Category Archives: Local News
Man arrested after reportedly in possession of stolen weapon in South Peoria
PEORIA, Ill. - A man was arrested Wednesday afternoon after allegedly being in possession of a stolen handgun. Peoria Police says officers conducted a pedestrian stop in the area of Griswold and Humbo...
Jan 09, 2025 1470-100.3 WMBD/Mike Sabol
Jurors to hear tape of Madigan saying ComEd contractors 'made out like bandits'
CHICAGO (Capitol News Illinois) - Throughout his five-decade career in politics, former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan received hundreds of requests for job recommendations from a wide range o...
Jan 09, 2025 Longtime Statehouse lobbyist Mike McClain and former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan are pictured leaving the Dirksen Federal Courthouse in 2023 and 2024. (Capitol News Illinois photos by Andrew Adams)
New General Assembly sworn in as House, Senate take different tones
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (Capitol News Illinois) - A new Illinois General Assembly was sworn in for the next two years on Wednesday, with the House and Senate ceremonies taking two starkly different tones. T...
Jan 08, 2025 Sen. Paul Faraci, D-Champaign, is among those sworn into the 104th General Assembly on Wednesday, Jan. 8. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Jerry Nowicki)
Sorensen planning to work across aisle in second term in Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. - With a potential uphill climb in a new Congress, one Peoria-area legislator believes he can still get work done in Washington. 17th District Congressman Eric Sorensen (D-Moline) spo...
Jan 08, 2025 Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-East Moline) speaks Thursday on the floor of the House of Representatives. (U.S. House of Representatives via Rep. Ric Sorensen)
Peoria man released after arrest for alleged grooming of a minor
PEORIA, Ill. - A Peoria man has been released from the Peoria County Jail after being arrested Monday for allegedly sending inappropriate texts to an underage girl. Peoria County Sheriff Chris Watkins...
Jan 08, 2025 (Peoria County Sheriff's Office)
Man arrested after punching Peoria Police officer
PEORIA, Ill. - Peoria Police responded to reports of trouble with a male on N. Sterling Avenue late Monday morning. When police arrived around 11:15 a.m., they found a man identified as 44-year-old Ni...
Jan 08, 2025 (Peoria County Sheriff's Office)
Peoria County man sentenced for hate crime
PEORIA COUNTY, Ill. - A Bellevue man has been sentenced to 18 months behind bars for shouting racial slurs and threatening to kill his Black neighbors last summer. 47-year-old Charles Gathard pleaded ...
Jan 08, 2025 (Peoria County Sheriff's Office)
Lawmakers advance 'Karina's bill' to remove guns from domestic violence situations
SPRINGFIELD (Capitol News Illinois) -- It's been 18 months since Karina Gonzalez and her 15-year-old daughter Daniela were shot and killed on Fourth of July weekend at their Chicago home, allegedly by...
Jan 08, 2025 Manny Alvarez, son of Karina Gonzalez, hugs
Rep. Edgar Gonzalez Jr., D-Chicago, in the Illinois House on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025.
Gonzalez, the namesake of the legislation, was shot and killed by her husband in
Chicago in 2023 after receiving an order of protection. (Capitol News Illinois photo by
Andrew Adams)
Hemp regulation bill stalls amid Democratic infighting
SPRINGFIELD (Capitol News Illinois) - A bill that would have imposed regulations on new types of intoxicating substances derived from hemp stalled in the Illinois House Tuesday, dealing a political se...
Jan 08, 2025 Gov. JB Pritzker takes questions from reporters at an event in Normal on Tuesday, criticizing House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch for not calling a bill to regulate “intoxicating” hemp products. (Credit: Illinois.gov)
Madigan takes witness stand, denying he traded 'public office' for 'private gain'
CHICAGO (Capitol News Illinois) - Over the last 2 months, the jury in former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan's corruption trial has heard the longtime Democratic leader's voice dozens of times ...
Jan 08, 2025 Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan leaves the Dirksen Federal Courthouse on Jan. 7, 2025, after testifying for the first time in his trial. The move came as a surprise and is expected to further extend the trial that began in October. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Ismael M. Belkoura)
