Howard Packowitz

3 days ago | 25newsnow.com | Howard Packowitz |Taylor Fleming

PEORIA (25News Now) - The Peoria City Council has adopted a 1% local sales tax on groceries, but this might not be the last time the city council deals with this issue. The council’s vote Tuesday night was unanimous, although at-large Council member Zach Oyler intends to push for reconsideration of the proposal at the next council meeting when new members are seated. The State of Illinois will stop collecting the tax for local governments on Jan.

3 days ago | 25newsnow.com | Howard Packowitz

PEORIA COUNTY (25News Now) - The storm that moved through Central Illinois on Tuesday knocked out power to thousands of electric customers in Peoria County. The outage is mainly located in northern Peoria where almost 3,900 customers were without electricity as of 6:45 p.m., according to the Ameren Illinois outage map. The map posted on poweroutage.us indicated 32 Tazewell County customers were also without electricity.

3 days ago | 25newsnow.com | Howard Packowitz

WASHINGTON (25News Now) - Washington has become the latest Central Illinois community to approve a 1% local sales tax on groceries to replace the state-run tax that expires in January of next year. The 6-2 vote came a day before neighboring Peoria votes whether to extend the grocery tax at its meeting Tuesday night. Washington Ward I Council member and Mayor-elect Lilija Stevens voted against the measure, as did John Blundy for Ward IV, prompting retiring Mayor Gary Manier to criticize the pair.

4 days ago | 25newsnow.com | Howard Packowitz

PEORIA (25News Now) - Peoria Police said three people were injured in a crash involving an ambulance and another vehicle early Monday evening. First responders were called shortly before 6:20 p.m. in the 100 block of East War Memorial Drive and North Knoxville Avenue. A police spokesperson said the ambulance is from Henry, in Marshall County. The spokesperson said information about the victims, including the extent of their injuries, is not available.

4 days ago | 25newsnow.com | Howard Packowitz

BLOOMINGTON (25News Now) - A Bloomington man has been charged with committing what police said at the time was a “smash-and-grab” jewelry store robbery in January. Terry D. Jenkins, 31, was allegedly armed with a hammer when he robbed Rogers & Hollands in Eastland Mall about 6 p.m. on Jan. 11. No employees or customers were injured, but the loud sound of breaking glass created confusion and led to unfounded rumors that shots had been fired at the mall.