Grundy County

Forging additional community partnerships, streamlining hiring processes and gathering student feedback are among the initiatives outlined in a list of goals in Minooka Community High School District 111’s strategic plan in the upcoming 2025-26 school year.

Air quality alert issued for several northern Illinois counties; sensitive groups advised to take precautions outdoors.

John Callahan, the Grundy County Coroner, confirmed Monday that Alexis Kay Higgins-Weatherhead, 18, Coal City, has died after her vehicle was discovered in a lake at around 11 p.m. Sunday on Jugtown Road slightly north of Deerfield Drive.

Minooka Community High School’s committee for the Athletic Hall of Fame has announced its Class of 2025 inductees.

Here are the students who achieved the honor roll for the second semester at Minooka Community High School.

Shorewood resident Jacquie Secrest has been named Morris Hospital’s Fire Starter of the Month for her role as a Service Excellence Liaison.

A man has been charged with stealing a crucifix, candles and a towel on Sunday from St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Wilmington.

The dos and don’ts around electronic device use during the regular school day could become more stringent in Minooka School District 201 in the upcoming 2025-26 school year, based on a recent preliminary discussion.

Here is the honor roll for Morris Grade School.

A complete makeover transformed the former village hall building into the new breakfast and lunch restaurant, which soon will add a dinner menu for evening service. A free monthly breakfast for veterans is one of the special perks.

Matt Baker originally thought he’d be a journalist, but a love for the classrooms of his youth was always in the back of his mind, so he changed his plans at the University of Illinois.

Minooka Community High School has announced its inductees for the Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2025.

Morris Elementary Superintendent Dr. Shannon Dudek has been named the 2025 Superintendent of Distinction by his colleagues in the Three Rivers Region by the Illinois Association of School Administrators, according to a Thursday news release.

The Grundy County Speedway is now a NASCAR Home Track, which means points earned at the Speedway go into standings for other Home Tracks across the country.

Minooka Community High School has announced Taya Gummerson as the valedictorian and Samantha Hulick as the salutatorian for the Class of 2025.

The Illinois Department of Public Health advises private well owners to have their water tested for elevated PFAS levels, especially if they live near communities whose public wells were found to have excessive quantities of the "forever chemicals."

The Minooka Police Department announced Friday afternoon that Ridge Road is reopened after it was closed due to a traffic accident.

A Lockport man pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of a man killed in 2020 in a Joliet shooting as part of plea deal with prosecutors.

The Grundy Area FFA is hosting an open house from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday at 550 S. Carbon Hill Road in Coal City, inside the big red barn.

A retired Joliet police sergeant must still contend with a federal lawsuit claiming he had no probable cause to arrest his colleague on a task force whom he accused of stealing a forklift.

The Citizens Utility Board blamed years of poor policies and planning by grid operator PJM Interconnection for the rate increase.

Illinois officials are urging people not to travel amid dust storm warnings across parts of the state, including much of the Chicago area.

After severe storms swept northern Illinois Thursday, the region faces increased fire risk and wind advisories Friday.

Minooka Community High School has recognized its Students of the Term for the fourth quarter of the 2024-25 school year.

Minooka Community High School announced on Friday that its yearbook will be included in Varsity Yearbook’s “Portfolio,” which showcases exceptional yearbooks printed out by the company.

The Trump administration is reported to be slashing a $56 million annual grant program for the training and distribution of Narcan, a nasal spray that is credited with saving lives from opioid overdoses.

Over 230 people filled Jennifer's Garden at 555 Gore Road in Morris Monday morning for the annual Grundy Economic Development Council Legislative Breakfast, where local representatives answered questions from an audience made up of the local business community.

38th District State Senator Sue Rezin, R-Morris, and 40th District State Senator Patrick Joyce, D-Essex, addressed a group of business leaders Monday morning regarding how new data centers affect both energy and water resources in Northern and Eastern Illinois.

The Grundy Economic Development Commission hosted its annual Legislative Breakfast Monday morning, where local legislators were able to answer questions from the business community.

Chris Gallick, a Morris Community High School graduate and Assistant Director of Budget and Financial Planning at the Colorado School of Mines, said he doesn't remember much from his own Awards Night at the high school; what he does remember, is he thought he had a plan.

For all the hats Immaculate Conception School's Mary Gile wears teaching junior high students, it'd be hard to guess that she actually came to teaching later in life.

Her passion for teaching turns her classes into hands-on learning experiences that embrace a wealth of topics designed to nurture well-rounded students.

Steven Custer, a Morris Community High School teacher and soccer coach uses his experience with the game to connect with new students as he teaches them English as a second language.

Lauren Blatti’s journey toward teaching was inspired by one of her own childhood teachers, though she knew she wanted to be a teacher from a young age.

Read our letters submitted by students and parents to Morris Herald-News for our 2025 Thank You Teachers special edition

"Super strengths" are many for the fifth-grade teacher from Coal City Intermediate School.

Kristen Hemmersbach didn't know what she wanted to do with her life until a friend asked her to take an early childhood education course at Joliet Junior College, and that course reminded her of all the good teachers she had as a student in Shorewood.

Todd Kein has spent 26 years at Morris as an English teacher and baseball and basketball coach. He has found a "happy marriage" coaching baseball while teaching literature.

Rhonda Johnson, who teaches at Immaculate Conception School in Morris, has been teaching fifth grade students for 25 years, following in the footsteps of some of her favorite teachers.

Every student coming through Dwight Elementary School over the last 32 years has been able to attend one of the more creatively planned third or fourth grade classes with Stinnett Gettinger.

Nurturing generosity of spirit is a lesson taken to heart by students at Immaculate Conception School in Morris, where a spirited year-round giving project helps a variety of nonprofits and their causes.

Features of the Joliet luncheon include a style show from Brianna Lynn’s Boutique in Morris and the “Mayhem to Miracles” testimony from author and speaker Delores Liesner.

A special prosecutor said both parties in the felony theft case against a former CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties are engaged in negotiations.

The Grundy Area Vocational Center hosted students and their families on Wednesday night in the Coal City High School Auditorium to honor their achievements for the 2024-25 school year, handing out both Directors Awards and Program awards along with $25,000 in scholarships.

Gardening, hip-hop dance, painting and Yu-Gi-Oh! are among the course offerings available in the months ahead as officials in Minooka Community Consolidated School District 201 aim to broaden summer school programming.

The Morris Community High School Theater program is performing its spring play, "Big Fish" starting at 7 p.m. Friday, with further shows at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday and an additional show at 7 p.m. Sunday.

La Salle County's newest circuit judge is headed to the criminal justice complex.

A New Lenox resident lost $12,924 after clicking the link on a phishing email that appeared to come from Xfinity, police said.

Minooka Community High School will soon be getting a little bigger, as the district broke ground Saturday at both it’s south and central campuses on the $82 million fieldhouse and a career and technical center.

The Coal City High School Theatre Department’s production of “Sweeney Todd” has been nominated for Best Musical Production in the 2025 Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards.