WCBU - Site Search | WCBU Peoria

Peoria Police Chief Eric Echevarria points to improved community relations and better policing technology among the reasons for the department's success in reducing homicides and shooting incidents in 2022.

Q&A: Peoria Police Chief Echevarria discusses 2022 drops in homicides, gun violence

In a conversation with WCBU reporter Joe Deacon, Peoria Police Chief Eric Echevarria discusses the year-to-year reduction in homicides and gun crimes, and the department's efforts to continue those downward trends.

District 150 board forges ahead on search for superintendent

Peoria School District 150 board members could begin interviewing candidates for a superintendent as soon as February. A consultant from the Illinois…

Q&A: How can Peoria get a fire chief to stay for the long term?

Since Kent Tomblin left in 2016, four men have served as Peoria Fire Chief – none of them for longer than two years. City Manager Patrick Urich discusses his intent to fill the vacancy with someone who plans on an extended stay.

People looking for a last minute Valentine's Day gift can name a cockroach after their partner, or their ex, at the Peoria Zoo.

'It’s just for those out-there kind of people': Peoria Zoo offers love bugs for Valentine’s Day

The zoo brought back its cockroach-naming program this holiday season, giving a last-minute alternative to the typical Valentine's Day gifts.

Tower Society

The Penguin Players take flight at ICC with 'Back to the 80’s'

On this week’s episode of Out and About Ryann Pugh and Marie Nelson join host Jenn Gordon to talk about The Penguin Players upcoming production of “Back to the 80’s”. The Penguin Players is an extension of The Penguin Project, a national non-profit organization founded by Dr. Andrew Morgan in Peoria, Illinois with the vision of creating unrestricted access for children with special needs to the performing arts. The Penguin Players provides performing opportunities for adults who have aged out of The Penguin Project. Performances will take place at the ICC Performing Arts Center on August 19 through August 21. For tickets and information visit https://icc.edu/arts/.

In this image provided by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, this March 13, 2020, photo, shows a vial of purified water that was seized on March 20, 2020, in Los Angeles. Federal officials say the COVID-19 outbreak has unleashed a wave of fraud. An arm of the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, has opened more than 300 cases in recent weeks that include counterfeit products and medicines as well as fake tests for the virus. (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via AP)

Illinois Attorney General: Center for COVID Control pop-up testing sites will remain closed 'for the foreseeable future'

The Illinois Attorney General's Office says the Center for COVID Control will postpone the reopening of any of its pop-up testing locations around the state "for the foreseeable future."

Medical marijuana cultivation center opens in Delavan

A medical marijuana cultivation center officially opened its doors for business in Delevan Friday. Revolution Enterprises held a ribbon cutting in front…

Black drivers are 6 times more likely than whites to be pulled over by police in Peoria. It's part of a larger statewide trend

Black and Latino drivers in the city of Peoria are disproportionately more likely to get pulled over by police than white motorists.

Detective Christina Chavez (left) with Sergeant Amy Dotson of the Peoria Police Department

Female officers make up just 12.5% of total commissioned officers at the Peoria Police Department

Across the country, the staffing divide between men and women in law enforcement has consistently been large, with women historically making up a distinct minority of people in the field. In fact, women make up only 13% of full-time police officers across the United States.

Search results for