We hope all parents of students in Woodstock School District 200 will take the time to respond to a brief survey sent recently via email to help in determining how class start and dismissal times might change starting in the 2027-28 school year. The survey (in Spanish as well as English) was recently emailed to […]
Imagine a couple from out of town checks into Woodstock’s downtown hotel in plenty of time to freshen up before dinner on the Square. After dinner, it’s a short walk to the Opera House for a show – a stage play, maybe a musical, or a concert. When the show is over, the couple have […]
At the end of the City Council’s June 16 public hearing on a proposed third tax increment financing district, which would facilitate development of the former Die Cast factory site, it was noted that the legal window for approval of TIF3 was between 14 and 90 days after the hearing. No problem, city officials said. […]
Is it too early to begin talking about what kind of public art should be placed in the three traffic roundabouts that will be built as part of the widening of Route 47, a project that is still more than two years from completion? Members of the city’s Arts Commission don’t think so. They have […]
Two stories reported recently in The Independent made us feel especially good about the state of education in our community. One involved the great success of the Woodstock School District 200 Special Olympics athletes, who won 12 gold and nine silver medals at the Illinois Special Olympics Summer Games in Peoria. The other, headlined “Thunder […]
Take some time to look over the 140-page draft of a new Downtown Development Plan and you will see the consultants with The Lakota Group got to know the city pretty well. The report is in the packet for the City Council’s May 19 meeting at woodstockil,gov. The city staff background report starts on Page […]
Nearly 30 years after demolition of the 19th-century Die Cast factory, is Woodstock finally close to an agreement to fully develop the 10-acre site? That appears to be the case after Murphy Development Group unveiled its concept to the City Council last month to build 18 two- and three-story buildings with 156 apartments.. The plan […]
Running restaurant hard; this law makes it harder I own several restaurants in Peoria, where I spend long hours managing a team and doing everything I can to keep the business running and my employees paid. Like many small-business owners, I’m used to challenges, but the Interchange Fee Prohibition Act taking effect on July 1 […]
Several months ago in this column, we admitted to some anxiety over the proposed hotel in downtown Woodstock, for which the City Council had approved a redevelopment agreement with Wisconsin developer KEBB CS-WK in August 2024. Maybe our skepticism stemmed from the fact the agreement had to be amended six months later when the developer […]
I was going to focus this Declarations on the wonder of holiday traditions and share my mother’s soft caramels recipe with you, but that can wait until next year. Or if you want the caramels recipe now, email me at indepublisher@comcast.net. Now, to what is taking precedence: several times last week, friends and neighbors have […]
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.
