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Congress Has Until the End of September to Get New Farm Bill to President Donald Trump's Desk

(Washington--jc)  -- Talks are now under way between U.S. House members who supported a farm bill with a work requirement for food stamp recipients and a handful of senators who passed a version of the bill without a work requirement.Congress has until the end of September to get a new farm bill to President Donald Trump’s desk before the existing one expires. While the bill is important to the agricultural community, the bulk of the spending goes to federal food assistance. The House’s bill passed with a requirement that able-bodied recipients without young children need to either work or train for 20 hours a week to qualify for food assistance. The Senate’s didn’t.Creighton University Economist Ernie Goss predicts House members of the committee tasked with merging the two bills will not get a work requirement in the final version.

 

CHICAGO (AP) — A debate coach who went into Illinois prisons to organize teams of inmates has filed a federal lawsuit alleging the Department of Corrections barred the activity in violation of free-speech rights. The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin reports that Katrina Burlet's lawsuit filed Wednesday in Chicago accuses officials of shutting down the program months after she began organizing debates on the topic of parole

 

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The federal courthouse in Springfield is getting a $2.6 million face-lift. The State Journal-Register reports the U.S. General Services Administration is repairing the exterior of the Paul Findley Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse. GSA spokeswoman Cat Langel says weather exposure has worn down the exterior walls of the building, which was constructed in 1930.

 

HARRISBURG, Ill. (AP) — Snakes and amphibians will have the right away for a while on Shawnee National Forest's Snake Road. The (Carbondale) Southern Illinoisan reports that beginning on Saturday, officials are closing the roadway in Southern Illinois to allow the animals to migrate from LaRue Swamp to the nearby limestone bluffs.

 

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois-Chicago says it will drop men's and women's gymnastics after the 2018-19 season. The university says the decision will affect 11 women and 25 men who still will have NCAA eligibility. Scholarships will be honored for students who stay. Illinois-Chicago Chancellor Michael Amiridis says it was an "exceptionally difficult decision" influenced by the cost of running sports teams.

 

 

(Champaign--jc)  -- This summer was warmer and wetter than we usually see in Illinois. The statewide average temperature for June, July and August came in at 75 degrees, which is about a degree and a half above normal says State Climatologist Jim Angel…

 


State Climatologist Jim Angel with the Illinois Water Survey in Champaign.

There are some dry spots in the state in portions of Northern and Western Illinois.

 

 

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has granted eight requests for clemency and denied 85 other petitions. Rauner's office announced the clemencies Friday. The petitions granted were for crimes including burglary, theft, drug possession and delivery of a controlled substance. Some of the cases are decades old, and in most cases the people were sentenced to probation.

Pesotum, IL - The Labor Day weekend signifies the end of the summer and one of the busiest driving periods of the year where millions of motorists are expected to hit the roadways nationwide. Illinois State Police (ISP) District 10 Commander, Captain Louis Kink, is urging motorists to celebrate responsibly, and make safety their number one priority. Troopers will focus their attention on the primary factors that contribute to fatal traffic crashes. Driving under the influence (DUI), speeding, distracted driving, and not wearing seat belts, the Fatal Four, are the four primary causes of fatal traffic crashes. Troopers will patrol Illinois roadways watching for and assisting stranded motorists, and enforcing Fatal Four violations in order to help reduce traffic fatalities and injuries. There will be additional emphasis on DUI offenses over the holiday weekend. The “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign began on August 17 and runs through today. The ISP will have additional troopers out on the roadways and at roadside safety checks watching for impaired drivers. Troopers will also be watching for those who fail to slow down and move over. Illinois law requires motorists to reduce speed, change lanes if possible, and proceed with due caution when approaching a vehicle on the side of the road displaying rotating or flashing lights.

 

(Washington--jc) The Labor Day holiday weekend brings out the grills. Marianne Gravely with U-S-D-A's Meat and Poultry Hotline saying there are limits to how long you should leave out perishable foods…

 

 

Mariane Gravely with the U-S-D-A Meat and Poultry Hotline.

 

 

(Paxton--jc)  Its open again. The direct route from Paxton to Rantoul along U S Route 45. A bridge project just over two miles south of Paxton began this Spring and the hope was it would re open by September. It’s now September and the bring work is complete.

 

 

CHICAGO (AP) — Driving north into the City of Chicago? Chicago's Lake Shore Drive is a hot spot for high-speed ticketing, according to city police data. The scenic highway along Lake Michigan accounts for more than half of all such citations in the city The number of high-speed tickets issued on Lake Shore Drive jumped to more than 4,300 last year, up from more than 500 in 2014.

 

 

(Undated--jc) --  Illinois is celebrating its 200th anniversary as a state. Here is today’s Bicentennial Minute…

 

 

(Urbana--jc)  --Authorities in Champaign County say DNA, genealogy research and littering lead them to a suspect in a 2009 Illinois murder case. Champaign County Sheriff Dan Walsh said DNA evidence is not like what you see on TV. But the DNA trail that lead his office to a suspect in the 2009 murder of Holly Cassano sounds like something out of a story. Walsh said after nine years, investigators turned to a private company to work up a DNA profile of the man who raped and killed Cassano. The sheriff said investigators connected the final dots when their suspect, 30-year-old Michael Henslick, dropped a cigarette butt. DNA testing of that butt matched DNA at the scene of Cassano's murder. Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Rietz said Hinsleck faces four counts of first-degree murder. He's being held in the Champaign County jail on $10 million bond.

 

(Washington--jc)  -- Think summer is almost over? With these temperatures, you could be forgiven if you have second thoughts Stephanie Ho reports…

 

 

 

(Champaign--ab) There’s a new speed along one stretch of Interstate 74 in Champaign Thursday was the last day of the 70 miles per hour speed limit on Interstate 74 from the Interstate 57 exit  to Cunningham Avenue in Urbana. Illinois State Police Department Captain Louis Kink says this was all based on research from the Illinois Department of Transportation….

 

 

Illinois State Police Captain Louis Kink

The new speed limit along Interstate 74 from the I-57 exchange to Cunningham Avenue is now 60 miles per hour.

 

 

Illinois latest Top 200 list could be the toughest vote yet.Illinois' bicentennial best-of voters are picking the state's top entertainers. But the choices aren't easy. Oprah Winfrey, Walt Disney, Hugh Hefner, Quincy Jones, John Hughes and Bill Veek are all on the list. Chris Wills with the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum said picking the best will be a personal choice.

 

 

Members of Illinois’ congressional delegation are touting the importance of maintaining locks and dams in helping move agricultural products, but there’s some caution moving forward. U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Moline, said there are billions of dollars in backlogged maintenance needs in the locks and dams system and if any of them fail, farmers would take a massive hit.The Trump administration announced $10 million for the LaGrange Lock in Cass County. The lock last underwent rehabilitation in 1988. U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Dunlap, said agriculture is the No. 1 industry in his district. He said with Illinois being connected to major rivers and waterways, locks and dams are crucial in getting agriculture products around the world.

 

 

(Watseka--jc)  Iroquois County Treasurer, Mindy Kuntz Hagan, announced that the deadline to pay the second installment of real estate taxes without penalty is Wednesday, September 5, 2018. After that date,an interest penalty will be added to the installment payment.





 

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