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EAST PEORIA - Suddenly, Ted Colvin finds himself in the Philippines again.It's been almost 70 years since his Army boots set foot there to fight during World War II. But for the first time since, his dreams keep taking him back to that time and place.Some of the dreams are pleasant. Many are not.The latter focus on combat recollections exploding anew in a chaotic replay of bullets and brotherhood, of stealth and sweat. Colvin, 87, perseveres in [...]

WASHINGTON — Kyle Freeman has been chosen to replace the retiring Jim Dunnan as District 308 superintendent.School Board members Monday are expected to approve Freeman's employment contract, which will pay him $140,000 annually to be superintendent and principal at Washington Community High School.Dunnan will retire June 30, 2014, at the end of his 10th year on the job. Freeman's first day would be July 1, 2014.Freeman, 42, is assistant [...]

PEORIA — Children of Crittenton Centers have a new playhouse thanks to a project by an area car club. The River Valley Drifters Auto Club officially handed the key over to Keri Hatten, program services director of Crittenton Centers, a child welfare organization, on Sunday at 442 W. John Gwynn Jr. Ave. Gary Daniel of Peoria has been a member of the River Valley Drifters since 1989. He said members dedicated the playhouse to their friend and one of the [...]

CANTON — Things are slightly better today than a few years ago for the Fulton County Rehabilitation Center, which at one point was 18 months late in receiving bill payments from the state of Illinois.The group which, like EP!C and the Community Workshop and Training Center in Peoria, works with people with physical or mental disabilities and helps them find employment, now sees swifter payments from the state treasury. But, executive director Rex Lewis said, the [...]

TACLOBAN, Philippines — Corpses hung from trees, were scattered on sidewalks or buried in flattened buildings — some of the thousands believed killed in one Philippine city alone by ferocious Typhoon Haiyan that washed away homes and buildings with powerful winds and giant waves.As the scale of devastation became clear Sunday from one of the worst storms ever recorded, officials said emergency crews could find more bodies when [...]

METAMORA — A local man was found dead after a one-car accident Sunday morning on Hickory Point Road, according to authorities.The man's name is being withheld pending notification of relatives, but he was a local resident, according to Woodford County Deputy Coroner Jeffrey Price.Price said the Woodford County Sheriff's Office received a call of a rolled-over car a third of a mile north of [...]

Only one thing apparently could put Ray LaHood in a sour mood during his special day last week in Downtown Peoria. It had to do with his former workplace on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C."People are getting elected to do nothing and stop everything. And America's tired of that," the former U.S. congressman from Peoria said following a ceremony that designated part of Main Street in his honor.LaHood's comment was part of a fire-and-brimstone- [...]

The U.S. and other governments and agencies are mounting a major relief effort to help victims of the Philippine typhoon.Brian Goldbeck, acting ambassador at the U.S. Embassy in Manila, issued a disaster declaration to provide an immediate $100,000 for relief efforts. Officials from the U.S. Agency for International Development are deployed around the country to monitor the damage.Other charities working [...]

PEORIA — The number of area residents relying on pantries to put food on the table is skyrocketing."Our pantries, all of them, have seen an increased need," said Barb Shreves, executive director of the Peoria Area Food Bank. "I'm not kidding you — all of them have said the need is just unbelievable."The food bank distributes to 116 pantries in eight counties, and helps feed between 60,000 to 70,000 people each month. In addition to increased need, [...]

Going into last week's final round of the veto session, there were no guarantees of a vote on same-sex marriage. House sponsor Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago, made some cryptic comments about things looking better for the bill, but he would not say how many votes he had lined up or if he would call the bill for a vote. Obviously, he did, and it passed. Narrowly, but it passed. Some thought a vote would be delayed until after the filing deadline for legislative [...]