The Delavan City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve Mayor Adam White’s recommendation to retain the McGrath Law Firm—based in Morton and Mackinaw—as the city’s new legal counsel. The decision fills the vacancy left after former City Attorney William Connor resigned last month following closed‑door deliberations by the council.

The cost of the new firm drew attention during the meeting. Alderman Douglas Bury asked for clarification on the firm’s hourly rates and expressed concern after learning the city will be billed between $180 and $265 per hour, depending on which member of the firm handles the work.

“Just so everybody knows, we were paying Bill’s team $75 an hour, so this is a substantial increase,” Bury said. Under the new arrangement, Delavan will pay more than double for paralegal services alone compared to what it previously paid for attorney time under Connor’s contract. “You get what you pay for,” White said, noting the firm’s broader resources and municipal experience.

Despite the higher cost, no aldermen opposed the hiring. Several members indicated that the city’s recent administrative challenges—including the prospect of a new TIF district and infrastructure issues—made it important to secure reliable legal support.

The council did not discuss the circumstances surrounding Connor’s departure, which occurred after an executive session last month. The McGrath Law Firm is expected to begin work immediately, including advising the city on ongoing personnel and governance matters.

Delavan’s Wikipedia page was hijacked earlier this year by an anonymous user operating under the handle ~2026‑14607‑89, resulting in a series of bizarre and misleading edits that remain publicly visible as of press time.

The vandalism occurred on February 6, 2026, and included fabricated statistics and outlandish claims about the community. Among the false revisions: a drastic downgrade of Delavan’s population and income figures, an assertion that the city imposes a 99% sales tax, and a claim that Delavan contains a “portal to hell.” The page’s reference to District 703 was also altered to list the school district as “District 666.”

While Wikipedia relies on volunteer editors to monitor and correct inaccurate information, the edits to Delavan’s page have not yet been reversed. That means anyone searching for basic information about the community may encounter the fabricated statistics and fictional claims.

The Delavan Community Unit School District #703 Board of Education voted this week to join several other Tazewell County school districts in supporting the placement of a County School Facility Sales Tax referendum on an upcoming ballot. The vote signals growing regional momentum behind a funding mechanism that many Illinois counties have adopted to address long‑term school facility needs without relying solely on property taxes.

The County School Facility Sales Tax—authorized under Illinois law—allows counties (except Cook County) to impose up to a 1% sales tax, in quarter‑percent increments, dedicated exclusively to school facility purposes. The tax applies only to items already subject to regular sales tax. It does not apply to groceries, prescription and non‑prescription medicines, vehicles, or other titled/registered items.

Under state statute, the tax can only be placed on the ballot after school boards representing more than 50% of the county’s student enrollment pass supporting resolutions. Once that threshold is met, the Regional Superintendent certifies the question to election authorities, and voters ultimately decide whether the tax is implemented.

Supporters emphasize that revenue from the tax may be used only for capital improvements—such as building repairs, additions, safety upgrades, energy efficiency projects, or new construction—or to retire existing facility‑related debt. Funds cannot be used for salaries, textbooks, buses, or other operating expenses.

District #703 officials noted that the sales tax would provide a more diversified revenue stream for maintaining and improving school buildings, many of which face aging infrastructure needs. Because the tax is collected countywide and distributed to districts based on student enrollment, every public school district in Tazewell County would receive a share of the revenue.

Advocates also point to the potential for long‑term property tax relief. By using sales tax revenue to pay for major facility projects or retire bonds, districts can reduce their reliance on property tax levies for capital needs. “This tool gives communities a way to shift some of the burden off local property owners while still addressing critical facility priorities,” one board member said during the meeting.

If placed on the ballot and approved by voters, the tax would be administered by the Illinois Department of Revenue and distributed monthly to participating districts.

With its vote, Delavan CUSD #703 joins a growing coalition of Tazewell County districts seeking to give voters the option to consider the measure. The timeline for potential ballot placement will depend on when the countywide enrollment threshold is met and when the Regional Superintendent certifies the question.

A strong crew of community volunteers gathered Sunday afternoon, March 8, at Common Ground’s Community Garden at Anticipation Acres—the lot just east of Dollar General—to give the garden’s apple and cherry trees their annual spring pruning. The work day, held under clear skies and the first hints of warmer weather, marked the garden’s first major volunteer event of the 2026 growing season.

Organizers said the turnout exceeded expectations, with residents of all ages arriving ready to learn, lend a hand, and help prepare the orchard for the months ahead. Some brought their own pruners and saws, while others came simply to observe and pick up tips from more experienced gardeners.

Pruning the orchard each spring is essential to keeping the trees healthy and productive. Volunteers worked in teams to remove dead or crossing branches, open up the canopy for better airflow, and shape the trees for balanced growth. The apple trees, many of which were planted during the garden’s early years, received careful attention, while the younger cherry trees benefited from light structural pruning to guide their development.

Common Ground organizers said they were grateful not only for the labor but also for the sense of community that formed throughout the afternoon. Neighbors who had never met before found themselves working side by side, sharing stories, comparing pruning techniques, and talking about what they hope to plant this year. Several first‑time volunteers said they planned to return for future work days.

With the orchard now refreshed for spring, the garden’s next major volunteer opportunity is scheduled for Saturday, March 28, when the focus will shift to preparing the planting beds. Work will take place between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and volunteers are welcome to come for any portion of the day.

Organizers are especially encouraging anyone with a motorized tiller to bring it along. The garden’s raised and in‑ground beds require significant soil turning and amendment before planting can begin, and additional tillers will help speed up the process. Volunteers without equipment are equally welcome—there will be plenty of tasks for all ages and abilities, from clearing debris to spreading compost.

As the growing season approaches, Common Ground hopes to continue building momentum and strengthening community involvement. The March 28 work day will help ensure the garden is ready for early spring planting, and organizers say more volunteer opportunities will be announced as the season progresses.

The Tazewell County Clerk’s Office has launched a new artificial‑intelligence search tool designed to make decades of handwritten and hard‑to‑read public records easier for residents to access.

Clerk John C. Ackerman said Tazewell County is the first in Illinois—and among the first in the nation—to integrate AI into its records system. The tool, available on the county clerk’s website, can now interpret cursive handwriting and faded text in digitized county board minutes, military discharge records, and old yearbooks.

County officials say the upgrade will help veterans and families locate discharge documents more quickly and give researchers and community members a clearer path into the county’s historical archives.

“We aren’t just looking at the old ink—we are giving a voice back to the people of the 19th century,” said Steve Fiers of ArcaSearch Digital Archiving Services, the company that partnered with the county on the project.

The county has worked with ArcaSearch for several years to digitize records, including military discharges in 2023, board minutes in 2024, and yearbooks in 2025. The AI enhancement builds on that work by making the archives searchable in new ways.

The project cost about $46,000, paid to Minnesota‑based ArcaSearch.

Long before smartphones made snapshots effortless, a young man from rural New York arrived in Illinois with a new and astonishing skill: the ability to trap a moment of life on a small, shining plate. His name was Henry Hobart Cole, better known to generations of Taze-well County families as H.H. Cole, the region’s pioneer photographer. Born July 24, 1833, in Gilbertsville, Otsego County, New York, Cole would go on to shape how Central Illinois remembers its earliest settlers—one portrait at a time.

Cole grew up the youngest of ten children in a household where curiosity and craft ran deep. In New York, he and his older brother Roderick learned the delicate, demanding art of the Daguerreotype, the earliest successful photographic process. When the brothers moved west to Illinois in 1850, Henry was just 17—young, ambitious, and already skilled in a trade most Americans had never seen.

Roderick opened a studio in Peoria, and Henry worked at his side. But the younger Cole quickly proved he had both the talent and the drive to strike out on his own. By 1851, he opened “Cole’s Fine Art and Photographic Gallery” in Peoria, launching a friendly but real rivalry with his brother. The competition ended in 1859, when Henry bought out Roderick’s business and became one of the region’s most sought‑after photographers.

Cole’s career intersected with some of the most iconic figures of the 19th century. In 1858, during the Lincoln‑Douglas debates, he photographed a beardless Abraham Lincoln—a portrait that would later become one of the most historically significant images of the future president. Both Henry and Roderick claimed credit for the photograph, and given their working relationship at the time, historians believe both may have played a role.

Cole admired Lincoln deeply. According to the 1949 Pekin Centenary, he attended the 1860 Republican National Convention in Chicago and returned home without his silk hat—lost in the wild celebration that followed Lincoln’s nomination.

He also crossed paths with the famed orator Robert Ingersoll, with whom he briefly roomed. A previously unknown 1876 portrait of Ingersoll, taken by Cole, surfaced as recently as 2007, underscoring the breadth of his work and the longevity of his legacy.

Cole’s Peoria studio at Main and Washington burned in 1861, destroying years of work. But he rebuilt quickly, relocating to Adams Street and investing in new photographic technologies. He traveled to Chicago to learn the Ferrotype (tin‑type) process—paying $50, a significant sum at the time—to ensure he remained at the forefront of his craft.

By 1879, Cole expanded his business to Pekin, where he established what would become his most enduring studio. From there, he also operated in Delavan, offering portraits, family photographs, and images of local businesses, farms, and civic leaders. His Delavan presence helped document the town during a period of rapid growth, capturing faces and streetscapes that would otherwise have been lost to time.

Cole’s most ambitious project began in the late 19th century: a Historical Picture Gallery of more than 1,000 portraits of Tazewell County pioneers, displayed for decades in the hallway of the Tazewell County Courthouse. The collection included farmers, merchants, judges and everyday families—an unparalleled visual record of the county’s early residents.

Many of these images were later discovered in storage and painstakingly digitized by volunteers, preserving Cole’s work for future generations. Today, his photographs remain some of the most valuable historical artifacts in Central Illinois, offering a rare window into the people who built the communities we now call home.

Henry H. Cole was more than a photographer. He was a chronicler of frontier life, a craftsman who understood that every face told a story worth saving. From his New York beginnings to his studios in Peoria, Pekin, and Delavan, Cole left behind a legacy measured not in buildings or businesses, but in the thousands of lives he captured—each one a testament to the early spirit of Tazewell County.

His work endures, reminding us that history is not only written in words, but also illuminated in the quiet, steady gaze of those photographers who came before us.