WVLI News Update

Veteran's Observance Held The third annual Veteran's Day Observance was held Saturday at the Ray Ollie Memorial at the AN Webber Logistics building on Kankakee's South Side. Keynote speaker for the event was Retired US Air Force Major Dennis Davoren who spoke about his struggles with PTSD and alcoholism.  Retired Major Davoren is a veteran of several conflicts, including Desert Stor...

Coal City man arrested on child sex charges Coal City Police report the arrest of a 46-year-old man on child sex related charges. In a press release, Coal City Police say David A Hietschold Junior was arrested Wednesday following a search warrant at his home in the 800 block of East Division.  As a result of the search, Hietschold was arrested on three counts of Criminal Sexual Assault and one cou...

Flags across IL ordered to 1/2 staff The state of Illinois is paying tribute to former Vice President Dick Cheney.  Cheney died this week at the age of 84 due to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease.  Illinois is honoring him by flying Flags at half staff throughout the state until sunset on November 13th.  Cheney served as the nation's 46th vice president under George...

Madgian appeals conviction Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is appealing his conviction on federal corruption charges.  Madigan's attorneys claim prosecutors flouted recent Supreme Court rulings reining in the use of the bribery and fraud statutes and stretched the laws "past their breaking points."  Madigan began serving his seven-and-a-half-year federal prison last mo...

Bradley Police arrests Kempton man Bradley Police report the arrest of a Kempton man after he allegedly threatened Police. According to reports, it was just after 11 Friday night when officers on patrol noticed what appeared to be an argument outside an establishment on West Broadway. A witness told police there was an argument inside the bar over a pool game. One of the men thought to have been i...

Notable Night Sky News 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. Body found in river Local authorities say they don't know the identity of a man pulled from the Kankakee River Saturday afternoon. Kankakee Fire Chief Bryan LaRoche says t...

Multiple fatalities reported from Thursday night crash There are reports of a fatal crash in far western Kankakee County overnight. According to reports, it was about 10 last night when two cars collided near Reddick. It appears both cars burst into flame and according to reports there were no survivors. The names of those involved have not yet been released.  I roquois Federal sold Iroquois Feder...

ISP investigating Watseka Police It appears multiple officers with the Watseka Police Department are being investigated by the Illinois State Police. WCIA in Champaign says Watseka Police Chief Eric Starkey confirmed to them Wednesday an investigation was underway, but was unable to confirm the identities of the officers under investigation, or how many are being investigated. Starkey did confirm...

Legislators propose new taxes Illinois lawmakers are considering ways to fund Chicago-area mass transit agencies.  State Democrats proposed several taxes to generate one-point-five billion dollars to help the CTA, Metra and Pace avoid a more than 200-million-dollar fiscal cliff next year.  The bill includes an amusement tax on streaming services like Netflix, a surcharge on tickets for large conce...

Bradley Village Board bids out new building A resolution was passed at Monday night's Bradley Village Board Meeting to accept the bids for the construction of an additional maintenance building at the 315 Sports Complex. Financial Director Rob Romo says how much it will cost.  Romo added the new maintenance building at the 315 sports complex should be finished in the spring.  Bradley to bid o...

Notable Night Sky News Time to find out 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. Manteno Field Fire Manteno Fire Protection District Firefighters report a field fire in Rockville Township Friday afternoon. In a press release, firefighters say the fire involved a f...

Kankakee man charged in Oswego death A Kankakee man is charged in a deadly stabbing at a Chick-fil-A in suburban Oswego. Police say Tracey Land was making a delivery to the restaurant on Route 34 early Wednesday when Darryl Lee Junior of Kankakee broke into the business and attacked him with a hammer and knife.  Land died following the attack.  Lee reportedly left the restaurant and stabbed anothe...

In this special report from the WVLI News Update, host Rob West sits down with 79th District State Representative Jackie Haas for an in-depth discussion on the key issues facing Kankakee County and the state of Illinois. Rep. Haas provides her perspective on the recent fall veto session in Springfield, explaining why a lack of action on certain bills—like those proposing new taxes to fund Chicago—...

Former Governor Ryan estate sale begins today An estate sale begins today at the late Illinois Governor George Ryan's home in Kankakee. According to Estate Sales dot net, the four day sale  runs through Sunday at Ryan's former home on South Greenwood Avenue. The sale includes several unique one of a kind pieces from both Ryan and his wife Lura Lynn. Ryan died in May at age 91. Lura Lynn...

Mega Millions jackpot grows The Mega Millions jackpot continues to climb.  There was no grand prize winner in Tuesday night's big drawing so the jackpot rolls over to 680-million-dollars with a cash option of just over 318-million.  The next drawing is on Friday. O'Hare has busy summer O'Hare Airport is coming off the busiest summer in its 70-year history.  Air traffic data shows th...

Bourbonnais Pickleball Courts open The much-awaited pickleball courts at Ed Hayes Park in Bourbonnais are now open. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held Monday afternoon to officially open the courts. Bourbonnais Mayor Jeff Keast says while the courts were originally to be opened in the spring, the setbacks worked to the Village's advantage.  Public Works Director Terry Memenga, talks about the...

Notable Night Sky News 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.  Route 50/County Line Road claims two more victims That intersection at Route 50 and County Line Road in far northern Kankakee County has claimed two more victims. Illinois Sta...

Peotone Police issue community alert Peotone Police are asking folks in the area to be on alert. In a Facebook post, Peotone Police report one of their officers was flagged down about 11 Wednesday night near Beecher Road and Harlem Avenue by two people who said they'd been highjacked at gunpoint. The victims say a white vehicle stopped in front of their 2020 Kia Soul and four men with guns go...

No injuries reported when silo collapses in Martinton No one was injured when a concrete and rebar grain silo collapsed Wednesday afternoon in Martinton. In a press release, Iroquois County Emergency Management says firefighters were called to the Donovan Farmer's Co-op about 10:30 yesterday morning. While there, one of the firefighters noticed a bulge starting to form in the 50-year-old silo...

Kitchen fire damages Kankakee home Kankakee City Fire Department personnel were called out again overnight. This time, firefighters were called to a home in the 400 block of South Osborn Avenue for a kitchen fire. When they got there, firefighters say they found heavy fire in the kitchen and the home owner trying to put it out with a garden hose. Firefighters quickly put out the blaze, but not bef...

Fire damages apartment building Kankakee City Fire Department personnel were called to a fire in an apartment in the 200 block of Crestlane Monday night. According to reports, it was just before 10 last night when firefighters were called to the fire that started when frying food was left unattended on the stove. Reports say there was significant damage to the apartment where the fire started and...

Man killed in fatal crash identified We have a name now of the motorcyclist killed Sunday when his motorcycle collided with a car on Route 17 west of Kankakee. Illinois State Police say the crash happened just before 10 yesterday morning at Route 17 near 3000 West Road. Kankakee County Coroner Bob Gessner says 31-year-old Trevor Waddell of Braidwood was taken from the scene of the crash to the hos...

Sister Jean dead at 106 A beloved figure in college basketball is dead at 106.  Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt was the team chaplain for Loyola-Chicago for decades.  She was put in the spotlight back in 2018 as the Ramblers made a Cinderella run to the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament, praying with the team before every game and relentlessly cheering them on.  Loyola President Mark Reed said, "...

Alcohol use up among Illinois teens A recent study shows adolescents in Illinois are drinking alcohol at nearly twice the national average.  The Illinois Youth Survey, that's conducted every two years, shows that in 2024 eighth graders were using more alcohol and teens more cannabis.  What's perhaps more alarming is the data showed that one in ten eighth graders said they got alcohol thr...

Jasper County Sheriff warns of scam Jasper County Indiana Sheriff Pat Williamson is warning of a scam going around the area. In this scam, the victim gets an email or phone call saying there's a warrant for for your arrest  because you didn't show up for jury duty.  Williamson says if you get one of these calls you should hang up the phone and call the jurisdiction they said they were fr...