(press release)
LaHood to Create an Urban Advisory Committee to Improve Communication
State’s Attorney candidate cites disconnect between community and the Courthouse
Peoria, IL – Since launching his candidacy last October, Darin LaHood has been touting the importance of ‘partnering with community leaders from our urban and high crime areas to rebuild a level of trust.’ [...]

From a press release:
Governor Jim Edgar to Appear With Darin LaHood
Rare campaign visit by former Governor indicates candidate LaHood’s strength in State’s Attorney’s Race
Peoria, IL – Illinois’ beloved Governor Jim Edgar who served this State for many years, including two terms in the Executive Mansion in the 1990’s is scheduled to appear in Peoria on [...]

I just received an invitation to a party for Darin LaHood, the former federal mob prosecutor who’s running for Peoria County state’s attorney.
The invite lists eight members of the Peoria city council who have endorsed LaHood, who is the son of retiring Congressman Ray LaHood (R-18th). These include Mayor Jim Ardis; at-Large council members Eric [...]

From a press release:
JOHN D. ASHCROFT, FORMER UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL, TO CAMPAIGN FOR DARIN LAHOOD
John D. Ashcroft, former Attorney General for the United States, will be in Peoria on Tuesday, April 22 to campaign for Peoria County State’s Attorney Candidate Darin LaHood.
Attorney General Ashcroft will be the featured speaker at a fundraising luncheon for [...]

Links are via the Journal Star. The snarky commentary is my own:

We’re one step toward an involuntary county-wide tax to pay for a regional museum no one wants to pay for voluntarily. All it needs is approval from the House of representatives and the governor. Aaron Schock and David Leitch are already on board. I [...]

I recently was sent a link to a Journal Star article from March 12, 1995, about Chase Ingersoll’s efforts to bring nuisance suits against the owners of crack houses. This is what Peoria County State’s Attorney Kevin Lyons said about such efforts back then:
Some lawyers praise Ingersoll as a “breath of fresh air” in Peoria’s [...]

Seriously. Lyons told HOINews he’s sick of crack houses, so he’s filed complaints that could get six of the houses forfeited. And, boy, he’s soooo mad, he might file more.
This is classic Lyons.
First, Peoria’s neighborhood leaders have been begging Lyons to get tough, but he usually clucks his tongue and says no one else understands [...]

A couple weeks ago, Bartonville police announced they were going to be “proactive” in the fight against drugs. They were going to set up roadblocks, pull over cars and have one of those highly-trained drug-sniffing dogs do it’s thing.
Although I consider the act of pulling over cars just to see if there’s a possibility [...]

I received the following from a someone who’s in touch with Peoria County politics. I have no reason to doubt its accuracy:
On Tuesday, March 26, [Peoria County State's Attorney Kevin] Lyons showed up in traffic court at the Peoria County Courthouse and tried a DUI jury trial. Needless to say this was [...]

More links from the Journal Star:

State’s Attorney Kevin Lyons is talking about seeking the death penalty against the parents of the baby who died after not having been fed for eight days. I have no other comment to make abut this horrific case, other than we have seen him make similar statements prior to plea [...]

Peoria County State’s Attorney Kevin Lyons says that the guy who got arrested and charged with raping a girl two weeks ago is also guilty of three other similar assaults.
Monterius Hinkle was already in jail on charges he raped a 16-year-old Trewyn Middle School student on Jan. 16 when he was hauled before a judges [...]

From yesterday’s Journal Star, some details about the criminal history of Monterius Hinkle, the man charged with raping a 16-year-old girl:
Hinkle was also arrested in August and booked on charges of criminal sexual assault and again in September for two counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, but according to circuit clerk records he was never [...]

I ate lunch with Peoria attorney and would-be Peoria County State’s Attorney Darin LaHood the other day. We met for lunch at Kelleher’s. He had the turkey club, I had the corned beef sandwich. I guess I’m more in touch with my Irish side than he is, especially since he’s of Lebanese ancestry.
(FULL DISCLOSURE: Lunch [...]

The Peoria Times-Observer last week profiled the two candidates for Peoria County State’s Attorney, incumbent Kevin Lyons and challenger Darin LaHood. Both articles were, I thought, fair. I can’t link to them because the PTO doesn’t post articles on its Website. I’d post them in .pfd format, but I don’t want to go beyond fair [...]

The headline atop the article says “Peoria mom still grieving for son.”
That a mother grieves over the death of her child isn’t news. Happens every day. The news is that the man who helped kill her son was not, in the eyes of many, fully prosecuted for hitting him and driving away without stopping to [...]