Month: July 2026

Never underestimate the power of a petition. After a long discussion about rezoning a business on Monday night, the Farmington City Council voted 3-2 in favor of the change. But due to rules surrounding a petition presented at the meeting, that vote did not suffice to pass the ordinance.

Barring an unexpected last-minute change, this will be the final edition of The Prairie News.

But fret not, a successor paper is on the way. Starting next Friday, July 10, regular readers in Stark and Henry counties will begin receiving The Henry-Stark Voice in their mailboxes each week. In addition to a new name, this weekly paper will have new ownership. Taking over operations are Susan DeVilder, Mike Berry, Sherry “TD” Welch and the rest of the staff and board of directors at The Kewanee Voice.

School board OKs hire of Nathan Darko By JEFF LAMPEFor The Weekly Post ELMWOOD – The Elmwood School Board on Monday approved Nathan Darko as its new dean of students and director of athletics in the high school and junior high. A resident of Bartonville, Darko currently works as a teacher with the Special Education Association of Peoria County. He has also taught physical education and coached junior-high girls basketball at Oak Grove School and was high school cheerleading coach at Limestone (2013-15) and Farmington (2018-23. While a student at Limestone High School, Darko had surgeries to remove a brain tumor…

By NICK VLAHOSFor The Weekly Post BRIMFIELD – Less than a month after a season that ended with a second successive Elite Eight appearance, Brimfield-Elmwood needed a new softball head coach. During its meeting June 24, the Brimfield School Board accepted the retirement of Kurt Juerjens, who since 2014 had coached the B-E high school varsity program. He also retired as Brimfield Grade School softball head coach, a position he’d held since 2015. “I just thought it was time,” Juerjens said a few days after the meeting. “I have some other things going on in life, and it was just…

NOTE: Charges are merely an accusation. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty.Police reports • EDWARDS – A suspect in a multi-county police pursuit was found west of Edwards in his stopped vehicle, with an apparent self-inflicted fatal gunshot wound. The vehicle was located about 7 p.m. Sunday on Kramm Road north of Illinois Route 8, according to the Illinois State Police. The vehicle was wanted in connection with a shooting in Springfield. Authorities had stopped the vehicle, but it pulled away, and a chase ensued. State Police did not reveal where the vehicle first was stopped. Stark County…