A study intended to help Woodstock city officials determine a way to redevelop the Old Courthouse and Sheriff’s House on the Square is underway after the Urban Land Institute held a series of forums to collect input from area residents. The study, called a Technical Assistance Panel, is being compiled by real estate experts from […]
Gov. Bruce Rauner will visit Woodstock on Thursday to discuss economic development with 200 area business and community leaders. Rauner will speak to the invite-only group at 2 p.m. March 19 in the McHenry County Board meeting room located in the McHenry County Government administrative office, 667 Ware Road, Woodstock. The governor is expected […]
McHenry County Coroner Anne Majewski announced Friday she is investigating the death of the pedestrian who was struck by the Metra train shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday, March 12. Train No. 615 was en route to Harvard when it hit a pedestrian on the tracks near the Applewood subdivision in Woodstock, a neighborhood located off McConnell Road. […]
Change is hard. And, every change is for better or worse, depending upon your perspective. Change is particularly hard when it happens quickly. I’m sorry, but telling me “it’s easier if you just rip the bandage off quickly” doesn’t lessen the pain. I have no doubt the 400 acres of trees and shrubs bulldozed and […]
Leaders from Woodstock and the surrounding area are taking a stand against Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposal to slash the municipal share of state income tax revenues by 50 percent. Rauner recently pitched the idea of reducing each municipality’s share of state income tax from 8 percent to 4 percent as part of an effort to […]
The stained-glass windows at the Blue Lotus Temple are 109 years old. One window has the image of Jesus walking among sheep. At the bottom of the window, the glass is cracked where the original donors’ names are listed. Another pane has caved in slightly. The arched window trim is aged and shows signs of […]
One person was flown by Flight for Life helicopter and two were taken to a local hospital March 5 after a pickup truck filled with six people attempted to pass a car on Perkins Road and veered into a telephone pole. The driver of the pickup truck, Sierra Voss, 18, of Woodstock, was cited with […]
A discarded cigarette may have sparked a house fire on Charles Street late Monday night, resulting in $8,000 worth of damages. Woodstock Fire/ Rescue District at 10:38 p.m. March 9 responded to the report of a fire at a single-family home located on the north side of the city at 1951 Charles Street. […]
Officials from the city of Woodstock are considering holding a special census in an effort to gain home-rule status. The census, money for which is included in the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year, would be used to determine if the city’s population has risen to 25,000, the minimum necessary to automatically secure home […]
UPDATED 11:17 a.m. MONDAY, MARCH 9 Tragedy has struck a Greenwood family vacationing in San Diego this week. John Aavang, 56, was pushing his seven-month-old daughter, Juniper, in a stroller on Monday, March 2 when they both were struck by an SUV while walking through an intersection near the Catalina Boulevard and Cannon Street in Point Loma, […]
Larry Lough is editor of The Independent and reports local news.
Janet Dovidio has been a freelance correspondent for The Independent for eight years.
Susan W. Murray wrote for The Independent, covering various beats, from 2005 to 2008.
Tricia Carzoli is a freelance writer and photographer that on community news.
