Colleen Callahan is an agribusiness news reporter and was the Democratic nominee for Illinois\ 18th congressional district in 2008. Callahan grew up on a farm near Milford, Illinois[1] and went to Milford Township High School.[2] After graduating from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1973, she moved to Peoria to work for WMBD (AM)[3] until 2005.[2] She was also the agribusiness reporter for WMBD-TV and WCIA from 1974 to 1997.[2] In 2003, she went on a study trip[2] to Afghanistan and Iraq, paid for at her own expense, at the invitation of the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.[3] She started her own business, Colleen Callahan Communications, in 2003. At the beginning of 2003, she changed employers from WMBD in Peoria to WGFA (AM) in Watseka, Illinois; she has been agribusiness director at both stations.[2] In 2008, she ran for U.S. Representative for Illinois\ 18th