Alex Rusciano

  Tazewell County is targeting repeat D-U-I offenders. State’s Attorney Stu Umholtz says his office is permanently implementing the so-called “No-Refusal” protocol for felony DUI offenders as well as those with aggravating factors at the time of the stop. Umholtz says DUI offenders remain a serious threat to public safety, and repeat offenders have learned to refuse testing, thwarting evidence to prosecute.

The Peoria County Sheriff’s Office held its annual memorial service for fallen officers.  Peoria Public Radio’s Alex Rusciano reports:

The ceremony remembered four officers killed in the line of duty, including Deputy James Mulay ten years ago.  Peoria County Sheriff Mike McCoy says the ceremony also highlights the latest challenges for area law enforcement:

Caterpillar is forming a new group to boost the efficiency of its world-wide manufacturing and supply chains.  The company says the Caterpillar Enterprise System Group will combine multiple divisions to improve the customer order-to-delivery system. Dave Bozeman will lead the new division. He’s been the Vice President with responsibility for the integrated Manufacturing Division.     

Peoria County could help the City of Peoria back-up its storage for emergency data.  A proposal from the Metro Peoria committee would use a shared city-county fiber-optic cable to create an offsite backup location.  Tom Seckler is with Peoria County’s IT department.  He says disk-storage has advantages over traditionally backing up data on tapes:

Peoria School District 150 is touting a pilot program to help parents and high school students prepare for college.  

The College Bound Peoria program launched last fall and now has 20 students and 28 parents. The program gives parents financial information, shares tips on how to save for college and takes students on tours of state and private schools in the Mid-West. York Powers is the District 150 Family and Community coordinator. He says the program’s goal is to help students adapt to an ever-changing academic environment:

The Pekin City Council is considering a garbage free to plug a nearly $2 million annual deficit in the city waste department. 

City staff are proposing a 12-dollar fee per household to pay for garbage, yard waste and recycling pick-up. They say the fee would plug a $1.9 million annual hole in the city waste department. Pekin Mayor Laurie Barra says she supports the garbage fee:

The Pekin City Council is considering a garbage free to plug a nearly $2 million annual deficit in the city waste department. 

City staff are proposing a 12-dollar fee per household to pay for garbage, yard waste and recycling pick-up. They say the fee would plug a $1.9 million annual hole in the city waste department. Pekin Mayor Laurie Barra says she supports the garbage fee:

Peoria’s Local Initiative Support Corporation, or LISC, is applying for a nearly $11 million grant. 

LISC set up in Peoria last year. It works with non-profits, governments and community groups to rejuvenate struggling neighborhoods. To that end, the national non-profit organization applied for a multi-million-dollar grant from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. Brandon Holmes is the executive director of Peoria’s LISC office.  He says the grant would help pay for re-development efforts in the East Bluff:

In the wake of Pope Benedict XVI's announcement of his resignation, Springfield’s Bishop says the next pope should be a "thinker" who can reach out to other religions and non-believers.  Bishop Thomas John Paprocki says Benedict excelled at that. Paprocki says he’s not surprised Benedict stepped down, given what he calls the pope’s declining health and advanced age. Benedict was 78 when he was elected pope in 2005, one of the oldest in history.  Paprocki says he expects the next pope will be younger.