Jacobs travels to Marengo for a nonconference softball game on Monday, March 9, 2026, at Marengo High School.

Catch up on the week’s top McHenry County news in minutes. Hear the week’s 5 most popular stories, read aloud for you, for the week of March 1-7

Target is launching a baby department shopping experience this month in only nine locations in Illinois.

A McHenry County judge ordered a restaurant in Algonquin to be evicted for nearly $41,000 in unpaid rent.

An Algonquin man has pleaded guilty to crimes in McHenry and Kane counties and was sentenced to 7 years in prison in both cases, to be served at the same time.

A Carpentersville man is accused of befriending a 16-year-old girl on Snapchat, sexually abusing her in the parking lot of an Algonquin business and then telling her, “You earned yourself some food,” a McHenry County judge said in denying his pretrial release.

Everyone was a winner at this year’s Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Chamber of Commerce’s Olympic-themed awards dinner, where gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded to the nominees.

Once an improbable sighting, wild swans have returned to the Fox River Valley and across Kane County. Local environmental efforts over the decades have helped the resurgence.

Algonquin will be getting help from the state to fund its multimillion-dollar renovations to Willoughby Farms Park.

The Barrington Area Democratic Organization condemned attack mailers from Erin Chan Ding’s campaign for the Democratic nod in the Illinois House 52nd District primary.

A Crystal Lake man has pleaded guilty to aggravated reckless driving in a head-on crash that seriously injured two people and occurred when he was 18.

Three girls were injured and a 13-year-old boy was petitioned to juvenile court stemming from a dispute that escalated into a physical altercation in Algonquin tunnel, police said.

Hailey Stokes recently became a probation officer for McHenry County, following in the footsteps of the man who raised her, the late corrections officer Jimmy Udesen.

About 250 students walked out of Huntley High School Friday in protest of ICE, the latest in a series of such high school rallies in the McHenry County area and beyond.

A Lake in the Hills storage building holding snowmobiles, boats and personal watercraft was severely damaged in a fire early Wednesday morning.

Democratic 52nd District Illinois House candidates Erin Chan Ding and Maria Peterson have similar views on immigration enforcement and the Illinois TRUST Act.

The two Democratic hopefuls in the primary for the 52nd state House seat shared similar views during a weekend League of Women Voters candidate forum at the Barrington Area Public Library.

The Hobby Lobby in Algonquin is relocating to a new home still within the village’s boundaries.

Huntley School District 158 has a new school board member, who was named to replace former board President Andy Bittman, who quietly resigned over winter break.

Local officials are investigating the cause of a chemical smell in the air reported Sunday morning.

Community Unit School District 300 is seeking a new principal for Jacobs High School in Algonquin as its current principal moves into a districtwide role.

Kishwaukee College recently named its graduates for the fall 2025 semester.

Real estate news: A 6,405-square-foot single-family home, built in 1999, has changed hands. The lot of the property covers an area of 1.7 acres.

Martin McLaughlin: I will continue to vote against any tax increases, and I will support property tax relief. Read McLaughlin's full questionnaire here

Andy Bittman was elected to the Huntley District 158 school board after opposing COVID-19 rules, but abruptly resigned in late December. Board President Paul Troy recognized him while acknowledging their heated exchanges.

A Woodstock 18-year-old, on pretrial release for allegedly beating a teen at the Algonquin Walmart, was accused of threatening to shoot and kill a man and his baby, according to court records.

The Read with a Buddy program provides free children’s books paired with stuffed animals at local food pantries around McHenry County.

Several school districts across McHenry County are announcing closures or e-learning days Friday as an extreme cold warning is forecast to start Thursday night into Friday morning, bringing in dangerously low wind chills.

Pulte, the same developers for a 175-home single-family plan in Crystal Lake, are looking to build a duplex neighborhood in Algonquin off Randall Road.

The Kane County Liquor Commission voted 3-1 Wednesday to approve a long-sought liquor license for Blackjacks Gentlemen's Club.

These events will have a six-course meal with 2-ounce wine pairings.

Andy Bittman, who became Huntley District 158 school board president after his 2023 election - only to see a competing majority beat his slate in 2025 - quietly resigned over winter break.

A third customer has sued Fun City Adventure Park in Algonquin last year has filed a civil lawsuit seeking more than $50,000 claiming, like the others, that she was injured after jumping into a foam pit.

The Chicago area has been a fertile ground for Winter Olympians over the years, from champion figure skaters to fearless ski jumpers.

Three people, including two minors, were injured after a car crashed into an Algonquin home Friday night, leaving it severely damaged, officials report.

McHenry County’s first Scooter’s Coffee location is open inside the Algonquin Meijer, located at 400 S. Randall Road.

Next summer, area residents and visitors will be able to gather for a new festival in Algonquin following the end of Founders Days.

El Molino has been a staple in Carpentersville, just over the border from Algonquin, for 40 years, reopening after a six month remodel. The new owners have long run an Elgin taqueria.

The new Erne’s Restaurant & Bar inside Pickle Haus in Algonquin is described as “polished casual” with an updated menu and atmosphere. Operators hope it will bring people in to dine, not just play pickleball.

A car driven by a 30-year-old Algonquin man collided with another vehicle in Walworth County, Wisconsin, whose driver later died, authorities said.

The family of Anna Schneider of Sleepy Hollow, who died under mysterious circumstances in 2009 at 19, have put up billboards to promote the reward they're offering for information about her death.

Downed live wires in front of a home in Algonquin caused electrical sparks and a fire Wednesday morning, officials report.

Following a huge snowfall the previous weekend, most of McHenry County awoke Sunday to about another half a foot of white flakes.

A Sleepy Hollow woman said Friday she is offering a $30,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in her daughter’s 2009 death, which authorities ruled in 2022 was a “homicide.”

McHenry County businesses are having another go at Small Business Saturday this weekend after last week’s promotion was mostly derailed by almost a foot of snow that blanketed the region.

Santa Claus is coming to Huntley – and will be among the first participants in a new holiday parade at Very Merry Huntley. And find a listing of other weekend Christmas events.

Matthew Mosur regularly drove by a vacant, 113-year-old Algonquin home that caught his eye. In June, he bought the house and took on the challenge of renovating it.

An Elgin man, arrested in Woodstock with an Algonquin woman, is accused of possessing possession with intent to deliver cocaine, a Class X felony, according to a criminal complaint.

Tree-lightings, parade and festival about this holiday season in the McHenry County area, starting right after Thanksgiving and through Christmas.

The Algonquin Garden Club has successfully transformed a small plot of land in the Dixie Briggs Fromm Nature Preserve in Dundee Township into a “mini-forest,” the first of its kind in the area.