News

Liberty road superintendent offers project updates

Local News July 15, 2026

LIBERTY — Community improvements have quite literally been front and center for anyone navigating the Churchill portion of Belmont Avenue, and trustees learned the status of these and other ongoing improvements. At Monday’s meeting, trustees heard from Road Superintendent Wayne Hickman, who said the “never-ending” Belmont Avenue sidewalk project, which kicked off March 30, is undergoing some design changes. “We changed the design at the corner of (State Route) 304, (State Route) 193 to go behind the telephone poles; that’s why it’s been sitting stagnant,” Hickman said. ...

US launches attacks on Iran

Girard students ‘make waves’ at summer enrichment camp

Local News July 14, 2026

GIRARD — With 90-degree temperatures outside, Girard students are staying cool indoors by using water for a four-day science learning camp. Bill Young, coordinator of the camp and curriculum and support services coordinator for Girard City Schools, said this is the first year for the ...

Family targeted in mass shooting that left 5 dead in Illinois, police say

National News July 14, 2026

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) — Five people were killed in a “targeted mass shooting” against a family in southwestern Illinois, police said. Two more people were wounded, and two teenagers, ages 15 and 16, were in custody, police said. The shootings occurred primarily Sunday at three locations in East St. Louis, including a park. East St. Louis, population 17,500, is across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. It had 15 homicides in 2025, down from 34 in 2020, records show. “It’s terrible. It’s evil. But it will not keep this city down,” Illinois State Police Director ...

Minnesota prosecutors obtain withheld evidence in investigation into protest shooting deaths

National News July 14, 2026

The Trump administration has turned over evidence long sought by Minnesota investigators in their ongoing probe into the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti during pitched protests against an immigration enforcement crackdown earlier this year, state prosecutors announced Monday. The progress came as a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a motorist in Maine on Monday, and Houston prosecutors complained the administration was still withholding critical information in their investigation into a fatal shooting by an ICE officer last week. Hennepin ...

Maine death marks 9th fatality in immigration sweeps

National News July 14, 2026

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a Maine motorist on Monday, marking at least the ninth death since the start of the Trump administration’s mass deportations campaign. The shooting came less than a week after a federal immigration officer fatally shot a Houston man after an altercation with agents while he was driving to work. Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told him the agent opened fire after the man “weaponized” his vehicle against ICE agents. Authorities have released few other ...