WJBD-FM (Salem, IL)

Article Summary Gov. JB Pritzker met with Pope Leo XIV in Rome on Wednesday, with the two discussing the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration raids. Both have been outspoken critics of the treatment of immigrants in the United States.

A 30-year-old Centralia man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for attempted kidnapping at the St. Mary’s School playground in April of this year. Deairius Bennett of South Cherry came to the playground area of St. Mary’s School and pointed to a specific child and told Principal Maria Pryor that was his son, and he was there to pick him up. When told he did not have a child at the school, Bennett claimed to be the archbishop.

A 37-year-old Belleville man has been charged in Marion County Court with home invasion, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, aggravated domestic battery, and domestic battery to a Centralia woman. DeAndre Brown was ordered without bond during his first appearance in Marion County Court Wednesday afternoon due to the violent nature of the case. The series of events began about 2:30 Tuesday morning when the victim’s ex-boyfriend after at her home and began pounding on the door.

Four people were injured in a two-car crash on East Main Street in front of Salem Bowl early Wednesday evening. Salem Police say 48-year-old Lori Arnold of Apple Road in Iuka was traveling eastbound on Main and made a left hand turn into Salem Bowl in front of a westbound car driven by 18-year-old Tanner Ruscher of North Broadway in Salem. The two cars collided nearly head on. The Ruscher vehicle came to rest in the ditch on the north side of the road.

A 67-year-old Salem man has been arrested by Salem Police on an outstanding Marion County no bond felony failure to appear warrant. Jerry Russell of Glenwood Drive was taken to the Marion County Jail. Salem Police arrested 27-year-old Zoie Bryant of Markland Drive for misdemeanor retail theft at the Salem Walmart Store. She was taken to the Marion County Jail and later released on a notice to appear in court.

(NEW YORK) — A top ICE official struggled to answer questions about Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s potential deportation during an evidentiary hearing on Thursday, and admitted that someone else helped draft his sworn declaration submitted in the case. John Cantu was called to testify about why the government is not planning to deport Abrego Garcia to Costa Rica and is instead preparing to remove him to the West African nation of Liberia.

Cynthia Erivo has made her first public comments regarding the Nov. 13 incident in which Ariana Grande was accosted by an online prankster during the Wicked:For Good premiere in Singapore. Erivo told Savannah Guthrie on NBC’s Today show Thursday why she stepped between the man, Johnson Wen, and her co-star Grande, and physically pulled him off her before security took him away. “I was really thinking, I just wanted to make sure my friend was safe,” Erivo told Guthrie.

(LOUISVILLE, Ky.) — Newly released photos included in a National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report on the deadly UPS plane crash in Louisville show the moment the aircraft’s left engine came off during takeoff and ignited. Federal investigators are focusing on metal fatigue cracks around the engine of the UPS plane that crashed on Nov. 5, killing 14 people, according to a new report by the NTSB.

(WASHINGTON) — As the Justice Department’s criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey looks increasingly imperiled, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Lindsey Halligan and other DOJ officials are leveling unusual public attacks at the judge overseeing the case by mischaracterizing comments he made at a Wednesday hearing.

Nate Smith and Tyler Hubbard are getting to work to promote their new collaboration, “After Midnight.” Though it will technically take place before the clock strikes 12, Nate and Tyler are taking over Mel’s Drive-In in Downtown Nashville on Thursday night. From kitchen to table service, the two are ready to sling some hash to draw attention to their new song, even hawking a half-price pancake special as an extra incentive.