Category Archives: Local News
State looks to expand manufacturing training at community colleges
Article Summary The state is accepting applications for $24 million in grant funds for downstate community colleges to build six new "manufacturing training academies." The academies are designed to a...
Feb 04, 2026 The Illinois Community College System headquarters is pictured in downtown Springfield. (Medill Illinois News Bureau photo by Reece Dower)
Peoria High basketball coach placed on unpaid leave following arrest
By Imani McClay PEORIA, Ill. (25 News) - Peoria High School basketball coach Daniel Ruffin will stay in jail and has been placed on unpaid leave following his arrest Monday morning on charges of solic...
Feb 04, 2026 Daniel Ruffin mugshot (Peoria County Jail Records)
'My own government attempted to execute me,' Chicago woman shot by Border Patrol testifies
Article Summary Marimar Martinez, who was shot five times by immigration agents last year, testified at a public forum on immigration agents' use of force in D.C. on Tuesday, Feb. 3. Panelists and mem...
Feb 04, 2026 Marimar Martinez, the Chicago woman who federal immigration agents shot five times last
October, speaks Washington, D.C. forum on Tuesday. (Screenshot from Senator Richard
Blumenthal livestream.)
'Ludicrous': Peoria asks judge to halt new Par-A-Dice development
By Gianna Njau and Lizzie Seils PEORIA, Ill. (25 News) - The City of Peoria is asking a judge to stop an upcoming vote from the Illinois Gaming Board as it mulls whether to allow a proposed land-based...
Feb 04, 2026 (25 News)
Pritzker sticking to proposal to fully fund pensions
Article Summary Gov. JB Pritzker said he will push forward on his 2024 proposal to fully fund pensions and address other funding issues. Pritzker's plan calls for fully funding pensions by 2048, rathe...
Feb 03, 2026 Gov. JB Pritzker speaks at an event at the Illinois AFL-CIO in Springfield on Aug. 14, 2025. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Jerry Nowicki)
Illinois joins WHO global outbreak network after U.S. withdraws
Article Summary JB Pritzker announced Illinois will join the World Health Organization's Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, allowing the state to receive information about spreading diseases ...
Feb 03, 2026 Gov. JB Pritzker wears an Illinois face mask amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. (Capitol News Illinois file photo by Jerry Nowicki)
PPD squad car involved in crash Tuesday morning
PEORIA, Ill. - A crash in downtown Peoria Tuesday morning involved a police cruiser. Police Spokesperson Semone Roth said the accident happened at the intersection of Monroe and Fayette Streets around...
Feb 03, 2026
Child care funding freeze could worsen shortage in Illinois, providers say
Article Summary If the courts allow the Trump administration's freeze on federal child care funding to happen, a Springfield provider said she'll likely have to close her 30-year business. A recent re...
Feb 03, 2026 Pamela Franks is a home child care provider in Springfield who relies on money from federal child care and family services programs that are under threat from the Trump administration. (photo submitted by SEIU Healthcare Illinois)
Peoria High boys basketball coach arrested for alleged inappropriate texts to student
PEORIA, Ill. - The head coach of the Peoria High School boys' basketball team has been arrested for allegedly trying to solicit a teenage girl. Peoria Police says 41-year-old Daniel Ruffin was arreste...
Feb 02, 2026
Peoria City Council rejects proposed settlement regarding proposed new Par-A-Dice casino
PEORIA, Ill. - The city of Peoria says no deal to the Par-A-Dice. In a special meeting Monday night, council was one vote short of accepting a settlement agreement regarding the proposed new Par-A-Dic...
Feb 02, 2026 (Illinois Gaming Board)
