(Washington-jm) -- Illinois’ Congressional delegation wants to raise hundreds of millions of dollars per year by taxing vaping products and then use that money to stop children from vaping. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi announced the “Providing Resources to End the Vaping Epidemic Now for Teenagers,” or PREVENT Act in Chicago. They said local public health officials face a daunting task given the prevalence of e-cigarettes. If enacted, the bill would tax importers and manufacturers of vaping materials based on how much they produce. Krishnamoorthi estimated the tax would bring in $200 million. 

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- Illinois State Police reported the 27th crash this year that involved a state police squad car that was struck as a result of a Scott’s Law violation as the agency continues to work to educate motorists about the law during what has proven to be a deadly year for troopers. The weekend traffic crash involving an Illinois State Police squad car was the 27th. So far this year, Illinois State Police squad cars have been involved in a total of 71 crashes. Twenty-seven of those involved a violation of Scott’s Law. Three state troopers were killed in crashes this year. By comparison, in all of 2018, there were eight trooper-involved crashes that resulted in a Scott’s Law ticket. In 2017, there were 12 and 2016 there were five.

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs is urging Congress and the President to help reunite people with old savings bonds. The U-S Treasury has a record of all bond recipients and when they stopped earning interest says Treasurer Frerichs…

 

State Treasurer Michael Frerichs. Under current law, the treasury is not mandated to track down bond owners. Illinois Congressman Danny Davis is sponsoring legislation requiring the federal government to release the bonds to individual states, so they can eventually be returned. 

 

 

(Rantoul-jm) -- Rantoul Police are investigating a robbery in the village. Police say a man was walking near Congress and Marshal around 4:15 Thursday morning when he heard someone yell from behind. The victim turned and saw a black man in his 20s. The man grabbed him and demanded his wallet and cell phone. No injuries were reported. Anyone with information is asked to call Rantoul police.

 

 

(Rantoul-jm) -- A Rantoul business sustained nearly $10,000 in damage after a snowplow struck it Monday morning. Firefighters from the Rantoul Fire Department were called to Perfect Nails just before 5 am. They say a snowplow clearing snow accidentally struck the building causing two windows to break and damaged the brick ledge that holds the windows up. No injuries were reported. The building was deemed structurally safe.

 

 

(Washington-jm) -- The U.S. agricultural trade value totals for October are almost identical to October a year ago. Gary Crawford has the details…

 

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(Undated-jm) -- Data from the Illinois Department of Transportation shows the number of fatal crashes in the state in the past year is down. So far in 2019 there have been 940 fatalities. Last year there was 987. Locally, in Ford County there were 4 fatal accidents this year, down from 6 in 2018. In Iroquois County there were 8 fatal accidents down from 12 last year. In Champaign County there were 9 fatal accidents last year there were 20. In Vermilion County there were 10 in 2019 with 11 last year. 

 

 

(Undated-jm) -- Medicare costs are going up in January for some seniors. Medicare Part B premiums will be going up $9.10 to $114.60 a month. Medicare Part B deductibles will also be going up. They are expected to rise $13 to $198 per year. Medicare Part A inpatient hospital deductibles will also be on the rise up $44 to $1,408 per benefit period. The increases are expected to negate most of the one point six percent cost of living adjustment increase that’s expected.

 

 

(Chicago-jm) -- Tis the season for shopping and in 2019 that means shopping online. This year, Cyber Monday was the biggest digital shopping day ever with sales of $9.4 billion, and thieves want those packages. Filing a police report will not always get you your merchandise back and not every company will refund or replace them. If the driver delivered the package, the company is not responsible for the loss. But protecting yourself when it comes to online shopping should start way before the package is delivered. If you get an email from a friend saying, ‘Check out this site for great deals,’ and you click on it, you may be going to bad sites.

 

(Springfield-jm) -- Attempts to change ethics rules in Springfield have been slow to develop at the Illinois statehouse, but not for a lack of trying, according to an analyst who said lawmakers have been filed dozens of ethics bills, but few have advanced. Lawmakers in the House and Senate filed more than 6,300 bills since January. The Center for Illinois Politics reviewed all the bills filed this year and found 89 addressed ethics reforms of some kind. Of the 89 ethics bills, 24 had to do with term limits, redistricting reform, elections or campaigns; 16 bills involved proposed lobbyist registration changes; 12 bills involved ethics and ethics investigations; 11 involved so-called revolving-door prohibitions that would prevent lawmakers from immediately becoming lobbyists after leaving elected office. Twenty-nine other bills addressed gambling, public contracting, House and Senate rules, economic interests and sexual harassment, according to The Center for Illinois Politics.

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- Efforts are underway to help reduce the rates of suicide among first responders in Illinois. A new First Responders Suicide Task Force, created this year by the passage of House Bill 2766, will try to address the emotional health needs of emergency response personnel in Illinois. The task force has 18 members, including four members each from the House and Senate, along with others appointed by various bodies around the state.

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- Governor J-B Pritzker is announcing efforts to improve early childhood care and education in Illinois. Governor Pritzker says he wants to make Illinois the best state in the nation for families raising young children. That includes making sure kids enter kindergarten with the skills to pay attention, read and solve problems…

 

 

Illinois Governor J-B Pritzker. The Governor says the state will be investing more in child care reimbursement rates for low income families, and in training for child care workers. He also created a special commission that aims to get more Illinois kids into quality pre-school programs. 

 

 

(Loda-jm) -- The Loda village board has approved the rezoning of the former Loda Grade School. The school had been zoned for residential, but following a request from the Aardsma family, it was rezoned to manufacturing. The Aardsma family will use the facility for the distribution department for Mulberry Lane Farm.

 

 

(Pesotum-jm) -- Illinois State Police in Pesotum have released results of recent Alcohol Countermeasure Enforcement Patrols. District 10 troopers issued one DUI citation, 4 occupant restraint citations, two for drivers license offenses and 23 citations for other offenses. State Police say drugs or alcohol is involved in more than 30 percent of all fatal crashes in Illinois. They say one person is killed every 53 minutes in the U-S by someone under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

 

 

(Undated-jm) -- Winter is coming and that mean’s cold temperatures. Experts have tips to staying safe and warm. WPXN’s Jason Madden has the details…

 

 

 

(Rantoul-jm) -- The village of Rantoul will hold a special meeting next week. The focus of the meeting is to finalize the purchase of land for the new sports complex. The sports complex would be built on 60 acres south of Walmart. The special meeting will take place at 5:30 pm on Monday, December 23rd.

 

 

(Undated-jm) -- Illinois farmers are on pace to experience one of the worst years for harvesting because of cold, wet weather. A wet spring and a cold autumn have combined to produce less than ideal conditions for growing crops, causing a delay in the harvest of corn and soybeans. Mike Doherty, senior economist and policy analyst with the Government Affairs and Commodities Division of the Illinois Farm Bureau, said that the delay yielded fewer amounts of corn and soybeans than normal. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture data, 100 percent of the state’s corn had been harvested around this time last year while the soybean harvest is lagging 5 percent behind average.

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- Illinois is still dealing with a recession hangover due to a mix of mortgage-friendly laws, high property taxes, and population declines, per a new analysis. Q4 of 2019 marks 10 years since the low-point of the national housing crisis. Nearly one in four mortgaged homes had negative equity, meaning the market value of the property is worth less than the value owed in mortgage. In the 12 months ending in September, they estimate homes across the country saw their homes value increase by 5.1 percent. Homeowners in Idaho saw the nation’s largest increase of 10.9 percent, gaining $25,800 in equity on average. Illinois, however, saw a fraction of those gains, nearly equal to inflation. Home equity was up nearly only an average of $1,300 for your typical homeowner in Illinois.