Category Archives: Top Stories

Seven dead in fatal plane crash including former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle
Dec 18 (Reuters) - Seven people were killed Thursday in the crash of a Cessna 550 business jet in Statesville, North Carolina, including former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, NASCAR said. The plane crashe...
Caleb Kelch Dec 18, 2025 FILE PHOTO: Driver Greg Biffle poses for photographs in front of the new 2013 Ford stock car after an announcement during the NASCAR Media Tour in Concord, North Carolina, January 24, 2012. REUTERS/Chris Keane/File Photo

The Kennedy Center is adding 'Trump' to its name, White House says
WASHINGTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - The board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which President Donald Trump filled with allies during a broad takeover earlier this year, has decided t...
Caleb Kelch Dec 18, 2025 People walk along the front of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, after White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt announced that the Kennedy Center board decided to rename the institution the Trump-Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 18, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Justice Department sues for access to Illinois voter rolls
Story Summary The Trump administration is seeking access to the state's complete, unredacted voter registration database, including sensitive information such as voters' dates of birth and partial Soc...
Caleb Kelch Dec 18, 2025 IMAGE: The Paul Findley Federal Courthouse is pictured in Springfield. (Capitol News Illinois file photo by Hannah Meisel)

US House passes bill to speed energy infrastructure permits despite environmental concerns
Dec 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation on Thursday that would streamline environmental reviews and speed permitting for large energy infrastructure projects, data cent...
Caleb Kelch Dec 18, 2025 The U.S. Capitol building at dusk in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 20, 2025. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper

Trump expected to sign $1 trillion annual defense bill
WASHINGTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday plans to sign into law a nearly $1 trillion annual defense policy bill, despite its provisions providing new aid to Ukraine and r...
Caleb Kelch Dec 18, 2025 U.S. President Donald Trump delivers a speech at the Pentagon, in Washington D.C., U.S., September 11, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Trump moves to ease US marijuana regulations, sparking industry hopes
WASHINGTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an order recommending the loosening of federal regulations on marijuana, a move that could further reverse decades of toug...
Caleb Kelch Dec 18, 2025 FILE PHOTO: Marijuana plants are seen inside the Glass House Farms flowering greenhouse in Camarillo, California, U.S., April 13, 2022. Picture taken April 13, 2022. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo

PPD searching for carjacking suspects following an incident Wednesday night
PEORIA, Ill. - Peoria Police responded to a reported carjacking Wednesday night on N. Prospect Road, near E. Tripp and E. Wilson Avenue. Police Spokesperson Semone Roth says the incident happened arou...
Julia Bradley Dec 18, 2025

RFK Jr proposes rules to cut US children's access to gender-affirming care
WASHINGTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. moved on Thursday to cut access to gender-affirming care for children, proposing rules that would bar hospitals that deliver ...
Julia Bradley Dec 18, 2025 FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks with U.S. Vice President JD Vance (not pictured) during the inaugural Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) summit in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 12, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo

Local fire departments battle fire at PDC facility in West Peoria
WEST PEORIA, Ill. - Multiple fire departments were called to a fire at the Peoria Disposal Company/GFL facility on Swords Avenue in West Peoria just before 8 a.m. Thursday. Peoria County Sheriff Chris...
Julia Bradley Dec 18, 2025 (File-Will Stevenson/1470 & 100.3 WMBD)

US admits liability in fatal helicopter crash with American Airlines jet
WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department said late on Wednesday the federal government was liable in the fatal January 29 collision of an Army Black Hawk helicopter and American Airl...
Julia Bradley Dec 18, 2025 Maps are seen during a U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing on the midair collision involving American Airlines 5342 and a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) on January 29, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 27, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura


