The Will County Board voted almost unanimously Thursday to increase the speed limit by 5 mph on Laraway Road.

Banning video gaming in Will County will keep union laborers from working and much-needed road and bridge improvements from being done, union representatives said Wednesday night.

An election board next month will hear objections to nominating petitions of three local judicial candidates. The candidates, running in the Feb. 2 primary next year, are seeking judge positions in the 12th Judicial Circuit, covering Will County.

A man claiming to be armed robbed a Joliet bank Thursday morning. At 10:20 a.m., the bandit walked into the Merchants and Manufacturers Bank, 601 E. Cass St., and approached a teller.

Larry's Diner typically does a brisk business. But on Thanksgiving, when most people eat at home, Larry's is busiest of all. That's because senior citizens can eat a holiday feast for free that day. This Thanksgiving, restaurant owner Kostas Alexopoulos, his family and staff will host the 16th annual dinner. People 62 and older will dine for free from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the restaurant, on the corner of Lockport Street and Van Dyke Road in Plainfield.

Gov. Pat Quinn said Thursday that a tax increase he proposed earlier in the year would be the best way to help the Fox Valley's social services, some of whom have not received any state money in five months.

The Will County Board unanimously approved a 2010 budget Thursday. The county board had to grapple with huge projected deficits early in the budgeting process. But the final document is balanced.

Two Cook County state's attorney's investigators have been fired after a prisoner escaped from their custody — discipline that one of their attorneys is calling "an overreaction."

There's quite a buzz developing about the Bolingbrook Park District's Hidden Oaks Nature Center. That's because bee hives may be coming. The president of a honeybee farm is negotiating with the park district to use bee hives for environmental, educational and business reasons at the center.

At 10 a.m. Saturday the Lockport Township Fire Protection District will take on the Crest Hill Police Department in a basketball game at Richland Grade School, 1919 Caton Farm Road. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics.

The state liquor commission wants cities to follow the example of Yorkville, Geneva and Naperville and require training for anyone serving, distributing or otherwise selling alcohol.

The city council meeting began with Crest Hill Mayor Ray Soliman stating his apology to the city for his use of the mayor's petty cash. "I made a mistake and I sincerely apologize for any embarrassment I brought to the city," Soliman said.

The idea of armed police officers walking through grade-school corridors didn't sit well with many educators in the 1980s. Police officers weren't too keen on the idea, either. But both sides agreed to try it, and in 1986, the first Drug Abuse Resistance Education programs began in Illinois.

The Homer Glen Village Board promised a roomful of residents Monday night that it will suspend any further action on a proposed park purchase until it can get more answers for them.

The city will stop curbside leaf pickups in specially designated areas Monday. The program allows Joliet residents in those areas to rake leaves to the roadside for pickup.