(Paxton--jc)  Paxton Buckley Loda High School has a new Football Coach for the 20-19 season. P-B-L School board members hired Joshua Pritchard from the Petersburg Porta school district. Pritchard will replace popular coach Jeff Graham who resigned from the P-B-L school system at the end of this fiscal year to take a Superintendent’s job in the Ludlow School district in northern Champaign County.

 

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker says he will quickly adopt "every recommendation" made in a report on suggested improvements to the Department of Children and Family Services. The Democrat and DCFS Director Marc Smith faced reporters Wednesday after releasing a review of the child-welfare agency by the University of Chicago's Chapin Hall research center. The report found that DCFS often endangers children with its focus on keeping troubled families intact.

 

(Paxton--jc)  -- A preservation group is on the side of some local residents who would like to see Eastlawn school building saved. Landmarks Illinois is a nonprofit organization that works to preserve historic buildings in the state. The aging facility is scheduled to be razed this summer. The Paxton Buckley Loda school board moved earlier this year to hire Lee Excavating from Thawville to tear down the school at a cost of 1 point 1-5 million dollars. An auction for items at the school was set for July 13th.

 

(Undated--jc)  -- Ford County real estate tax bills are set to be mailed by the middle of June. The first installment will be a due date 30 days after the mailing. Champaign County Treasurer office officials are working to get real estate tax bills out by the end of this month. In Iroquois County, issues beyond the control of the local treasurer’s office, have delayed the printing and calculation of the bills for Iroquois County real estate owners. Bills in Iroquois County will be mailed out once the issues have been resolved.

 

(Urbana--jc)  -- The Native American Guardians Association is hosting a meeting at the University of Illinois-Springfield campus this afternoon at 1. The group is revealing the newly proposed authentic Fighting Illini Athletics American Indian Half-time Unity celebration. The “In their Honor” video includes some Peoria Tribe Indians from Oklahoma.

 

 

(Springfield--jc)  -- Drivers who ignore Illinois’ Move Over Law may soon face tougher penalties. New legislation raised the fins for not switching lanes when a vehicle with flashing lights is on the side of the road. Democrat State Senator Tony Munoz of Chicago says with 16 state police officers struck so for this year, they need to do something…

 

 

Democrat State Senator Tony Munoz of Chicago

Under the bill, the first offense would be 250 dollars and the second would be 750 dollars. An additional fee of 250 dollars will be added on top of the fins to help pay for public education efforts concerning the move over law.

 

 

HAMMOND, Ind. (AP) — A semi-trailer hauling honey overturned on a northwestern Indiana highway, spilling some of the sticky substance and restricting travel for hours. State police say the truck was hauling about 41,000 pounds of amber honey along Interstate 80/94 through Hammond when the driver lost control and the truck overturned about 6 a.m. CST Wednesday. At least four containers of honey were leaking and mixing with diesel fuel from the overturned vehicle. Three of the highway's eastbound lanes remain closed.

 

(Rantoul--jc)  In the third part of our series on the A-Trel Company, operating in Rantoul, today we look at what they are doing now. Rantoul Mayor Chuck Smith says it’s more than road testing…

 

 

RantouL Mayor Chuck Smith.

It is the hope of Rantoul village leaders that a new project with A-Trel, the University of Illinois and the village will lead to autonomous vehicle testing in Rantoul. The investment from Rantoul would be around 15 million dollars for the state of the art facility.

 

(SPringfield--jc)  -- Illinois lawmakers have taken some initial steps to protect taxpayers from what local units of government can spend on weekend trips to Chicago for training conferences, but a couple of lawmakers said that getting enough support to advance further legislation won't be easy. State Representative David McSweeney, Republican from Barrington Hills, got legislation signed into law that bans local officials in Illinois from spending public money on entertainment but says bills to keep them from spending on travel, meals, and lodging expenses falling on taxpayers have not been successful because or lobbyist groups. Training conferences don't have to be lavish affairs at luxury hotels in Chicago He was also able to require taxing bodies to disclose budgets for convention spending.State Rep. Allen Skillicorn, R-East Dundee, said local taxpayers can’t attend every meeting because there are so many units of

government in the state – nearly 7,000.

 

(Bloomington--jc)  The hope of one local lawmaker is that the 2 major parties work together to get a balanced budget this month. That would include no new taxes and stabilizing pensions says 105th District State Representative Dan Brady of Bloomington…

 

 

105th District State Representative Dan Brady of Bloomington

 

(Springfield--jc)  --Proponents of a plan to tax and regulate recreational marijuana use for adults in Illinois plan to address a growing list of concerns, including how the tax money will be spent and how the state should treat people who were convicted of marijuana-related crimes in the past.The bill includes provisions for expunging criminal convictions for certain marijuana-related crimes. State Sen. Jason Barickman, R-Bloomington, said that could wipe out past convictions for acts that could still be prosecuted even if the bill were to pass as written. He said the legislature could just stay out of expungement, and leave it in the hands of Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

 

 

(Springfield--jc)  Even inmates at Stateville Correctional Center are graduating. Kim Howard reports.

 

 

(Rantoul--jc)  The village of Rantoul  continues to look into the possibility of joining the Vermilion County Land Bank.  The village is using a 150 thousand dollar grant to provide more insight in the positives or negatives in a land bank. Several meetings on the issue have already been held with more meetings to come in the near future.

 

 

(Washington--jc) What is the latest on the topsoil moisture picture are the area, state and nation. U-S-D-A meteorologist, Brad Rippey, has the  details…

 

 

U-S-D-A Meteorologist Brad Rippey

 

 

(Rantoul-jc)  -- Another reminder about a free benefit for Rantoul Area Chamber of Commerce members. Rantoul Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Belynda Allens says members are invited to place business card fliers, and business cards at the chamber office in the downtown area.

 

 

(Paxton--jc)  A ribbon cutting for another new business in the city of Paxton was held on Wednesday afternoon. Paxton Mayor Bill Ingold along with officials from the chamber of commerce welcomed Chakra Studio to the downtown area of the city. Classes also started at Chakra Studio on Wednesday.