Local Headlines

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed legislation he says will remove a barrier for teacher candidates and help address a statewide shortage of teachers. The new law eliminates a requirement that teacher candidates pass a test of basic skills to get an educator

MONTGOMERY, Ill. (AP) — A suburban Chicago man has been charged with a felony hate crime after he allegedly fired an air rifle at his neighbors while shouting racial slurs at them. The Aurora Beacon-News reports 36-year-old Ryan J. Salsman of the far western suburb of Montgomery was also

MENDOTA- The Mendota Police Department announced Thursday that they have investigated a purported threat on social media by a 17-year-old allegedly targeting this weekends Mendota Sweet Corn Festival.   The teen, who was residing in the Chicago area, is being sought by multiple agencies,

SENECA – The next art installation on the Silos Pathway Legacy Project will be coming to Seneca. North Central Illinois ARTworks announced a mural depicting the history of Seneca will be installed in the 300 block of North Main Street adjacent to an existing Schlitz beer sign. The piece

MENDOTA – The 72nd Annual Mendota Sweet Corn Festival kicks off today with a “Special Afternoon for Special Kids”, a private event for children with special needs and their families to enjoy the carnival from 3:30-5:30 PM. Prior registration will be required through the Mendota

URBANA, Ill. (AP) — The father of a slain Chinese scholar who begged his daughter’s killer to reveal what he did with her remains said Wednesday that after learning her dismembered body might be in plastic bags buried in a landfill under mounds of garbage, he understood that his family

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he’s “very strongly” considering commuting the sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who is serving a 14-year prison term on multiple federal corruption convictions. Trump suggested more than a year ago that he was

OTTAWA – Ottawa’s fire department received new equipment that’s said to improve a cardiac arrest victims chances of survival outside a hospital. James Less, Comissioner of Public Safety, announced the department secured seven  automatic external defibrillators through the federal

OTTAWA – Plans were finalized and approved for Thornton Park improvements. On Tuesday night, the city council approved the master plan for the park that would include upgrades like a splash pad and pickle ball courts. The city is applying for an Open Space Land Acquisition and Development

CHICAGO (AP) — A suburban Chicago volleyball coach who this year was charged with hiding a video camera in a public restroom at a youth practice facility where he worked has pleaded guilty to federal charges that he enticed a 16-year-old boy to produce sexually explicit videos of himself. The