Hancock-Henderson Quill, INC.

07/02/2025

The Quill office will be closed on Friday in observance of America's Independence. Have a Happy and Safe Independence Day!

07/02/2025

Two Historic Homes Open to the Public Saturday, July 5th!

The Alexis Phelps House located at 101 Hancock St. in Oquawka, will be open from 10 am to 2 pm Saturday.

The New England-style frame structure was built in 1832 or 1833, and is considered the first of its kind in western Illinois.

In the 1980s, the Henderson County Historical Society refurbished the Phelps house, and in April 1982, the structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Verdurette House located at 677 65th Ave, New Boston, will be open for tours from 1 to 4 pm on Saturday.

Built in 1855 by William Drury, this historic Gothic Revival farmstead was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.

Featuring a distinctive gabled facade, ornate brick chimneys, and a Colonial Revival porch, the house includes a walnut staircase, a Belgian-imported round window, and original gas fixtures converted to electric.

The property encompasses a bank barn, summer kitchen, carriage house, windmill, and a cast-iron fence.

Once electrified by a Thomas Edison-designed system, it remains a working farm maintained by the Verdurette House Trust.

07/01/2025

Fortress Bank in La Harpe will be hosting their annual cookout this Thursday at the Union Church Fellowship Hall in La Harpe from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm.

07/01/2025

https://www.banksandbeals.com/obituary/richard-dick-ketcham

Richard Lee Dick Ketcham, 93, of LaHarpe, Illinois, passed away at 905 p.m. Tuesday, June 24, 2025 at the Hickory Grove Supportive Living in Carthage, Illinois. Richard was born May 6, 1932 in Burnside, Illinois, the son of Homer and Ida Boyd Ketcham. On June 6, 1953 he married Kathryn

07/01/2025

Gov. Pritzker Takes Bill Action

Monday, June 30, Governor JB Pritzker took the following bill action:



Bill Number: HB2327

Description: Provides an exemption to the Child Labor Law that allows a minor 14 years of age or older to work as a scorer at the World Shooting and Recreational Complex in Sparta for the U.S. Open and the Grand American Trapshooting Championships.

Action: Signed

Effective: January 1, 2026



Bill Number: HB2488

Description: Eliminates references to a federal program in the Equal Pay Act to ensure that federal changes do not undermine the state requirement that private employers with 100 or more employees report on employee wages by gender and race/ethnicity.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately



Bill Number: HB3339

Description: Extends Tamara Clayton Expressway Camera Act to 2028 and allows for the cameras to be used in investigations of human trafficking and involuntary servitude. ​ ​ ​

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately



Bill Number: HB3760

Description: Establishes a designated hunting season for the Gray Fox and allows the Director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to adjust the length of the season to adequately manage the Gray Fox population.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately



Bill Number: SB0028

Description: Amends the School Code. In a provision regarding an optional alternative evaluative dismissal process for teacher evaluations, removes the definition of and references to "student growth components.”

Action: Signed

Effective: July 1, 2025



Bill Number: SB0108

Description: Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to make permanent a pilot program for assessment waivers for violations of the Vehicle Code in a county having a population of more than 3,000,000.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately



Bill Number: SB0852

Description: Eliminates failure-to-appear driver license suspensions for minor traffic offenses that only carry a fine, but allows a failure-to-appear license suspension for traffic offenses punishable by imprisonment or when the incident involved a fatality.

Action: Signed

Effective: July 1, 2025



Bill Number: SB1344

Description: Establishes financial penalties for contractors who fail to file payroll reports in violation of the Prevailing Wage Act and codifies that the Prevailing Wage Act applies to sewer inspection projects.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately



Bill Number: SB1764

Description: Makes several updates and changes to the Illinois State Police Civil Administrative Code to aide in modernizing their statutory authority and missions. ​

Action: Signed

Effective: January 1, 2026



Bill Number: SB2108

Description: Transfers the Motor Carrier Safety Administration Program from the Illinois Department of Transportation to the Illinois State Police. ​

Action: Signed

Effective: October 1, 2025



Bill Number: SB2266

Description: Clarifies authority for regulating non-community water supplies.

Action: Signed

Effective: Immediately

07/01/2025

Celebrate Independence Day in Raritan with fireworks at dusk on Thursday, July 3rd at Moore Brothers Farm. On Friday, July 4th the Henderson County Historical Society will be hosting its 48th annual Pork Chop & Chicken BBQ at St. Pat's Community Center from 11 am to 1 pm. The Museum will also be open and free to the public from 10 am to 2 pm.

06/26/2025

Dr. Mark Pothitakis will not be reopening the La Harpe Dental Office and will be donating the building to the La Harpe Fire Protection District.

06/24/2025

BEWARE OF POISONOUS HEMLOCK IN ILLINOIS.

06/21/2025

Happening now until 2:00, Oak Wood Estates Retirement Village's Health Fair in Stronghurst.

06/21/2025

Join Henderson County Genealogy & Family History Society on Thursday, June 26th at Trish Alexander's barn to view and discuss a large vintage 1868 Henderson County Map. Russell Liston will also have some county scrapbooks available.