CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Officials say the University of Illinois campus will be 100% free of smoke and tobacco products. The university says the rules build on a 2014 policy that banned smoke-producing tobacco products. Now all forms of tobacco, including chewing tobacco and snuff, along with vaping devices are also prohibited. The policy applies to students, faculty, staff and visitors anywhere on campus, indoors or outdoors. It also applies to private vehicles that are parked on campus. Today is the first day of classes at the U of I.

 

VALMEYER, Ill. (AP) — A southern Illinois county has repealed an ordinance that would enable the construction of wind farms, stalling a proposal to build 50 turbines along the Mississippi River. The Belleville News-Democrat reports that the Monroe County Board voted to suspend the Wind Energy Conversion Ordinance after residents voiced safety concerns about the Southern Illinois Wind project. The board chairman says it won't accept applications for special-use permits for about 18 months.

 

(Rantoul-jm) -- Rantoul firefighters were called to a fire on the former Chanute Air Base over the weekend. Firefighters were called to the fire on Saint Andrew's Court just before 11 PM Saturday. No word on if there were any injuries. A cause has not yet been released.

 

(Undated--jc)  -- Some experts in Illinois want to bring mental health care providers to remote areas of the state lacking such services through telepsychiatry, which uses video conferencing to connect psychiatrists with patients. Telepsychiatry has been in use in Illinois and other parts of the country, but there is legislation on the governor’s desk that would authorize Medicaid to pay for such treatment, said Mark Heyrman of Mental Health America of Illinois, a nonprofit organization that promotes mental health and works to prevent mental illness and improve care and treatment of mental and emotional disorders. Heyrman is a clinical professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School who serves on the organization's board of directors.

 

 

DANVILLE, Ill. (AP) — Authorities say an inmate in a holding cell at the courthouse in eastern Illinois was shot after stabbing a sheriff's deputy several times in the face.  Vermilion County Sheriff Pat Hartshorn said the incident happened Friday morning in the county courthouse in Danville.There was no immediate information about the inmate or why he attacked the Vermilion County sheriff's deputy. The Illinois State Police are investigating because the incident involved an officer-involved shooting. Officials say the courthouse remains open.

 

(Springfield--jc)  --An audit of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services shows significant deficiencies and noncompliance in handling cases of alleged neglect and abuse. While the number of instances where the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services didn’t follow up on cases in a timely manner was small, Family Justice Resource Center Executive Director Michelle Weidner said each case involved the life of a child and their family. 

 

(Washington--jc)  -- Growers await if more tranches of U-S-D-A Market Facilitation Program payments will be issued. What could that mean for 20-19 taxes. Roda Bain has the details…

 

 

 

(Undated-jm) -- This past weekend felt more seasonable with highs in the 70s. Kevin Grady with the Illinois State Climatologists Office has a look at the outlook over the next couple of weeks…

 

 

Illinois State Climatologists Office’s Kevin Grady.

 

 

(Rantoul-jm) -- The Hap Parker Aquatic Center in Rantoul will mark the unofficial end of summer with a movie at the pool. The pool will show Ralph Breaks the Internet on Friday, August 30th starting at 7:30 pm. A quarter plunge will also take place, with $250 worth of quarters being dumped into the pool.

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- An Illinois resident who was hospitalized with a respiratory illness after vaping has died. 22 people in Illinois, ranging in age from 17 to 38, have had serious breathing problems after vaping or using e-cigarettes. One has now died and officials are looking into 12 other possible cases. State Public Health Director Doctor Ngozi (en-gozi) Ezike (eh-zee-kay) says they are working to determine the connection…

 

 

Illinois Public Health Director Doctor Ngozi (en-gozi) Ezike (eh-zee-kay). Nationwide, there have been about 150 cases. Ezike says the C-D-C has found that in some instances, including Illinois, people were vaping a product with T-H-C.

 

(Washington-jm) -- The US Department of Agriculture their Cattle Feedlot Report Friday. USDA Livestock Economist Seanicca Herron has the details…

 

(East St. Louis-jm) -- An Illinois State Trooper is dead after a shooting in East St. Louis Friday. According to Illinois State Police, Nicholas Hopkins and several other officers were executing a search warrant Friday morning at a house when gunfire was exchanged and Hopkins was struck. He was taken to an area hospital where he passed away Friday evening. Trooper Hopkins was a 10 year veteran of the Illinois State Police force.

 

(Paxton-jm) -- Business in downtown Paxton is starting to pick up. Paxton Area Chamber of Commerce President and Mom and Pop Kettle Korn Stop Owner Alan Meyer talks about some of the changes…

 

 

Paxton Area Chamber of Commerce President and Mom and Pop Kettle Korn Stop Owner Alan Meyer.

 

(Rantoul-jm) -- A Rantoul senior facility will be holding a euchre tournament this week. The Villas of Hollybrook will hold the tournament on Tuesday, August 27th starting at 6 pm. For more information, call Colleen at 282-9854.

 

(Springfield-jm) -- Preliminary numbers show attendance at this year’s Illinois State Fair was up by 37 percent. Close to 509 thousand people visited the fair last week, up from about 371 thousand in 2018. State Fair Spokesperson Krista Lisser attributes the increase to several factors…

 

Illinois State Fair Spokesperson Krista Lisser. Lisser says lowering the cost of admission during the week to just five dollars also really helped, as well as a solid grandstand lineup that brought in record ticket sales and revenue. 

 

 

(Urbana--jc)  A Champaign County man is facing multiple gun charges concerning an incident at the America’ Best In on University Avenue on Thursday night. Police say 50 year old Tommie Valentine Junior was arrested on an aggravated discharge of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a felon and a stolen firearm

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- Governor J-B Pritzker says a new law will expand youth hunting opportunities in Illinois. For starters, the law lifts the one-year cap on the state’s apprentice hunter license says Governor Prtizker…

 

 

Illinois Governor J-B Pritzker. The law also creates a three-year pilot program that allows young hunters statewide access during the three-day youth-only deer hunting season.