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STANDOFF: Large police presence on 31st Street
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Rockford PD said they responded to the 1100 block of 31st Street because of a standoff on Wednesday via X. Officers used de-escalation strategies and negotiated a peaceful surrender, according to the X post. Authorities ask the community to avoid the area until they can finish their investigation.
Rockford Needs Help To Save Parks From Disgusting Vandals
Several Rockford Park District parks have been destroyed by vandals this summer, and now the park district is asking for the community's help to stop the destruction. My brother works for the Rockford Park District and he recently told me that several parks throughout Rockford have been destroyed by vandals this summer. At first I thought he might have been exaggerating how terrible the damage is because he is mad, but then I saw these pictures and my temper started flaring too...
Rockford woman shares story, tips for Minority Mental Health Awareness Month
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - A Black Rockford native and author shares her journey with helping others as part of Minority Mental Health Month. Jeanette Towns graduated from Rockford East in 1980, and she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1995. In 2004, years after the diagnosis, she began treatment. Now,...
Aurora family residence deemed uninhabitable following Tuesday late night fire
An Aurora family's residence has been deemed uninhabitable following a structure fire Tuesday night, according to the Aurora Fire Department. A 911 call came in around 10:20 for a fire on the city's south side, in the 2700 block of Squaw Valley Trail. Aurora firefighters arrived on the scene and...
Court waits for suspect’s lab results in Rockford stabbing attacks case
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - Christian Soto, the 22-year-old accused of murdering four people and injuring seven others, appears in a Winnebago County courtroom Wednesday over Zoom. Attorneys discussed blood and urine tests that look for any substances in Soto’s body at the time of the rampage. According to court documents,...
Ski Broncs show foiled again
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Wednesday’s Ski Broncs show at Shorewood Park has been canceled. The water ski team did not say exactly why tonight’s show was canceled, but most of this year’s performances have not happened due to high water levels on the Rock River. The Ski Broncs have only had two shows this year. […]
Plano City Council delays decision on new playground location
The Plano City Council is still discussing where to put the playground equipment it is getting for free from Aurora. A few suggestions from aldermen were Hemmingson Park, Ray Niles Park, or replacing old equipment at Lathrop Park. Mayor Mike Rennels says that the Parks Committee and Chairman Tommy Johns...
Sunday, July 28 | 52nd Aurora Puerto Rican Heritage Festival
The Aurora Puerto Rican Cultural Council will celebrate the 52nd year of paying homage to Puerto Rican Heritage and Culture in Aurora with a one-day festival on Sunday July 28, 2024, at 129 Water Street in downtown Aurora from 1:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Tickets start at $8.50. 65...
This mid-sized Midwestern town offers a perfect microcosm of municipal golf’s renaissance
ROCKFORD, Ill. — Golf wasn’t dying five years ago around this mid-sized Illinois city that sits about 90 minutes west of Chicago. But it was retreating fast. “2019 was the worst year we ever had,” said Jeff Hartman, the head golf pro and general manager of Park Hills, a 36-hole municipal facility in nearby Freeport. Golf had been in a steady and somewhat severe 10-year decline across the nation. Courses were hurting after a flurry of golf facilities had been built in the early 1990s to take advantage of the extra focus Tiger Woods brought to golf. Rockford-area 18-hole public courses almost...
Democratic convention planners are working to pull off a dramatic Biden-Harris role reversal
WASHINGTON (AP) — After nearly a near year of careful planning, organizers of the Democratic National Convention are in a mad dash to accommodate a new nominee, a re-crafted program and a highly compressed deadline to pull everything off as though this was the plan all along. With President...
Professor points to policy errors as Chicago braces for non-budgeted migrant surge
(The Center Square) – Chicago may have thousands of additional migrants arriving before the end of summer, but government officials have not budgeted for a major surge. At the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last week, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott promised that his state would continue busing migrants to sanctuary cities until the U.S. border is secure. Chicago Budget Director Annette Guzman told the City Council Committee on Immigrant and...
Chicago scientists discover new antibiotic that may defeat bacterial resistance
CHICAGO - Scientists at the University of Illinois Chicago have discovered a new antibiotic that may make it nearly impossible for bacteria to develop resistance, marking a significant breakthrough in the fight against infectious diseases. This novel antibiotic attacks bacteria in two distinct ways, making it 100 million times more...
Chicago Fed Money Museum Debuts Exhibit on Black Baseball History
Baseball is often referred to as America’s pastime, but until recently, the accomplishments of many Black players were not formally recognized by Major League Baseball. That changed in May when statistics from Negro Leagues players were officially added to the MLB record books. In 2020, the United States Mint...
Deere and Company Begin Laying Off Salaried Employees
(Moline, IL) -- Deere and Company has begun laying off salaried employees. A statement from the company sent to WQAD News 8 does not specify the number of employees affected or the locations impacted. The company says a reduction in product demand and increased operational costs at John Deere have...
Protestors hold rally after inmate Michael Broadway dies at Stateville Correction Center
Protestors rallied Wednesday outside a State of Illinois building on West Monroe Street in Chicago, calling for an Illinois prison to close.The rally came after Stateville Correction Center inmate Michael Broadway died last month at the prison in Crest Hill.ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch"These places need to close down," exoneree Stanley Howard said. "How many more people need to die?"The protestors said the conditions at Stateville Correction Center are unhealthy and contributed to the death of Broadway.Some who gathered Wednesday had served time for wrongful convictions at Stateville, like Jimmy Soto, who said he also...
DNR: A frog species that mysteriously disappeared from the Tri-State in the 1980s is back
A species of prairie-dwelling amphibians that disappeared from the Angel Mounds Historic Site a generation ago has been reintroduced there, Indiana state officials said this week. The crawfish frog, endangered in the Hoosier State, is back following an effort led by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and Angel Mounds. ...
Food critic's visit sparks massive boost for North Side restaurant
CHICAGO - A visit by a popular food critic to a small business in Buena Park had a monumental impact following his positive review. Keith Lee, who has over 16 million followers on TikTok, travels across America reviewing small restaurants and is known for significantly boosting their businesses. The small...
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