Latest news with #ChrisWatkins
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
The Central Illinois Resource Center's virtual town hall tackles mental health challenges
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — The Central Illinois Resource Center gathered local leaders to discuss ways the community can overcome barriers in the mental health realm during a virtual town hall on Thursday. The Central Illinois Resource Center hosted the town hall to provide healthcare, law enforcement and therapy perspectives. Panelists shared mental health barriers, including knowledge on how conditions work, access to care, and bettering the current mental health care system. Guest speakers included psychotherapist Kate Mills, Robin Henry of Solvera Health and Peoria County Sheriff Chris Watkins. According to the Central Illinois Resource Center, more than 2.1 million adults in Illinois live with a mental health condition. Illinois ranks 29th in access to mental health care in the United States. Mills shared how telehealth has impacted the mental health world. 'I think overall it has increased the accessibility, again to people seeking help for especially things like social anxiety or agoraphobia or things that would typically prevent a person from seeking care outside of their home,' Mills said. 'So telehealth is a really great option, especially for people who maybe are from a different socioeconomic background, who aren't able to drive or get transportation to these services.' She adds that one concern people have when it comes to telehealth is ensuring their privacy. The mission of the Central Illinois Resource Center is to advocate for mental health awareness, address food insecurity and provide essential resources to those in need. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
BBC News
21-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Work under way for 'much-needed' council homes in Bedworth
Construction work is under way for "much-needed" council homes, a local authority has development will see 23 new properties built in Bedworth as part of Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council's "ongoing commitment" to provide more council homes for plans include one, two, three and four-bedroom homes, which are being built across two sites at Armson Road and Cheveral Chris Watkins said the authority was confident the development would "make a real difference to those in need". The work, which is being carried out by Harper Group, started at the end of for Cheveral Road include eight properties, four one-bed flats and four two-bedroom houses, with the other 15 homes being built in Armson added that the development would also contribute to the growth of the town's council hopes to complete the work in Cheveral Road by February, and in Armson Road by April. Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Yahoo
Stolen car located in ravine near Glasford
GLASFORD, Ill. (WMBD) — Part of Route 24 was temporarily closed after a stolen car was located in a ravine near Glasford. The vehicle appears to have been stolen from Pekin, and has most likely been there for some time, according to Peoria County Sheriff Chris Watkins. The vehicle was a red Bronco XLT. The West lane of Route 24 was closed near Strube Road due to this incident, but has since reopened. The Sheriff says the investigation is ongoing. This story will be updated when more information becomes available. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Yahoo
Phone scam using DEA agent alias targets elderly woman in Illinois
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Another phone scam is going around in central Illinois, this time with an alias of an agent from the Drug Enforcement Administration. On Friday, a 72-year-old woman got a call from a person saying she had a warrant for her arrest on account of her 'trafficking 22 pounds of cocaine,' according to the Peoria County Sheriff's office. 'We'd never call somebody and tell them [to pay the warrant] over the phone. Never, ever,' sheriff Chris Watkins said. 'No police agency does that in America. That's what we're trying to get out, but we still see people falling victim because they are very believable when they call.' The woman was told by the caller that she had to pay the warrant with scores of $500 gift cards. She drove to HyVee, purchased the gift cards which included Sephora, Lululemon, Target and Nordstrom totaling $17,000, and gave them to the man on the phone. 'It used to be five, six, seven thousand [dollars],' Watkins said. 'Now we're seeing ten, fifteen, twenty-thousand. They're going to take as much money as they possibly can from you when they're talking to you.' What to know about National Work Zone Awareness Week In some cases, the scammers are going past just getting information over the phone. 'They're taking it to another level where somebody did show up to someone's house,' Watkins said. 'So usually you don't get that.' Watkins said to make sure you spread awareness of the scams to your friends and family. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Yahoo
Emerging scams are tricking people of all ages
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — In a Facebook post, Peoria County Sheriff Chris Watkins sounded off a warning to the public regarding the sheer number of emerging scams in the area. These include scams through everything from PayPal, LinkedIn, Social Security, and even Bitcoin. Watkins said people of all ages are getting tricked right now, and banks are not typically reimbursing people after they get scammed. 'We're not just seeing a couple of thousand [dollars]. We're seeing up to $100,000, which is people's life savings. So this is a big deal. We're just starting to see a major increase because this is a new crime of the ages.' Watkins said. He also warned people to be vigilant, saying, 'Don't trust anything right now. If you get a phone call from a bank, emails, or text messages, don't trust anything. You do your own research.' He added, 'Don't just assume who you're talking to is actually who they say they are.' With online scams, often the scammer will try to send users to an external website that looks like it's real, but it really isn't. Scammers will try to get people to re-enter their account information, like their username or passwords. Other times, scammers may try to get people to reveal their bank account information. The sheriff recounted a story about one person who thought they were applying for a job. When they were 'accepted' for the position, the scammer told them they needed to buy materials for the job. That way, the scammer was able to steal their bank information. According to Watkins, they are seeing 11 or 12 different types of scams floating around, which is pretty unusual. He added, 'We have a detective, specifically cybercrime detectives, specifically assigned to Secret Service handling a lot of these, but a lot of them are overseas, so they're hard to trace back.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
