SPRINGFIELD — In an expected move, the Trump administration filed a lawsuit in late December seeking to nullify a new state law that allows Illinois residents to sue federal immigration agents who arrest them in or near courthouses or if they believe their constitutional rights were violated.
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Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias’ office revealed the 2025 list of rejected vanity and personalized license plate requests, highlighting that while Illinois drivers continue to get creative, some plate ideas still go too far.
The office received 55,690 vanity and personalized plate requests this year. More than 550 were denied because the combinations were deemed inflammatory, profane, offensive or too difficult to read – all grounds for rejection under state law.
The list of submissions turned away this year ranged from the crude to the simply outlandish. Among the notable rejects: BBL, BDASMOM, BLUBALN, BRICKED, IBPOOPN, ICUP, PRIUSSY, SNDNUDZ, SYBAU and TYPESHT.
Unsolved homicides: Carol Rofstad
Illinois State University student Carol Rofstad, 21, died on Dec. 24, 1975, after being found beaten outside of her sorority. The case remains unsolved, but interest in it remains and it has cast a shadow on other homicide investigations.
How Time Flies is a daily feature looking back at Pantagraph archives to revisit what was happening in our community and region. See today in history:
Dozens of students and allies organized and marched on the Illinois State University campus for equality and safety from domestic and sexual violence.
For nearly 50 years, the murder of Illinois State University student Carol Rofstad has remained unsolved. The creators of a new podcast are hoping their work will lead to answers — and justice.
Over the last two years, a dedicated group of investigators have worked to uncover more evidence surrounding the murder of Carol Rofstad in a …
NORMAL — Eighteen years separate the unsolved homicides of Jennifer Lockmiller and Carol Rofstad and without new leads, the deaths will remain placeholders on a list of cold cases reviewed annually by Normal police detectives.
Carol Rofstad, who was 21 when she was killed, lived in Normal, IL while attending Illinois State University. She was found beaten unconscious about noon December 23, 1975, outside her sorority house at 602 S. Fell Street. The suspected murder weapon, an 18-inch piece of railroad tie, was found nearby. Rofstad wasn't found until roughly 12 hours after the attack. She died Christmas Eve as a result of head injuries.
Anyone with information on the Terry Punke case should contact the Woodford County Sheriff's Department at 309-467-2375 or Crime Stoppers at 309-673-9000.
BLOOMINGTON -- While the investigation into the massacre of five members of the Gee family moves into its sixth day, there are some Central Illinois homicides that have remained unsolved for years.
NORMAL - Investigators with a college in Cicero hope to uncover evidence that would solve the brutal murder of an Illinois State University student more than 32 years ago. "I think the case is eminently solvable," said George Seibel, director of Morton College's Institute for Cold Case Solution.
BLOOMINGTON - Three decades passed before a trial in the 1968 death of Coleen Uban. Seven-year-old Dalton Mesarchik's 2003 beating death has not been solved.
