As a bored 15-year-old, he was coaxed into joining the Utica Fire Department as a cadet. In just over a decade, Ben Brown had soared up the ranks and was fire chief by age 26.
They call her "the Magnet" because major catastrophes (the Westclox fire, for one) seem to always happen under her watch. But what Julie Dean, a veteran with Illinois Valley Regional Dispatch, attracts most is the esteem of law enforcement.
After graduating from Fieldcrest High School in 2005, Justin Arndt attended Indian Valley Community College for one year before transferring to Illinois State University where he played on the club hockey team.