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... »
annual story
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. »
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... »
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,... »
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... »
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... »
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. »