The barren land and soon-to-be home to East Peoria’s downtown is moving toward development following action at the Dec. 13 city council meeting.

All five council members voted to approve a property purchase agreement with Costco, the first of many steps in the city’s attempt to make a long-envisioned downtown a reality.

The Tazewell County Executive Committee recommended approving a $92,000 loan to an East Peoria elevator parts manufacturer so the company can expand its operations to a second location in Morton.

If approved by the full county board Wednesday, following the executive committee’s recommendation, 4B Elevator Components Ltd. will be able to go ahead with a $230,000 project to make improvements to a facility it has leased in Morton to accommodate company growth.

Legislation allowing the use of firearm sound suppressors by Illinois law enforcement officials serving on tactical response or SWAT teams is one step closer to becoming state law.

House Bill 1708, sponsored by State Rep. Mike Unes (R-East Peoria), passed the State Senate Nov. 29.  The measure now moves to the Governor for approval.

A stolen car full of juveniles was stopped in Chillicothe Oct. 9, leading to arrests by multiple agencies.

A tan Ford Focus was stolen from a residence in East Peoria and made its way to Chillicothe.

The car circled the BP North gas station around 5:30 a.m. before heading southbound  on Fourth Street.

When many East Peorians think of Harold Humphrey, they remember the Sunnyland restaurant that bore his name.

But there was more to Harold than just burgers and fries.

Marilyn Humphrey remembers her husband as a man who was loyal, faithful and generous.

A new face has joined District 86’s School Board, but it is one that is not unfamiliar to East Peoria.

Jason Cowen was appointed to the board at its Sept. 15 meeting. He replaces Kurt Neelly, who left the board in August after taking a job out of state.

Customers at the East Peoria Bass Pro Shop’s Evening for Conservation Sept. 21 not only attended a grand opening but a fundraiser to support the preservation of the environment for future generations.

“Bass Pro Shop opens every store with an Evening for Conservation to showcase local conservation groups and to contribute to a major conservation effort,” said Martin MacDonald, director of Corporate Public Relations at Bass Pro Shops.

Following a second public hearing on the creation of the Farm Creek Business District, the East Peoria City Council passed separate ordinances that designated the boundaries of the district and imposed an additional 1 percent sales tax for the district’s businesses.

Both ordinances passed by votes of 4-1, with the dissenting vote on each ordinance coming from Commissioner Chad Joos.

Home and workplace renovations often include sanding, drilling and demolition, but with many local structures built before 1978, these activities may increase central Illinois residents’ risk of being exposed to lead.

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken steps to help protect against this risk. Wendy Chan, program manager at Chicago-based OAI Inc., a non-profit workforce development organization, presented on the EPA’s requirement of more stringent lead-safe practices Saturday at the Central Illinois Green Expo at Illinois Central College.

Central Illinois students have a new option to obtain advanced degrees without going too far from home.

Beginning this fall, Benedictine University will offer a Bachelor of Arts in Management and Master of Business Administration programs at Illinois Central College’s East Peoria campus.

Ten years have passed since terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners and forever altered national landmarks across the country.

While it is easy to see the impact the events of Sept. 11, 2001, have had on New York, Washington, D.C., and the country as a whole, several members of the East Peoria community still remember the infamous day and can see changes in their day-to-day lives because of it.

“(Firefighters’) jobs have always been dangerous, but now we have to keep (terrorist attacks) in the back of our mind when we have city functions like July 4 and the Festival of Lights,” said East Peoria Assistant Fire Chief Rick Ward.

When East Peoria’s Jack and Ann Hinton traveled to New York as a part of a traveling motor home tour, they expected to see the typical Empire City tourist sites and take off for their next destination shortly after.

However, their day in New York was Sept. 11, 2001, and nothing about the remainder of their vacation was typical for a tourist.

The couple, who have resided in Tazewell County for their entire lives, were on a tourist bus on the morning of Sept. 11, heading to downtown Manhattan to tour NBC’s studios.

“I was never excited about it before, until I had a reason to do it,” said Jim Linsley, owner of Lindy’s Downtown Market. “We are cooking for the troops — that’s our theme.”

The first Lindy’s Downtown Market Eggfest is from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Sept. 10 at “The Bunker” off of Summit Road in Sunnyland.

A 653-acre swath of land encompassing and surrounding the new Bass Pro Shops is part of a proposed business service district that includes a possible additional sales tax.

The land would be called the Farm Creek Area Business District. City officials say revenues generated from an up to 1 percent additional sales tax would be diverted back to the district for infrastructure improvements to encourage further development, including new roadways and intersections, even a bridge spanning Farm Creek for new access to Main Street.

On Friday, Illinois Central College showed off one of the new “green” features that the school now boasts.

Contractors and college officials demonstrated how the community college’s new porous asphalt parking lot works on the north end of the school. The pavement was doused with water from a truck to simulate the water accumulation and run-off.

Thirty years since passenger rail service was last available in East Peoria, officials are looking down the tracks at possible future sites for a stop here again.

Moving the discussion along has been high speed rail construction between Chicago and St. Louis as well as new routes from Chicago to Rockford and the Quad Cities. But local officials also hope the results of a soon-to-be released feasibility study by Amtrak will mean a return of service, putting the Peoria area back on the line.

Raymond Poe, a member of the Sunnyland Development Partners, said the group closed on Sunnyland Plaza Aug. 3.

Work is currently under way to improve the Plaza in the hopes of attracting tenants.

As East Peoria Community High School students were enjoying one of their last days of summer vacation, District 309 school board members were talking numbers.

The board adopted the tentative EPCHS Fiscal Year 2012 budget at the district’s Aug. 15 meeting.

“I really, really tried to give you a balanced budget, which is near impossible in this day and age,” said Superintendent Chuck Nagel. “But (Associate Superintendent) Josh (Ebener) and I are going to continue to work with it and see if we can’t get it balanced out.”

When students return to school at East Peoria Community High School, they will not have a principal.

After Paul Whittington retired June 30 after 17 years in District 309, his position was not filled. Instead, the role of principal this year is being absorbed by a combination of an associate superintendent and a director of operations.

Superintendent Chuck Nagel said the reorientation of the role of principal, which has been divided among the two new positions and his role as well, will be a year-long process.

If Rep. Keith Sommer is to represent the newly-redrawn 88th District after 2012, he will have to defeat a primary challenger in addition to a potential Democrat in the general election.

Steve Perry, a mass communications professor at Illinois State University and member of the District 87 School Board, has officially thrown his hat in the ring to challenge Sommer for the legislative district seat.

“I don’t think my running makes a statement (about the job Sommer has done,” Perry said Aug. 2. “I think that voters to go the polling booth and are very disappointed when they only see one name on position after position.