Illinois
‘Obviously a big loss’ as Central Illinois first responders bid farewell to 23-year-old firefighter

GRIDLEY (25News Now) – A 23-year-old Central Illinois man who dedicated his life to serving others was laid to rest in El Paso on Saturday.
Normal firefighter Ethan Jeffreys was remembered as a ‘rising star’ in emergency services before passing away from stomach cancer.
Jeffreys began his EMS career with the Illinois National Guard before joining his hometown El Paso Emergency Squad. He then joined the Normal Fire Department, and shortly after was diagnosed with cancer.
Firefighters from across the area attended his funeral at Christ Community Church in Gridley. After the service, he was buried in El Paso’s Evergreen Cemetery.
“Obviously a big loss, he was one of the people that rose to the top on our list to hire firefighters. We really thought he had a lot of promise and a great future with the fire department,” said Chief Mick Humer of the Normal Fire Department.
Jeffreys was buried with full honors by the Illinois National Guard and Normal Fire Department. Firefighters from Bloomington and Peoria covered for Normal firefighters so they could attend the funeral.
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Illinois
Plainfield semi crash causes traffic backup on I-55

Wednesday, July 16, 2025 2:37AM
Illinois State Police said a Plainfield crash on I-55 caused lane closures near Renwick Road on Tuesday afternoon.
PLAINFIELD, Ill. (WLS) — A semi crash caused a traffic backup in the southwest suburbs on Tuesday afternoon.
Illinois State Police said the semi crashed on Interstate 55 near Renwick Road in Plainfield around 4:30 p.m.
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The truck, which hit a concrete median, was leaking fuel and blocked all three southbound lanes.
ISP said no injuries have been reported.
What caused the crash was not immediately clear.
Traffic was getting by on the left shoulder before all lanes reopened.
Further information was not immediately available.
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Illinois
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan files motion for release during appeals process

CHICAGO (WLS) — Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is trying to stay out of prison.
On Monday, he filed a motion for release, pending appeal of his conviction.
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Madigan was ordered to report to prison this October to begin serving a seven-and-a-half-year sentence for corruption.
His lawyers argue he should remain free because his appeal could reverse his conviction.
SEE ALSO | John Hooker, 1st of ComEd Four to be sentenced, gets 18 months in prison for Madigan bribery scheme
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Illinois
3 juveniles charged in armed robbery at Cicero, Illinois gas station, subsequent police chase

Three juveniles were facing charges Sunday night in an armed robbery that led to a wild chase from the west Chicago suburb of Cicero to Chicago’s West Side.
Cicero police said the suspects were part of a crew that targeted couriers removing cash from gaming machines at the Mobil gas station at 5147 W. Roosevelt Rd. at Laramie Avenue around 3 p.m. Friday.
Police said the robbers forced the couriers to the ground at gunpoint, ransacked their vehicle, and stole about $70,000.
The robbers sped off in a white sedan accompanied by two “trail vehicles,” Cicero police said.
A townwide camera system, which uses license plate readers, helped police identify the cars involved, as a chase took over Chicago streets and expressways. CBS Skywatch caught it all from the air and captured the cars traveling along the Eisenhower Expressway, around the Windy City Smokeout outside the United Center, and under the Chicago Transit Authority’s elevated Green Line tracks on the West Side.
The pursuit finally ended near West End and Kostner avenues in West Garfield Park, where two people were arrested. Another two people in a white Honda sedan ditched their car in an alley of a nearby apartment building. The three juveniles arrested had some of the stolen cash with them, police said.
Meantime, a black Chrysler that also fled the scene of the robbery was chased along the Eisenhower Expressway, Tri-State Tollway, Bishop Ford Freeway, and Borman Expressway into northwest Indiana, where two suspects were arrested after ditching the car in Hammond and running into the Little Calumet River, police said.
A Cicero police investigation resulted in cash, drugs, and guns being recovered from multiple vehicles and the West Side apartment, police said.
Each juvenile has been charged with two counts of armed robbery and one count of unlawful possession of a weapon. They have been transferred to the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, police said.
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