Peoria, Peoria County | featured news

BARTONVILLE — An unknown suspect fled from police after his attempted burglary failed Friday night. About 9:30 p.m., a homeowner on the 4500 block of Wanda heard someone push in a window screen at her residence. She notified police, who were on the scene within minutes. Bartonville Police Chief Brian Fengel said they used their department’s police dog in coordination with a police dog from the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office but lost the [...]

CHICAGO From the new poor in Cook County's suburbs to the former coal-producing counties of southern Illinois, the state's hunger problem is growing. At the same time, the federal government has cut funding for its food stamp program. The result is increased pressure on community organizations, schools and churches to supplement families who struggle to put a healthy meal on the table each [...]

Six decades later, Fulton County still echoes:"What happened to Fay Rawley?"As if passing down a treasured heirloom, generations continue to share conjecture and gossip about the case, making Fay Rawley almost mythic. After all, how can a real, live person — especially someone as well known as the gadabout Rawley — seemingly vanish without a trace?The story is not folklore yet sorely short of facts after Nov. 8, 1953. That's [...]

PEORIA — Area residents are gearing up to halt, or at least pause, implementation of new, almost nationwide Common Core learning standards intended to better prepare students for college and the work force. "We’ve seen one state program after another come and go. But federal programs never leave," said Don Bevenour, a retired East Peoria Community High School teacher and member of a newly formed group, Illinois Citizens for Better Education. "If we [...]

PEORIA Heights — Chuck Brown stood before a crowd of about 100, most of them veterans like him, holding the single sheet of notepad paper with about three paragraphs of hand-written notes.He's not used to the public spotlight, but once the 89-year-old WWII veteran started talking he abandoned his short prepared speech to recount his combat experience — down to the difficulty of digging a foxhole in the volcanic ash of the Pacific Islands and how he was about [...]

PEORIA — A squirrel jumping on a power line and hitting a fuse caused a brief power outage Saturday morning as well as a delay in the girls' state cross country meet. Brian Bretsch, of Ameren Illinois, says at about 8:54 a.m. a squirrel jumped on a power line on North Galena Road, near the intersection of Hamilton Road. According to Bretsch, 31 customers were without power and all were restored by 10:05 a.m. Bretsch says it is common for squirrels to [...]

TACLOBAN, Philippines (AP) — The central Philippine city of Tacloban was in ruins Saturday, a day after being ravaged by one of the strongest typhoons on record, as horrified residents spoke of storm surges as high as trees and authorities said they were expecting a "very high number of fatalities."At least 138 people were confirmed dead in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan. But Philippine Red Cross Secretary General Gwen Pang said that [...]

PEORIA — A revolver was one of the items stolen in a robbery of a North Valley home Thursday.An unknown number of suspects gained entry into the home of 71-year-old John Deal, 411 Abington St., between 2 and 7 p.m. by throwing a large chunk of concrete through a window, according to a police report. Several rooms were ransacked but only small miscellaneous items were stolen besides the revolver. Investigators determined the suspects exited the back door, [...]

PEORIA — A Bartonville man narrowly avoided a bullet while driving his car in South Peoria on Thursday. The victim told police he was driving at 9:45 p.m. in the 2300 block of South Darst Street when he heard a loud bang. Both the driver's and passenger's front windows of his SUV were shattered by the bullet. The victim sped off and called police.Officers were unable to identify any suspects in the incident.

PEKIN — In the 18 months since Heather Wise sold the prescription drug methadone to an undercover police officer, tragedy and punishment have befallen others she’s touched. Her punishment is now coming.Two young men died from drinking too much of the painkilling drug that she told police was stolen from her purse. It wound up in the hands of Daughlton Calvin, who supplied it to those victims. The methadone nearly killed him as well, but he lived to be tried, [...]