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The Bourbs Daily
Monday, July 20, 2026 🌤 86°/62° — Smoke
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Editor's Note
Morning, neighbor. Somehow it's already the twentieth of July — summer has a way of doing that. The corn's tall, the nights are still warm, and August is right around the bend. Before the season slips away, here's what's happening around K3 today.
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View all news articles →
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📅 Out & About in Kankakee County
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Genuinely quiet Monday: mostly library programs, a camp kickoff, and the usual round of village meetings. If you want to do something a little different, Willowhaven's got a $5 tracking walk at 11.
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★ Featured
11:00AM
Identifying Animal Tracks
Willowhaven Center
Willowhaven's naturalist walks you through spotting deer, coyote, and rabbit prints along the trail for $5. Worth knowing: an air quality alert is in effect for smoke today, so keep it short if you're sensitive to it.
ARTS
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Plan ahead
Clear some room on Friday: Merchant Street MusicFest takes over downtown Kankakee for three days of music, food, and vendors. See event
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See all 22 events on BradleyIllinois.com →
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📜 Dale's Corner
The Courthouse Clock
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The clock tower on the Kankakee County Courthouse has been visible from most of downtown Kankakee since 1912, and for decades it was one of the few public timepieces most people in the city could actually see. Before wristwatches were common, before every pocket held a phone, the courthouse tower told a significant portion of the population what time it was. Tower clocks in county courthouses served a genuinely functional civic role — they were the public standard, the timepiece against which everyone's watch was set. People with appointments, people catching trains, workers at the end of a shift — they all looked up at the same tower. The courthouse clock has been maintained and restored over the decades; it still runs. There's something worth noticing about civic infrastructure that was built to last more than a century and did. We don't build that way as often anymore, and it shows.
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A good neighbor notices when something changes — and says something.
— Dale
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🏛 This Week in Local Government
Monday's board meeting calendar is packed: Bradley's Village Board meets at 6:30 PM at the Municipal Building (147 S. Michigan Ave.) with one genuinely contested vote — a special use permit for used car sales at 260 N. Bradley Blvd. The Planning & Zoning Commission met July 7 and appears to have recommended denial; the agenda lists both a resolution denying (R-07-26-02) and an ordinance granting (O-07-26-02) the permit as alternatives, per the standard Illinois practice when a board may want to override its P&Z. Bradley also votes on disposal of surplus police property (O-07-26-01) and a new equipment purchase (R-07-26-01). Also Monday: Police Lt. Phil Trudeau is being recognized for 25 years of service. On Tuesday, the Kankakee County Board meets at 9:00 AM in the Administration Building (189 E. Court St., 4th floor). The main business is formalizing engineering contracts for three county bridge replacements — one on CH 53 (near St. Anne, with Gonzalez Companies using Bridge Funds) and two on CH 54 and CH 44 (Hampton, Lenzini & Renwick, using MFT funds) — all of which were advanced by the Highways committee in June. The board also votes on two ZBA cases: a rezoning from agriculture to rural estate near St. Anne (ZBA #26-04, Hoekstra Trust) and a special use permit for a church in Ganeer Township (ZBA #26-05). Also on the consent agenda: a roofing bid to Langlois Roofing Inc. for three county buildings, four polling place changes announced in June, and two salary-setting resolutions for the State's Attorney and Public Defender. Also Tuesday: Manteno's Plan Commission meets at 6:00 PM (Village Board Room, 211 N. Main St.) for a routine session — continued discussion of village growth, no public hearings.
From last week: Manteno's July 6 Village Board meeting confirmed Louis F. Cainkar's retention as village attorney via a Continuous Retention Letter, passing 4-1 (Crockett, Boudreau, Gesky, Zimbelman yes; Vaughn no; Barry abstained). The friction was intense: Mayor LaMore repeatedly asked Police Chief Swinford to remove Cainkar from the board seating area; Swinford declined each time. Both Cainkar and Brian Miller of the Vasselli firm ended up sitting at the board table simultaneously. LaMore's attorney from Vasselli Law is expected at the July 20 meeting. Two ordinances also passed: Ord 26-05 (rezoning and special use permit for 411 W. Division Street for Iroquois Mental Health's inpatient treatment facility — note: the agenda listed it as 'Ord 26-06' but the signed ordinance is numbered 26-05, resolving a numbering collision previously flagged in this digest) and Ord 26-08 (amendments to liquor license limits). At Kankakee City Council on July 6, the big vote passed: the council authorized the ~$89M state agreement to reconstruct the I-57/IL-17 interchange, with the city committing roughly $2M directly. Confirmed by radio coverage (WFAV/WVLI); official minutes not yet posted. Bourbonnais: for the second consecutive week, no meeting record has appeared on BoardDocs — the July 6 meeting (shifted to July 7 per the July 4 holiday) has not been posted as of Sunday, July 12. No agenda, no minutes, no action items.
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🏛 Bradley — CONTESTED: SUP for used car sales at 260 N. Bradley Blvd — board chooses between R-07-26-02 (deny, per P&Z recommendation) or O-07-26-02 (grant, overriding P&Z). P&Z met July 7 and appears to have recommended denial.
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🏛 Kankakee County — Res 100–102: Engineering agreements for three bridge replacements (CH 53 near St. Anne with Gonzalez Companies; CH 54 Ganeer Twp and CH 44 Bourbonnais Twp both with Hampton, Lenzini & Renwick) — all from the June Highways Committee
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🏛 Manteno — Cainkar Continuous Retention Letter PASSED 4-1 (Barry abstained). Chief Swinford refused LaMore's repeated requests to remove Cainkar from board seating. LaMore's attorney (Vasselli firm) sat at board table simultaneously with Cainkar.
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🏛 Kankakee — I-57/IL-17 interchange reconstruction agreement PASSED (~$89M total project; city commits ~$2M + ~$1.35M lighting/aesthetics). Confirmed by WFAV 95.1 / WVLI 92.7 coverage. Minutes not yet posted.
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🏛 Bourbonnais — ⚠ No meeting record posted on BoardDocs as of July 12 — second consecutive week with no Bourbonnais agenda or minutes. July 6 (1st Monday) shifted to July 7 (Tuesday) per July 4 holiday rule. Whether the meeting was held, cancelled, or simply not yet posted is unknown.
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See all board meetings →
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⛽ Cheapest Gas in K3 Today
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Casey's
— 12545 E State Route 1 17, Grant Park
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$3.79
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Casey's
— 417 W Walnut St, Watseka
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$3.85
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Phillips 66
— 750 W Walnut St, Watseka
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$3.85
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Prices sourced from GasBuddy and may be inaccurate or out of date — always confirm at the pump.
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