Payton Felix

Since the Iran war began on Feb. 28, gas prices have risen by well over $1 nationwide, and in March, they jumped up by nearly 21% compared to the previous month, the Associated Press reported. Just this past week, prices rose an average of 56 cents per gallon in Illinois.

Lawmakers are raising concerns that a plan tied to keeping the Chicago Bears in Illinois could impact property taxes, even as supporters argue it is needed to stay competitive with Indiana’s billion-dollar offer

Heath A. Knipple, 46, was charged July 2, 2025, with six counts of Class X felony dissemination of images of child sex abuse, with each count listing the victim as younger than 13. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison if he is convicted.

A Lee County sheriff’s deputy was honored Thursday for controlling the bleeding of an Amboy man’s partially amputated leg at the scene of a Feb. 12 single-vehicle crash near the Green River.

Lee County Sheriff Clay Whelan presented deputy Alejandro Castro with the department's lifesaving award at Thursday’s Lee County Board meeting.

Dixon is preparing for the next wave of businesses headed to the Gateway Project, its major economic development site along South Galena Avenue near Interstate 88.

A Lee County judge on Thursday set a June hearing for a Georgia man who’s pleaded not guilty to drug charges related to the Jan. 16 police search of a stranded vehicle near Amboy.

The council began holding meetings in February to draft its budget and heard funding pitches from various department heads and community organizations. They voted March 16 to place it on file and it’s available online at the city of Dixon website.

Three Dixon police officers were honored Monday for the March 17 rescue of a person who was found unconscious in a closed garage with a vehicle running.

A former Sterling High School basketball player’s goal of going pro is starting to seem like a real possibility as she gets ready to participate in a nine-day international camp.

An Amboy woman was taken into custody Thursday night in Dixon on an outstanding warrant for seven felony drug charges and subsequently charged with four additional felony drug offenses.

The YWCA of the Sauk Valley named six area women as 2026 Women of Achievement award recipients Thursday afternoon at the Dixon Elks Lodge.

Shanna M. Hillers of Sterling is charged in Lee County with aggravated battery in a public place, a Class 3 felony; official misconduct of a public employee, a Class 3 felony; and abuse/criminal neglect of a resident of a long-term care facility, a Class 4 felony.

A Rochelle man was arrested Tuesday afternoon on a warrant issued Feb. 17 for nine charges filed that day alleging he sexually assaulted, abused and exploited children.

A 22-year-old Chicago woman pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges tied to the October 2025 crash on Interstate 88 that resulted in the death of a 27-year-old Rochelle woman.