Sarah Safranek, 36, is charged with five counts of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated battery in the 2021 suffocation death of her 7-year-old son, Nathaniel Burton

Lyle Reap has amassed more than 15,000 fishing lures since he began collecting in earnest 10 years ago. In January he will attend a large show in Milwaukee to sell them off, piece by piece, display case by display case, as the result of a terminal cancer diagnosis.

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Polo's $3.7 million Colden Street Project encompassed about 10.5 blocks, both in the downtown business district and in residential neighborhoods. It is meant to help alleviate water buildup on Illinois Route 26 — named Division Avenue in Polo city limits — during torrential rain events. The project took two years to complete and, although almost nothing went exactly as planned, city officials still say they are happy with the end results.

UPDATE: An eastbound section of Interstate 88 was closed for five hours overnight after 20 tons of meat went sliding across the roadway as three semis and a passenger vehicle crashed around 10:30 p.m. in Rock Falls.

A former Ogle County deputy charged with DUI, leaving the scene of a crash and improper lane usage was sentenced to an added charge of reckless driving, given a year’s supervision and fined $945.

The FBI has ended its investigation of a fiery car wreck that killed two people at a border checkpoint in Niagara Falls after finding no evidence that it was a terror attack, easing a period of high tensions as Americans headed into the Thanksgiving holiday.

City is one of 25 finalists in the 2023 PetSafe Unleashed contest. Online voting runs through Nov. 30.

Calliope, a 2-year-old tuxedo cat, was adopted by a Polo man in late October, after she and her six kittens spent about seven months as the main focus of Project Humane Polo.

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Centennial Elementary School students made sure all the veterans in the audience knew loud and clear how much they were appreciated when at their Veteran’s Day program Friday, Nov. 10, 2023. Students from preschool to fifth grade burst into song during the event as veterans from all branches of service, and members of the public, filled the school’s gymnasium for the afternoon event. Under the direction of Jordann Fishman, preschoolers started the singing portion of the program with a spirited “Yankee Doodle” followed by Kindergarteners singing “You’re a Grand Old Flag”. That set the stage for the event’s guest speaker — Polo native and Navy veteran Mardii Rahn.