(Springfield-jm) -- Early voting begins today. That’s also the day local election authorities will begin sending out mail-in ballots to those who made such a request. The deadline to request a mail in ballot is October 29th. Many authorities have in-person voting at the elections offices up to election day.

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- The next hearing of the House Special Investigating Committee into Speaker Michael Madigan’s involvement in the ComEd bribery scandal is next week. The bipartisan committee hasn’t met since earlier this month when the group of six unanimously agreed to send the U.S. Attorney investigating the criminal matter the panel was also going to investigate.

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- Governor J-B Pritzker says another region of the state is coming dangerously close to facing tighter COVID-19 restrictions. Will and Kankakee counties improved their numbers and no longer have stricter mitigations, and the Metro East area has seen some positive trends says Governor Pritzker…

 

 

Illinois Governor J-B Pritzker. New rules like no indoor dining may be implemented if a region has an eight percent positivity rate or higher for three days in a row. Illinois now has more than 279 thousand positive cases of the Coronavirus and over 85 hundred deaths. Locally, McLean County reported 24 new cases bringing their total to 3,199. Vermilion County reported 23 new cases bringing their total to 570. Ford County reported 2 new cases bringing their total to 143. Livingston County reported 3 new cases bringing their total to 360. Champaign County reported 34 new cases bringing their total to  4,370. Kankakee County reported 16 new cases bringing their total to 2,705. Iroquois County reported 4 new cases bringing their total to 396.

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- Secretary of State Jesse White’s office is again extending expiration dates for Illinois driver’s licenses and ID cards. You now have until February 1st to renew your expiring license or ID says Secretary of State Spokesperson Dave Druker...

 

 

Illinois Secretary of State Spokesperson Dave Druker. Druker says license plate stickers remain extended until November 1st since you can do that online at: cyber drive illinois dot com.

 

 

(Rantoul-jm) -- A portion of Murray Road in Rantoul will be closed for several days. The road is closed between 2900 N and Chandler Road. Crews hope it will be open next week.

 

 

(Bloomington-jm) -- An area airport is adding a new destination. Starting next month, you can fly nonstop from Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington to Detroit on Delta Airlines. The flights will be Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday beginning October 11th. The schedule includes a flight leaving Detroit at 4pm eastern time and arriving at Bloomington at 4:17 pm central time. Then leaving Bloomington at 5:10 pm central time and arriving in Detroit at 7:25 pm eastern time.

 

 

(Undated-jm) -- The Gold Star Mission group will be hosting a ride this weekend. Spokesperson Chris Milchuck says this year’s Gold Star 500 looks a little different…

 

 

Gold Star Mission Spokesperson Chris Milchuck. The group will start in Gibson City, ride to Roberts, down to Paxton, then Rantoul and back to Gibson City.

 

 

(Paxton-jm) -- Some Paxton intersections will be receiving painted crosswalks. The crosswalks will be coming to Taft and Orleans and Market and Orleans. Safety issues with children crossing the streets at those locations brought on the change. There could be other intersections added later.

 

 

(Undated-jm) -- OSF Healthcare is expanding access to flu vaccines. The hospital announced they are making them available at all primary care offices, Urgo care and some drive up locations.

 

 

(Washington-jm) -- A La Nina winter is expected. How long does the weather pattern known as La Nina last? Stephanie Ho reports…

 

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- Some former Illinoisans may have received a reminder to their new out-of-state address to request a mail in ballot from Illinois. Elections officials say if someone had previously requested a vote-by-mail ballot at an out-of-state address or if the local election authority for some other reason had an out-of-state address on file, the authority was required by law to send the reminder.

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- Illinois’ chances of balancing its state budget without additional borrowing or a “sizable increase” in the state’s bill backlog “are looking slimmer as congressional agreement on further federal assistance remains elusive,” analysts for credit rating agency S&P wrote in a new report. Illinois’ rating from S&P Global Ratings is BBB- with a negative outlook. That’s one notch above speculative status, sometimes called junk bond status or non-investment grade. Illinois’ backlog of bills is more than $7.6 billion.

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- Illinois Attorney General Kwame Roaul is warning the public about work from home scams. The scams aren’t really new, but have become more prevalent during the pandemic. Attorney General Spokesperson Annie Thompson says the offers can look enticing…

 

 

Illinois Attorney General Spokesperson Annie Thompson. Thompson says they are also seeing fake job postings in hopes of getting the applicant’s personal information, and pyramid schemes disguised as gifting clubs. She says you shouldn’t send money or gifts to people you don’t know or pay for any materials or training upfront.

 

 

(Rantoul-jm) -- A Rantoul man faces assault and battery charges against a 10 year old girl. Police say the alleged incident took place at a park in the village Sunday evening. The girl's parents called police after she said Jeremy Woodmansee allegedly grabbed her by the arm and knocked her to the ground. Woodmansee left the scene and was apprehended Tuesday. 

 

 

(Ashkum-jm) -- District 21 Illinois State Police are releasing results from recent Nighttime Enforcement Patrols. During patrols, troopers issued 1 citation for DUI, 2 for registration offenses and 3 for insurance violations.

 

 

(Bloomington-jm) -- Illinois voters will be asked to amend the state’s constitution in the November election. Governor J-B Pritzker is pushing for a progressive income tax instead of the current flat tax rate says 53rd District State Senator Jason Barickman of Bloomington…

 

 

53rd District State Senator Jason Barickman of Bloomington.

 

 

(Rantoul-jm) -- A drive thru food distribution will take place this weekend. The distribution will take place at the Community Service Center of Northern Champaign County on Saturday, September 26th from 9 to 10:30 am.

 

 

(Gibson City-jm) -- Gibson City employees will have a handbook. The city’s personnel committee has been working on creating a handbook. The committee hopes to put the handbook up to the council soon.

 

 

(Undated-jm) -- This week is Farm Safety Week in Illinois. 106th District State Representative Tom Bennett of Gibson City says this week is not just for farmers but also motorists…

 

 

106th District State Representative Tom Bennett of Gibson City.