Just before the New Year began, a 16-year-old was killed in a shooting in Mandarin. Then, the shooting death of a 14-year-old in the Sherwood Forest neighborhood marked Jacksonville’s first homicide of the year.
Illinois gas prices have steadily climbed month by month, with last month seeing a 60-cent increase in the average cost of a gallon of regular gas. These high costs have forced many residents to pay more at the pump.