(Springfield--jc)  --A central Illinois congressman now in the minority in the U.S. House of Representatives is guaranteeing Democrats move to impeach President Donald Trump, a move he says will bring the nation’s capital to a halt. Democrats took over the U.S. House on a wave of anti-Trump sentiment in November.Now back as House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi of California was asked on the Today Show about possible impeachment of the president. U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, Republican from Taylorville says he expects impeachment proceedings regardless, and that will be a disservice to the American people.

 

 

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A body pulled from a vehicle discovered submerged in a central Illinois lake has been identified as a 37-year-old man who's been missing since November. The Sangamon County Coroner's Office identified the body as Doug Cortelyou of Springfield. The coroner says there were no signs of foul play or injuries and lab tests are pending.A fisherman's sonar device detected the Chevrolet Silverado truck near a boat launch on Lake Springfield early Saturday. The man's body was found after the truck was removed from the lake.

Cortelyou had been missing since November 18.

 

 

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire students who attended certain for-profit schools and online courses will get nearly $5 million in debt relief. The Office of the Attorney General announced that New Hampshire is among 47 states included in the settlement involving Illinois-based Career Education Corp. CEC, a for-profit education company that operated schools nationwide, is required under the settlement to reform its recruiting and enrollment practices and to forgo collecting about $493.7 million in debts owed by 179,529 students nationally.

In New Hampshire, the company won't collect $4.6 million from 1,572 students. CEC has also agreed to pay $5 million to the states and New Hampshire will get $50,000.

 

(Monday--jc)  -- Gibson City leaders are congratulating local Officer Austin Rosenbaum on his graduation from the Police Academy.  Officer Rosenbaum will start his active duty field training this week and will also then join the Gibson City Police Department.

 

NEW YORK (AP) — The federal agency tasked with guaranteeing U.S. airport security acknowledged an increase in the number of its employees calling off work during the partial government shutdown. Employees of the Transportation Security Administration are expected to work without pay during the shutdown because their jobs are considered essential. The T-S-A said in a statement,  that call outs that began over the holiday period have increased. The agency did not say how many of its employees have called out, but it said the call outs have had "minimal impact given that there are over 51 thousand 700 employees supporting the screening process." Wait times have been affected, but remain within T-S-A Standards.

 

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Gov. Bruce Rauner has approved plans for enhanced safety at underground natural gas storage facilities. The Republican signed legislation Friday which authorizes the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to implement federal regulations for minimum safety standards.The Natural Resources Department and the Illinois Commerce Commission will work with the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to monitor tank safety. Republican Senator Chapin Rose of Mahomet  sponsored the legislation. He says it protects the Mahomet Aquifer in east-central Illinois. It supplies drinking water for 500,000 Illinois residents.

 

(Springfield--ab) Flu season is picking up in Illinois. There’s been an increase in flu cases the past couple of weeks and State Department of Public Health Director Doctor Nirav Shah says that's pretty typical for this time of year.

 

 

Shah says it’s impossible to tell if the flu has peaked in Illinois yet…since flu season can run through may. He notes that it’s definitely not too late to get your flu shot.

 

(Champaign--ab) Parkland College will host a free showing and panel discussion about a recently released documentary on suicide survival and loss.

"The S Word" will be shown Jan. 18 from 6:30 to 8:45 p.m. in Room C118. Rattle the Stars, an organization focused on youth suicide prevention, is hosting the showing at Parkland College and other locations in the district. The film screening is open to the public, with Spanish subtitles available. Donations are appreciated.

.Other showings of "The S Word" will be held at these locations on the following dates:

• Jan. 12, 9:30–11:45 a.m., Champaign Library Robeson Rooms A and B

• Jan. 16, 6:30–8:45 p.m., Rantoul Township High School Cafetorium

• Jan. 19: 10 a.m.–12:15 p.m., Mahomet Public Library Edgar Meeting Room

 

(Paxton--jc)  -- A Ford County man is facing 5 felony counts of aggravated battery from an incident last month. 45 year old Toby Price of Melvin was charged with the counts in Ford County court last week. Bond was set at 50 thousand dollars.

 

 

BRAIDWOOD, Ill. (AP) — A Will County teacher has been charged with having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old boy. A not-guilty plea was entered Friday on behalf of Dayna Chidester, who was a teacher at Reed-Custer High School. The boy wasn't a student at the school. The 50-year-old cried in court as the charges were read. She's accused of having sex with the boy over four months, at her home, in her car and at motels. Investigators say they exchanged nude photos and explicit text messages. Chidester is charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse and other crimes. Bond was set at $1 million.

 

CHICAGO (AP) — American Airlines says a passenger's electronic cigarette caused a small fire on a flight from Las Vegas to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.American Airlines spokeswoman Leslie Scott says the e-cigarette's battery overheated shortly after Flight 168 landed Friday night. Scott says flight attendants stamped out the fire. No one was injured. The 138 passengers and crew of six taxied to a gate. The U.S. Transportation Department has banned e-cigarettes from checked bags because of the potential for them to catch fire. Passengers may put then in carry-on bags, but cannot use them aboard planes.

 

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois General Assembly convenes this week, ushering in the Prairie State's third century with historic numbers of Democrats running the show and pent-up demand for action. Can they get any work done? Democrats have not surrendered control of either chamber of the Legislature for more than 15 years, but progress has been overshadowed by scandals that sent two successive governors to federal prison, backed-up bills and a long-overdue pension debt coming home to roost, and, in the past four years, ideological stalemate with the governor’s office that stalled the states basic spending plan. Governor elect J.B. Pritzker has  promises of a revamped and fairer income-tax structure, a capital construction plan to bolster roads and bridges, legalized marijuana use to help pay for it, and a boost in the minimum wage. The Senate seats 40 Democrats to 19 Republicans

 

 

(Wateka--jc)  Work on the new site of McDonalds  in Watseka has started. After a remodel at the Route 24 location and a second major flood event, the future of the  franchise was uncertain. The owners of the Watseka based business have chosen a site from two former businesses located several blocks east  along route 24 in Watseka. The properties of a flower business and burger king store were torn down last week and the new McDonalds is expected to open sometime this Spring.

 

 

(Springfield--ab) Entries are now being accepted for the  Illinois Emergency Management Agency’s radon awareness student art contest. The annual poster contest asks students to use their creative talents to promote radon awareness says the state’s Radon Program Manager Pat Daniels.

 

 

There’s also a video contest for high schoolers, where students are asked to create a 30 second you tube video about radon. The deadline to submit a video is March eighth.

 

(Chicago--jc)  -- U.S. Senator Dick Durbin says he will once again run for re-election. The announcement comes just days after a state representative from the same party threw her hat in the ring for his seat.The 74-year-old Springfield Democrat has said he’s "raising money and trying to lose some weight,” joking that’s what most politicians say when they’re running for re-election.  Durbin told C-N-N’s John Berman he is running for a 5th term

 

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Friday that it must delay the release of key crop reports due to the partial government shutdown, leaving investors and farmers without vital information during an already tumultuous time for agricultural markets.The USDA had planned to release the closely watched reports Jan. 11 but said that even if the shutdown ended immediately , the agency's staff wouldn't have time to release the reports as scheduled. Congressional leaders met with President Donald Trump on Friday but there were no indications the shutdown would end soon.

 

DANVILLE, Ill. (AP) — Illinois State Police say a state trooper who had been on unpaid leave since a 2015 shooting outside a restaurant has been fired.State police spokesman Lt. Matt Boerwinkle says  that the agency's merit board discharged Cody Garza for cause. Garza had been on unpaid leave since the August 2015 shooting outside a restaurant in Danville, as he was in town for a high school reunion. Prosecutors say Garza was off-duty when he fired his gun during an altercation with another man. No one was injured.

 

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Railway commuters traveling between St. Louis and Chicago have yet to see faster rail journeys, despite most of the Amtrak corridor's  nearly 2 Billion dollar upgrade concluding a year ago. Delays in installing and testing new GPS-related safety technology kept Amtrak trains from hitting high speeds of 90 mph during 2018, as the Illinois Department of Transportation originally projected.  Trains are not allowed to travel faster than 79-mph on the route.The Illinois agency projects that 90-mph speeds will be in place for Amtrak by the summer, with trains in the Bloomington area getting that speed later in the year.

 

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The U.S. Senate has confirmed a new U.S. attorney for central Illinois five months after President Donald Trump nominated him. John Milhiser has been the acting U.S. attorney for the 46-county region since that nomination. The Senate's unanimous voice vote solidifies his position as central Illinois' top federal prosecutor. Milhiser's office is overseeing several high-profile cases. That includes the pending trial of Brendt Christensen, who is awaiting trial on charges he kidnapped and killed a scholar from China, Yingying Zhang.Milhiser is a former Sangamon County state's attorney.

 

(Urbana--jc)  -- Bond for a Rantoul man accused of a marijuana possession and a handgun charge is due back in court today. Police say 47 year old Charles Hood was in possession of the controlled substance on Friday in Urbana. His bond was set at 30 thousand dollars on Saturday in Champaign County court.