Spring Valley Woman Accused Of Threatening To Blow Up City Hall

There are things you can joke about and blowing up a building isn’t one of them.

Sherri Phillips of Spring Valley was arrested Thursday after she allegedly went to the Spring Valley City Hall and said she planted bombs in the building and was going to blow it up. Police searched the building and didn’t find any devices. The city hall wasn’t evacuated.

Phillips was taken to the Bureau County Jail. She faces a felony disorderly conduct charge.

Payroll Tax Cuts Get House Approval

WASHINGTON (AP) – The House has passed a two-month renewal of payroll tax cuts for 160 million workers and unemployment benefits for millions of jobless, giving President Barack Obama a resounding
victory over Republicans who control the House.

The Senate approved the bill earlier Friday. The measure was passed by voice vote in a virtually empty House chamber despite lingering grumbling from tea party Republicans.

Area Troopers Gear Up For Holiday Travel

Starting this afternoon, expect to see plenty of police presence on the roads.

La Salle State Trooper Craig Graham says its “all hands on deck” with one of the busiest travel weekends of the year with Christmas. Unlike most years, it doesn’t look like weather will wreak havoc on roads.

Don’t be surprised if you drive into a safety checkpoint. Graham says they’ll be especially looking at seatbelt use and drunk driving.

Chicago Church Leader Compares Gay Rights Movement To The KKK

CHICAGO (AP) – Chicago Cardinal Francis George was asked during an interview on WFLD-TV what he thought
about a local priest’s concerns that the city’s annual gay pride parade might interrupt morning Mass at his church.

George replied that he was concerned the gay rights movement might “morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism.”

He says the rhetoric of the KKK and some in the gay rights
movement involving the Catholic Church was similar.

No White Christmas Expected

If you’re dreaming of a white Christmas, you’re probably out of luck this year.

There is no accumulating snow in the forecast this weekend for the listening area. Last year, a Christmas Eve storm dumped anywhere from 4 to 6 inches of fresh snow in the Illinois Valley. The National Weather Service says the last time Chicago had no snow on the ground on Christmas was in 2007.

The next chance of snow is Monday night.