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PEORIA — U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock gathered some central Illinois residents who say their healthcare costs have skyrocketed since the rollout of the Afforable Care Act was implemented last month.The Peoria Republican said his offices in Illinois and Washington D.C. have been flooded with complaints from those who have been negatively affected by the healthcare legislation, whether their plans were cancelled or costs doubled in some places.

PEORIA - Two men associated with the notorious Bomb Squad street gang pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court as part of the ongoing Don't Shoot campaign.Spencer N. Furlow, 25, waived indictment and pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm during a drug-trafficking offense and faces five years in prison when sentenced on Feb. 5 by Chief U.S. District Judge James Shadid.The deal also states Furlow's new [...]

PEORIA - U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will come to Peoria on Thursday to observe a local program to deal with low-level offenders that aims to keep those defendants out of prison and off drugs.Chief U.S. District Judge James Shadid said on Tuesday that the nation's top prosecutor will sit in on a rare afternoon session of Pretrial Alternatives to Detention Initiative, or PADI program. More details were expected later Tuesday when the Justice [...]

TACLOBAN, Philippines – The day after Typhoon Haiyan struck the eastern Philippine coast, a team of 15 doctors and logistics experts was ready to fly here to the worst-hit city to help. On Tuesday, five days into what could be the country's deadliest disaster, they were still waiting to leave.Aid is coming to Tacloban: medical supplies, pallets of water and food piled on trucks, planes and ferries, sent by the Philippine government and [...]

CHICAGO – The new World Trade Center tower in New York knocked Chicago's Willis Tower off its pedestal as the nation's tallest building when an international panel of architects announced Tuesday that the needle atop the skyscraper can be counted when measuring the structure's height.The Height Committee of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat said the needle is not an antenna but a spire, and thus is a permanent part of the [...]

BLOOMINGTON – Authorities say one person died and three children on a school bus were injured on snow-slickened roads in central Illinois.The (Bloomington) Pantagraph says the driver of an SUV was killed Monday night after it spun out of control on an Interstate 39 overpass. The SUV slid into the path of a semitrailer.And according to The News-Gazette in Champaign, three students on a Rantoul Township [...]

PEORIA — A Marathon gas station was robbed Monday afternoon. Two witnesses described the robber as a 6 feet 2 inches tall black male that was 30 to 40 years old and wearing a zip-up hooded jacked with a knitted cap.The unknown man walked into the gas station located at 1930 W. Forest Hill Rd. at 1:45 p.m. to buy an item. When the clerk opened the cash register to give him change, the man reached over the counter and grabbed a handful of money. He then threatened [...]

WASHINGTON — Kyle Freeman will become the new District 308 superintendent July 1, 2014.School Board members Monday approved a three-year employment agreement for Freeman that pay him an annual salary of $140,000.Freeman, 42, who was at the meeting, is in his fourth year as assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction at Mascoutah District 19 in southern Illinois."We looked high and low, and we feel we've found an outstanding (new [...]

PEORIA — Helen Ferguson's willingness to reach out to others is why the Bradley University community is honoring her by co-hosting a blood drive in her name.Ferguson, a popular adjunct professor in the College of Education and Health Sciences at Bradley, was diagnosed in October with late stage multiple myeloma, a cancer of the white blood cells that weakens bones and the immune system.Before the semester started, Ferguson left the university to fight [...]

A flurry of traffic accidents was reported Monday night in Peoria and other parts of central Illinois as light snow fell and falling temperatures made roads slippery.About 9 p.m., Peoria police dispatchers were too busy to discuss the situation, but there were reports of accidents on westbound Interstate 74 in Peoria County and War Memorial Drive.About