Kewanee and Rock Falls have both made the Smart Asset list of the most affordable places to live in Illinois. Mark LoCastro, spokesman for Smart Asset tells WKEI that their affordability studied factored in 5 criteria regarding all cities in Illinois. 1 Average Closing Cost on a Home, 2 Annual Property Tax, 3 Annual Homeowners Insurance, 4 Average Annual Mortgage Payment, and 5 Median Income. Mark explains how each of these factors determined the Affordability Index. By the numbers, Kewanee had an Average Closing Cost of $2710.

The Henry County Senior Citizen Center is encouraging anyone 60 years or older to take advantage of their home delivered meal program. Right now, due to COVID-19, the Senior Center is closed and unable to hold the daily meals and weekly dinners the Center is known for. So they are getting the word out again that Home Delivered Meals are still available and there are no restrictions or qualifications for people over 60 to meet in order to receive a Home Delivered Meal. All your have to do is call the Senior Center to get added to a Home Delivered Meal route.

The Kewanee Prairie Chicken Arts Festival will happen in 2020 in a whole new way. Dianne Packee and Diedre Scott, two of the organizers of the event, joined WKEI on People to People on Thursday to detail how events will unfold and how people can get involved while maintaining social distance and adhering the to the Phased Re-Opening plan in Illinois. Events will first highlight several local citizens via the Kewanee Prairie Chicken Arts Festival Facebook page. Caricaturist Tyler Johnson is hard at work on caricatures of 6 Kewanee citizens of note, the first of which was revealed this morning with a caricature of Bob Neirynck.

There will be a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest on Saturday in Kewanee. The protest gets underway at 1 Pm at Kewanee City Hall and will travel to Northeast Park where a demonstration will be held in which everyone in attendance will be invited to lie face down for 9 minutes in memory of the final moments in the life of George Floyd. Kewanee Mayor Gary Moore spoke to WKEI about the peaceful protest and states that he will be at the protest and supports the cause. Our conversation turned to discussing the Mayor's history as a member of the Kewanee Police Department and efforts toward reforms in policing in general.

Like many places across the state of Illinois, Bishop Hill is making a comeback. That said, being heavily reliant on tourist trade and being closed from tourists since the start of the Shelter at Home orders in March has been hard on the finances and funding of Bishop Hill. The continuing uncertainty over when Bishop Hill can return to hosting the gatherings that are the lifeblood of Bishop Hill means relying on bringing people to the newly re-opened parks, historic sites and restaurants in Bishop Hill which are all now open and eager for visitors.

McDonough County Sheriff Nick Petitgout called WLMD's Mid Morning in Macomb to talk about the courthouse reopening and other topics related to the loosening of restrictions.

Sauk Talk with Dallas and Dana by Regional Media

With the beginning of Summer it's important to remember to be prepared in case of severe weather. Ameren Illinois is reaching out across the state with reminders about being prepared for a storm. On this edition of People to People we talked with Daetta Jones, a spokesperson for Ameren Illinois, about best practices for being prepared for a storm. We also talked about how Ameren crews prepare and respond in emergencies and how COVID-19 has effected that response.

Princeton Mayor Joel Quiram visited with Wake Up Princeton host Paul Bomleny on WZOE and princetonnewsnow.com recently. The mayor is pleased with how the Phase 3 reopening has been going since it went into effect last Friday. He says many restaurants on Main Street now have tables on the sidewalk that they’ve never had before. He says restaurant owners, staff and customers have been very cooperative and positive and they were all very busy. He says hopefully we’ll be ready to move into Phase 4 by the end of June. He also noted that Bureau County has gone at least two weeks without a new confirmed case of COVID-19. The county’s total is at 15. Quiram called the weekend fire at Tanks pet shop and two adjoining businesses “very unfortunate” and commended the Princeton Fire Department for containing it so quickly. The mayor is concerned that the riots occurring around the nation are “moving out to rural America”, citing recent unrest in Davenport and Peoria. Mayor Quiram says Princeton residents need to “stay vigilant and stay positive” and reminds everyone to continue to follow CDC guidelines.

Sterling Mayor Lee and City Manager Schumard by Regional Media