Dixon has made national news several times in its almost 200-year history. The city’s saddest tragedy, no doubt, would be the 1873 Truesdell Bridge disaster, which killed 46. But Dixon’s saddest tragedy of the past 100 years is likely the 1957 story of the little Guernsey girls. The heart-rending accident emerged from a quarry at Dixon’s cement plant and was front-page news from coast to coast.
A DeKalb County public employee who’s worked for decades at the courthouse in Sycamore has been charged with defrauding the federal government’s pandemic-era Paycheck Protection Program of more than $41,000, court records allege. Erica L. Walker, 48, of DeKalb, was charged Thursday with two counts each of theft of government funds, forgery and wire fraud after authorities allege she abused the federal PPP loans, according to court records filed this week.
An Aug. 20 video that Konni Vukelic recorded showing Marengo public works employees removing plantings from around her property has been viewed 2.4 million times on X after it was reshared a week later. On the video, Vukelic said she already had removed plantings, including tall sunflowers, from the corner of her property, working with Marengo officials to clear out the city’s right-of-way and sight lines before crews showed up.
Most of the teams from the preseason Friday Night Drive Preseason rankings proved they deserved those positions with strong performances in Week 1. But there were clearly a few that felt slighted by not being included in the original rankings.
An ex-St. Charles Police Department employee has filed a federal lawsuit against the city, claiming she was the target of sexual harassment and was forced to resign under retaliatory pressure for whistleblowing unlawful department practices, records show. In a civil lawsuit filed this month, DuPage County resident Lisa Lullo, who worked in the city police department’s records division for a year and a half, argues former police chief James Keegan – who resigned in March – sexually harassed her.
The city of Joliet has hired outside lawyers to look into what a spokeswoman described as “significant operational deviations” at Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park. City officials would not specify what problems have been found, but sources with connections to the park said they have heard that park manager Lori Carmine has been placed on administrative leave.
A homeless shelter will not be operated in Kankakee by Fortitude Community Outreach – at least for the next 12 months. At Monday’s Kankakee City Council meeting, the conditional use permit request was rejected by a 12-0 vote despite another impassioned plea from supporters of the organization.
It’s been 35 years since Veronica Jill Blumhorst drove home from her job at a Mendota grocery store and parked her blue Chevrolet Corsica in her family’s detached garage. The 21-year-old never entered her home and vanished without a trace. Her purse, keys, VHS tapes and her red smock from the Super Valu supermarket, where she worked for five years, were never recovered. Blumhorst’s family and friends, the community and law enforcement are still searching for answers.
A cricket stadium that has been in the works for the west side of Oswego since 2023 now is expected to open in 2027. Recent Facebook posts for the proposed Breybourne Stadium state the projected opening for the cricket club is 2027. Oswego resident Paresh Patel of Chakra360 LLC previously submitted plans to build the professional cricket stadium with a clubhouse and restaurant on 33.48 acres at the northwest corner of Orchard Road and Tuscany Trail in Oswego.
When her daughter went away to college and her family sold its horses, Theresa Miller found herself looking for a hobby. The Stillman Valley woman went into a Farm & Fleet 17 years ago and bought a packet of Atlantic Giant Pumpkin seeds. Her first pumpkin was 89 pounds. And then she grew one that was 400 pounds. And then 1,000, and then 1,600 pounds. Last year, her entry into the Illinois Giant Pumpkin Association Weigh-off in Minooka weighed 1,871 pounds.
