WVLI News Update

Join Rob West for this edition of the WVLI News Update, bringing you the latest headlines affecting the Kankakee Valley and surrounding areas. In this episode, we break down a severe cold weather advisory currently in effect, detailing dangerous wind chills and the frostbite risks you need to prepare for today. We also cover local observances and closures for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, including...

In this episode of the WVLI News Update, Rob West covers breaking stories and local developments impacting the Kankakee Valley and beyond. The update begins with a report on a fatal traffic accident involving a school bus on Monee Manhattan Road. Listen in for details from the Illinois State Police regarding the investigation, road closures, and the status of those involved. In regional sports bus...

Join Rob West for this edition of the WVLI News Update, covering the top stories impacting Kankakee County and the surrounding region. From emergency response efforts to major sports headlines, we break down the events shaping your community this week. In this episode: Grant Park Fire Response: Details emerge regarding a significant blaze at Woldhuis Farms and Sunrise Greenhouses, including the es...

Join Rob West for this edition of the WVLI News Update, covering the latest developing stories across Kankakee, Iroquois, and Grundy counties. This episode details recent criminal investigations, significant updates from local government boards, and a look at the economic future of the region. In this episode, we cover: Violent Crime Investigation: Details regarding a stabbing incident reported ea...

Join Rob West for the latest WVLI News Update, covering breaking stories, local development, and safety reports across Kankakee and Bradley. In this episode, Kankakee Mayor Chris Curtis releases the city’s 2025 crime statistics, highlighting trends in shots fired and homicide rates. The Kankakee City Police report on weekend incidents, including an assault on an off-duty bouncer at a South Skylar...

Join Rob West for the latest WVLI News Update, covering breaking crime stories, community alerts, and sports highlights across Kankakee, Iroquois, and Will counties. In this episode, we cover significant legal developments in Chatsworth regarding a child pornography arrest, as well as a road rage incident in Crown Point, Indiana. We also provide updates on the United Way’s upcoming grant process a...

Join Rob West for this edition of the WVLI News Update, covering breaking weather alerts, local crime, and the latest community developments in Kankakee County and across Illinois. In this episode, we track a special weather alert from the National Weather Service regarding dangerous wind gusts affecting travel in the region. We also provide a critical health update as the CDC reports high flu tra...

On this episode of the WVLI News Update , Rob West breaks down a sudden development for Kankakee School District 111 families. A structural engineer’s report has forced an immediate change of plans for Edison Primary School—tune in to find out what caused the safety concerns and where students are being relocated starting Monday. Also in this update: Bears to Indiana? Frustration with Illinois leg...

In this episode of the WVLI News Update, Rob West covers developing stories across Kankakee, Manteno, and the broader region. Key stories featured in this update: Kankakee Shooting Investigation: City police arrest two men, identified as Enrique Diaz III and Rodrigo Zavala, following a ShotSpotter alert on North Park Avenue. Manteno Board Meeting: An update on the Gotion plant reveals that outstan...

Join Rob West for your daily Kankakee County news briefing on the WVLI News Update. In this episode, we cover major changes for Kankakee School District 111 as structural issues at Edison Primary force a shift to remote learning and student relocation. Kankakee County Clerk Dan Hendrickson releases the official 2025 vital statistics, revealing trends in births, deaths, and the most popular baby na...

Notable Night Sky News for Monday January 5, 2026 Let's find out now what's going on overhead this week, with our Notable Night Sky News, here's Madeline Shepley, Astronomy Professor and Director of the Strickler Planetarium at Olivet IDHS reports "incident" The Illinois Department of Human Services says they've had a "security incident" involving internal p...

Grant Park Fire battles New Year's Eve Fire There was a fire in rural Grant Park on New Year's Eve. Few details are available, but just before midnight New Years Eve, Grant Park Fire posted on Facebook they were working with mutual aid departments on the scene of a structure fire in the area of 14-thousand East and Route 17. We'll have more details for you as they become available....

City Police make arrest in December 21st Homicide Kankakee City Police report they've made an arrest in the December 21st shooting death of a Kankakee man. City Police Tuesday arrested 47-year-old Joseph N Harris on First Degree Murder charges. Harris originally told police he was in his apartment in the 12-hundred block of East Oak Street just before six in the evening December 21st, when 35...

Fire displaces family of four Kankakee Fire Department personnel were called out to a house fire in the 13-hundred block of South Kensington Avenue last night. According to reports, the call came in about 8:30 last night with a report of fire on the first floor of the home and four people trapped on the second floor. Kankakee Fire, with the help of other departments contained the fire within 20 mi...

Rough weather spawns Sunday tornadoes The old adage "if you don't like the weather, hang around a little bit, it'll change" is certainly something we've experienced here in the last 24 hours or so. Sunday brought near 70 degree temperatures and rain, with a high temp yesterday of 66 degrees recorded about three yesterday afternoon at the Greater Kankakee Airport. There was...

Arrest reportedly made following a fire in Kankakee Wednesday Kankakee City Fire Department personnel were called out to a home in the one-thousand block of East Maple on Christmas Eve for a garage fire. When they got there they found heavy fire coming from the detached garage that belonged to a vacant house. The fire was put out quickly and reports are one person was arrested by Police on suspici...

Firefighter reported injured battling Tuesday evening blaze There are reports of a firefighter being injured while battling a fire in Essex last night. Few details are available, but what we do know is Essex fire was called to a house fire on Kody Alan Drive in Braidwood Tuesday evening. It's thought a firefighter fell through the floor of the home and had to be rescued. We'll have more...

UPDATES 12/23/25 10:30am Kankakee Police update weekend homicide  Kankakee City Police released more information today about that shooting Sunday evening that took the life of a 35-year-old Kankakee man. In a press release, City Police say Travis L. Hayes and another man allegedly tried to force their way into an apartment in the 12-hundred block of East Oak Street just before six Sunday night. Th...

Man shot/killed Sunday evening  Kankakee City Police are investigating after a man was shot to death in the City Sunday evening. In a press release, City Police say it was just before six last night when they were called to the 12-hundred block of East Oak Street for a report of shots fired. The caller told dispatchers someone was trying to break into his apartment and he had shot at them. When th...

🎙️ Listen to Bill Dyche’s exclusive interview with Gayla Peevey, the iconic voice behind “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.” Have a news tip to share? Send us a text!

Lawyers for man convicted of Delphi murders files appeal Attorneys for the man convicted of the Delphi murders have filed an appeal.  Richard Allen was found guilty last year of the 2017 murders of Libby German and Abby Williams.  Allen's attorneys have filed a 113-page brief appealing the conviction with the Indiana Court of Appeals.  They argue that the search of Allen's home was uncon...

IL GOP on possible Madigan pardon  Illinois' Republican Congress members are asking President Trump to not pardon former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.  In a letter this week to Trump, U.S. Representative Mike Bost, Darin LaHood, and Mary Miller said pardoning the Chicago Democrat "would send a dangerous message that public officials can betray the public trust with impunity.&qu...

Bradley Police make arrest in October incident Bradley Police report additional arrests in an incident where shots were fired in the Village back in October. In a press release, Bradley Police say it was just after three in the afternoon on October second when they were called to a home on South Jefferson Avenue for a reported burglary where shots had been fired. Two people were arrested that day...

Winter plowing cost Bourbonnais some $130,000 so far this winter At last night's Bourbonnais Village Board meeting, Village Public Works Director Terry Memenga gave an update on Village efforts to keep the streets clear so far this winter.  Memenga said keeping the roads clear this winter has so far cost the Village about 130-thousand dollars.  I57/Rte 54 interchange to be closed overnights s...

P owerball rolls over, again Monday night's Powerball drawing is worth more than a billion dollars.  No one matched all six numbers in Saturday's drawing, so the already massive jackpot jumped again and now stands at one-point-one billion.  The cash option on that works out to more than 503 million dollars but the odds of winning the grand prize are astronomical at around one in 292 mill...