A jury took only 23 minutes before finding Kimberly Nowlan-McCue guilty of stabbing and killing her onetime friend, Elizabeth Jamison, on New Year's Day.
She faces up to 60 years in prison.
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There's a certain magic about some cars. But nobody ever fell in love with the flat, wide hood or the weird horizontal fins of the 1960 Chevy. It sold poorly and had to be completely restyled in 1961.
Still, among some local racing fans, that odd-looking car epitomized speed. Maybe not on every street, but when Aroma Park racing legend Earl J. Hubert rolled his big white and black Impala onto the Sugar Island Speedway — nearly 50 years ago — fans had to notice the track's championship car.
So, when Roy Hill, of 4Rs Auto Repair in Aroma Park, realized the Kankakee County Speedway was hosting the Hubert Memorial race Friday night, he was compelled to bring back the memories of that unusual racing machine.
Hill did some racing himself, but these days he restores some older cars. When he had a chance to buy a 1960 Chevy, he grabbed it.
DALLAS — The United States is heading toward the Labor Day holiday with the lowest gasoline pump prices for this time of year since 2010.
Sliding demand, the return of refinery units from Canada to Texas and the absence of hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean have helped swell stockpiles to the highest seasonal level in three years and pushed prices down every day this month. Gasoline may drop another 0.5 cent per day in coming weeks, said Michael Green, a spokesman for AAA, the largest U.S. motoring group.
"There remains enough supply for the demand," Green said in a phone interview from Washington. "Summer trips are ending, and many people are headed back to school. You will get a little spurt around Labor Day but not enough to change things."
Gasoline is down about 9 cents this month, compared with a 33-cent jump last August, when the largest refinery in Venezuela was shut after a fire and Hurricane Isaac closed refineries along the Gulf Coast.
A Bourbonnais man, who was twice convicted on previous drug charges, was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in federal prison for selling crack cocaine.
Damos S. Rosenthal, 39, pleaded guilty in April to selling more than an ounce of crack, according to a federal court press release.
Rosenthal was arrested in January following a Kankakee Area Metropolitan Enforcement Group investigation.
In 2002, Rosenthal was convicted of selling cocaine and was sentenced to probation. The following year, he was again convicted on a delivery charge and was sentenced to five years in prison.
For Manteno's Joan Klein, it's the Greek family reunion she won't miss.
Even if it's not all family there, and even if she's not Greek.
Klein and her husband, Ralph, have made attending the annual Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church picnic in Kankakee year after year, returning for friends, food and fun.
"It's the friendships, the people," said Joan, 78. "We walked in and people know who we are and it makes you feel good."
Joan's been attending the festival, celebrating its 75th anniversary Sunday, for 40 years.
And Ralph, 75, has been with her for about half that time.
"We've been married 22 years," Joan said, as she played bingo across from her husband during the festival's final hour Sunday evening. "So I've been dragging him all this time."
The fest raises money for the church, located at 296 N. Washington Ave., and patrons don't have to worry about being Greek.
A 24-year-old Bourbonnais man pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to charges of weapons possession and will face a prison sentence of at least three years.
Gabriel A. Sheegog will be sentenced Jan. 3 in the U.S. District Court in Urbana.
Sheegog pleaded guilty to possession of two guns by a convicted felon. On Feb. 16, he was arrested in the 700 block of North Fifth Avenue in Kankakee by Project Safe Neighborhood Task Force members. When arrested, he was in possession of a .25-caliber semi-automatic pistol; when task force members searched his residence, they also found a .38-caliber revolver.
Sheegog's previous conviction was for attempted armed robbery.
He remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshal Service.
DALLAS — The United States is heading toward the Labor Day holiday with the lowest gasoline pump prices for this time of year since 2010.
Sliding demand, the return of refinery units from Canada to Texas and the absence of hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean have helped swell stockpiles to the highest seasonal level in three years and pushed prices down every day this month. Gasoline may drop another 0.5 cent per day in coming weeks, said Michael Green, a spokesman for AAA, the largest U.S. motoring group.
"There remains enough supply for the demand," Green said in a phone interview from Washington. "Summer trips are ending, and many people are headed back to school. You will get a little spurt around Labor Day but not enough to change things."
Gasoline is down about 9 cents this month, compared with a 33-cent jump last August, when the largest refinery in Venezuela was shut after a fire and Hurricane Isaac closed refineries along the Gulf Coast.
Murray won last year’s US Open to end what was then a 76-year wait for a British male Grand Slam champion; he is now the first Briton of either gender to win Wimbledon since Virginia Wade in 1977, and the first male since Fred Perry in 1936.
"It feels slightly different to last year," Murray said in reference to his tearful defeat in the 2012 final. "I don't know how I managed to get through that last game - losing three match points was unbelievable. It was hard to watch but imagine playing it!
"Novak has come back so many times from similar positions and he almost did it again."
The beaten world number one was typically sportsmanlike at the trophy presentation.
"Congratulations to Andy, who absolutely deserved this win - you played incredible tennis," Djokovic said. "I know how much it means to all of you guys, the whole country, well done.
"I'm aware of the pressure he gets, although I cannot imagine the extent not being in his shoes.
"It was an absolute pleasure and an honour to be part of this final."
Murray was exceptional at times but, by contrast, Djokovic had one of his worst games on Centre Court.
On the hottest day of the year in Britain, with the mercury soaring toward 30 degrees Celsius, the world's two best players produced some scorching sinew-stretching action from the start and the first three games alone lasted 20 minutes.
The opening salvo of the Centre Court clash lasted 20 strokes as Murray went up 0-40 on the Serb's serve but Djokovic produced staunch defence to stave off his opponent's attack.
The duo did trade breaks in the third and fourth games, with each Murray winner being greeted by a chorus of 15,000 roars.
Second seed Murray got another chance to break to love in the seventh game and this time he pounced as the 2011 champion surrendered his serve by slapping a backhand into the net.
A set that initially looked like lasting forever ended exactly on the hour mark as Djokovic whipped a service return wide to give Murray, runner-up to Roger Federer last year, the one-set cushion.
The battle between the two players who were born seven days apart in 1987 intensified in the second set as they went toe-to-toe from the baseline with 25-shot rallies being par for the course.
Djokovic, who survived a four hour 43 minute semi-final epic against Juan Martin Del Potro two days ago, showed his super-human ability to recover quickly as he ran down everything Murray could throw at him.
The Serb rattled Murray by going for the lines and broke for a 3-1 lead when Olympic champion Murray flicked a forehand into the net.
Even when Djokovic slipped and skidded flat on to his stomach while trying to chase down a Murray winner, the six-times Grand Slam champion appeared unfazed as he quickly got back on to his feet to extend his lead to 4-1.
But Murray, who trains in the intense Miami heat, showed off his iron-man conditioning as he stormed back to level at 4-4, a Djokovic double fault on break point down handing him the break back in the seventh game.
While the cheering crowd, which included British Prime Minister David Cameron, got behind a pumped up Murray, Djokovic simply exploded in anger in the 11th game.
Convinced that Murray had gone long mid-rally at 15-15, he screamed at umpire Mohamed Lahyani "Why? What's going on?" as he gesticulated wildly to show what he thought the linesman had failed to see.
Murray ignored the uproar to break the fuming Serb and soon had the fans roaring when he wrapped up the 69-minute second set with a 125mph thunderbolt ace.
The third set initially seemed a formality for Murray, who broke Djokovic early and almost sealed a double-break.
But two sloppy drop shots allowed the Serb to break back, with a rejuvenated Djokovic holding before winning the subsequent Murray service game as the Briton seemed to lose momentum.
Murray, however, has incredible mental and physical reserves and cancelled out that break with some intense hustling at the net, bringing it back with serve, which he held with a wonderful diving forehand off the baseline.
That was followed by a magnificent break for Murray, which boasted two astounding last-gasp winners, leaving him serving for the title.
Initially Djokovic saved three championship points as a nervy Murray’s serve deserted him, and the Serb even had three break-back points thanks to an unforced error to net from the Briton, a wonderful drop-shot off the net-cord and then a beautiful diving winner across the net.
But Murray saved them all, bringing up his fourth match point with some incredible fight at the baseline, his forehand pass forcing Djokovic to net a volley.
And, after his next serve was returned just inside the baseline, Murray was a spectator as Djokovic netted the follow up, sending Centre Court and an entire nation into raptures.
Murray won last year’s US Open to end what was then a 76-year wait for a British male Grand Slam champion; he is now the first Briton of either gender to win Wimbledon since Virginia Wade in 1977, and the first male since Fred Perry in 1936.
"It feels slightly different to last year," Murray said in reference to his tearful defeat in the 2012 final. "I don't know how I managed to get through that last game - losing three match points was unbelievable. It was hard to watch but imagine playing it!
"Novak has come back so many times from similar positions and he almost did it again."
The beaten world number one was typically sportsmanlike at the trophy presentation.
"Congratulations to Andy, who absolutely deserved this win - you played incredible tennis," Djokovic said. "I know how much it means to all of you guys, the whole country, well done.
"I'm aware of the pressure he gets, although I cannot imagine the extent not being in his shoes.
"It was an absolute pleasure and an honour to be part of this final."
Murray was exceptional at times but, by contrast, Djokovic had one of his worst games on Centre Court.
On the hottest day of the year in Britain, with the mercury soaring toward 30 degrees Celsius, the world's two best players produced some scorching sinew-stretching action from the start and the first three games alone lasted 20 minutes.
The opening salvo of the Centre Court clash lasted 20 strokes as Murray went up 0-40 on the Serb's serve but Djokovic produced staunch defence to stave off his opponent's attack.
The duo did trade breaks in the third and fourth games, with each Murray winner being greeted by a chorus of 15,000 roars.
Second seed Murray got another chance to break to love in the seventh game and this time he pounced as the 2011 champion surrendered his serve by slapping a backhand into the net.
A set that initially looked like lasting forever ended exactly on the hour mark as Djokovic whipped a service return wide to give Murray, runner-up to Roger Federer last year, the one-set cushion.
The battle between the two players who were born seven days apart in 1987 intensified in the second set as they went toe-to-toe from the baseline with 25-shot rallies being par for the course.
Djokovic, who survived a four hour 43 minute semi-final epic against Juan Martin Del Potro two days ago, showed his super-human ability to recover quickly as he ran down everything Murray could throw at him.
The Serb rattled Murray by going for the lines and broke for a 3-1 lead when Olympic champion Murray flicked a forehand into the net.
Even when Djokovic slipped and skidded flat on to his stomach while trying to chase down a Murray winner, the six-times Grand Slam champion appeared unfazed as he quickly got back on to his feet to extend his lead to 4-1.
But Murray, who trains in the intense Miami heat, showed off his iron-man conditioning as he stormed back to level at 4-4, a Djokovic double fault on break point down handing him the break back in the seventh game.
While the cheering crowd, which included British Prime Minister David Cameron, got behind a pumped up Murray, Djokovic simply exploded in anger in the 11th game.
Convinced that Murray had gone long mid-rally at 15-15, he screamed at umpire Mohamed Lahyani "Why? What's going on?" as he gesticulated wildly to show what he thought the linesman had failed to see.
Murray ignored the uproar to break the fuming Serb and soon had the fans roaring when he wrapped up the 69-minute second set with a 125mph thunderbolt ace.
The third set initially seemed a formality for Murray, who broke Djokovic early and almost sealed a double-break.
But two sloppy drop shots allowed the Serb to break back, with a rejuvenated Djokovic holding before winning the subsequent Murray service game as the Briton seemed to lose momentum.
Murray, however, has incredible mental and physical reserves and cancelled out that break with some intense hustling at the net, bringing it back with serve, which he held with a wonderful diving forehand off the baseline.
That was followed by a magnificent break for Murray, which boasted two astounding last-gasp winners, leaving him serving for the title.
Initially Djokovic saved three championship points as a nervy Murray’s serve deserted him, and the Serb even had three break-back points thanks to an unforced error to net from the Briton, a wonderful drop-shot off the net-cord and then a beautiful diving winner across the net.
But Murray saved them all, bringing up his fourth match point with some incredible fight at the baseline, his forehand pass forcing Djokovic to net a volley.
And, after his next serve was returned just inside the baseline, Murray was a spectator as Djokovic netted the follow up, sending Centre Court and an entire nation into raptures.
That should have been the end of it. That he ended Saturday with a fine century to his name, batting England into an impregnable position in this second Test, was because he grabbed his opportunity with both hands and made the absolute maximum he could from it.
It rather sums Root up. He looks angelic, but he is as hard as nails and as competitive as anyone in the side.
In becoming the youngest Englishman to score an Ashes century at Lord's, he made Australia pay for just one of the many errors they have made in this increasingly one-sided series.
Joe Root has now scored more than 1,000 runs this summer, becoming the second Englishman to do so after Warwickshire's Varun Chopra
The way Root bats, he will score stacks of runs against both this demoralised opposition and other bowling attacks he comes up against in the forthcoming years.
I love his style at the crease. He plays with a very straight bat, consolidates when he has to and accelerates when he can. There is little flamboyance about him but a huge amount to admire.
The joy of the scenario at Lord's this Saturday was that he was never rushed. With England's lead already past 260 when play began, there were no time pressures on him. He could play himself in against some accurate, testing bowling in the morning session and then pick up the pace when the field spread and the bowlers tired.
In terms of the issue of whether he should be opening the batting, he has nailed that one for a long, long time. You could argue that it turned on a very fine margin. Had he gone in single figures, perhaps we would all be asking if he had been moved up from five too soon.
But that is what international sport is about. You seize the moment. You ram it home.
"It's been a great day for England - they scored 300 runs in a day in front of a full house and Joe Root showed that he looks a pretty good prospect as an opener. He's not short of patience, application or talent."
Injuries permitting, this England opening partnership of Root and Alastair Cook could be together for five, six, seven years.
They have youth, they have talent, they have the application. Form can always change, of course, and players hit slumps. But this England set-up sticks with its good players. It does not drop them after a few bad innings, as regimes of the past once did.
It is brilliant for the team. Successfully integrating new young players into established teams is a difficult thing. The great Australia team of the past decade could not manage to do it, which is one of the reasons the current incarnation is struggling so much today.
With their openers, England seem to have done that, just as they did when Andrew Strauss joined Marcus Trescothick, and then when Strauss was joined by Cook.
Great teams are founded on great opening pairs. At the moment, all that is for the future. This England team is not yet a great one; they are a very good team playing well, and they still have some issues to deal with.
One of those, for me, is Jonny Bairstow. I'm not convinced he has dealt with his technical flaws. In the first innings here he again looked to me far from entirely convincing.
England will be able to persevere with him because they are beating Australia, and beating them so comfortably. There is no pressure on them to make changes. They can afford to give Bairstow the chance to play a similar innings to Root did here.
Denis Compton (21 years & 34 days) v West Indies, 1939 Alastair Cook (21 years & 200 days) v Pakistan, 2006 Alastair Cook (22 years & 143 days) v West Indies, 2007 Joe Root (22 years & 202 days) Australia, 2013The team with all the issues are the tourists. And one of those is the form of young left-arm spinner Ashton Agar.
As well as he batted in that first innings at Trent Bridge, and for all the romance of his back-story - 19 years old, plucked from a spell playing with Henley CC - he is in this team to bowl, and at the moment he is not good enough.
It was summed up for me when Root was on 99. Skipper Michael Clarke brought his field up to cut off the single and apply pressure; Agar instead served up a wide long hop, and Root was able to thump it away for the easiest of fours.
England were able to bat on, and on, and on. I wasn't surprised that they didn't declare before the close, even with the lead well past 500.
Australia won't score 500 here. But England batted on to put more wear in the pitch, to rub more salt in raw wounds, and because they have two full days in good weather to bowl them out.
I expect Cook to captain positively in the field. And I expect England, at some point in the next 48 hours, to go 2-0 up.
Jonathan Agnew was talking to BBC Sport's chief sports writer Tom Fordyce Listen to Jonathan Agnew and Geoffrey Boycott's analysis of each day's play on the Test Match Special podcast.Victorious in the first Test by just 14 runs, England took this second one by 333 more.
With it surely comes the series, and a supremacy that could stretch on and on.
For the England supporters who celebrated amid the long shadows and Sunday evening sunshine at Lord's, these are heady days and improbable numbers.
Not since 1890 have England won the first two Tests of a home Ashes series. They have never before won an Ashes Test by so many runs in this country, and only once by more overseas. To do it at the spiritual home of the game, where Australia had only lost twice in more than a century, makes it dreamier still.
Towards the end of the innings thrashing in Melbourne in the previous Ashes series, some England fans amused themselves by taunting the opposition with a variation of an old football chant. These days, asking "Are you [bottom-ranked Test side] Bangladesh in disguise?" is arguably more insulting to Bangladesh than Australia.
"England have outplayed Australia; they are just better. Australia have only one top player and that is Michael Clarke.
"The Australians need to bat as a six-man unit. They don't have a Bradman who can get 200 so it doesn't matter what the rest get."
Seven days ago, Australia were within a few Brad Haddin boundaries of going one up in this series. How long ago that now seems. If nails were bitten then, they are being hammered into the coffin now.
Only once have they come from 2-0 down to win an Ashes series, almost 80 years ago. On that occasion they had Don Bradman on their side. Now they have batsmen in their side who are barely as good as 1980s Essex journeyman Don Topley. Back then, they were also playing timeless Tests. Now they can't even get to five days.
There is another sporting song that is often used after such thrashings. The bad news for Australia is that England are already playing them almost every week.
Five-nil in this series is now a genuine possibility rather than provocation. Even if logic would suggest the odds are still against such record-breaking revenge, the gap between the two sides has been so pronounced that you wonder how much damage has also been done for the upcoming series down under.
Australia have problems with players in the team. They have problems with players not in the team. Their new coach can't improve them. Their old coach is suing them.
Wherever you look there are flaws, fault-lines and failures.
Young spinner Ashton Agar, having returned match figures on a turning pitch here of 0-142 and 2-248 in the series as a whole, has offered his captain neither control nor impact. The man he replaced, Nathan Lyon, is short of bowling and even shorter of confidence, having been given the heave-ho in favour of a 19-year-old kid who had been turning out for Henley Cricket Club.
675 runs v Australia, Brisbane, 1928
354 runs v Pakistan, Trent Bridge, 2010
347 runs v Australia, Lord's, 2013
338 runs v Australia, Adelaide, 1933
329 runs v Bangladesh, Chittagong, 2003
At the top of the order, Shane Watson is no longer so much a candidate for lbw as sworn in as president. For the third time in this series he was caught bang in front on Sunday; more than half his dismissals in Ashes Tests have now come this way. His opening partner Chris Rogers looks what he is - a decent second division county player who had to wait until he was 35 for his second Test for good reason.
Australia have now gone 10 Tests without a batsman in the top three making a century. To put the slump in further context, the last time that happened was between 1899 and 1902.
Phil Hughes, at four, has the stickability of rain on slate. Steve Smith, at six, is at least a place too high.
At this point you expect a team to turn to the next cab in line. Except gone are the days when Australia had batsmen of the quality of Michael Bevan and Stuart Law waiting patiently on the rank for a chance.
Simon Katich has been scoring runs in county cricket. But he is 37 and has been told by the chairman of selectors that he will never be picked again. Twice. Ricky Ponting? Ricky Ponting is retired. Australia might as well wish for Warnie and McGrath too.
The only man in the touring squad with credentials is David Warner, a player more suited to demolition derbies than taxi duties. But having failed to knock Joe Root out of the series with his nightclub haymaker last month, he has now also failed to score any runs on his rehab/exile in Zimbabwe.
31.16% of Shane Watson's Test dismissals have been lbw - more than any other batsman in Test history (minimum 70 dismissals). Ten of his 18 Ashes dismissals have been lbw.
On Sunday he was forced to issue a statement through Cricket Australia apologising for offensive tweets sent by his brother Steven, which not only cursed Watson but managed to create an entirely new sporting creature, the "escape goat". Cricket Australia might have complained, but it was too busy apologising for their own inadvertent offensive tweet the previous day. To call it chaos would be kind.
Even in England's negatives the home side can find positives. They are 2-0 up and running away with it despite four of their most reliable batsman being yet to make a substantial score between them,
Captain Alastair Cook has a series aggregate of 83, Kevin Pietersen 85. Jonathan Trott is averaging just 26, Matt Prior, their player of the year, a mere 13.
Pietersen's likely absence from the third Test is therefore hardly the blow it could once have been. The other three will surely improve. It's enough to scare Australian children to sleep.
Their bowling attack too leaves London in better shape than it left Nottingham. Tim Bresnan's accuracy and economy were an improvement on Steven Finn; Graeme Swann will continue to be given turning tracks and carry on making maximum use of them. While Agar has taken a wicket every 252 balls, at an average of 124, Swann has struck every 50 for 22.
English teams and supporters are unaccustomed to acting as favourites, as top dogs rather than underdogs.
They might have to get used to it.
