Journal Star (Peoria)
Trump pledges ‘obnoxious’ tariffs after court ruling
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump vowed to impose new “obnoxious” tariffs after the Supreme Court overturned his signature economic policy, teasing more measures and different tools that he can use. “The court has also approved all other Tariffs, of...
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FROM ‘BUY AMERICA’ TO ‘BYE AMERICA’
LONDON – U.S. investors are pulling money out of their own stock market at the fastest pace in at least 16 years as Big Tech returns fade and better-performing overseas markets look more attractive. In the last six months, investors in the United...
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‘We were just thrilled’
For Samer Aldroubi, Sous Chef has been his “primary grocery” since before the COVID-19 pandemic. h He was drawn to the fresh meat and produce. He said visiting felt like a trip to the farmers market. Now, Aldroubi is carrying the mantle of Sous Chef...
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Alleged trade leaks led to Andrew’s arrest
WASHINGTON – It wasn’t Jeffrey Epstein’s illicit past that led to the stunning arrest of Andrew MountbattenWindsor on Feb. 19. It was the alleged leak of confidential information from the former prince to the convicted sex offender while Andrew acted...
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These ‘patterns of behavior are not hidden’
PEORIA − Police Chief Eric Echevarria continued his long-standing criticisms of the juvenile justice system in Illinois on Wednesday, one day after a stolen vehicle and ensuing police chase led to six arrests. Echevarria said repeated criminal...
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Bolstering a ‘cornerstone’
Renovations to the Peoria Civic Center are set to begin in March, with work primarily focusing on modernizing the building’s exterior to bolster its position as a “cornerstone” of the city’s downtown. The Civic Center said Tuesday that the first phase...
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Civil rights icon ‘kept the dream alive’
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a towering civil rights icon who battled alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., negotiated global hostage releases and shamed corporations for their lack of diversity and failure to support voting rights, died on Feb. 17. He...
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‘JOE STOWELL WAS BRADLEY BASKETBALL’
PEORIA — Joe Stowell died on Valentine’s Day, but his love affair with Bradley Braves basketball and his place within the hearts of the program and its fanbase will live on. h An icon in a program with a long, proud legacy, Stowell died Saturday at age...
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New business aims to offer upscale, Yemeni coffee for all
PEORIA – The big day finally arrived for a new Yemeni coffee shop. Matari Coffee Co. welcomed the community to its first Peoria location with a soft opening on Friday, Feb. 13. Since starting in 2022, Matari Coffee Co. has expanded to include 11...
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‘VIBRANCY’
PEORIA — There are 38 vacant storefronts along Main Street in Peoria, stretching from the riverfront Downtown up to West Main Street and Bradley University’s campus. But there is a plan to fill them — a $25 million plan involving stakeholders from the...
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‘I want freedom’
PEORIA — A few dozen Dunlap High School students took advantage of their half-day of school Friday and gathered outside to protest Immigrations and Customs Enforcement actions taking place across the country. Students held signs, blew whistles and...
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Ruffin in court on sex abuse allegations
The former boys basketball coach at Peoria High School made his first appearance in court Wednesday after a teenager came forward and told police the pair had engaged in sexual activity in his office at the school. Daniel C. Ruffin, 41, was charged...
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Peoria hopes to see housing developments by Northwoods Mall
PEORIA — Housing developments, including an apartment building and condominiums, are among the targeted projects city officials would like to see happen near Northwoods Mall. Peoria on Tuesday approved plans for a new tax increment financing district...
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6 more suspects found in Epstein files, officials say
WASHINGTON – Two House members who led the effort to force the Justice Department to release more documents about accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein said they discovered at least six more suspected accomplices. The department began Feb. 9 allowing...
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Sainthood progresses for late Peoria archbishop
PEORIA — The Catholic Diocese of Peoria has been given the green light from the Vatican to move forward in the beatification process for Archbishop Fulton Sheen, according to Bishop Louis Tylka. Tylka, in a video released Monday, said date and more...
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Social media reshaping research on substance use
When you think of tools for studying substance use and addiction, a social media site like Reddit, TikTok or YouTube probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Yet the stories shared on social media platforms are offering unprecedented insights...
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TAPS AND TEES
After years of planning and preparation, Fairways is teeing up to welcome the public for a series of soft opening events. h For co-owner Matt Rixner, reaching this point “seems unreal.” h He and Nick Babcock joined forces to bring a restaurant to the...
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MAGA vs. Bad Bunny splits Super Bowl LIX
Sen. Tommy Tuberville was thrilled to attend the Super Bowl in 2025 when he hitched a ride on Air Force One, joining President Donald Trump and several other Republican lawmakers for the big game. “Happy Super Bowl Sunday,” the Republican senator for...
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New design for casino could avoid legal battle
Boyd Gaming on Thursday scrapped its plans to build a 29,000-square-foot building on land in East Peoria and instead has proposed a new casino on a permanently moored barge on the Illinois River, which could avoid litigation with the city of Peoria. h...
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Concerns raised over Peoria store’s request to sell liquor
PEORIA – Concerns over crime and proximity to child-focused spaces were some of the issues raised by Peoria’s Liquor Commission on Feb. 2 as it considered a site application for the sale of packaged alcohol at King Zone. Representatives for the...
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Boys hoops coach arrested on charges of child solicitation
Adam Duvall Peoria High School boys basketball varsity head coach Daniel Ruffin was arrested Monday on child solicitation charges involving a 16-year-old female student. Peoria police officers interviewed and subsequently arrested Ruffin, 41, on...
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SHORT ON DAYS LONG ON ACTS
February may be the shortest month of the year, but the calendar is packed with a wide variety of events and experiences to enjoy in central Illinois. h Here are 16 things to do in the Peoria area during February. 1. Joe Bonamassa in...
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Trump actions worry free-speech advocates
The FBI search of a Washington Post reporter’s home on Jan. 14 was a rare and intimidating move by an administration focused on repressing criticism and dissent. In its story about the search at Hannah Natanson’s home, at which FBI agents said they...
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‘A following & friendships’
Nancee Vespa was a fixture at Kelly Seed and Hardware in Peoria for 50 years. Vespa began working at the store in the early 1970s for her father, Harold Church, who owned the business at the time. She had been a teacher for 10 years and after the...
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Grayson sentenced to 20 years in prison
SPRINGFIELD — The former Sangamon County Sheriff ’s deputy convicted of fatally shooting Sonya Massey, a 36year-old Black mother of two children, in her home in the Cabbage Patch neighborhood in 2024 was sentenced to 20 years in prison at a Jan. 29...
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Homan pushes for ICE reset in MN
White House border czar Tom Homan on Jan. 29 vowed to “draw down” the federal presence in Minnesota as agents focus on more “targeted” enforcement, a major shift in operations that comes amid backlash following the fatal shooting of two U.S. citizens...
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Police: ICE actions pose ‘danger to communities’
PEORIA — Peoria police Chief Eric Echevarria said Tuesday night the Peoria Police Department will hold firm with Illinois state law and will not assist federal immigration efforts in the city and added that he has seen the “impact of unchecked power,”...
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Trump calls for ‘honest’ Pretti investigation
MINNEAPOLIS − President Donald Trump on Jan. 27 said he will be “watching over” an investigation into the killing of Alex Pretti and distanced himself from his top officials’ previous comments about the shooting, as his administration grapples with the...
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Cold, and a bit white
A winter storm brought snow, bitterly cold temperatures and high winds to Illinois. Here’s a look at some snowfall totals from around the region and state. How much snow fell in the Peoria area? Peoria reported 2.7 inches of snow during the weekend,...
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‘AN EXCITING OPPORTUNITY’
PEORIA — Up to 200 homes, ideally in the price range of $250,000 to $300,000, are what the city hopes to see built at Exposition Gardens, according to multiple city officials who spoke with the Journal Star. h A large housing project, which will create...
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Minnesotans start strike to protest surge by ICE
MINNEAPOLIS – Scores of businesses across Minnesota were closing up for the day on Jan. 23 in what religious leaders and labor unions described as a general strike to protest President Donald Trump’s deployment of thousands of immigration enforcement...
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Authorities ID man killed in house fire
The Peoria County coroner has identified the man killed Tuesday, Jan. 20, in a Chillicothe house fire. Michael J. Brodbeck, Jr., 62, was transported to OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria unresponsive, not breathing and with no...
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Developers reach compromise on parking for new building
PEORIA HEIGHTS — New public parking will be added to Prospect Road as part of an agreement between the village and the developers of the Save A Lot property. Parking in Peoria Heights is often a hot commodity and topic of conversation and was a major...
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DOJ investigating MN demonstration
The Department of Justice has opened an investigation into a Minnesota demonstration that interrupted a church service Jan. 18. A group of protesters entered Cities Church in St. Paul, alleging that Pastor David Easterwood serves as the acting...
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‘They understand what works and what doesn’t’
Former government workers seeking seats in Congress CAPE MAY, NJ – It was Megan O’Rourke’s dream job. As a top climate scientist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, she oversaw grants for research projects aimed at making food production healthier...
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MLK
The life and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. are once again being celebrated and honored. The civil rights icon, whose work to end segregation and racism through nonviolence earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, is the only non-president...
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Officials identify baby killed in Chillicothe fire
The Peoria County Coroner’s Office has identified the 8month-old child who died in a fire Wednesday at her home in Chillicothe. A’Maya R. Johnson was pronounced dead at 4:24 p.m. Wednesday afternoon following a fire at her home at Pinewood Estates in...
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Elevated lead levels found in some water samples
PEORIA – Routine water testing from the latter half of 2025 found elevated levels of lead at some test sites, according to a message from Illinois American Water. Between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2025, the company collected 111 water samples – focusing...
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ICE detention centers expanding in U.S.
President Donald Trump’s second term has brought sweeping changes to immigration enforcement. One of the top takeaways: Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention has expanded dramatically, both in the number of people being held and the sites...
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Chase Bank to take over vacant shopping center
EAST PEORIA — A long vacant East Peoria shopping center is getting a new lease on life as the site of a Chase Bank branch. Located in East Peoria’s historic Four Corners area, the buildings that once housed the Town Centre I shopping center had been...
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MILLIONS OF BARRELS OF BEER
PEORIA HEIGHTS — The history of the Pabst Brewing Company in the Peoria area is more than a century old. The Pabst Building that sits in the 4500 block of Prospect Road in Peoria Heights is 76 years old, but the brewing company as a whole predates...
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Officials decry killing of woman in Minneapolis
Thao Nguyen and Jeanine Santucci The city of Minneapolis is reeling in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of a woman by an immigration agent, as federal and local authorities clash over the latest violence in President Donald Trump’s nationwide...
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Maduro opponent vows to return
WASHINGTON – Venezuela’s main opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has vowed to return home quickly, praising President Donald Trump for toppling President Nicolás Maduro and declaring her movement ready to win a free election. Trump appears,...
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Maduro, wife plead not guilty in court
Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro pleaded “not guilty” in federal court on Jan. 5 on U.S. drug trafficking charges, days after he and his wife were captured by U.S. forces in a surprise attack on the oil-rich country. Maduro, dressed in prison...
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Show & conventions
A new year is upon us in central Illinois. There is still a diverse selection of events to check out in the area. Here are nine things to do in January. 1. An evening of comedy with Charlie Berens Comedian, best-selling author, journalist and...
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Key Illinois and Peoria elections to watch this year
Two key dates are on the 2026 calendar that could have pivotal impacts on Illinois and the Peoria area. Primary elections for federal and statewide offices will be held on March 17. General elections will be on Nov. 3. These are the elections...
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Staunton restaurant owner faces deportation
Business owner and father Ismael Ayuzo Sandoval is preparing for his deportation to Mexico — a country he left decades ago and where his attorney said he is afraid to return because of cartel violence, citing, in part, his cousin’s murder at the hands...
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Big events on calendar for 2026
As a new year dawns, many Americans are reflecting on 2025, a year marked by historic events including the inauguration of a president, the appointment of the first American pope, and major pop culture moments like the release of “Wicked: For Good” and...
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13 road projects to watch for in the Peoria area
In Peoria County, 2026 is expected to be another year filled with road work. Here’s a look at some of the plans for the city and county in the coming months and years. University and Northmoor intersection in Peoria Work is slated to begin in spring...
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Experts expecting more economic growth in 2026
A seesaw year for the U.S. economy in 2025 looks set to give way to a stronger 2026 thanks to tailwinds from President Donald Trump’s tax cuts, less uncertainty around tariffs, the ongoing artificial intelligence boom and a late-year run of...
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Bad flu season getting worse in U.S.
Flu is surging across the United States amid a busy holiday travel time. The state of New York is among those most heavily hit. For the week that ended Dec. 20, the state of New York reported its highest number of positive flu cases (71,123) ever...
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‘It defies logic’
The economic challenges facing farmers are largely the same as always. But recent tariffs on imports added a new layer of anxiety for the U.S. agricultural community, especially in states like Illinois where farming is a crucial part of the...
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‘Illinois is facing an energy crisis’
Illinois’ electric grids may soon face power shortages and further price increases as fossil fuel plants go offline and data centers fueling the rise of artificial intelligence demand ever-increasing amounts of power. That’s the conclusion of a new...
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Dozens help man in a wheelchair conquer Kilimanjaro
After climbing Africa’s highest peak – in his wheelchair – Jeff Harmon said the Mount Kilimanjaro he had envisioned wasn’t the mountain he encountered in Tanzania. “It was everything my visioning and dreams were not,” Harmon, 51, said after returning...
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‘It’s comfort you can hold in your hands’
PEKIN – Jason Xia remembers his mother and grandmother preparing noodles and broth in the kitchen when he was young. In a written statement, he said the homemade bowls offered warmth during cold winters and “became my earliest understanding of what...
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FBI received complaint about Epstein in 1996
The FBI received a complaint about Jeffrey Epstein in 1996, nearly a decade before it investigated his activities in Florida and more than two decades before the Justice Department brought sex trafficking charges. The complaint was made public as part...
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These Peoria-area restaurants and bars are open on Christmas Day
With festive décor found in front yards and presents piling up beneath the tree, it is clear that Christmas is right around the corner. This year, the holiday falls on Thursday, Dec. 25. For many, it is a time to gather with loved ones, give...
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Brown shooting suspect found dead
PROVIDENCE, RI – Though the suspect connected to the deadly Brown University attack and the fatal shooting of an MIT professor was found dead in New Hampshire, the questions and fallout have only begun. Providence Police Chief Col. Oscar Perez...
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Trump plays blame game in address
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump delivered a forceful defense of his first 11 months in office during a prime-time address from the White House, blaming Democrats for Americans’ economic anxieties in a combative speech that set the tone for the 2026...
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Lawmakers fail to extend health care subsidies
WASHINGTON – Congress has run out of time to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies that will expire at the end of the year, meaning health insurance premiums are about to go up for millions of Americans. That reality became clear after a...
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Longtime Peoria business files for bankruptcy
Peoria Charter Coach filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Thursday, a setback for a venerable Peoria-based business that serves thousands of customers a year. The company filed its petition for Chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central...
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Police arrest son in Reiners’ deaths
Police have arrested Nick Reiner, the son of actor-director Rob Reiner and his film producer wife, Michele Singer Reiner, following the deaths of the couple. Nick Reiner, a 32-year-old screenwriter, was taken into custody on Dec. 14, and is being held...
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‘A lot of info before we get on scene’
At a relatively quiet meeting of the Peoria Safety Network this fall, Chief of Police Eric Echevarria made a revealing comment about his department’s use of ShotSpotter technology to detect shootings throughout the city. While cities such as Chicago,...
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Paper mill closure leaves workers behind
CHILLICOTHE, OH – As Jeff Allen drove past the place he worked for nearly 37 years, he looked toward the sky and witnessed something in early December that he hadn’t seen in months. Smoke billowed from the red-andwhite striped smokestack at the...
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Boyd unveils plans for new East Peoria casino
PEORIA — Boyd Gaming will attempt to build its new $160 million casino, a replacement for the Par-A-Dice Riverboat Casino, in East Peoria, settling months of speculation while also raising new questions. Officials from Boyd Gaming unveiled their plans...
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Peoria gets first look at designs for riverfront amphitheater
PEORIA — An $11 million donation will be made to the city of Peoria for the construction of an amphitheater on the Peoria riverfront. The Peoria City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday night to accept a donation from the Hengst Foundation, which...
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Trump announces $12B aid package for farmers
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump unveiled a $12 billion assistance package for farmers hurt by ongoing trade wars and inflation. “This relief will provide much needed certainty to farmers as they get this year’s harvest to market and look ahead to...
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A CHILLING EFFECT
A new survey conducted in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination in September is providing new insight into how college students – and those at Utah Valley University, where the conservative activist was killed – view free speech on campus. The...
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Justices mull presidential control of agencies
WASHINGTON − President Donald Trump’s attempt to increase his power by taking control of independent agencies comes before the Supreme Court on Dec. 8 in the second of at least four major cases on Trump’s expansive view of presidential authority the...
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10-YEAR MILESTONE
PEORIA – Tony Olson was a regular at The Blue Duck Barbecue Tavern on Tuesdays. First, for work. Then, as a patron. “Once I started having lunch there, it was a regular thing,” he said. “I would be there no matter what on Tuesdays right around 11...
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Property put up for auction
The main floor mall of Twin Towers Plaza in Downtown Peoria was put up for bid, with the property’s ownership looking to find someone who can help them create a “vibrant downtown multiuse hub” for local business. Bidding began on the main floor...
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A Christmas classic: Peoria museum holds tree-lighting
The Peoria Riverfront Museum lit up its 75-foot Christmas tree in the fourth annual tree-lighting ceremony Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025 outside the museum on Water Street. The event kicked off the museum’s Christmas in the Village, which will take place at...
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Holiday fun, concerts and more
The holiday season has arrived in central Illinois, and the calendar is full of big holiday concerts, festive experiences and more. Here are 20 things to do in the Peoria area during December. 1. 2025 PNC New Year’s Eve Kids Countdown The 2025 PNC...
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Beloved TV star visited multiple Peoria businesses
PEORIA – The star of a beloved children’s TV show made an appearance at multiple local businesses recently. Need a clue? He starred alongside a dog who was blue… Steve Burns, known for his role in “Blue’s Clues,” was in town for the 2025 Illinois...
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2026 results key for Vance’s future
WASHINGTON – Vice President JD Vance has a lot riding on the November 2026 midterm elections. He is seen as the front-runner to be the next Republican nominee for the White House, yet he faces the more immediate challenge of being one of his party’s...
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