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The Bourbs Daily
Monday, September 7, 2026 ☀ 81°/58° — Mostly Sunny
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Editor's Note
Well, here we are -- the last Monday of summer, officially. Labor Day has a way of sneaking up on you, doesn't it? One minute it's the Fourth of July and you're eating a hot dog in the backyard, and the next thing you know the kids are back in school and the stores are putting out Halloween candy. That's just how it goes around here. Wherever you're spending today -- grilling out, heading to a parade, or just keeping it slow on the front porch -- I hope it's a good one. The Bourbs will be right here when you need us.
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📅 Out & About in Kankakee County
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It's Labor Day, so Village of Bradley offices are closed and the calendar's thin. If you need to get the little ones out of the house, there's a dollar-a-kid toddler play session, and there's varsity and college soccer on tap tonight in Manteno and Bourbonnais.
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★ Featured
12:00PM
Toddler Play Days
Recreation Station
Recreation Station, Bourbonnais Township Park District's (BTPD) indoor play space on Franklin Street in Bradley, is running its $1 drop-in toddler play session from noon to 2pm. Good option for a holiday with the kids home.
FAMILY
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ALL DAY
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Sep 7
Olivet Nazarene University
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Throwback
The Kankakee River Valley Regatta wrapped up its championship races on the river yesterday, closing out a busy holiday weekend around the county. See event
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Plan ahead
Clear your Friday evening -- the Two Rivers Fall Festival kicks off in Aroma Park with live music and runs into Saturday with a classic car show, craft vendors, and a petting zoo. See event
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See all 14 events on BradleyIllinois.com →
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📜 Dale's Corner
The Civil War and Kankakee County
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Kankakee County was only eight years old when the Civil War began in 1861, but it sent men to the Union Army in significant numbers for a county of its size. Illinois infantry and cavalry units organized in the region included men from Kankakee County communities — from Kankakee city, from Bradley, from the rural townships. The county's population in 1860 was around 12,000. Sending several hundred men to a years-long war — with the casualty rates of Civil War combat — was a substantial sacrifice. Some came back changed in ways their families had no framework to understand. Others didn't come back at all. The veterans who returned participated in the Grand Army of the Republic, the Union veterans' organization that was the dominant civic force in post-Civil War American communities. GAR posts were established in Kankakee County communities, and their members shaped local politics and civic life through the 1880s and 1890s. The county's Civil War dead are in the courthouse records and in the small rural cemeteries where government-issue marble markers still stand in the corners of farm fields.
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Hard work is its own reward, but a day off every now and then doesn't hurt either.
— Dale
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🏛 This Week in Local Government
What your boards just did — and what they take up next.
All five local governments hold their September meetings on Tuesday, September 8 — Labor Day shifts every board to Tuesday. Bourbonnais takes up a cannabis tax, a major I-57 interchange development, and two TIF contracts that could pass the same night.
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Essex · Village Board
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MET — OUTCOMES NOT YET POSTED Thu, Sep 3 Agenda →
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Essex Village Board met September 3 — no agenda was posted online |
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A video recording (27 min 52 sec) was shared by community member Nicole Shores on the "Little town of Essex 2.0" Facebook group; key items have not been text-extracted this… |
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The board's data center ethics opinion (March 2026) and a Professional Fee Agreement (July 2026) are among the most recent public posts on the village website |
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COMING UP — ON THE AGENDA Thu, Oct 1 · 6:00 PM Agenda →
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Agenda not yet posted — next regular meeting is the 1st Thursday of October |
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See all board meetings →
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⛽ Cheapest Gas in K3 Today
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Gulf
— 1184 N Convent St, Bourbonnais
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$3.97
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Love's Travel Stop
— 3407 S State Rd, Kankakee
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$3.99
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Circle K
— 1090 Main St NW, Bourbonnais
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$3.99
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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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