Libby Sam and her family said they prayed to God for help when her 27-year-old roof started leaking this spring. Water spots showed through the... »
features
Youth Corps program resumes
Eighteen-year-old Andy Cunningham didn't always spend time thigh-deep in muddy water, spending hours pounding rebar into tree trunks. He used to work at Pizza Hut. Ant though spending eight weeks with the Youth Consevation Corps is mostly manual labor, he said he likes it much better. »
Bear sightings on the rise
Borough resident Anne Burns had never seen a bear so close as the one that walked across the street in front of her two weeks ago. Burns said a small bear, probably an adolescent, crossed Hillside Avenue about 20 yards in front of her while she was on an evening walk. The bear Burns saw isn't... »
Beaver volunteers reroof North Huntingdon woman’s home free of charge
Libby Sam and her family said they prayed to God for help when her 27-year-old roof started leaking this spring. Water spots showed through the ceiling of her dining room, kitchen and back bedroom earlier this year. In last week's storms, the leaks worsened. Then a miracle happened, she said. »
Central Illinoisans share stories of transgendered life
Growing up in the Quad Cities, Trey Polesky was born a girl but said he never felt like one. "I knew by the age of 5 or so that I really felt like a boy, that I was a boy. I rejected all sorts of stereotypical female toys. I didn't want to play with Barbie,... »
‘My goal is just to be the girl next door’
Living in a small central Illinois town, Audri Brooks, 28, considers herself a woman in a man's body. And though Brooks has always known she's different, all she really wants is to fit in. "My goal is just to be the girl next door," Brooks said. "I don't want to be noticed. I want to blend... »
Neither snow, nor rain can stop the mail
PEORIA —Letter carrier Bob Rumbold crunched on the snow and ice Monday as he walked from house to house stuffing cards, bills and magazines into homes' mail slots in the Northmoor Hills neighborhood. »
JS Christmas Fund: Family needs a little extra to celebrate Christmas
PEORIA — Marvin Smith, 20, has had trouble leaving his 61-year-old father's side since he suffered a stroke three months ago. Lately, though, Marvin has had no choice. With Jewell Smith unable to work, it's up to Marvin to find a job. "He's had five or six interviews, but ain't nobody hiring right now," Jewell said. »
‘Nutcracker’ cast visits Children’s Hospital
PEORIA — With the youngest member of their family, 4-month-old Thye-Lynnd Jones waiting for heart surgery, the Jones family spends most of its days at the Children's Hospital of Illinois at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center. But a group of young dancers was able to bring some cheer to Thye-Lynnd's two sisters and several hospital... »
Children shop till they drop – with cops
PEORIA — Six-year-old Kamille Whitehead could hardly contain herself at the possibility of picking out whatever items she wanted. Strolling through the Wal-Mart on University Street, she pointed to almost everything she saw. "I want that," she said, running over to a Hannah Montana T-shirt that lit up. Before Lizz Blair, a Peoria policewoman, could find... »
Wonderland lights up the season
EAST PEORIA — Within the first hour of opening, more than 200 cars, vans and buses wound their way through the Festival of Lights Winter Wonderland on Friday night. Candle-like lights lining the roadways directed drivers along the two-mile curvy course. Festival of Light parade floats and other stationary lit-up animals, snowmen and arches transformed... »
Winning with flair
PEORIA — A murmur of surprise came from the audience Wednesday as Caleb Liggin, an 18-year-old senior at Washington Community High School, went up to accept his first-place ribbon. "Honey, this must be a first. I'm tellin' ya," Mary Durbin, divisional volunteer director for The Salvation Army, told Liggin as he walked to the front... »
Job woes pinch family’s holiday funds
Michael and Michelle Burgess are doing the best they can. But after Michael's business lost most of its clients and therefore most of its income, their budget is constantly stretched thinner than they thought possible. "Sometimes it's hard to decide which bill to pay and which one not to," Michelle wrote in her request to this... »
Nation’s oldest Santa Claus Parade attracts 30,000
PEORIA — Ray Davis has been to a lot of Christmas parades. He works as a street vendor selling stuffed animals, cotton candy and silly hats to parade goers before, during and after Midwest holiday parades. Peoria's Santa Claus Parade, he said, is one of the best. »
Lighting the way to Christmas
The Kerr family of Washington sat in lawn chairs bundled in coats and blankets counting down. "Three more minutes," Kathy Kerr said to her daughter as two police cars took their places at the start just before 5:45 p.m. Saturday. As the drivers activated the lights and sirens and turned the patrol cars onto Washington Street,... »
A helping of kindness
CHILLICOTHE — If Sarah Williamson's father had seen her Thursday, there's no doubt he would have been proud. For years, he stopped by Sadie's Cafe, in Peoria, to donate money on the way to his family's Thanksgiving celebration. Sadie's Cafe owner Marge Singleton offered a free Thanksgiving dinner to the community annually. On Thursday, Williamson followed... »
Santa Claus to rock ‘n’ roll through town
PEORIA — Santa Claus might not be replacing his trusty red coat with a leather jacket this Friday, but the rest of his Peoria parade will be full of chains, guitars and, of course, rock 'n' roll music. The parade - the longest running of its kind in the nation - has taken on a... »
Volunteers keep parade afloat
EAST PEORIA — Eighty-five-year-old Wally Jaquet doesn't think much of the thousands of hours he's spent building lighted floats for the last 24 years. To him, creating, repairing and building some 40 floats each year for the annual East Peoria Festival of Lights is just something to do to pass the time. But to fellow... »
Popping in for the parade
CHILLICOTHE — It wouldn't be surprising if Walt Disney modeled the parades marching down Main Street, U.S.A., at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., after Chillicothe's Christmas Parade. Parade-watchers lined downtown Chillicothe's Second Street on Saturday, huddled in blankets and coats and scarves and gloves. They waved and cheered the marching bands, fire trucks and community floats as... »
Tours not for the faint of heart
BARTONVILLE — Mallory Flinn and her group of friends screamed and ducked as a bat flew through the ground floor hallway of the former Peoria State Hospital on Friday. Flinn, who grew up in Elmwood, said she heard stories about the asylum her entire life, but this was the first time she had been inside... »
Perfectly unique pumpkins
MORTON — White pumpkins, blue pumpkins, warty pumpkins, and even giant pumpkins dot the piles of traditional orange pumpkins at Ackerman Farms' pumpkin patch. And for most people, the uglier the pumpkin, the better the Jack-o'-lantern. »
Telling life’s stories
John Philips, a 77-year-old Peorian musician, had no idea why his son asked him to show up at StoryCorps, an Airstream trailer tucked into a corner of the Metro Centre. "I told him not to wear any bright colors," his son, Dan Philips said. "He thought it was some sort of butterfly exhibit." But instead of... »
Sturtz, Ragtag director, seeks seat
Paul Sturtz, 43, once experienced a failure so miserable, he said it was life-altering. He recalled that on a cold, rainy day in the summer of ‘92, he realized that his Cook Street Open Market was a disaster. He created the market off of a busy street in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Portland, Ore.... »
Tiger Spot: University documents show continuous problems
Although it was once referred to as a “campus icon” in a letter from College of Arts and Science Dean Richard Schwartz, the deteriorating Tiger Spot glass mosaic could soon be campus history. The spot has been covered with a tarp since last August, but a new design has been created to inhabit the area... »
Students to light candles at Hillel
This year, Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish Festival of Lights, is the earliest it has been in five years. The celebration begins tonight at 4:15 p.m., and for some students, this is the first Hanukkah they've been away from their families. Shira Berkowitz, president of the Jewish Student Organization, coordinated an event for students starting tonight. »