News across Ford County
Enrollment rises at PBL, reversing downward trend
PAXTON — The Paxton-Buckley Loda school district’s student enrollment was up slightly to start the 2026-27 school year. As of the sixth day of classes, there were 1,233 students enrolled in the district’s three schools — up by six from the sixth-day enrollment total from a year…
Resident: Retention basin on PBL property overflowing during heavy rains, flooding neighborhood
PAXTON — A woman who lives near Paxton-Buckley-Loda Junior High School told school board members on Wednesday, Sept. 16, that a retention basin north of the school has been overflowing during heavy rains, repeatedly flooding her property and others in her neighborhood. Catherine…
To protect students, PBL schools to require ID from visitors, mandated reporter training for subs, volunteers
PAXTON — To protect the safety of its students, the Paxton-Buckley-Loda school district will begin requiring all substitute teachers and volunteers to complete mandated-reporter training for the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services and all visitors to provide…
GCMS boys golf loses outing by five strokes to Iroquois West
ONARGA – The Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley boys golf team lost 157-162 to Iroquois West on Wednesday. Dayne White and Ian Rotramel tied for second with scores of 38 apiece while Carson Young tied for fifth with a score of 41. Jason Christensen tied for ninth with a score of 45 while…
Paxton woman pleads guilty to burglary, set to be sentenced in November
PAXTON — A Paxton woman pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary in two separate cases involving the theft of power tools from a Gibson City store on Tuesday, Sept. 15, and faces a potential prison term when sentenced in Ford County Circuit Court this fall. As part of a…
Kempton Native Fred Boyer to Receive Full Military Honors 84 Years After Pearl Harbor Attack
Kempton native Fred Boyer, who died aboard the USS West Virginia during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, will be buried ... [FULL STORY] The post Kempton Native Fred Boyer to Receive Full Military Honors 84 Years After Pearl Harbor Attack first appeared on…
GREENLIGHTED
PAXTON — The Paxton City Council took steps Tuesday, Sept. 8, to make way for a community solar project on yet-to-be-annexed farmland between the Colmac Coil manufacturing plant and Interstate 57. Following a series of public hearings, the council voted unanimously to approve an…
City offering $1,000, $2,000 grants to residents affected by August flooding
PAXTON — Paxton residents who had flood damage last month and completed damage assessment surveys are eligible to apply for grants of up to $1,000 or $2,000 from the city — varying based on income level — to help cover costs of remedial work, including the replacement of ruined…
Leases for three farms terminated by county
PAXTON — The Ford County Board approved the hiring of a Gibson City farmer Monday night to harvest crops on all three county-owned farms this fall after the county’s tenant farmer failed to make payments due and defaulted on his cash-rent leases, which were terminated late last…
Former dental office eyed for probation offices
PAXTON — A former dental office in downtown Paxton could become the temporary new home of Ford County’s probation department, whose officers have been working remotely ever since their courthouse basement offices were flooded in August. Jennifer Harrison, the probation…
With swimming pool losing water ‘for years,’ measures to be taken
PAXTON — The Paxton Park District’s Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, Sept. 8, tabled its approval of hiring a professional leak inspection and detection service to look for leaks in the system and lines at the public swimming pool at Coady Park. The board’s president, Craig…
EMPOWERING PEOPLE
PAXTON — Robert Spicer was in his first week as a teacher at Chicago’s Sojourner Truth Elementary School in the infamous Cabrini Green neighborhood — a region well known for its crime and neglect. Fresh out of Morehouse College, Spicer had been told by his peers at Sojourner that…