Latest news with #EastPeoria
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Seafood restaurant one step closer to liquor license for new Peoria location
Jonah's 101 Oyster Bar received unanimous site approval to serve liquor at its new location at Peoria's Keller Station. The Peoria City Council approved Jonah's site application on its consent agenda Tuesday night, moving the business one step closer to receiving a liquor license. Jonah's has operated a location in East Peoria for decades and now plans on opening a new restaurant at 6035 N. Knoxville Ave., Suite 101J. The restaurant is targeting a late summer or early fall opening for its new location. More: 'Felt like family:' Peoria Italian restaurant celebrates decades of success in business This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Popular seafood restaurant receives key approval for liquor in Peoria
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
New used car dealer at former car wash gets special use permit from East Peoria council
The East Peoria City Council on Tuesday voted to approve a special use permit for a used car dealership at the site of a former car wash. Farije Asani petitioned for the permit to allow an outdoor display and storage of vehicles on property located at 2337 Washington Road, the former site of the Sunnyland Car Wash. Asani purchased the property on May 5 from First State Bank for $115,000, according to Tazewell County property records. The city's zoning board of appeals last week unanimously recommended approval of the petition. Council member Mark Hill said the special use authorization was contingent on Asani providing the city with a landscaping plan and displaying no more than 45 vehicles for sale at any given time. Also on Tuesday, the council unanimously approved a resolution to accept a change order for ADA ramp reconstruction from Illinois Civil Contractors, Inc. The council last year authorized improvements to ramps and sidewalks on East Washington Street with an estimated cost of $1,038,798. The project involved tearing out old sidewalks and replacing them with ADA-compliant ramps in applicable areas. ICCI completed the work last September and issued a change order asking for an additional $66,520, raising the price tag to $1,105,318. East Peoria's top earners: These 13 city employees make the most per year ICCI found 'numerous things,' council member Daniel Decker said. 'They could have done some patchwork and things like that. But when you're doing this large and great a project, you want to do it once, do it correctly, and not have to come back in a couple of years.' The council laid both items on the table for public inspection for no less than one week. This article originally appeared on Journal Star: East Peoria city council approves special use permit for used car dealership
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Belleville News-Democrat wins 22 statewide awards including General Excellence
The Belleville News-Democrat was recognized by the Illinois Press Association with 22 awards for its journalism in 2024, including six first-place finishes and the top prize for other large daily newspapers in its class. The awards were presented at the association's annual convention in East Peoria Thursday. The BND staff won first place in the General Excellence category for Division E, which includes large daily newspapers outside of Chicago. Awards for individual stories, photos and projects were divided into daily and weekly newspaper classes, which, in several of the award categories, pitted the work of BND journalists against their peers at larger publications in Chicago, including the Tribune and Sun-Times. Investigative reporter Lexi Cortes earned three first-place awards including Distinguished Coverage of Diversity for her ongoing coverage of the failing sewers and resulting health crisis in the former Centreville section of Cahokia Heights. Judges recognized Cortes' past work in their comments. 'Another fine series from Lexi Cortes,' a judge wrote. 'Great work doggedly documenting the problem over its long duration, the health impacts, the bureaucratic delays, and, ultimately, the failure to date to help this community with a horrible problem.' Cortes also won a first-place award for Business/Economic Reporting for her investigation of several metro-east mobile home parks that are owned by an out-of-town investment firm that has not adequately maintained its properties, leaving low-income renters to live with dangerous and often unhealthy conditions. 'This is the entry that stuck with me the most,' one judge said. Cortes earned a third first-place award for Community Service for tracking meeting attendance of members of the St. Clair County Board. Judges lauded Cortes for 'the ability to ask the tough questions.' Other first place awards were won by BND visual journalist Joshua Carter, who won first place in the General News Photo category for his photograph of Jason Euge the day after his father, Robert Euge, died when railroad caboose in which he lived caught fire. The accompanying article earned second place in the Obituary Tribute category. 'A very nice moment captured in a difficult situation. I love the wider view. It shows important details and context,' a judge wrote. Carter also won first place in the Photo Series category for his 'originality and technical skill' in documenting the final Tour de Belleville event. Executive Editor Todd Eschman, a former sportswriter and BND sports editor, won first place in the Sports Feature for his historical retrospective on the life and career of 'Bullet' Bob Turley, a Cy Young winning pitcher and successful businessman from the metro-east, whose likeness is depicted in a mural on a downtown Troy building. Other awards won by the BND are listed below. The works are linked where possible: Best website Division E: Staff Best Investigative/Enterprise Reporting: Lexi Cortes and Teri Maddox General News Photo: Joshua Carter Obituary Tribute: Joshua Carter, Todd Eschman, Carolyn P. Smith News Reporting/Single Story: Lexi Cortes Freedom of Information Award: Lexi Cortes Community Service: Teri Maddox Best Coverage of Taxation: Lexi Cortes, Mike Koziatek and Kelly Smits. Best Investigative/Enterprise Reporting: Lexi Cortes Single Page Design: Staff Spot News Photo: Joshua Carter Government Beat Reporting: Kelly Smits Freedom of Information Award: Carolyn P. Smith Localized National Story: Todd Eschman Mable Shaw Sweepstakes Award: Staff Agricultural Story: Joshua Carter
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
East Peoria Police host 'Pack the Cruiser' food drive at Kroger
EAST PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — The East Peoria Police Department teamed up with the community for their annual 'Pack the Cruiser' event to help fight hunger in the area. Officers were stationed outside the East Peoria Kroger at 201 North Main Street from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 31, collecting donations of non-perishable food items. Officer Nicholas Swise emphasized the importance of community support for local food banks. 'Everything today, that's a nonperishable, it gets donated to the local food banks, and it gets transported and fills up local food banks at your church or in your neighborhood,' Swise said. 'If you have a food bank in your neighborhood, what we're doing is restocking. Make sure we feed the people who need it the most.' Residents brought canned meat and fish, canned vegetables, drink mixes, fruit cups, granola bars, Graham Crackers, oatmeal, cereal, pasta, canned sauces and peanut butter. He also said for many local children, school meals provide the only reliable source of nutrition during the week. The 'Pack the Cruiser' drive aimed to help fill the gap during weekends and summer months when school meals are unavailable. Swise also spoke about the ongoing need in the community and the police department's commitment. 'We have people out here in need. And the biggest thing is, food pantries — they always need something and there's always people out there who need help or people who are struggling,' he said. 'And the biggest thing we got to do is show our community that we're here. We're going to support them and make sure that we feed everybody who needs it. Anybody that's in a hard time, we want to get them out of the hard time, get them to step forward that they need.' Community members came out to show their support by donating and helping the East Peoria Police Department pack their cruiser with much-needed food supplies. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Open house showcases plans to cut crashes, fatalities in Tri-county area
EAST PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — On Thursday, the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission hosted an open house for the Comprehensive Safety Action Plan. Residents were given the opportunity to see a draft plan for making transportation network improvements. The planning commission began the planning process in winter 2023. This is the second open house for the commission. The purpose of the CSAP is to reduce car crashes, especially those that are fatal or result in serious injuries. 'Recent years, the data has shown that car crashes have increased that lead to fatalities and serious injuries. So we're looking at different ways that we can lower that through different planning strategies, through engineering options, funding options,' said Senior Planner for TCRPC Reema Abi-Akar. 'There's no amount of deaths on the road that it's okay. So it's hoping that we put all this in place to help save people from these crashes in years to come.' Abi-Akar said to be on the lookout for the website to have a form for public input. Once available, residents will have until the end of June to give your feedback. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
