News

Council approves administrator contract

Published by admin on Tue, 02/13/2018 - 7:54pm

    The Wilmington City Council approved an amended contract for its new full-time city administrator, with a base salary of $98,000 plus guaranteed annual increases.

Hoping for an historical find

Published by admin on Tue, 02/13/2018 - 7:52pm

    He thought there was an outside chance that he had a genuine historical artifact, and wouldn’t it be nice if it could bring some money to his granddaughter, who found it.
    He brought the aged and brittle document to The Free Press Newspapers for some guidance.
    A Braidwood resident who asked not to be identified hoped that what his granddaughter found when cleaning out a house was an authentic copy of President Abraham Lincoln’s neatly penned Gettysburg Address.

IDOT makes emergency repairs along I-55

Published by admin on Tue, 02/13/2018 - 6:46pm

Several holes in the I-55 bridge over the BNSF railroad track south of Arsenal Road have provided for some frustrating travel and headaches for drivers over the past several days.

On Thursday, Feb. 8, traffic was backed up on the southbound side of I-55, as crews were dispatched for an emergency repair in the southbound lanes. A large hole that was forming in the righthand lane of the bridge deck was cited as the culprit, which caused a traffic backup all the way back to the I-80 junction.

That hole was patched as the winter storm rolled in on Thursday night.

Braidwood weathers the storm

Published by admin on Tue, 02/13/2018 - 6:45pm

Winter is officially two months in, and Mother Nature hasn’t let anyone forget it.

Heavy snowfall on Friday, Feb. 9, led to a snow day for all Reed-Custer schools, and more snow on Saturday night into Sunday put another layer on the ground.

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), Will County has seen a total of 19.2 inches of snow so far in February.

So how did Braidwood fare in this latest weather event?

Lions get set for Christmas in July

Published by admin on Tue, 02/13/2018 - 6:43pm

February has dumped nearly 20 inches of snow in Will County, making it nearly impossible to imagine days of warm breezes and hot sunshine.

But regardless of how it feels outside, summer is just a few months away.

With that in mind, the Braidwood Lions Club is already elbows deep in plans for this year’s Summerfest in Braidwood’s Old Smokey City Park.

Street parking prohibited when snow flies

Published by admin on Thu, 02/08/2018 - 3:15pm

    The village of Coal City has a street cleaning and snow removal policy and failure to comply will find drivers digging into their wallets.
    Municipal code prohibits street side parking when a roadway is being cleared of snow. Specifically, in the event of a two inch of more snowfall vehicles must be removed from streets in a timely manner.

Braidwood Park District sets plans for 2018

Published by admin on Tue, 02/06/2018 - 7:45pm

Braidwood residents have plenty to look forward to in 2018, as plans are underway to improve and upgrade local parks.

The Braidwood Park District has its eye on a number of improvements for the new year, including the continuation of work to bring some new ballfields to Old Smokey City Park.

Reed-Custer teen collects funds for shooting victims

Published by admin on Tue, 02/06/2018 - 7:42pm

Police in Kentucky continue to investigate a shooting at a school in the small town of Benton in January.

Two students were killed and 18 injured when a teenage gunman opened fire at Marshall County High School on Jan 23.

The shooting took the lives of Bailey Holt and Preston Cope, both 15.

A 15-year-old Marshall County High School student has been charged in the shooting with two counts of murder and 12 counts of first degree assault.

The incident made an impression on a local 15-year-old, who decided to do something to help.

Salt, shovels, satin, silk

Published by admin on Tue, 02/06/2018 - 7:41pm

Whitmore Ace Hardware isn’t just the place for tools, paint, and barbecues this month.

Amid the snow shovels and road salt, customers can find some of the hottest fashion trends in the local hardware stores.

TIF II closed, money moves to TIF III

Published by admin on Tue, 02/06/2018 - 7:39pm

The city of Braidwood is down to one TIF district, now that the city has officially closed up the TIF II after a 23-year long life span.

The closure was official at the end of December, when members of the City Council voted to close the TIF — Tax Increment Finance district — now that it had reached the end of the term allowed by state law.