|
The Bourbs Daily
Monday, August 10, 2026 ⛈ 86°/72° — Chance Showers And Thunderstorms
|
|
|
Editor's Note
Good Monday morning, neighbor. August 10 already. Two weeks from now, the school buses will be running again, and the lunch-packing assembly line restarts at households all across K3. Savor this one while you've got it.
|
| |
|
View all news articles →
|
|
📅 Out & About in Kankakee County
|
|
|
Monday's quiet after a big festival weekend. The flood watch lifts by daybreak but expect on and off storms through the afternoon, so keep it mostly indoors. The one thing worth circling: a touring ladies night show stops at River Rock for one night only.
|
|
|
★ Featured
7:00PM
Magic Hunks Australian Takeover at River Rock
River Rock Pub & Beer Garden
Girls Night Out The Show, a touring ladies night revue, brings its Magic Hunks Australian Takeover to River Rock Pub & Beer Garden on Route 17 in Kankakee at 7pm. It's a one night stop, not a standing gig, so this is the only shot at it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Throwback
The 88th annual Momence Gladiolus Festival, GladFest, wrapped up this weekend after three days of parades, a 5K, and a car show downtown. See event
|
|
|
See all 6 events on BradleyIllinois.com →
|
|
📜 Dale's Corner
The One-Room Schoolhouses
|
Before the school district consolidations of the 20th century, Kankakee County had dozens of one-room schoolhouses scattered across its townships — usually a single room, a wood stove, an outhouse, and a teacher who handled all eight grades simultaneously. The system worked better than it sounds. Older students helped younger ones, which reinforced their own learning. The teacher was often a young woman from the community, sometimes barely older than her oldest students. The schoolhouse also served as the community center between academic years — used for township meetings, elections, and social events. The consolidation movement that ran from the 1920s through the 1950s merged these small districts into larger township schools, which eventually became the modern district structure. Most of the one-room schoolhouses were torn down, repurposed as storage buildings, or converted to private homes. A few are still standing in rural parts of the county — usually recognizable by their size and their position set back at a crossroads. If you know what you're looking at, you can still find them.
|
|
|
Dale says: the last stretch of summer doesn't drag -- it sprints.
— Dale
|
|
🏛 This Week in Local Government
What your boards just did — and what they take up next.
Bradley's Monday night meeting is the most consequential the village has held in years.
|
Bradley · Village Board
|
MEETS TONIGHT — ON THE AGENDA Mon, Aug 10 · 6:30 PM Agenda →
| • |
🏊 MAJOR: R-08-26-01 — Contract award for SWPPP & Mass Grading Work on the Bradley Indoor Water Park Project — first construction-phase contract |
| • |
💰 Q-08-26-01 — Ordinance authorizing $9.75M draw-down line of credit from Midland States Bank for water park/parks bond program |
| • |
R-08-26-02 — Generator purchase and install at Fire Station #2 |
|
|
|
Manteno · Village Board
|
MET — OUTCOMES NOT YET POSTED Mon, Aug 3 Agenda →
| • |
🔴 Administrator Chris LaRocque SUSPENDED without pay (5 days) — Mayor LaMore announced at meeting's start; alleged LaRocque added 4 agenda items without her knowledge |
| • |
Four items stripped from agenda: Cainkar attorney motions (Old Business A, B), Klein Thorpe & Jenkins engagement (New Business B), Lee's Rental & Greene Forensic payments… |
| • |
Harbor House $36,840 donation proposal deferred to Finance Committee (Aug 17) |
|
|
COMING UP — ON THE AGENDA Mon, Aug 17 · 6:00 PM Agenda →
| • |
Finance Committee meets 5:00 PM — Harbor House donation ($36,840) on agenda |
| • |
LaRocque returns from suspension by Aug 11 — further personnel developments possible |
| • |
Attorney dispute: Vasselli complaint filing (expected by July 24) may have produced a new court date — watch for updates |
|
|
|
Bourbonnais · Village Board of Trustees
|
MET — OUTCOMES NOT YET POSTED Mon, Aug 3 Minutes →
| • |
Patrolman Thomas Martin sworn in — joins from Kankakee PD after 10 years; force now at 27 sworn officers (full capacity: 29) |
| • |
Chief Morefield expects another hire before end of August |
| • |
ORD 26-2557 (surplus property sale), RES 26-1648/49 (conference expenses) — routine items presumed adopted |
|
|
COMING UP — ON THE AGENDA Mon, Aug 17 · 5:30 PM Agenda →
| • |
3rd Monday regular meeting — agenda not yet posted |
| • |
Upcoming committee meetings: Community & Engagement (Aug 11), Administration (Aug 12), Finance (Aug 12) |
|
|
|
Kankakee County · County Board
|
COMING UP — ON THE AGENDA Tue, Aug 11 · 9:00 AM Agenda →
| • |
ZBA Case #26-06 — Final vote: Sunrise Farms A1→RE rezoning, Aroma Township (St. Anne area) |
| • |
ZBA Case #26-07 — Final vote: Text amendments to county zoning code, 8 sections |
| • |
County Highway 17 widening/resurfacing — federal-local agreement (Local Agency Agreement + matching funds) |
|
|
|
Kankakee · City Council
|
COMING UP — ON THE AGENDA Mon, Aug 17 · 7:00 PM Agenda →
| • |
3rd Monday regular session — agenda not yet posted |
| • |
Last confirmed action: FY2027 budget adopted July 20 ($39.3M, $527 surplus) |
|
|
See all board meetings →
|
|
|
🎓 This Week in Your Schools
School boards and parent groups — decisions made, and what is on deck.
Both Bradley-Bourbonnais and Kankakee hold regular board meetings Monday night, and between them they cover most of what a K3 family needs to know about the next two weeks. Kankakee SD 111 puts the calendar in writing — staff back August 13, students back August 17 — and asks the board to renew its contract with Gaggle, the service that monitors student accounts for safety.
|
BBCHS SD 307 · Board of Education
|
WHAT HAPPENED Mon, Jul 13 Minutes →
| • |
Health insurance renewal approved 6-0 — the district negotiated the renewal down 3% and, by agreement with the union, eliminated the highest-cost PPO Buy Up plan, saving… |
| • |
New 2026-27 classroom resources approved 6-0: a World History/Civics supplement, an AP Seminar monitoring platform, updated World History classroom sets with at-home online… |
| • |
AP results reported: the pass rate sits at 65%, up since Title I began covering the cost of every AP exam in 2022-23. |
|
|
MEETS TONIGHT — ON THE AGENDA Mon, Aug 10 · 6:00 PM Agenda →
| • |
The FY27 tentative budget goes on public display for 30 days, with the formal budget hearing proposed for Monday, September 14 at 6:00 p.m. |
| • |
A batch of PRESS Issue 122 policy updates goes on 30-day review — including public participation at board meetings, convicted sex offender screening and notification, and… |
| • |
Consent agenda: fall and winter/spring coaching stipend schedules, a paraprofessional hire, eight coaching and sponsor appointments, and four resignations from… |
|
|
|
Kankakee SD 111 · Board of Education
|
MET — OUTCOMES NOT YET POSTED Mon, Jul 27 Agenda →
| • |
A partnership with the Kankakee County Health Department on its Choosing the Best Life program was on the agenda. |
| • |
Also up for a vote: a band and orchestra instrument purchase from King Music, and disposal of surplus equipment at Proegler. |
| • |
The consent agenda carried a heavy personnel load — appointments, internal appointments, leaves of absence, resignations and retirements, terminations, and another round of… |
|
|
MEETS TONIGHT — ON THE AGENDA Mon, Aug 10 · Closed session 6:00 PM (Room 217); regular session 7:00 PM (Auditorium) Agenda →
| • |
Calendar notes put the year in writing: staff return Thursday, August 13; the first day of school is Monday, August 17; the board holds a retreat August 22 and meets again… |
| • |
Two contract renewals are up for a vote — Rise & Thrive Wellness for art therapy services, and Gaggle, the platform that monitors student accounts for safety concerns. |
| • |
The board is also asked to authorize payment of a fine tied to a Statement of Economic Interests filing. |
|
|
|
Bradley SD 61 · School Board
|
COMING UP — ON THE AGENDA Thu, Aug 13 · 7:00 PM Agenda →
| • |
Bradley's board meets in its standing second-Thursday slot at the district office — the first meeting of the 2026-27 school year. |
| • |
No agenda was available as of Sunday night: the district's BoardDocs portal returned an empty public meetings list all weekend, so we could not confirm what is on it. |
| • |
SD 61 runs policy reviews on a 30-day cycle under Old Business and handles pay rates, staffing and contracts under New Business. |
|
|
|
Bourbonnais SD 53 · Board of Education
|
COMING UP — ON THE AGENDA Tue, Aug 18 · 7:00 PM Agenda →
| • |
First board meeting of the school year — and note the date. The district's published 2026-27 calendar puts this one on the third Tuesday, not the fourth. |
| • |
SD 53 last met June 23 and scheduled no July meeting, so this is the board's first business since spring. |
| • |
The rest of the year: September 22, October 27, November 17, December 15, then January 26, February 23, March 16, April 27, May 25 and June 22. |
|
|
|
Manteno CUSD 5 · Board of Education
|
COMING UP — ON THE AGENDA Tue, Aug 25 · 6:30 PM Agenda →
| • |
Manteno's board meets the week after school starts — its first meeting since June 16. |
| • |
Before then: staff return and district-wide open houses on Monday, August 17 (elementary 4:30-6:30, middle school 5:00-7:00, high school 5:30-7:30), an institute day August… |
| • |
The agenda folder for August 25 is up on the district site but the agenda PDF had not been posted as of Sunday night. |
|
|
|
Bourbonnais Elementary PTA
|
COMING UP — ON THE AGENDA Tue, Aug 11 · 7:00 PM
| • |
First PTA meeting of the school year, and the earliest school meeting of anybody on this list — Tuesday night, a week before the SD 53 board convenes. |
| • |
The 2026-27 schedule after this: September 1, October 6, November 3, December 1, February 2, March 2, April 6 and May 4, all 7:00 p.m. at the BUGC multi-purpose room. |
| • |
Stock the Fridge is running now — each BESD 53 building has its own signup to stock the teachers' lounge as staff come back to set up classrooms. |
|
|
See all school board meetings →
|
|
|
⛽ Cheapest Gas in K3 Today
| 🥇 |
Murphy USA
— 507 Riverstone Parkway, Kankakee
|
$4.05
|
|
| 🥈 |
Murphy Express
— 2094 North Il Route 50, Bourbonnais
|
$4.05
|
|
| 🥉 |
Phillips 66
— 750 W Walnut St, Watseka
|
$4.05
|
|
Prices sourced from GasBuddy and may be inaccurate or out of date — always confirm at the pump.
|
|
|
🎁 Know someone who'd love The Bourbs?
Share your personal link below. The reader who refers the most friends wins a $25 gift card. Contest ends July 31.
Share Your Referral Link →
You've referred {{ contact.REFERRAL_COUNT }} people •
See Leaderboard
|
|
|
The Bourbs • Kankakee County, IL
News Archive •
All Events •
Past Issues •
Submit a Tip
Full disclosure: Dale's got an AI sidekick helping him pull this together every morning. We do our best, but if something looks off, holler at us.
You signed up for this at bradleyillinois.com •
Unsubscribe
|
|