(Springfield--ab) The State Department of Agriculture is releasing details and proposed rules for growing industrial hemp in Illinois. The public will have 45 days to comment on the regulations…and then a legislative committee will discuss and approve the rules. Then the Department of Ag will start accepting license applications to grow industrial hemp says Medicinal Bureau Chief Jeff Cox.
Cox says he’s been receiving a lot of calls from farmers anxious to grow hemp. Even before the new farm bill was signed legalizing industrial hemp production nationwide…Governor Bruce Rauner signed a law back in august allowing it in Illinois.
(Springfield--ab) Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White awarded over $1.3 million in FY19 School District Library Grant Program awards to 694 public school districts. More than 1.6 million Illinois students served by school library media programs have benefitted from the grants. Local Schools in the WPXN area got these amounts respectively.
Cissna Park Cissna Park Community Unit School District #6 $750.0
Gibson City?Melvin?Sibley Community Unit School District #5 $750.00
Iroquois West Community Unit School District #10 $750.00
Paxton?Buckley?Loda Unit #10 $989.25
Rantoul City Schools District #137 $1,201.50
Saint Joseph?Ogden Community High School District #305 $750.00
(Springfield--ab) Among the new laws now in effect in Illinois are two gun control measures. One new law lets family, friends and police petition a court to take away a potentially violent person’s guns for up to six months. It was sponsored by representative Kathleen Willis of Addison.
A second new law requires a 72-hour waiting period for the purchase of all guns. that cooling off period previously only applied to handguns.
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago police say a 12-year-old boy who was wounded by gunfire as people were ringing in the new year was the first person shot in the city in 2019. Police say the boy was looking out of a second-floor window in the city's Englewood neighborhood about 12:10 a.m. Tuesday when a bullet struck his left hand. He was treated at a hospital and released.
(Springfield--ab) 59 new state police troopers have been hitting the roadways of Illinois. They survived 27 intense weeks at the State Police Academy…learning about firearms, cultural diversity, domestic violence and more. Class president Marcos Diaz addressed the group at their graduation in Springfield.
The graduates will be stationed around the state and will work with a mentor for the next 14 weeks.
(Evanston-dg)-It's that time of year when many people resolve to give up nicotine for good, but researchers in Illinois want participants for a study looking at how a dose of nicotine could help some people with memory health.While most people associate nicotine with smoking, researchers are focusing on how the drug affects the brain. Some of that research focuses on how nicotine can combat memory loss.Northwestern University in Evanston is one of 30 institutions taking part in the study. Nonsmokers interested in taking part in the study can visit the website MINDStudy.org. Participants won’t get paid, but may be eligible for travel assistance.
(Springfield--ab) Most Illinois metro areas enjoyed an increase in jobs last month. All but two of the 14 metro areas saw job growth in November compared to year-ago levels says State Department of Employment Security Spokesperson Bob Gough (goff).
The unemployment rate was also up in eleven metro areas compared to this time last year. Gough says that’s due to more people out looking for work as the job market improves.
(Springfield-dg)-A handful of laws that went into effect Jan. 1 will make it easier to get rid of select units of governments, but reducing the number of taxing bodies in the state isn't guaranteed. Illinois has nearly 7,000 units of local government, nearly 2,000 more than Texas, a much larger and more populous state. Illinois has school districts, fire protection districts, library districts, townships, municipal governments, mosquito abatement districts and even cemetery districts and street lighting districts, among other types of local government. Most have the authority to levy property taxes. Illinois has among the highest property taxes in the nation. State lawmakers made some progress in cutting down on the number of local units of government, but some say more needs to be done.
CHICAGO (AP) — A group of African-American veterans is seeking donations to help save their longtime Chicago chapter hall from a mounting tax debt. The Montford Point Marine Association, Inc. Chicago Chapter No. 2 has operated out of a building in Englewood for 35 years. But the Chicago Sun-Times reports the group is saddled with more than $75,000 in back property taxes and will lose the building if they don't come up with that money by Feb. 1, or get an extension from Cook County.
