, the first runner-up in this year's World Championship for the SST 200 racers, has the experience of entering a watery turn at 110 mph. But she says she isn't prepared for the feel of a car sliding into a banked turn at closer to 70 mph.

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