Friday, September 26, 2025

Sprout Foods is expanding its recall of baby food pouches due to lead concerns,  It’s recalling additional lots of Sprout Organics Sweet Potato Apple and Spinach pouches.  The baby food comes in three-and-a-half ounce pouches.  Sprout initiated the recall after it found elevated levels of lead during routine testing.  The product was sold online or at Walgreens in 28 states including Illinois.  The CDC says there are no safe levels of lead and that even low blood levels can cause developmental delays, difficulty learning and behavioral issues in children.

Drought concerns are growing again across the area. The latest map just released Thursday by the US Drought Monitor has the entirety of Kankakee, Will, Grundy and Livingston Counties listed as “abnormally dry”. Meanwhile, 27 percent of Iroquois County is listed as in “moderate drought”, up from just four percent last week, with the rest of the county listed as abnormally dry. Just over half of Ford County is considered to be in moderate drought, the same as the numbers from last week.

Drought concerns are creeping into northwest Indiana as well with 16 percent of Benton County listed as in moderate drought, 70 percent abnormally dry and the other 14 percent without any drought concerns at all. Meanwhile just over half of Newton County is listed as “abnormally dry” with the rest of that county and the entirety of Jasper County without any drought concerns whatsoever. Thursday’s map includes data gathered by the US Drought Monitor through Tuesday of this week.

The Village of Bourbonnais’ Sesquicentennial celebrations continue this weekend with French Heritage Day at the Grove behind Village Hall. Village Marketing and Public Engagement Manager Lindy Casey says a full day of activities starts at 9 Saturday morning

Casey says admission and parking are free. You can get complete details on the Village of Bourbonnais’ website or its Facebook Page.

It’s another weekend around Kankakee County and Nicole Gavin, Executive Director of Visit Kankakee County says there’s plenty to keep you busy around the county this weekend.

Kankakee City Police are looking for a man who allegedly punched a security guard at a local hospital. According to reports, it was about 7 Wednesday night when officers were called to the hospital in the 500 block of West Court Street, where the security guard said he’d been called to escort a man from the building for being disorderly. While removing the man, the victim told police he punched him and spat on him. City Police are looking for the alleged offender.

Kankakee City Police are investigating after he said he was jumped and stabbed by three men in the 800 block of East Bourbonnais street last night. It was just after 10:30 last night when officers were called to a home in the 300 bock of North Wall, where the victim told them he’d been walking n the 800 bock of East Bourbonnais about 9:30 when he was jumped by the trio who tried to steal his cell phone. He said one of the three stabbed him in the shoulder. The man was taken to the hospital to be treated for injuries. City police are looking for his assailants.

Rensselaer Indiana Police report an arrest in connection with an alleged battery back in August. In a press release, Rensselaer Police say it was about 1:30 in the morning on Saturday August 30th when they were called to the 600 block of Dean’s Place where a man told them he’d been hit in the head and neck with a baseball bat. The victim said he knew the man who allegedly battered him. An arrest warrant was issued for 30-year-old Robert Ward of Rensselaer, who was arrested Tuesday night following a traffic stop. He was booked into the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office on battery charges

Oktoberfest kicked off last night in the Village of Manteno. Eric Urbanowski is president of the Manteno Chamber of Commerce and Chair of the Oktoberfest Committee, he says Oktoberfest is a great way to bring the community together

Oktoberfest runs through Sunday in downtown Manteno.