Local Headlines

  SPRING VALLEY – Illinois Valley Community Hospital in Peru and St. Margaret’s in Spring Valley and have signed a non-binding Letter of Intent to consolidate their operations and form a regional health network. “St. Margaret’s and IVCH have proudly served this region for more ...Read more

MORRIS – One man is dead after a single vehicle crash in Grundy County on Saturday.   According to Grundy County Coroner John W. Callahan 27 year-old Virgil V. Saenz was eastbound on Marseilles Road near Walker’s Corner when for unknown reasons his vehicle left the pavement and entered ...Read more

CHICAGO (AP) — The Illinois Lottery’s transition to a new central gaming system has caused trouble for some retailers, including overpayments to winners. Illinois Lottery spokesman Jason Schaumburg says the ticket validation issue was discovered Feb. 20 and resolved the same day. He has ...Read more

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — A judge has delayed the trial of the man accused of kidnapping and killing a University of Illinois scholar from China. U.S. District Judge James Shadid on Thursday set Brendt Christensen’s trial for June 3. Christensen’s trial was originally to begin April 1, ...Read more

OTTAWA – LaSalle County’s Naloxone Program saved 52 lives in 2018. According to the program’s annual report, nearly 100 doses of Narcan Nasal Spray was used by law enforcement and other partners in 54 overdose response incidents, representing half of all opioid overdose ...Read more

OTTAWA –  Ottawa will be home to Hawthorne’s latest off-track betting sports bar, and you can bet they’ll be open just in time for the Kentucky Derby. The new OTB venue powered by Cicero’s Hawthorne Race Course, will be located at 110 W. Etna Road. Hawthorne’s ...Read more

ROCK FALLS – A Rock Falls man has been charged with  possession of child pornography Thursday. According to Illinois State Police, after a lengthy investigation, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Whiteside County Sheriff’s ...Read more

OTTAWA – The Ottawa River Rescue Squad released official drawings of the their new station that’s expected to begin construction next month, weather permitting. The $800,000 project was awarded to Phalen Construction in Mendota. President Ryan Brooke says, the squad is excited about ...Read more

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Lance Yednock, D-Ottawa, is sponsoring legislation that would support local hunters and sportsman by creating an easier and streamlined hunting and fishing license that would be valid for five years in Illinois.  Yednock-backed House Bill 1598 creates the option ...Read more

CARLOCK – For the second time in a week, Illinois State Police Troopers seized over 12 pounds of purported cocaine in McLean County. According to authorities, Troopers conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle on Interstate 74 near Carlock on Thursday after allegedly observing a traffic ...Read more