A Rockford man faces a multitude of charges after Byron police say he fled in his vehicle after being pulled over Saturday for suspected reckless driving, jumped into the Rock River and tried to swim to an island to avoid arrest.

Two people have been charged in connection with a residential break-in in Stillman Valley.

Shining Star Children’s Advocacy Center will be opening an expanded office in Oregon, Executive Director Jessica Cash said.

Shining Star Children’s Advocacy Center serves about 300 potential victims of child abuse in Ogle and Lee counties each year. The nonprofit organization has been in operation since 2002 and has worked with over 3,500 children.

The defense attorney for a Chicago woman accused of falsely reporting a shooting in Ogle County during a rodeo near Rochelle last year argued Tuesday that the charges were filed in retaliation over controversy about such events and should be dismissed.

Duane “DC” Meyer, 43, was found guilty Jan. 29 of murdering Maggie (Rosko) Meyer, 31, and the couple’s 3-year-old son, Amos, in their Byron home Sept. 19, 2016.

A Stillman Valley man was sentenced to 48 months of probation after pleading guilty to possessing and intending to deliver 1 to 15 grams of a substance containing fentanyl in March 2024.

Amy Anthenat received the sentence Friday from Ogle County Judge Clayton Lindsey after pleading guilty in October to the Class 4 felony of aggravated driving under the influence, with cocaine detected in her urine.

A Monroe Center man was sentenced to prison Friday after pleading guilty to identity theft and aggravated fleeing.