Local Headlines

DIXON – Retail and tech giant Amazon has announced plans to build a solar farm in Lee County. Specifics were not announced in the press release put out on Tuesday, but the project is part of the company’s climate pledge. Gov. J.B. Pritzker said that “Illinois is proud to have

FLANAGAN – A Flanagan man has died after a Wednesday morning single vehicle crash in Livingston County.   Authorities say 30-year-old Timothy F. McKinley was traveling on 300 East Road near Route 116 when for unknown reasons his truck left the roadway and struck a tree.   He was

  OTTAWA – A medical marijuana dispensary in Ottawa will be allowed to sell recreationally come January. Pharmacann, aka Verilife on North Columbus Street was granted the approval at Tuesday night’s city council meeting. According to Mayor Dan Aussem, any medical marijuana

  OTTAWA – A made up fantasy. That’s what defense attorneys told jurors at the trial of a former Ottawa fireman accused of drowning his wife in a toilet. The decade long legal battle over whether 52-year-old Kenneth Cusick is responsible for drowning his wife Tracy, began at

OTTAWA – The city of Ottawa is requesting an over 6% increase to their tax levy. The request was placed on file at Tuesday night’s city council meeting for an increased levy of 6.33% or $400,000 more than the amount requested in the previous year.  According to Commissioner Wayne

LASALLE – Concerns over residents feeding feral cats in LaSalle was addressed at Monday’s city council meeting. According to Mayor Jeff Grove, people in the neighborhood are putting food out and sheltering stray cats. According to City Attorney James McPhedran, prohibiting people from

LASALLE – The Environmental Protection Agency cleanup at Northwest School in LaSalle is substantially completed. According to Superintendent Brian DeBernardi, the majority of fencing around the once contaminated site is now removed. DeBernardi says the district made a collective decision to

PEORIA – OSF HealthCare says Meridian owes “millions of dollars” to the corporation. The announcement comes days after OSF’s decision to terminate with Meridian Medicaid and Medicare plans due to provisions they say do not align with the Ministry’s current strategy.

MENDOTA – Mendota Mayor David Boelk appointed a new alderman to the 2nd Ward. Leo Hochstatter was sworn to the council at Monday night’s meeting, after the death of Alderman John Pierson in late October. In addition, the council approved a motion to hire a new full-time firefighter.