Illinois, Peoria County | featured news

PEORIA — If Proctor Hospital was a preferred provider organization on your insurance plan, it will remain a preferred provider organization, or PPO, now that it's set to become UnityPoint Health-Proctor.That's good news to Fran Tubbs, a Peoria-area resident who worried about how her preferred provider arrangement with Proctor would be affected by Proctor's merger with UnityPoint Health-Methodist.State regulators on Tuesday approved Proctor's affiliation [...]

PEORIA — Police seized digital scales and a measuring cup with cocaine residue during a traffic stop early Tuesday that also netted hundreds of dollars cash and a bag of the drug.A Peoria County sheriff's deputy made a traffic stop at 1:37 a.m. near North Western and West Heading avenues for loud exhaust.The deputy saw occupants of the vehicle maneuvering as if they were hiding items under seats when he approached. Inside the car, the drug equipment, a [...]

PEORIA — A man at a Dollar General store grabbed a handful of cash from a register and fled Tuesday morning.Police were called about 11:55 a.m. to the 3419 N. Prospect Road location.The suspect came to the register wearing white gloves and with a pack of razors. He took out a $20 bill as if he was going to pay for the item.When the cashier opened the register, the customer pushed forward, grabbed an undisclosed amount of money and ran.

MARQUETTE HEIGHTS — Residents have chosen what the new city welcome sign will look like after an online vote between two designs ended last Thursday."Mockup #1" beat the other sign with a total vote of 212 to 106. The new sign will be made of concrete and stands 7 feet tall and 12 feet wide in a rectangular shape. It has rounded edges with two slabs at the base. The losing design was a single piece reverse trapezoid shaped sign made of the [...]

CHICAGO — It didn't matter that the 13 Marines on their way home from Afghanistan had been fighting in a war that no longer dominates the news or that they were stopping only for a short time in Chicago before flying to San Diego.When USO volunteer John Colas heard with just an hour's notice that the Marines' plane was bearing down on Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, he and others scrambled to make sure they got a hero's welcome. [...]

SPRINGFIELD — A key state Senate committee is expected to consider a $24 million incentive package aimed at keeping Archer Daniels Midland Company's global headquarters in Illinois.The Senate Executive Committee has scheduled a Wednesday afternoon hearing on the measure.The panel also is expected to consider tax breaks for the company that emerges from the merger of Naperville-based OfficeMax and [...]

Forever, it seems, the faithful have tried to figure out the secret behind the cheese spread at Castle's Patio Inn.Whatever is in the mix — Garlic? Oh, yeah. Horseradish? Maybe a touch — the blend serves as the centerpiece of the self-proclaimed "Cheesiest Place in Town." Yet that's just part of the recipe for success at the pub, 802 W. Loucks Ave., which relies heavily on equal parts of warmth, familiarity and nostalgia. That crowd-pleasing combination [...]

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois' new same-sex marriage bill hasn't even been signed yet, but wedding plans for many gay couples are already in the works.A Chicago wedding planner says she started hearing from couples just after lawmakers approved legislation late Tuesday. A jewelry store in one of Chicago's gay neighborhoods is planning an event this weekend with a designer specializing in rings for gay couples. And tourism officials expect a [...]

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Politically connected Illinois businessman William Cellini has been released from federal prison.A spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons says the Republican insider snagged in the corruption scandal involving former Gov. Rod Blagojevich was released from the federal lockup in Terre Haute, Ind., on Oct. 31.Spokesman Chris Burke says Cellini, who lives in Springfield, must serve [...]

Illinois' state climatologist says late-October rains helped restore soil moisture after three exceptionally dry months.Climatologist Jim Angel says a near-normal 3.2 inches of precipitation fell in October, most of it in the last few days of the month.Angel says the rains were heavy and widespread enough to help recharge soil that had been dried out in the previous three months. The long-term average [...]