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Kristin McHugh/WCBU With the Peoria mayor’s office and five city council seats at stake in Tuesday's municipal election, Thomas Bride expects turnout to be above average in the city – but that may not hold as true throughout the county. Bride, the Peoria County Election Commission's executive director, said early voting participation is  up 28% from two years ago, and noted February’s primary was up 6% over compared with recent primaries. “I think we'll be above the primary election in the city of Peoria, but I think overall county-wide for this election, you're going to have area...

MOLLY PARKER The Southern MURPHYSBORO — Mike Mills, who died this week at the age of 79, didn’t set out to seed a love of barbecue across the country, well beyond its roots in the South and parts of the Midwest, but that’s what he ended up doing. After graduating from Murphysboro Township High School in 1959, he enrolled in the first class in the Dental Technology program at Southern Illinois University. He earned an associate’s degree and moved to Elgin to work in a lab there. After learning the trade, he returned home and founded the Murphysboro Dental Lab. I...