Listeners Club

Forgot Password

Not a Member? Sign up here!

WPXN Blog

Rantoul Foods plant has seen 32 positive cases of Covid-19

(Rantoul--jc)  One local pork processing plant has seen an outbreak of positive Covid-19 cases. Rantoul Foods plant on the village's west side has seen 32 positive cases of Covid-19. Champaign Urbana Public Health District Director Julie Pryde says the employees are from Rantoul, Champaign county and other areas  Testing will continue at the plant and other safety measures are being implemented

 

(Springfield-jm) --  Illinois is currently ranked seventh out of all 50 states for the census response rate, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The response rate in Illinois is around 5% higher than in the U.S. The nation's self-response rate is 56.3%, while Illinois' self-response rate is 61.6%.

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- COVID-19 hospitalizations are down slightly in Illinois. The number of Coronavirus patients in the hospital has beens slowly dropping in recent days. Still, nearly 45 hundred people are under hospital care. Governor J-B Pritzker says about 763 of them are on ventilators…

 

 

Illinois Governor J-B Pritzker. 46 additional deaths are being reported, bringing the total number of Coronavirus deaths in Illinois to 2,662. Locally, Vermilion County has 3 new cases bringing their total to 22 cases, Ford County has 1 new case bringing their total to 10 cases, McLean County has 3 new cases bringing their total to 102 cases, Kankakee County has 23 new cases bringing their total to 438, Iroquois County has 5 new cases bringing their total to 46 cases and Champaign County is reporting 10 new cases bringing their total to 183. As a reminder, Governor J-B Pritzker will hold his daily briefing at 2:30. We will have the latest from that briefing on our news at 4 and 5 tonight.

 

 

(Champaign County-jm) -- Champaign County has seen a spike of cases in recent days, many of them in Rantoul. 32 of the county’s 183 cases are in Rantoul, most of those at Rantoul Foods. Ludlow has one case, Thomasboro has two cases, St. Joseph has three cases, Mahomet has nine cases. 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- Farmers didn’t have much time in the fields this past week, but were able to make some planting progress as we hear in the weekly crop report. Rainfall was above normal this past week, but producers made good use of the dry days, says State Crop Statistician Mark Schleusener…

 

State Crop Statistician Mark Schleusener. 31 percent of soybeans have been planted and two percent have emerged. 20 percent of winter wheat has headed. Average statewide topsoil moisture is rated as two percent short, 72 percent adequate and 26 percent surplus.

 

 

(Watseka-jm) -- Iroquois County will continue to keep the county’s administrative center closed to the public. The county says essential county functions continue and those that need assistance from one of the county’s offices can do so by calling that office.

 

 

(Undated-jm) --Several area communities meet tonight for their monthly meeting. WPXN’s Jason Madden has the details…

 

 

(Paxton-jm) -- Paxton police have released their recent activity report. On May 1st, Jason Battshill, 37, Paxton was arrested for criminal trespass. On April 27th, Richard Cruse, 35, Thawille was arrested for aggravated driving on a revoked license, aggravated fleeing and attempting to elude after police, knowing he was suspended, tried to stop him. Cruse led police on a chase to the Triangle Trailer Park south of Ludlow. Also on April 27th, Amanda Moss, 25, Urbana was arrested on a Ford County warrant for failure to appear.

 

 

(Undated-jm) -- The weekend saw the warmest temperatures of the season so far. But how does the first full week of May look? State Climatologist Trent Ford has the answer…

 

 

State Climatologist Trent Ford.

 

 

(Paxton-jm) -- The Paxton Park District is reminding residents the city’s parks are open, just that some amenities are closed. Due to the stay at home order, playgrounds and the skate park at Coady Park are closed but residents can still get out and walk at one of many of the city’s parks. 

 

 

(Washington-jm) -- Cool and wet conditions are unfavorable for corn crop progress. Stephanie Ho reports…

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- Illinois healthcare providers will receive payments from the Department of Health and Human Services. The payments from the Provider Relief Fund will go to areas hit hard by COVID-19. Hospitals will receive a total of $134 million to treat low-income and uninsured patients. In addition, rural providers will receive a total of $352 million.

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- Governor J-B Pritzker says now is not the time to defy the state’s stay at home order. There’s concern about recent events, including house parties in Chicago, a church service in Lena, protests in Springfield and plans to re-open some businesses in places like East Peoria. Governor Pritzker says these actions could lead to a resurgence of the virus…

 

 

Illinois Governor J-B Pritzker. The Governor says it’s also not a good idea to start visiting friends and family that you haven’t been around through all this, especially elderly relatives that are at greatest risk. Governor J-B Pritzker will hold his daily briefing at 2:30. We will have the latest on our news at 4 and 5 tonight.

 

(Undated-jm) -- Illinois has over 63,000 cases and 2,662 deaths. Locally, counties in our listening area are reporting recoveries and active cases. Vermilion County is reporting 9 people have been released from isolation, 11 are on home isolation and 1 person is hospitalized. Ford County is reporting 7 people have been released from isolation and 2 are isolated. Livingston County is reporting 20 people have been released from isolation. McLean County is reporting 85 people have recovered, 2 are hospitalized and 12 are on home isolation. Iroquois County is reporting 19 have recovered, 4 are hospitalized and 22 are home isolation. Champaign County is reporting 67 cases are active with 5 hospitalized and 110 6910recovered.

 

(Springfield-jm) -- Farmers didn’t have much time in the fields this past week but were able to make some planting progress as we hear in the weekly crop report. 56 percent of corn has now been planted, well ahead of last year’s pace. Nine percent has emerged. State Crop Statistician Mark Schleusener turns to other crops…

 

 

State Crop Statistician Mark Schleusener. 68 percent of the winter wheat crop is rated in good to excellent condition. Average statewide topsoil moisture is now two percent short, 72 percent adequate and 26 percent surplus.

 

 

(Danville-jm) -- Recreational marijuana users will have another location to get their supply. Sunnyside Dispensary is opening a location in Danville on Lynch Road between U-S 136 and I-74. They hope to open by the end of May. The group also has a site in Champaign on Neil Street.

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- Area lawmakers are tossing around ideas to help both businesses and residents once the Coronavirus passes and the state looks to reopen the economy. 106th District State Representative Tom Bennett of Gibson City talks about some of those ideas…

 

 

106th District State Representative Tom Bennett of Gibson City.

 

(Ford County-jm) -- The Ford County Sheriff’s Office has released their April activity report. During the month, deputies issued 11 traffic citations including 3 for speeding, 2 for disregard of a stop sign and 1 each for operating an uninsured motor vehicle, improper lane usage, expired registration, driving on a suspended license unlawful display of plates and improper u-turn. Deputies also handled 7 sex offender notifications, 4 domestic issues, 3 each for harassment, custody dispute and burglary, 2 for trespassing and 1 each for missing person, subject with a gun or knife, criminal investigation, intoxicated pedestrian, fraud and criminal damage to property.

 

 

(Champaign-jm) -- The Champaign County Regional Planning Commission is helping area businesses with some grant money. Economic Development Specialist Kathy Larson talks about the grants…

 

 

Champaign County Regional Planning Commission Economic Development Specialist Kathy Larson. The grant is available to small businesses in the Champaign, Ford, Iroquois and Vermilion County areas. 

 

 

(Gibson City-jm) -- The Harvest Moon Twin Drive in theatre in Gibson City will open this Friday. The theatre received the green light from the state under specific guidelines. Showing on screen 1 will be Trolls World Tour. On screen 2 will be Onward.

 

(Springfield-jm) -- There's a new call to better protect children awaiting trial in Illinois during the COVID-19 outbreak. Mary Schuermann (sherman) reports…

 

 

Get our App

Facebook

On Air Now

Joe Bradley
Joe Bradley
11:00am - 2:00pm
Regular Programming

Listen on Alexa

Weather

Share This Website