(Loda-jm) – A 19 year old man is in critical condition after a shooting happened early Wednesday morning. Police received a 911 call from a resident in Loda, requesting an ambulance for a subject who was bleeding from the head. When officers arrived at the scene, they found a victim who suffered from a gunshot wound. The victim was transported to an area hospital. 22 year old Colton Johnson was arrested and charged with aggravated discharge of a firearm.
(Rantoul-jm) – Rantoul City Schools announced on Wednesday that Pleasant Acres Elementary School will be closed today and tomorrow due to a high rate of COVID-19 cases within the Pleasant Acres population. The school will not be transitioning to remote learning on those days. In a letter to parents, Superintendent Scott Woods said the decision was made to close Pleasant Acres after consulting with the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District. The decision affects only Pleasant Acres. Pre-K, Northview, Broadmeadow, Eastlawn and J.W. Eater Junior High will all remain open.
(Washington-jm) – USDA's January WASDE report forecasts continuing strong prices for meat products. Stephanie Ho reports…
(Watseka-jm) – Iroquois County leaders have approved the first round of applications for distributing American Rescue Plan funds. $350,000 will go to the Eastern Illinois Mutual Aid Fire Association to build a multi use facility to house equipment and create a training facility in the county. $136,000 will go towards a full body x-ray scanner for the sheriff’s office, $18,000 for video court and telehealth at the jail and $18,600 to the Ford-Iroquois 4-H Foundation for their enrollment fee program.
(Urbana-jm) – The Champaign County Sheriff's Office could be moving to a new building if it is approved by the county board. Sheriff Dustin Heuerman said the county is looking to move the office next door. The location would be at the County Plaza Building, which is across the street from the current sheriffs office and the courthouse. The building would offer more space for law enforcement and other county offices. The move would cost around $2 million, and the funding is still being discussed by the county executive.
(Springfield-jm) – State officials are cautiously optimistic about the recent decline in COVID-19 numbers in Illinois. Over the past week there has been a drop in the number of new COVID cases, ER visits and hospitalizations signaling the Omicron surge may have peaked. State Public Health Director Dr Ngozi Ezike says that doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods yet…
State Public Health Director Dr Ngozi Ezike. At last count, there were more than 65 hundred Illinois COVID patients in the hospital and just 10 percent of ICU beds statewide are available. Ezike says the health care system is still under tremendous pressure with so many cases of the virus. The state reported 26,491 new cases Wednesday and 160 deaths. The state’s seven day positivity rate fell to 15 percent. Champaign County reported 700 new cases and 5 additional deaths. Vermilion County reported 325 new cases and 2 additional deaths. Ford and Iroquois Counties did not have a report.
(Urbana-jm) – A small U-Haul truck crashed into a cannabis store around noon on Wednesday. Police were dispatched to 105 East University Avenue in response to a reported car accident. When they arrived at the scene, they found a U-Haul crashed into the front of the nuEra store in Urbana. The driver was driving into the parking lot when he lost control and hit the store, resulting in some exterior damages, including broken glass windows.
(Washington-jm) – USDA makes small changes in the outlook for U.S. meat production. Stephanie Ho reports…
(Champaign-jm) – After freezing tuition for in-state undergraduate students in six of the past seven years, the University of Illinois is proposing a tuition hike for the 2022-2023 school year. School trustees met in a committee Wednesday to discuss the matter, then final approval is expected at the full trustees meeting today. A document prepared for trustees proposed a 1.8% increase for in-state undergraduate students on the Urbana-Champaign and Chicago campuses and a 1.5% increase on the Springfield campus. For out-of-state and international undergraduate students on all three campuses, the hike ranged from 1.5% to 2.5%.
(Urbana-jm) – A Champaign man accused of shooting another man in the chest during an altercation in June has been formally charged. Bruce Stennis allegedly threatened to shoot a woman he had dated if she was seen with another man. On June 12th Stennis allegedly shot Montez Jones after he found him and the woman in a car near her home. He is charged with first degree murder and faces a minimum of 45 years in prison if convicted.
The Paxton Emergency Response Service is postponing their chicken and noodle supper from tonight to next week on Thursday due to unforeseen circumstances.
