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The Bourbs Daily
Monday, October 26, 2026 ☀ 70°/48° — Partly Sunny
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Editor's Note
Good morning, Kankakee County. It's the Monday before Halloween, and this week has a little something for just about everyone.
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View all news articles →
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📅 Out & About in Kankakee County
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It's the Monday before Halloween week really gets going, and it's a quiet one. Today's the last day to enter Bradley's home decorating contest, and if you're downtown Kankakee tonight, Merchant Street Art Gallery's got grown-up Halloween with fall hats.
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★ Featured
8:00AM
7th Annual Halloween Home Decorating Contest
Village Hall, 147 S. Michigan Ave.
Today's the last day to enter the Village of Bradley's 7th annual Halloween decorating contest -- drop your entry form at Village Hall or email it in. Judging is Friday, winners announced Monday.
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★ Also Featured
7:00PM
Flashy Fall Hats
Merchant Street Art Gallery
Merchant Street Art Gallery, the downtown Kankakee gallery that showcases work by artists with autism, hosts Flashy Fall Hats tonight -- a Halloween-season night built around hats. There's a cost to attend.
ARTS
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2:00PM
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Lunch and Learn FREE
Kankakee Public Library - 3rd Floor Meeting Room
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6:00PM
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Lego Night FREE
Edward Chipman Public Library
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Throwback
The weekend wrapped up KVTA's run of Arsenic and Old Lace, and trunk-or-treat season hit full swing across the county. See event
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Plan ahead
Halloween itself lands Saturday. Bradley's trick-or-treat hours are set -- check them now so you're not scrambling Saturday afternoon. See event
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See all 30 events on BradleyIllinois.com →
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📜 Dale's Corner
Halloween in Kankakee County
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Halloween in the small towns of Kankakee County is a different event than Halloween in a suburb. In a place where people know their neighbors, where the same families have lived on the same streets for 30 years, trick-or-treating has a character to it that's harder to find in places where turnover is high and nobody knows whose porch light to trust. The organized events have gotten bigger in recent years — Halloween Downtown in Kankakee has turned into an afternoon of games, music, vendors, and a trunk-or-treat, and Bradley has done a trick-or-treat along West Broadway. It's a street event rather than just a door-to-door circuit. The park districts do Halloween programming. The libraries do story hours with costumes. It's become a community event in a way it maybe wasn't 20 years ago. But the neighborhood version — the porch lights on in the dark, the kids in the cold going house to house, the parents following a half-step behind with a flashlight — is still the real one. The neighborhoods in older Bradley and Bourbonnais where the streets are grid-pattern and the houses are close together and everyone knows the people two doors down are the best neighborhoods to be in on the 31st. If you moved here from somewhere where nobody knew their neighbors, Halloween in a tight-knit county neighborhood might surprise you. People here actually open the door.
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Halloween sneaks up on you every year, doesn't it? You tell yourself you'll be ready early, and then suddenly it's October 26th and you're sorting candy options at the grocery store. But that's part of the fun. The neighborhoods around here do Halloween right — front porches lit up, kids actually out walking the streets, whole blocks turning into something special for one night. Enjoy it while the little ones still think it's magic.
— Dale
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🏛 This Week in Local Government
What your boards just did — and what they take up next.
Bradley's board voted on site concrete & paving for the Indoor Waterpark project Monday evening. Two Manteno Committee of the Whole sessions meet Tuesday Oct. 27 at 7 AM — Public Works will discuss pickleball court lights at Thies Park.
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Bradley · Village Board
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MET — OUTCOMES NOT YET POSTED Mon, Oct 26 Agenda →
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R-10-26-03 — Resolution Accepting Bid for site concrete & paving (Indoor Waterpark project) was on the agenda |
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Regular 4th-Monday Village Board meeting occurred Monday evening; minutes not yet posted |
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COMING UP — ON THE AGENDA Mon, Nov 9 · 6:30 PM
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Next regular Village Board meeting — 4th Monday of November |
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Agenda not yet posted |
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Manteno · Village Board
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MET — OUTCOMES NOT YET POSTED Mon, Oct 19
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Ordinance 26-10 — Surplus Property Sale was on the agenda |
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Annual audit presentation by Carmen Huizenga; bill payment of $191,575.06 on the agenda |
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Minutes not yet posted; Oct. 5 minutes now available at villageofmanteno.com |
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COMING UP — ON THE AGENDA Tue, Oct 27 · 7:00 AM Agenda →
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TOMORROW 7 AM — Committee of the Whole (Public Works): Pickleball court lights at Thies Park discussion |
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TOMORROW 7 AM — Committee of the Whole (General Government / Safety): General discussion |
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Village Board meets next Monday Nov. 2 (1st-Monday regular meeting) |
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Bourbonnais · Village Board
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MET — OUTCOMES NOT YET POSTED Mon, Oct 19
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3rd-Monday Village Board meeting occurred; minutes not yet posted |
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Walk to End Polio proclamation (Rotary International) and routine accounts payable were on the agenda |
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COMING UP — ON THE AGENDA Wed, Oct 28 · 5:30 PM
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Community & Economic Development Committee meets Wednesday Oct. 28 |
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Village Board regular meeting follows Monday Nov. 2 (1st Monday) |
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Kankakee · City Council
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WHAT HAPPENED Mon, Oct 19
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APPROVED: Appointment of Garrick Kasper as Fire Chief |
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PASSED: ECDA Rental Rehab / Moderate-Income Housing Rehab policy amendments |
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APPROVED: Engineering agreement for Cobb Blvd sidewalk, St. Joseph Ave, and Harbor St improvements |
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COMING UP — ON THE AGENDA Mon, Nov 2 · 6:00 PM
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Next regular City Council meeting — 1st Monday of November |
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Agenda not yet posted |
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Kankakee County · Board of Review
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COMING UP — ON THE AGENDA Tue, Oct 27 · 8:45 AM Agenda →
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TOMORROW — Board of Review: State exemption applications, certificates of error, 2026 property tax appeals |
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No full County Board meeting until November |
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Essex · Village Board
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COMING UP — ON THE AGENDA Thu, Nov 5 · 5:30 PM
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Next regular Village Board meeting — 1st Thursday of November |
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Agenda not yet posted; October meeting minutes not yet available |
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See all board meetings →
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🎓 This Week in Your Schools
School boards and parent groups — decisions made, and what is on deck.
Three K3 school board meetings were held since last week, all with outcomes still pending. BBCHS SD 307 held its regular board meeting Oct. 13 (6:00 PM, 700 W. North St., Bradley): PSI consultant John Palan presented the superintendent candidate profile.
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Bourbonnais SD 53 · Board of Education
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MET — OUTCOMES NOT YET POSTED Tue, Sep 22 Agenda →
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FY27 budget hearing and adoption vote (item 7.01) — outcomes not yet confirmed |
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Termination of Dawn Pacheco on consent |
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PRESS Plus 122 policy package on second reading |
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Bradley SD 61 · School Board
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MET — OUTCOMES NOT YET POSTED Thu, Oct 15 Agenda →
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Girls Wrestling Co-op agreement — Bradley joining inaugural IESA girls state series |
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2027-28 school calendar adopted |
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Policy 5.330 final adoption (3rd reading) |
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BBCHS SD 307 · Board of Education
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MET — OUTCOMES NOT YET POSTED Tue, Oct 13 Agenda →
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PSI / John Palan presented superintendent candidate profile (item 3) |
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Austin Spacht hired: Head Boys Wrestling Coach |
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Nathan Bisping resignation (bus driver); Pam Mahler retirement (security) |
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Kankakee SD 111 · Board of Education
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MET — OUTCOMES NOT YET POSTED Tue, Oct 13 Agenda →
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AFL-CIO Building Trades one-year contract extension |
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Schneider Electric LED lighting upgrade district-wide |
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Policy 5:32 Travel Allowance second reading |
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Manteno CUSD 5 · Board of Education
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MET — OUTCOMES NOT YET POSTED Tue, Sep 29 Agenda →
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FY27 Budget hearing and adoption vote — outcome not yet confirmed |
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Illuminate Financial Consultants Agreement (new vendor) |
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HS Graduation and Senior Awards Night dates FY27 approved |
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See all school board meetings →
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⛽ Cheapest Gas in K3 Today
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BP
— 300 South Dixie Hwy, Saint Anne
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$4.73
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Casey's
— 110 S Dixie Hwy, St Anne
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$4.73
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Shell
— 244 N Locust St, Manteno
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$4.79
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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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Edited and published by Stan Gromer • The Bourbs, independent local news for Kankakee County •
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