(R). For the eastern division, Illinois Senate District 44 is represented by Sally J. Turner (R) and Illinois House District 87 is represented by William E. Hauter (R). Education Pekin is served by The Pekin Public School System, comprising two districts. Pekin Public Schools District 108 consists of six elementary, two intermediate, two junior high schools, and the Pekin Technical Education Center. Pekin Community High School District 303 is the one high school- Pekin Community High School (PCHS). District 303 serves students living in surrounding areas such as South Pekin, North Pekin, Marquette Heights, Creve Coeur, and Groveland. Pekin Community High School The high school was built in 1915, and expanded multiple times to accommodate the growing student population. In 1959, the city planned to widen Eighth Street which ended future opportunities for continued expansion. Subsequently, the school district decided to build a second campus in 1962 and classes began in 1964. With the construction of the newer campus, PCHS was split into West Campus (original building) and East Campus (new building). Freshman and sophomores attended West Campus, while juniors and seniors attended East Campus. East Campus was expanded in 1997–1998, after which date West Campus closed and all four classes were reunited at the newer campus. After the local community lost in an attempt to save the original school building, demolition began in 2012 and was finished in 2014. Media The city is served by a daily newspaper, the Pekin Daily Times. In 1873, Joseph B. Irwin and Col. W.T. Dowdall founded the Pekin Times. They had a large task before them to revitalize the newspaper: “When the first issue of the Times appeared [in 1873] there was no subscription list, as the paper had changed hands so often that its reputation was well nigh gone and the outlook was extremely discouraging. But by much hard work, natural ability and perseverance, our subject soon placed the paper on a solid basis, and as a newsy and literary production it ranked among the leading weeklies of the northwest”. The Pekin Times remained a weekly publication until January 3, 1881, when Irwin turned the paper into a five-column daily. It has remained a Monday-Saturday publication ever since. From September 1923 to June 1925, the paper was owned by Oscar W. Friedrich, a Ku Klux Klan Grand Titan. For several years, headlines were about the Klan’s meetings, policies, and plans. By the