People in Kankakee County are prepping their homes in case any winds and potential tornadoes cause more damage.

This comes as residents in the area are still cleaning up following Tuesday’s severe storms.

“I’m just going to move the car back,” said David Conway.

When Conway arrived at his Aroma park home on Sunday, he and his daughter, Laila Keske, came to get any necessities out of the house, and quick.

“I used to love tornadoes, and now I’m like ‘look what it did,’” Keske said.

“I knew that the snow was coming, that was why I was trying to get a contractor so they can get on the roof and get tarps up,” Conway said.

He said he and his three kids have lived in their home for the last seven years. It was destroyed by the tornado on Tuesday night and has suffered severe damage. They plan to put the important items in storage until they get word.

“It’s like, where do I even start?” Conway said.

They aren’t alone. The entire neighborhood is full of tarps, trees uprooted, and streets that look like a war zone.

While the community is trying to clean up, there’s still the worry that it could all come tumbling back down.

All afternoon on Strasma North Drive, the constant sounds of chainsaws were heard in a last-ditch effort to get any hanging branches off trees. While many homes here are a total loss, some did not get hit, and those homeowners said they don’t want any debris or trees hitting their homes from Sunday night’s storms.

“We certainly know about it, and we are certainly concerned about it,” Judy Giacomino, a volunteer with the Red Cross.

She and her partner went door to door on Sunday to assess the damage and help those in need. Giacomino said the people whose homes are still standing are dealing with mental stress that they could be next.

“I don’t know what Mother Nature has in store, but she is certainly picking on Illinois right now,” she said.

“I don’t know about her over there, but I know Christy was saying she’s going to stay,” Conway said.

He said no matter what happens, his family plans to move back to the exact spot, new home or not, as they try to navigate this unfamiliar and uncertain situation.

The Red Cross did open a new shelter on Sunday afternoon at Redemptive Life Ministries on Waldron Road.

They said the last place they were at needed the space, but they are still here to serve anyone displaced.

The cryptocurrency industry has a new line of attack against candidates who have voted for consumer protections on digital coins: calling them corrupt.

In at least two Illinois congressional primaries, candidates vying for the progressive vote are being accused by a crypto political action committee of corruption. Fairshake PAC is trying to smear one candidate backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as a corporate tool and another candidate who successfully fought a federal indictment as a tax cheat.

The industry has thrown at least $3.3 million into negative attacks on the campaigns in the 2nd and 7th Congressional Districts thus far, according to an analysis from a Chicago political consultant. That spending represents only a fraction of the PAC’s war chest for the remainder of the primary season.

“Ironically, we’re in a very anti-corruption moment, and you know that is true because one of the most corrupt actors in the country is trying to appropriate an anti-corruption argument,” said Jeff Hauser of the Revolving Door Project, a crypto industry critic. “The threat is that the cynical deployment of an anti-corruption politics undermines the potential for success of a genuine anti-corruption politics.”

Fairshake declined to comment.

In both races, crypto industry interests are attacking Democratic candidates — state Sen. Robert Peters and state Rep. La Shawn K. Ford — who voted for consumer protection regulations on cryptocurrency in the Illinois statehouse last year.

That legislation, supported by Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, forces crypto companies to register with the state and comply with local rules if they want to serve Illinois residents. Crypto companies have long opposed state-level regulations, preferring a single set of looser regulations at the federal level.

As the congressional elections heated up this year, the crypto industry began delivering payback.

Mailers targeting Peters, for instance, accuse him of being a “corporate pawn” and “bankrolled by special interests,” based on campaign contributions he has received.

Peters has responded by noting that he is endorsed by national progressives including Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D- Mass., who are fierce foes of corporate interests.

Commenting on the Fairshake mailer, Peters said that it was “paid for by Trump’s top donors, to make sure they buy a lapdog in this congressional seat who will let them avoid all regulation. Nasty work.”

Two of Peters’s top opponents, Jesse Jackson Jr. and Donna Miller, have received A ratings from Stand With Crypto, an industry group, based on their promises to pass industry-friendly legislation. (Their campaigns did not respond to requests for comment.)

Ford, the state representative, has been the target of $2.5 million in attack ads from Fairshake, according to a tally by Chicago political consultant Frank Calabrese.

One TV attack ad highlighted the 17-count bank fraud indictment that federal prosecutors brought against Ford in 2012 — without noting that the case fizzled away and Ford ultimately pleaded guilty to only a misdemeanor tax charge.

Local media have called the ad misleading, a claim that Ford echoed in an interview with The Intercept.

“I think that it’s slander. It’s the reason why we have to have campaign finance reform to get dark money out of races,” he said. “They are misleading voters. Even though they know that, they are advertising that I was convicted of 17 counts of bank fraud and tax fraud, they know that the Department of Justice dropped those charges, and yet they mislead voters.”

Ford’s campaign has sent Fairshake, the crypto PAC, a cease-and-desist letter.

One of Ford’s top opponents in the race to replace outgoing Rep. Danny Davis, City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, received an A rating from Stand With Crypto. (Her campaign did not respond to a request for comment.)

Ford noted that industry figures including Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, a crypto exchange that is one of Fairshake’s major funders, have worked closely with President Donald Trump to win favorable regulations.

Coinbase donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund in December 2024 and has given further donations to Trump’s White House ballroom project.

“It’s funny, because they are cronies with Donald Trump and they want to say that I’m not fit to go to Congress,” Ford said. “Yet Donald Trump was actually convicted on 34 counts, and they support him for president.”

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Who will you be voting for when you head to the polls for the Illinois primary election on Tuesday?

The races you see on your ballot will depend on where you live, so it’s important to know which contests you’ll be voting on, especially in a year where there are five incumbents not seeking reelection in the House and another in the Senate.

There is also a race for Illinois governor, as well as every other statewide office.

This year’s primary for Democrats and Republicans will be held on Tuesday, March 17.

See who’s on your ballot

Use the tool below to see which races will appear on your ballot based on your location:

(NOTE: Judges will not appear on the ballot below. For more information on that click here.)

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Races to watch

While Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker is running unopposed in the Democratic primary, several Republican candidates are hoping to face him in the November election.

In the battle for U.S. Senate, there are some major contenders on both sides of the aisle after Sen. Dick Durbin’s decided to retire following more than 30 years in office.

Primaries will take place in all of Illinois’ 17 congressional districts, with races in the 2nd, 7th, 8th and 9th districts among those being closely watched. Also on the ballot are contests for Illinois Comptroller and Cook County Board President.

You can find more information on races to watch here.

Voter Guide

Additional information on the races, and what else you need to be know about the upcoming election, can be located on our Illinois voter’s guide here.