An Ashton teen pleaded guilty Monday to first-degree murder, admitting he used a belt to strangle his girlfriend to death four months ago in the apartment they shared.

Andrew Gornick appeared Wednesday for a preliminary hearing on charges of stalking, cyberstalking and harassment through electronic communication – all felony offenses.

A California solar company sued the county last fall after the Whiteside County Board twice rejected a special-use permit application for solar farm development on Prairie Center Road near Morrison.

Kyle M. Cooper, 36, of Rock Falls, is being held in the Whiteside County Jail in Morrison on a first-degree murder charge as well as two counts of aggravated battery in connection with the Feb. 14 stabbing death of Daniel J. Gordon.

Prosecutors say he sent hundreds of threatening emails last month.

The two men were formally charged Feb. 11, with the offenses alleged to have occurred Jan. 3, according to court records

Listen to the TALK-LINE interview with Ogle County State's Attorney Mike Rock talking about 2024 statistics and a criminal court case in Byron.

According to a news release, Rock Falls police were dispatched at 1:50 a.m. Friday, Feb. 14, for a reported stabbing in the 600 block of West 20th Street in Rock Falls.

A Whiteside County jury has found a Freeport man guilty of attempted predatory criminal sexual assault of a victim under the age of 13 in connection with a reported assault at a Sterling school playground in 2023.