Will County

The Tri-County Auto Theft Task Force recovered about $750,000 worth of stolen property at a business in Gurnee following a multi-agency investigation that began in Joliet.

Will County reached an $85,000 settlement in a federal lawsuit case that claimed county law enforcement violated Illinois sanctuary laws with the detention of an immigrant who was the key witness of a reckless homicide.

State Rep. Patrick Sheehan of Lockport is hosting a back to school supply drive to provide in-need students with essentials for the start of the school year.

Small Town Theatrics is ringing the bell on its 15th season as it presents Disney’s 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ on July 17-20 at the Coal City Performing Arts Center. The 53-member cast features actors from across the area in the telling of this classic tale.

Shorewood seniors are once again taking part in nationwide protests against the policies of the Trump Administration on Thursday, July 17, this time in honor of the late congressman John Lewis.

Enjoy a free concert in Joliet, a free movie in Bolingbrook or check out the Hot Sauce Expo in Joliet this weekend.

The Shorewood distribution center for IG Design Group Americas, Inc. announced layoffs will be coming in August, according to the Illinois Department of Commerce’s June WARN report.

The Wabena Bridge over I-80 in Minooka has been closed after a truck struck the bridge on Monday.

Mayor D'Arcy said Joliet needs more apartments if it wants a residency rule requiring newly hired workers to move into the city.

A Crest Hill man was sentenced to serve 50% of a four-year prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to the 2024 reckless homicide of a Joliet couple but he could spend less than 10 months in prison. 

The Joliet Slammers will partner with Pabst beer to drop 2,600 packaged hot dogs to fans at the July 22 game. Tickets will be at a special price.

Hundreds of miles and four days later, almost 100 bicyclists found ways to grieve, support each other and remember police officers killed while on duty in Illinois in 2024. Cycle Across Illinois benefiting the Illinois chapter of Concerns of Police Survivors concludes Sunday.

Here are the Forest Preserve District of Will County programs for the week of July 22.

On July 10, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that the Trump administration will restrict immigrants from enrolling in in the federally funded Head Start preschool program if they are in the United States illegally.

The fast-food giant already is renovating a former Arby's on Rt. 59 in Joliet and plans to take over another former Arby's on Jefferson Street as it maps out a return to the Chicago region.

The operating profit may have been the first in the theater's 99-year history, Executive Director Wade Welsh told the Joliet City Council on Monday.

The Joliet Junior College Board of Trustees approved a $318 million budget for the current fiscal year, with one trustee abstaining and another voting against it out of financial concerns.

One lane on Essington Road in Joliet will be closed through Friday.

The Herald-News presents this week’s Pets of the Week. Read the description of each pet to find out about it, including where it can be adopted in Will County.

A contract for supervisors in the Joliet Fire Department includes the same 50-mile rule allowing city workers to live outside Joliet.

A Joliet resident suffered minor injuries in an overnight fire in the 300 block of Oneida Street Monday.

City officials, family members and others gathered on Friday, July 11, 2025 for a ceremony to dedicate Albert Avenue in honor of Staff Sgt. Jose Duenez Jr., who grew up on the Joliet street and died earlier this year during a training mission in Lithuania.

The new owners of Kiddie Academy of New Lenox want to bring the academy to Lockport.

The Village of Shorewood recently issued licenses for four businesses, two of them home-based.

A federal appeals court has ruled a Republican challenger to the Will County sheriff can renew his claims that he was denied a promotion to sergeant because he ran against the sheriff.

A Joliet woman has been ordered to pay back $20,000 after she pleaded guilty to defrauding a federal COVID-19 pandemic relief program in 2021. 

Joliet police officers are now able to do real-time translation in more than 50 languages thanks to a new technology the department implemented this week

Illinois State Police Troop 3 conducted Roadside Safety Checks in Cook, DuPage, Kane, and Will counties in the first week of July.

Several dog-friendly Will County restaurants allow dogs and owners to dine on their patios together – and some venues offer specialty dog-friendly entrees, too.

The accidents happened in sections of Orland Park and Tinley Park that are in Will County.

The latest exhibit at the Strange & Unusual Gallery in downtown Joliet features the “sharp, satirical and visually striking” cartoon collages from Kent Smith.

Blue Heron Bagels is a home kitchen and cottage food business in Shorewood that crafts gourmet sourdough bagels by hand each week.

A Will County judge ordered a Bolingbrook sex offender charged with possession of child sex abuse materials to remain in jail after finding his pretrial release posed a danger to others.

Nearly 100 law enforcement personnel from across the state will bike to Northern Illinois University in DeKalb Saturday, their latest stop in an almost 400-mile bicycle journey across Illinois to honor their fallen comrades. Stops also in LaSalle, Kendall, Kane, DuPage counties

Twin brothers from Romeoville have been granted pretrial release in a Joliet robbery case after a judge found no probable cause for charges in one of the brothers’ cases, court records show. 

The family of Staff Sgt. Jose Duenez Jr. was joined by city officials and roughly 100 residents outside his boyhood home in Joliet for a ceremony dedicating Albert Avenue in his honor on Friday.

Hollywood Casino Joliet, 1401 Gateway Blvd., opened its doors for a media tour on Friday, July 11, 2025. The casino is still under construction and expected to open to the public on Aug, 11.

Bringing forth the freshest flavors of the season is the motivator at Bothwell Farms, offering its own retail locations in Manhattan and New Lenox, and delivering its produce to farmers markets in Will, Grundy and suburban Cook counties.

Visitors to Lake Renwick Heron Rookery Nature Preserve in Plainfield can see migratory birds at viewing programs very Saturday morning this summer.

State and local governments may have to pick up the costs of feeding the hungry to make up for federal cuts, U.S. Rep. Sean Casten said Thursday during a roundtable discussion in Geneva.

The Forest Preserve District of Will County offers a range of opportunities that allow volunteers to contribute their time, energy and skills at various programs.

Joliet has provided nearly $210,000 so far to restaurants, bars and other small businesses to offset impact of construction from $20 million downtown improvement project.

The family of Tehran Foster Gordon, the Joliet man who has been missing for two weeks, held a press conference Thursday to ask for more transparency in the case from Joliet Police and assistance from the community locating their relative.

A Wilmington neighborhood was ordered to shelter in place after a grenade was found Wednesday afternoon in a garage.

In July, 90 area children started learning, growing and gaining life-long skills through summer camps facilitated by West Suburban Community Pantry. 

A Joliet woman was arrested after she allegedly yelled at Home Cut Donuts staff, brandished a box cutter and threatened them, which caused them to lock themselves in a backroom for safety, police said.

Joliet Catholic alum Allie Quigley, who officially retired from the WNBA in June, had her jersey retired on Wednesday at Wintrust Arena.

A victim of a robbery in Joliet reported several people struck him with handguns and stole his bag containing $300 and a vial of ashes from a “deceased loved one,” according to prosecutors.

The White Oak Library will host its one-day comic convention, Comicopolis, in downtown Lockport on July 19.

If you're looking for an experience that harkens back to summers past, take a road trip to these vintage drive-in restaurants and enjoy a burger, shake, root beer and more.