QUAD CITIES, Iowa and Ill. (KWQC) – Illinois and Iowa lawmakers are reacting to President Trump’s new tariffs.

The majority of Republicans backed President Trump’s new tariffs but Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is still unsure if the tariffs will work. He even went as far to say he wouldn’t be afraid of telling the President he was wrong if this doesn’t work.

“I am a free and fair trader,” Grassley said. “If President Trump is successful in reducing tariffs in other countries, I’m going to say amen, praise the lord, but if he’s unsuccessful, I’ll say I told you so.”

Illinois Representative Eric Sorensen called out the tariffs as a tax on people who never signed up for a trade war.

He specifically called out his plans to try and create exceptions for products that our local companies need to survive.

“I’ll be calling out these tariffs every day that they remain in place,” Sorensen said. “I am working on carve-outs for raw materials and the things that Arconic, Deere and Company and Caterpillar and Rivian need to survive, and I will do everything I can to get rid of this tax that’s on you.”

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A married Illinois special education teacher accused of molesting a 15-year-old student told police that she’s being set up by the teen — and that she was targeted for being “good looking.”

Christina Formella, 30, a teacher and soccer coach at Downers Grove South High School, insisted to cops she’s a “good person,” but that “everybody” comes after her because of her looks, according to documents obtained by WGN9.

The sporty dirty blonde denied having sex with the teenage student, and said that he accused her of having an inappropriate relationship with him because she “cared too much about him,” the documents show.

Formella — who married her college sweetheart in August last year — allegedly sexually assaulted the boy before the start of the school day in December 2023, DuPage County prosecutors said.

She claimed that the student had broken into her phone and used her number to send the inappropriate messages to her as a “blackmail” plot, investigators said.

“She claimed that one day, [the boy] had grabbed her phone unattended, had entered her passcode … had sent the message to his phone, had then deleted the message from her phone, and had saved it to his phone as blackmail,” the court documents read.

The messages were discovered last month by the victim’s mother after she bought him a new phone and linked it to his iCloud account, DuPage County prosecutors said.

Formella allegedly told the victim, “I love having sex with you,” in messages reportedly sent in 2023 when she was 28, court documents show.

“I know baby I love it so much … It feels so good … It’s so passionate … It’s so intimate … It’s so perfect,” the boy reportedly responded to Formella. “I love you so so much mama.”

Stay up to date on married teacher Christina Formella, accused of molesting boy, 15:

The relationship continued until the student broke it off, according to prosecutors.

When the messages were discovered, the mother took her son to Downers Grove police station and reported the alleged abuse.

Formella was charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and one count of criminal sexual assault, and was released on the condition that she not enter the school grounds or have contact with anybody under 18.

She has also been placed on paid leave from her job.

Students have been urged to come forward to police or the school if they saw anything dangerous or unusual, and authorities will take “all reports seriously,” Board of Education President Don Renner said on Monday in a statement to the board.

Formella has denied the allegations against her and insisted she never had sex with the student.

She earned her teaching license in 2017, shortly after leaving Concordia University Chicago, where she and her husband met as student athletes. He played baseball, she played soccer.

Formella had been teaching at Downers Grove High since 2020, according to her LinkedIn.

New bodycam footage shows Formella breaking down in tears during her arrest on March 16, according to a video published by the YouTube channel Ape Huncho.

“I feel like I’m gonna throw up,” she said, as she sobbed into her cuffed hands and pulled her knees up to her chest.

Formella’s next court appearance is scheduled for April 14.

Voters on Tuesday decided elections for city government, school board, and other local positions. There were also referenda on ballots around the region.

The unofficial outcomes of contested elections are listed below, starting with municipal governments listed in alphabetical order. Those are followed by school boards and then referenda.

Results from Hancock County were not available Tuesday night.
 

Abingdon Mayor

Jason Johnson 412

Stewart Powell 346
 

Abingdon City Council – Ward 3

Two-year unexpired term

Doug Thomas 113

Michael DeJaynes 75

Raymond Hutson 38
 

Abingdon City Council – Ward 4

Heather Thompson 67

Tim Presley 26
 

Alexis Village President

Moses Anderson 55

Rick Benson 39

Alexis Village Trustee

Vote for three

Paula Olson 66

Pat Brenner 50

Tony Cornell 49

Hope Fontenoy 45
 

Astoria Library District Trustee

Vote for three

Shaina Thiner 18

Kathryn Bridges 13

Addie Kimbro 9

Anna Pilger 5
 

Basco Village President

James Damron

Michelle Noble
 

Browning Village President

Cody Smith 31

Burl Boyd 22
 

Canton Mayor

Kent McDowell 1,480

Ben Hendricks 763
 

Canton City Council – Ward 1

David Pickel 321

Angelia Lingenfelter 263
 

Colchester Mayor

Mark Clark (Rep) 173

Eric Haines (Dem) 93
 

Colchester City Council – Ward 2

Martha Clark (Rep) 88

Mary Garlick (Dem) 37
 

Cuba City Council – Ward 2

Rodney Lynch 38

Brian Anderson 14
 

Cuba City Council – Ward 3

Douglas Falk 77

Karena Cozad 28
 

Ferris Village Trustee

Vote for three

Terence Vass

David Mott

Steven Brown

Tim Martin
 

Galesburg Mayor

Peter Schwartzman 2,831

John Pritchard 2,455
 

Galesburg City Council – Ward 2

Wendel Hunigan 308

Wayne Dennis 201
 

Galesburg City Council – Ward 4

Dwight White 165

Corine Andersen 106
 

Galesburg City Council – Ward 6

Greg Saul 504

Tianna Cervantez 342

Demarkius Medley, Sr 88
 

Galesburg Township Supervisor

Kimberly Thierry 2,983

Jennifer Fredrick 2,146
 

Lewistown Mayor

Cynthia Goddard 242

Roger Clark 153
 

Lomax Village President

Brian Grisham 74

Phillip Butler 52
 

Macomb City Council – At-Large

Jennifer Hemingway 577

Tammie Leigh Brown-Edwards 522
 

Monmouth Mayor

Rod Davies 874

Sean Cavanaugh 727
 

Nauvoo City Council – Ward 1

Rita Souther

Barbara Schafer
 

Oquawka Village Trustee

Vote for three

Brenda Tee 149

Nancy Bundy 128

James Miller 84

Tammy Bundy 84
 

Plymouth Village Trustee

Vote for three

Andrea Cox

Shelly Conover

Cody Smith

Kyle Thompson
 

Pontoosuc Village President

Floyd Maynard

Bryan Long
 

Pontoosuc Village Trustee

Vote for four

James Olson

Carol Ried

Thomas Burch

Alice Vantiger

Brent Akers

Paige Akers
 

Raritan Village Trustee

Vote for three

Rhonda Blender 29

Nicholas White 17

Timothy Douglas Boyd 16

Toni Hendrickson 12

Krystal Reighard 11
 

St. Augustine Village President

David Schisler 22

Ricky Aldridge 11 

Vermont Village Clerk

Cary Little 82

Sarah Hamm 12
 

Warsaw Mayor

Jeff Brookhart

Richard Hauk

Glenn McLaughlin
 

Wataga Village Trustee

Vote for three

Kevin Stone 88

Thomas Lytle 80

Caleb Bean 64

Rochelle Olson 62
 

School Districts 

Abingdon-Avon School District 276

Vote for four

Sarah Batson 988

Chancey Weidenhamer 963

David Lee Serven 879

Richard Quinn 859

Michael Kyle Thurman 820

Zachary Grace 587
 

Astoria School District 1

Vote for four

Austin Cameron 158

Derek Prather 144

Jill Easley 129

Peter Egleton 119

Patrick Skiles 64

Carina Kapraun 32
 

Canton School District 66

Vote for two

Brian Spiva 1,141

Caitlin Mason 1,057

Jane Lewis 928

Christopher Piper 831

Amber Schappaugh 830
 

Carl Sandburg Community College District 518

Vote for two

Jeffrey Wittsitt 42%

Angel Peterson 40%

DeVone Eurales 19%
 

Carthage Elementary School District 317

Vote for four

Gary Jackson

Linda Brooks Housewright

Stephanie Kristine Fitch

Christine White

Jacob Murphy
 

Fulton County School District 3

Vote for four

Valerie Wilson 399

Sue McCance 375

Lindsey Heitz Lindsey 374

Debora Deakin 302

James Richardson 296
 

Galesburg School District 205 – Galesburg Township

Vote for two

Luan Statham 2,998

Rod Scherpe 1,986

Robert “Bo” Irons 1,698

Jaclyn Smith-Esters 1,477

Pamella Bess-Tabb 1,328
 

Galesburg School District 205 – Remaining Congressional Townships

Vote for two

Maurice Lyon 2,519

Jamie Harter 2,426

Terra Boettcher 2,109

Benjamin Yeutson 1,717
 

Knoxville School District 202 – Knox Township

Vote for two

Charles Hillery 344

Darcy Young 202

Phillip Parks, Jr. 190
 

LaHarpe Elementary School District 347

Vote for four

Joshua Gebhardt

Chad Burt

Josh Walker

William Collins

Joni Dowell
 

Lewistown School District 97

Vote for four

Dale Schaeffer 576

Elaine Stone 541

Scott Schaeffer 536

Joshua Jay Miller 459

Brett Belless 378
 

Macomb School District 185

Vote for four

Kishor Kapale 1,089

Justice Keene 1,003

John “Larry” Adams 938

Nate McGraw 925

Lorette Oden 903
 

Monmouth-Roseville School District 238

Vote for four

Amy Rogers 1,417

Kira Schumm 1,116

Phillip Brooks 1,097

Amy Gaule 1,075

Yulissa Sparks 640
 

United School District 304

Vote for four

Henry Shimmin 734

Joshua Oaks 716

Jill Marie Jenks 575

Holly Tharp 514

Danny Toops 454

Katrina Kessler 378

Chris Menge 197
 

VIT School District 2

Vote for three

Joshua Miller 200

Larry Payne 185

Darryl Holmes 151

Zachary Parker 94
 

Referenda 

Abingdon-Avon School District 276 Referendum

Shall the board issue $6 million in bonds to build and equip an addition to the middle school building and repair existing facilities?

Yes 362

 No 989

Hancock County Schools Referendum

Shall the county impose a one-percent sales tax to pay for school facilities, school resource officers, and mental health professionals?

Yes

No
 

LaHarpe School District 347 Referendum

Shall the board issue $3.9 million in school building bonds to build and equip an addition to the LaHarpe Elementary/Junior High School building?

Yes

No
 

Roseville Village Referendum

Shall the village allow residents to keep female poultry?

Yes 149

No 77
 

Schuyler County Road Tax Referendum

Shall a special tax be levied for repairing all county roads?

Yes 539

No 512
 

Warren County School Facility Tax Referendum

Should the county’s school district be allowed to use revenues from the school facility tax to also pay for school resource officers and mental health professionals?

Yes 2,333

No 887