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High school seniors Claire Boudreau, La Salle-Peru Township High School, Jackson Delhotal, of Putnam County High School, Spencer Kain, of Mendota High School, Christian Limberg, of La Salle-Peru Township High School, Zulee Moreland, of Ottawa Township High School, Lydia Steinbach, of La Salle-Peru High School, and Yijing (Larissa) Zhang of St. Bede Academy were all honored during the 9th annual NCI Artworks Mad Hatter Ball on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026 at the Westclox Event Center in Peru. Vivian Lopez, of DePue High School was absent.

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Teams from Bradley-Bourbonnais, Reed-Custer, Herscher, Kankakee McNamara, Kankakee High School, La Salle-Peru, Minooka, Ottawa, St. Bede, Hall, and Streator all competed during the IHSA boys bowling regionals on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026 at the Illinois Valley Super Bowl in Peru.

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The Hinckley-Big Rock girls basketball team traveled to Somonauk Thursday to take on Somonauk/Leland.

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Bradley-Bourbonnais boys wrestling defeated Marquette 41-22 during a wrestling meet on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026 in Bader Gymnasium at Marquette High School.

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Three separate crashes involving multiple semi trucks were jackknifed in the median of Interstate 80 on Jan. 14, 2026 between Utica and Ottawa. Interstate 80 remained closed while crews could remove the wreckage from the accident scenes. A fast moving squall line with gusty winds and snow near white-out conditions caused the wrecks.

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L-P defeated Streator 51-46 on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 at Pops Dale Gymnasium in Streator.

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Firefighters responded to the Starved Rock Lock and Dam for a light haze of smoke coming from the Peru Hydroelectric Power Plant on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 near Utica. Fire departments from Tonica, La Salle, Wallace, Tonica, Peru and Utica all responded to the scene. The incident happened shortly before 2:30p.m. No injuries were reported.

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Crews build the exterior shell of the Dr. Alfred E. Wisgoski Agricultural Education Center on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 on the south end of Illinois Valley Community College campus in Oglesby. Last August, IVCC officially broke ground on the $7.6 million Dr. Alfred E. Wisgoski Agricultural Education Center. The 10,250-square-foot facility is expected to open in 2027. The project is supported by a $3.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Economic Development Administration, a $240,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and a $1 million gift from the Wisgoski family.

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L-P defeated Hall 43-24 on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 in Sellett Gymnasium at L-P High School.