Mt Zion Schools Closed. DPS 61 will have an eLearning Day Tuesday, January 21st day due to frigid and cold temperatures. NO Extended Day programming. Decisions regarding athletics will be determined tomorrow. PreK-8th grade students should refer to grade level eLearning packets or choice boards for Day 2, these were se...

Bitterly Cold Temps Hitting Illinois Bitterly cold weather is hitting Illinois on Martin Luther King Junior Day. The National Weather Service says wind chills could drop to as low as 29 below zero in the northern parts of the state. A Cold Weather Advisory is in effect throughout the state. The dangerously cold wind ch...

Illinois State School Board Seeks $11.4B For Upcoming FY (Springfield, IL) -- The Illinois State Board of Education is seeking more than 11 billion dollars for the upcoming fiscal year. The board approved the spending plan this week, which is a nearly five-percent increase over this year's budget. It is unclear how muc...

Decatur, IL - New electric hybrid buses will hit the roads for Decatur Public Transit (DPTS) this week. The Gillig E-gen Flex electric hybrids are an effort to provide cleaner transportation as DPTS continues its transition to a Zero Emissions Fleet by 2040. The buses do not require charging and can operate fully elect...

SRO Uses Pepper Spray To Break Up Incident at Decatur Middle School (Decatur, IL) -- An investigation is underway after a school resource officer used pepper spray to break up an "incident" at a middle school in Decatur. Decatur Public Schools says the incident happened Tuesday during dismissal at Stephen Dec...

State Treasurer Returned $299M In Missing Money in 2024 (Springfield, IL) -- The Illinois State Treasurer's Office is touting the amount of missing money returned last year. Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs announced that his office returned nearly 299 million dollars as part of Illinois' missing money program...

Introduced Bill Would Decriminalize Sex Work in Illinois (Springfield, IL) -- State lawmakers are planning to introduce a bill this week that would decriminalize sex work in Illinois. The measure would remove criminal penalties for adults engaging in consensual sex work, remove arrest and conviction records for sex wor...

Skeletal Remains Found Behind Campground In Clinton (Clinton, IL) -- An investigation is underway after skeletal remains were found behind a campground in Clinton, Illinois on Christmas Eve. The DeWitt County Sheriff's Office says the discovery was made on December 24th in a wooded area behind Arrowhead Acres campgroun...

Woman Convicted In Murder Of Karyn Hearn Slover Dies In Custody (Decatur, IL) -- A woman convicted in a high-profile murder in central Illinois in 1996 is dead. Jeannette Slover died while in custody at the age of 77. Slover, her husband Michael Slover, Senior., and her son Michael Slover, Junior were found guilty in 2...

Illinois Secretary of State Reveals Reject License Plate List For 2024 (Springfield, IL) -- The office of Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias [[ ah-LEX-ee jih-NEW-lee-us ]] is revealing the list of rejected personalized license plates in 2024. More than 300 vanity and personalized license plates were shot dow...