Plans remain in place for Exelon Generation to close the Byron Nuclear Plant as well as its Dresden plant in Morris, Illinois in Sept. 2021. Exelon announced its intentions on Aug. 27. The Byron plant has around 700 regular employees. It was licensed to operate for another 20 years. The decision to close it has been “in the works for some time,” according to the Aug. 27 press release. The two plants face revenue shortfalls in the hundreds of millions of dollars because of declining energy prices and market rules that “allow fossil fuel plants to underbid clean resources.” “Although we know in our heads that shutting down the uneconomic Illinois plants is necessary to preserve even more jobs elsewhere, our hearts ache today for the thousands of talented women and men that have served Illinois families for more than a generation and will lose their jobs because of poorly conceived energy policies,” Christopher Crane, president and CEO of Exelon said. “But we are only about a year away from shutdown and we need to give our people, the host communities, and regulators time to prepare.” Exelon has not ruled out keeping the plants open if things change with policymakers. Since the announcement, groups have mobilized to lobby for the plants to remain open. The Byron Station Response Committee is spearheaded by Byron School District Superintendent Buster Barton, whose district received just over $19.1 million taxes from the plant last year. The Byron plant pays one of the highest property tax bills in the United States annually. In 2019, the plant’s main real estate tax bill was $34.9 million. “It just goes to show you how much our community cares about our school district and how important the power plant is to our funding,” Barton said. “We think this committee will help identify and mobilize groups that can spread our message that the power plant should be kept open.”

A longtime Sycamore business owner, Shawn Thrower, 62, owner of Shawn's Coffee Shop and Princess Alex Ice Cream in downtown Sycamore will not serve jail time after he was found guilty Oct. 15 of battering a 15-year-old female employee. Thrower was charged in February with two counts of misdemeanor battery after records show he picked her up, slapped her buttocks and bit her on the neck during one of her shifts at the café. He was sentenced Nov. 13 by DeKalb County Circuit Court Judge Joseph Pedersen to 24 months of court supervision. Thrower testified in his own defense Oct. 15 in a bench trial with no jury and denied battering the girl, though court records show he'd previously told Sycamore police he "grabbed somewhere I shouldn't have." The victim and her mother, of Sycamore both testified and were present for the sentencing. The case brought division for months throughout DeKalb County: Thrower, a longtime, well-liked business man, a 1997 graduate of Northern Illinois University and a star athlete, and the victim, a 15-year-old girl in the first months of her first job, who during the trial and sentencing said she was hesitant to come forward with her allegations because of his public reputation. Thrower’s charges and court proceedings led to strong reactions from the public, including several protests held by local activists standing up for Thrower’s victim. Others expressed strong support of Thrower, patronizing his businesses during the protests and condemning those who spoke out against him.

Controversy keeps swirling around City Hall, creating a situation that one former councilman said makes Joliet "the laughing stock of Illinois." Whether they're laughing or not, state officials were dragged into Joliet controversies a few times in 2020. State police have been investigating Mayor Bob O'Dekirk's involvement in a Black Lives Matter scuffle. And, the mayor called for the state attorney general to investigate the Joliet police's handling Eric Lurry, who died after a January arrest, and a video of the incident. Joliet police have referred a complaint to state police made by Councilman Don Dickinson, who resigned after filing a police report discussing a naked photo of himself and alleging an intimidation scheme involving the mayor. Meanwhile, Joliet continues to look for someone in Illinois or elsewhere to fill a city manager's office that has been occupied by three interim city managers in the last two years.