Crossing guard Dale Sollemberger, 69, prepares to stop traffic as schools let out in Brimfield on Halloween. Sollemberger says he has dressed up every year since he began working as a crossing guard 6 years ago after retiring from a career as a truck driver for the Maytag company. As he directed traffic in the small town of 950, people stopped their cars to give him a bag of candy. "You should see what I get around Christmas," he said. DAVID ZENTZ/JOURNAL STAR
Amber Welsh, 13, left, and Marissa Menke, 18, hold hands as they attempt to keep their balance walking across a bridge through a rotating cylinder illuminated by black lights at the Peoria Jaycees Haunted House at Exposition Gardens in Peoria Monday night. The Jaycees Haunted House is in its 35th year. DAVID ZENTZ/JOURNAL STAR
Looking inexplicably guilty, a young girl runs away after tagging the wall of the Grandview Hotel in Peoria Heights moments before its destruction. Witnesses to the destruction were invited to spray paint the building and throw eggs and rocks at a large target painted on the exterior wall. DAVID ZENTZ/JOURNAL STAR
Left to right, Quinton Green, 7, John Tangel, 8, Joseph Moske, 8, and Mark Tangel, 5, were among hundreds that turned out for the demolition of the Grandview Hotel on Sunday. The destruction of the decrepit hotel will make way for future improvements to Junction City. DAVID ZENTZ/JOURNAL STAR
Marsha Schade looks through her kitchen window reflecting a tree outside at her home in Trivoli. After more than 20 years of various treatments for severe depression that at times keeps her housebound and at one time cost her her job, she recently had a Vagus Nerve Stimulator implanted in her chest and connected to the vagus nerve in her neck. The device, originally designed to treat epilepsy, has been also now been approved by the FDA for treatment resistent depression. Just over a month after having the device activated, Schade says she thinks it is beginning to work. "I have hope," she says. DAVID ZENTZ/JOURNAL STAR
Vascular surgeon Dr. Andy Chiou holds up a Vagus Nerve Stimulator in his offices at the Heart Lung and Vascular Institute in Peoria. The device, originally designed to treat epilepsy, was approved last year for the treatment of severe depression. DAVID ZENTZ/JOURNAL STAR
Horses graze the pastures of Weaver Angus Farm under cold gray sky Sunday afternoon. DAVID ZENTZ/JOURNAL STAR
Gallagher does his thing at the Jukebox Comedy Club Tuesday night. The watermelon-smashing comedian is on his 30th anniversary tour. Everything you need to know that might be true: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Gallagher. DAVID ZENTZ/JOURNAL STAR
Sports fans Brandon Deatherage, Adam Personett, Bryan Harlan and Eric Oberle, from left, react to a play while watching the first quarter of action between the Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals at Buffalo Wild Wings in East Peoria Monday night. Down 20-0 at the half, the Bears came back in the second to win 24-23. DAVID ZENTZ/JOURNAL STAR
The Chicago-based gospel choir Dr. Charles G. Hayes and the Warriors performs at the tenth annual Gospel Jubilee at Riverside Community Church Sunday evening.
Contemporary gospel singer Pat Ward performs during the tenth annual Gospel Jubilee at Riverside Community Church Sunday evening. The event featured special guests Dr. Charles G. Hayes and the Warriors from Chicago. DAVID ZENTZ/JOURNAL STAR
Howard Gorman, Peoria Players director of "Wait Until Dark," holds a photograph that recently surfaced - and is the only one known to exist - of former Peoria Players director Norman Endean during a rehearsal at the Peoria Players theater Wednesday evening. Endean's ghost, known simply as "Norman" has been said to haunt the theater since his untimely death at the age of 34. DAVID ZENTZ/JOURNAL STAR
Despite not winning, Sofie, a whippet owned by Lori and Jon Maas of Pekin, proudly shows off her Hawaiian attire after competing in the best dressed contest at the Peoria Humane Society's 10th annual Bark in the Park event at the Peoria Riverfront on Sunday. The event, which featured contests and events such as the Marvelous Mutt Show and the dog olympics, raised money for low-cost spaying and neutering, cruelty rescue and adoption among other programs. DAVID ZENTZ/JOURNAL STAR
Hundreds of dogs, their owners and friends attend the Peoria Humane Society's 10th annual Bark in the Park event at the Peoria Riverfront on Sunday. The event, which featured contests and events such as the Marvelous Mutt Show and the dog olympics, raised money for low-cost spaying and neutering, cruelty rescue and adoption among other programs. DAVID ZENTZ/JOURNAL STAR
Miguel Guerrero, 11, plays with a rubber tire with friends on the 1100 block of NE Perry Ave on a warm and sunny Sunday afternoon. DAVID ZENTZ/JOURNAL STAR
Brayden Swartz, 2, points to construction workers as they dig across the street while sitting on his father, Fred Swartz's, lap in the Franciscan Recreation Complex lawn Tuesday evening. Swartz says Brayden loves watching the heavy machinery, which, regardless of model, he refers to as "bobcats." DAVID ZENTZ/JOURNAL STAR
Lori Peifer watches as instructor Bill Turnley experiments with hand-tossing a pizza crust while teaching a class on cooking gourmet pizzas at his new From the Field Cooking School in Morton. Turnley, a former businessman who will soon complete his culinary degree at ICC, offers a variety of demonstrative and hands-on classes. The class later decided that spreading the dough with a rolling pin produced a more even crust. DAVID ZENTZ/JOURNAL STAR
