(Springfield-jm) – Democrats in the Illinois Senate have advanced a measure that would prohibit Illinois companies from requiring employees to attend work-related meetings about religion or politics. Under the proposal, it would be illegal for a business to discipline, fire or otherwise penalize an employee who declines to attend an employee-sponsored meeting about religious or political matters. Employees who believe their workplaces violated the law would be able to file a complaint with the Illinois Department of Labor.
(Washington-jm) – Friday's USDA Supply and Demand forecasts created a small ripple in corn and soybean markets. Gary Crawford reports…
(Crescent City-jm) – Several emergency response teams were called to Crescent City Saturday morning in response to a HAZMAT incident. Officials arrived at the scene near the post office around 7:30 a.m. A postal driver said he opened his truck at his last stop, and noted a strong odor and a light haze inside the vehicle. An unknown substance poured from a package in his truck and onto the concrete below. The leakage started to bubble and smoke. Iroquois County EMA, the Crescent City Fire and EMS, and the Watseka Fire Department worked to block off the area as the Kankakee County Hazardous Materials Team was called in. The truck driver had difficulty breathing and was taken to an area hospital, where he has since been released, officials said. The HAZMAT team suited up and found a jug labeled “muriatic acid” that had cracked while in transit and caused the spill.
(Undated-jm) – A local music legend whose impact grew to reach far and wide outside of Central Illinois has passed away peacefully on Friday at the age of 65. WCIA 3 reports Mark Rubel, a bassist, among other things, for “Captain Rat and the Blind Rivets,” who he played with for more than 20 years. They performed several times at the Ford County Fair.
(Springfield-jm) – Members of the Illinois Senate Republican Caucus held a press conference in Springfield. The Caucus is calling out the Governor for his lack of transparency on the amount of taxpayer dollars being spent on the tens of thousands of migrants who are now in Illinois. State Senator Dave Syverson of Cherry Valley…
State Senator Dave Syvverson of Cherry Valley.
(Champaign County-jm) – Champaign County’s dispatch service, METCAD, is releasing more information about the 911 outage Thursday night. They say they were notified by an automated AT&T notification that both 911 and the non-emergency phone lines were not functioning and immediately initiated their emergency outage plan, which includes transferring 911 lines to Vermilion County dispatch. However, Vermilion Counties lines were also affected so lines were transferred to Macon County, who relayed details of Champaign Counties calls to METCAD for local dispatching. Once AT&T resolved the issue, AT&T rerouted Champaign County’s 9-1-1 calls back to METCAD. AT&T is still investigating the root cause of the service outage, but they did indicate that it was something within their infrastructure that failed. The Statewide 9-1-1 Administrator and the FCC are also looking into this matter.
(Springfield-jm) – More than 40 conservation planners from the state’s Soil and Water Conservation Districts visited the Capitol to educate legislators about soil health and the importance of districts. State Representative Jason Bunting of Emington addressed his House colleagues in welcoming those planners and stressing the importance of their jobs…
106th District State Representative Jason Bunting of Emington.
(Springfield-jm) – Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is highlighting the top scams and consumer complaints that affected Illinoisans in 2023. Last year, the Attorney General’s Office received more than 19,000 written complaints, along with tens of thousands of phone calls. The top three categories of scams and consumer complaints were construction and home improvement repairs, identity theft and consumer debt.
(Washington-jm) – Minimal changes were noted within USDA’s March series of crop reports, however, one category reflecting some adjustments were crop prices. Rod Bain reports…
(Rantoul-jm) – A 17 year old has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for his role in a 2022 fatal shooting of a Rantoul man. Tomir Johnson pleaded guilty to aggravated battery with a firearm. Prosecutors say Johnson participated in a cannabis sale that went wrong in November 2022 that led to the shooting death of DeCarlo Douglas of Rantoul.
(Champaign-jm) – A new agreement is opening new training opportunities for both Champaign firefighters and police officers. Last week, the Champaign City Council unanimously approved a one-year agreement with the nonprofit Public Safety Training Foundation to use their training facility in Decatur.
(Springfield-jm) – Senate Republicans are calling for greater transparency over how much the state is spending on migrant affairs in Chicago. One of those is 53rd District State Senator Tom Bennett of Gibson City…
53rd District State Senator Tom Bennett of Gibson City.
(Vermilion County-jm) – A survey is underway exploring options to extend the Kickapoo Rail Trail from the existing eastern terminus at N. 1180 East Road, at the Vermilion County Fairgrounds, to the City of Danville. The extension is one of many planned trail segments in the developing Grand Prairie Trail network to connect Bloomington-Normal, Champaign, and Danville. The existing Kickapoo Rail Trail is 24.5 miles long, extends eastward from Urbana along the former CSX rail corridor to the fairgrounds, and crosses the Middle Fork of the Vermilion River on a renovated trestle bridge.
(Paxton–dm) If you’re going to be out of town on election day, you can still make your vote count. Ford County Clerk Amy Frederick tells us how.
Ford County Clerk Amy Frederick. The March Primary election in Illinois is Tuesday March 19th.
There are several meetings around the area tonight. The Ford County Board will approve bids for township motor fuel tax funding, approve mutual aid agreements between Ford County EMA and several entities and approve sheriff’s patrol services in Sibley and Roberts. In Gibson City, leaders are expected to approve assistance on a Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity grant. In Gilman, leaders are expected to approve a roadway replacement project for 3rd and Main as well as sewer replacement on 5th Street. Onarga village leaders are also expected to meet tonight.
