Local Headlines

PERU – A Peru man was seriously injured and taken to Peoria after being struck by a vehicle Saturday night. Peru police say around 7 PM they were called to 4th Street and Pike for a report

STREATOR – No injuries were reported after a friday night fire in Streator. According to the Streator Fire Department, they were called to the 100 block of Washington Street for an electrical fire in the ceiling of

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — State regulators are warning consumers about a telephone scam in which the caller claims to be from the Illinois Board of Dentistry. Officials with the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation say the

DeKalb (AP) — Authorities say a fire that raced through a DeKalb roofing company caused an estimated $1 million damage. DeKalb Fire Chief Jeff McMaster says that dozens of firefighters from several area departments battled the blaze

CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill. (AP) — A man who barricaded himself in a suburban Chicago apartment before surrendering hours later has been charged with felony counts predatory criminal sexual assault, child pornography and other charges. Police in Crystal

PARK RIDGE, Ill. (AP) — Police in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge say they’ve arrested suspected burglars after a man identifying himself as a soldier in Iraq called them to say he’d just seen on the

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Two Illinois law enforcement groups say training for police officers is suffering because of an unexpected shortfall in state funding. The Illinois Sheriffs’ Association and the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police are

RIVERTON, Ill. (The State Journal-Register) — A central Illinois police department has been charged with felony aggravated battery and official misconduct after he allegedly head-butted a drunken driving suspect earlier this month. Riverton Police Officer Grant D.

STREATOR – Streator Township High School could be making an academic scheduling change in the future. According to Principal Amy Jo Mascal, a schedule support committee has been working to study different forms of academic scheduling for

STREATOR – Streator Township High School could be making an academic scheduling change in the future. According to Principal Amy Jo Mascal, a schedule support committee has been working to study different forms of academic scheduling for

LASALLE – LaSalle-Peru High School’s East Gym and ACC Building renovation plans are coming to fruition. Friday morning, board members approved to award bids for components like general construction for the over $7 million project. Plans include

PINCKNEYVILLE, Ill. (Chicago Tribune) — An 80-year-old man has been freed after spending nearly 60 years in prison following his 1961 conviction in the killing of one of three suburban Chicago women who were bludgeoned to death

CHICAGO (AP) — A marijuana company has proposed opening a cannabis dispensary on the same Chicago block as an addiction treatment center that serves about 500 people daily. The dispensary proposed by NuMed would be on the

CHICAGO (AP) — Federal prosecutors say the brother of a Chicago Bears Hall of Famer is among 10 people charged with operating an offshore sports gambling business. Casey Urlacher, the brother of linebacker Brian Urlacher, is accused

  OGLESBY – The city of Oglesby is between a rock and a hard place with how to move forward with the Seneca Square Project. On Thursday night, Mayor Dom Rivara told officials and residents that the

CHICAGO (Chicago Tribune) — A report says Chicago’s fired police superintendent is receiving a monthly pension of more than $15,800. The Chicago Tribune, citing records it obtained under Illinois’ Freedom of Information Act, reports Eddie Johnson was

STREATOR – Road work on East 1st, Colorado, Elm and Wilson Streets are the first in line to be repaired in Streator. City Engineer Jeremy Palm says the general revenue construction project for East 1st street, South

STREATOR – Streator’s Fire Department will be purchasing a self-contained breathing apparatus, through grant funds received last year. In September, the Illinois Department of Homeland Security awarded Streator’s Fire Department with just over $143,600 for 20 breathing

  OTTAWA – A LaSalle man accused of smothering his infant son will stand trial in April. 24-year-old Kenneth Herbst is charged with first-degree murder for the spring 2019 incident in LaSalle where he allegedly suffocated his

O’FALLON, Ill. (AP) — Authorities say a southern Illinois woman is facing charges she planned to asphyxiate her three young children with carbon dioxide. The St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s office says 29-year-old Emily Sparks of O’Fallon,

CHICAGO (AP) — The Illinois State Board of Education voted unanimously to adopt the state’s most restrictive permanent rules that ban the use of locked seclusion rooms and prohibit schools from using prone restraint. The new rules

STREATOR – A medical cannabis cultivator that plans to operate at John and Joe’s Florist in Streator received approval from that city’s council on Wednesday night. Llerem, LLC will be granted a special use permit to operate

STREATOR – Streator High School’s choir groups will be putting on a Folk themed Winter Concert at 7 p.m. on Thursday. The concert and choir groups will sing an array of folk songs from different counties in

PERU – The city of Peru is taking extra measures at its waste, water treatment plant in the event of a flood. After news of availability for funding with the Illinois Emergency Management Association, the city will

    SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Gov. J.B. Pritzker is proposing a $40.7 billion state budget. He dressed it up Wednesday by dangling the prospect of a $1.4 billion revenue boost if voters approve a radical income-tax

OTTAWA – A Joliet man faces drug charges and attempting to flee authorities on Sunday. According to the Ottawa Police Department, 21-year-old Corey Dusean Ross is charged with unlawful possession with intent to deliver ecstasy and aggravated

MENDOTA- Mendota Mayor David Boelk announced that fourth ward alderman Bill Hunt will retire later in the month. Boelk expresses regret at having to announce Hunt’s resignation, as he was a great asset to the city of

CHICAGO (AP) — Health officials say two new cases of Legionnaires’ disease have been reported at a suburban Chicago senior living center, bringing the outbreak’s total cases to five, including one previous fatal case. The Lake County

STREATOR – Streator High School will be hosting up to 20 exchange students next school year. At Tuesday night’s boards meeting, a contract renewal was passed with Foreign Services Group, Ltd., to enroll up to 20 Chinese

CHICAGO (AP) — Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is out of prison hours after his sentence for political corruption was commuted by President Donald Trump. Reporters and onlookers were on hand Tuesday as the now silver-haired Blagojevich

DEPUE, Ill. (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued an administrative order to those responsible to clean up contaminated soil at a site near DePue, where a zinc smelter and fertilizer plant was once located.

STREATOR – February 18th is Pluto Day, celebrating its existence and the Streator-native who discovered it. Today marks 90 years since Clyde Tombaugh discovered the planet in 1930 at Lowell Observatory in Arizona. Tombaugh was born in

CHICAGO (AP) — President Donald Trump commuted what he called the “ridiculous” 14-year prison sentence handed out to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich for political corruption. The president’s decision clears the way for Blagojevich’s release after more

OTTAWA – A man killed as a result of a single-vehicle accident near Millington has been identified. The LaSalle County Coroner on Tuesday said that 49-year-old William W. Davis, of Newark, is dead after a single-vehicle crash

  PERU – Property located behind CVS in Peru will soon be a car wash. At Monday nights city council meeting, Chairmen of Finance and Safety Service, Mike Radkte announces that Peru received over $538,000 for the

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Three law enforcement officials will be honored for their work investigating the killer of a visiting Chinese scholar at the University of Illinois. Sgt. James Carter, Detective Eric Stiverson and telecommunicator Kenny Costa

  SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois officials’ plan to combat infestations of the gypsy moth will be the focus of several upcoming meetings in the northern part of the state. The Illinois Department of Agriculture has planned

  OGLESBY – The parents of a 21-year-old Sheridan man who was killed at an Aurora factory shooting have created a scholarship in his memory. The Trevor Melvin Wehner Scholarship will be awarded at Illinois Valley Community

STREATOR – Streator’s city council will be implementing a cannabis sales tax. Last month, the council amended its zoning code to allow recreational retailers to operate in certain commercial districts. If approved, a 3% tax will be

DIXON – A Dixon man is charged with attempting to hire an individual to carry out the murders of two people. According to the Lee County Courthouse, 49-year-old Matthew Milby Sr. is charged with two counts of

DIXON – A Dixon man is charged with attempting to hire an individual to carry out the murders of two people. According to the Lee County Courthouse, 49-year-old Matthew Milby Sr. is charged with two counts of

CHICAGO (AP) — An 80-year-old man is set to be released this week from an Illinois prison, nearly six decades after he was sentenced to life in prison for the killing of one of three suburban Chicago

OGLESBY – La Salle-Peru High School, Seneca High School and St. Bede Academy each won their respective team divisions at the Feb. 7 Illinois Valley Community College Regional Academic Challenge sponsored by Eastern Illinois University. LP won

CHICAGO (AP) — Public health officials say a Chicago woman and her husband have been released from home isolation after recovering from the new virus from China. The couple was released from a suburban Chicago hospital on

CHICAGO (AP) — A former University of Wisconsin football player has surrendered to Chicago police in connection with the deaths of two people who were found with gunshot wounds on a road in Janesville, Wisconsin. Police in

PEKIN, Ill. (AP) — A mortgage document presented to Abraham Lincoln in 1844 in Tazewell County will be on display Wednesday in Pekin for the late president’s 211th birthday. Historians will present historical background about the document

DWIGHT – A Kankakee County boy was killed in a single-vehicle accident near Dwight Thursday evening. According to the Livingston County Coroner’s Office, 9-year-old Nathan R. Gast of Reddick was a passenger in a vehicle on Route

NORMAL, Ill. (AP) — Officials say two professors at Illinois State University have received $1.23 million in federal grant money to help students who work with infants and toddlers who are blind or deaf.  The money will

DALZELL- A new engine was added to the fleet of the Dalzell Fire Department thanks to the generous donation from a department in McLean County.   On Friday Dalzell Fire Chief Rich Croissant and Engineer Jeff McCloskey