Local Headlines

DANVILLE, Ill. (AP) — A former central Illinois man has received two life prison sentences in the deaths of a man and woman. The bodies of Theodore Hill and Zarra Laws Strickland were discovered in a secluded area west of Danville, each with bullet wounds to the head. Glen T. Torres Jr. in

              NEW YORK (AP) — Jeffrey Epstein’s prison death has been confirmed a suicide by hanging, the medical examiner’s office said Friday. Epstein, 66, was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City on

  JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) — Sen. Charles Grassley says farmers were “screwed” by the Trump administration’s decision to allow some refineries to not blend ethanol with gasoline as required under federal law. During a taping of Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa

  CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Four Midwestern farmers who cheated organic food customers are scheduled to be sentenced for the largest fraud scheme of its kind in U.S. history. Federal prosecutors say the farmers are responsible for a seven-year scheme that tricked thousands of customers

CHICAGO (AP) — An Illinois state senator has pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging he took more than $250,000 in salary and benefits over three years from the Teamsters while doing little or no work. Democrat Thomas Cullerton of Villa Park was due to be released on his own

  CHICAGO (AP) — President Donald Trump says he’s still considering whether to sign commutation papers freeing former Illinois governor and one-time “Celebrity Apprentice” contestant Rod Blagojevich from federal prison in Colorado. Trump told reporters Thursday before

  SPRINGFIELD – Stricter reporting and investigative requirements will now be required by law in situations where an infant has died suddenly and unexpectedly. According to new law’s sponsors, State Senator Sue Rezin (R-Morris) and State Representative Thomas Bennett (R-Pontiac),

OTTAWA – OSF HealthCare received a $50,000 grant to support a redesign of Mobile Integrated Health in Streator. The vision is for the redesigned Mobile Integrated Health to be an innovative and evolving model of community-based health care designed to provide more effective and efficient

PERU – A Depue man is in jail after an investigation into drug sales in Peru.   The Tri-County Drug Enforcement Narcotics Team states that they conducted a buy/bust operation in the 700 block of Shooting Park Rd in Peru.  On Thursday they say they took 22-year-old Victor Baez into custody

GURNEE, Ill. (AP) — Suburban Chicago officials have charged a man with a hate crime for an ice pick attack on a Hispanic man riding a motorcycle that displayed the Mexican flag. Sheriff John Idleburg says 67-year-old Joseph Zens of rural Gurnee was driving an SUV Wednesday when he abruptly cut