Local Headlines

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

WASHINGTON  –  A nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System is scheduled for Wednesday around 1:20PM.  The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission will perform the test, which will be similar to the ones that radio stations are required to

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Four strikingly similar attacks on women in California and Illinois were all planned and executed by a skilled serial killer who studied the lives and homes of victims who lived near him before savagely stabbing them, a prosecutor said Tuesday. Los Angeles County Deputy

HUNTLEY, Ill. (AP) — A report that six- and 8-year-old boys were duct taped to a pole by candy-stealing teens has turned out to be a hoax. Huntley Deputy Chief Mike Klunk said Tuesday that police were told by the boys’ mother that two teenage boys on bikes stole candy and duct taped the

EARLVILLE – A new security system will be making sure all students are safe at Earlville School starting this year.  Principal Jenette Fruit announced they are going to use a program from Raptor Visitor Management to screen visitors to the campus.  Whenever anyone enters the building,