Free Republic

Will County billboards that warned motorists about bridges stoked public-safety fears and helped convince state lawmakers of the need to approve a $45 billion infrastructure plan. The billboards and their impact arguably deserve to rank among the top political stories of the year, if not the decade. Construction unions paid to display the messages “Cross bridge at your own risk” and “Bridge ahead in critical condition” on electronic billboards near Interstate 80 bridges over the Des Plaines River in Joliet. The billboards heightened motorists’ fears about crumbling infrastructure and generated bipartisan support for the $45 billion Rebuild Illinois program. Marc...

A cleanup crew working Wednesday afternoon on the Des Plaines River discovered badly decomposed human remains, igniting hope in the families of two missing Will County women that they might find closure. An autopsy will be performed Thursday on the unidentified remains found along the banks of the river near Channahon, just west of Interstate Highway 55, an area where searchers have looked for Stacy Peterson since she disappeared Oct. 28, 2007. Authorities would not discuss the condition of the remains, whether they were male or female, or if clothing was found on the body. Officials said there is no...

Some of the same investigators who have worked on two of Will County's most well-known missing persons cases have converged on skeletal remains found near the Des Plaines River near rural Channahon. Police say it's too early to say whether the body found is that of missing Plainfield mother Lisa Stebic or the wife of former Bolingbrook Police Sergeant Drew Peterson. Plainfield Police working the Lisa Stebic case are also at the scene. Police have cordoned off an area of the river under the Interstate-55 Bridge in southwest suburban Channahon. A blue tent has been set up on the banks...