(Springfield-jm) -- High school basketball will likely not happen this winter after Governor J-B Pritzker announced it was too high risk to play during the Coronavirus pandemic. The Governor released guidelines for all winter sports. Besides basketball, wrestling and hockey are still considered high risk. Cheer and dance are considered lower risk as long as masks and distancing are enforced. Low risk sports like bowling, gymnastics, swimming and diving will be permitted to play during winter. The IHSA is set to announce winter sports plans today. 

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- Illinois has expanded the number of children allowed in some day care facilities. The updated capacity will allow more children to return to daycare as their parents return to work. This update also increases the staff to child ratio, allowing two to five more children per teacher. Home daycares are still waiting for their restrictions to be loosened.

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- The Illinois Department of Public Health is reporting four thousand new COVID-19 cases Tuesday. That brings the total number of cases to nearly 383 thousand in Illinois, with more than 95 hundred lives lost so far. Over half of the state’s regions are under stricter mitigations like no indoor dining because of rising test positivity rates. Governor J-B Pritzker was asked if he would consider allowing restaurants in these areas to remain open inside as the weather gets colder…

 

 

Illinois Governor J-B Pritzker. The Governor says the state has grant programs available to struggling businesses and says the best thing everyone can do is mask up and take other safety precautions so numbers come down and the extra rules can be lifted. McLean County reported 42 new cases, Champaign County 6 new cases, Vermilion County 52 new cases, Livingston County 22 new cases, Iroquois County 7 new cases, Kankakee County 34 new cases and Ford County no new cases.

 

 

(Champaign-jm) -- Harvest is underway around the WPXN listening area. Many Champaign County farmers are done harvesting soybeans and are working on corn. Champaign County Farm Bureau Manager Brad Uken talks about the yield estimates he is hearing…

 

 

Champaign County Farm Bureau Manager Brad Uken. 

 

 

(Vermilion County-jm) -- The Illinois Department of Revenue has announced Vermilion Counties tax multiplier will be the same as last year. The tentative property assessment equalization factor is 1.000. Property tax rates are 33.47 percent of market value based on property sales between 2016 and 2019.

 

 

(Champaign-jm) -- OSF Heart of Mary Medical Center in Urbana has a new orthopedic surgeon. The hospital announced the addition of Dr. James Kohlmann.

 

 

(Paxton-jm) -- Market Street in downtown Paxton is getting  a temporary upgrade. Mayor Bill Ingold says the road is in bad shape but the upgrade will help take care of the issue until the streetscape project can be done…

 

 

Paxton Mayor Bill Ingold.

Work on that project continues today.

 

 

(Paxton-jm) -- A Paxton man faces up to 7 years in prison when he is sentenced in December for the brutal beating of another Paxton man. It took a jury 30 minutes to find Clayton Marcum guilty of aggravated domestic battery. Police say Marcum beat a man so bad in September of 2019 he will never be able to live on his own.

 

 

(Hoopeston-jm) -- Hoopeston firefighters are investigating a house fire Tuesday morning. The fire happened in the 500 block of S. 5th Street just after 6 am. No injuries were reported.

 

 

(Washington-jm) -- What's the weather like for corn and soybean harvesting activities? Stephanie Ho reports…

 

 

 

(Springfield-jm) -- Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan gave a state political party he controls $3.5 million. It came from the Chicago Democrat’s uncontested political campaign that had seen donations, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time, reported just days prior. Once in the hands of the political committee, those millions would be funneled to competitive state Democratic races in amounts far exceeding what those candidates could accept from their neighbors and it’s entirely legal. An Illinois candidate can receive a maximum of $5,800 from an individual, $11,600 from a corporation, labor organization, and $57,800 from a candidate political committee or political action committee. Illinois has a mechanism that unlocks unlimited spending to a candidate once the candidate or an independent group either donates or loans the politician’s committee more than $250,000 or $100,000 for non-statewide candidates.

 

 

(Champaign-jm) -- Governor JB Pritzker joined the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the Illinois Community College Board and industry leaders in announcing a first-of-its-kind program to expand manufacturing training opportunities for Illinois residents. Through a $15 million Notice of Funding Opportunity, Illinois will establish two new innovative Manufacturing Trainings Academies that will expand opportunities for skills training, boost retention of manufacturers in downstate communities, and attract more investment by manufacturing companies throughout Illinois. 

 

 

(Rantoul-jm) -- Rantoul village leaders approved some infrastructure improvements near the new sports complex on the village's west side. Administrator Scott Eisenhower talks about the improvements…

 

 

Rantoul Village Administrator Scott Eisenhower.

 

 

(Hoopeston-jm) -- The City of Hoopeston is looking to fill two vacancies on the city council. Chad Yaden resigned October 18th and Alex Houmes resigned in early September. Those interested in filling the positions can reach out to Mayor Bill Cruisinberry by email at bill cruisinberry at city of hoopeston dot com.

 

 

(Danville-jm) -- East Central Illinois Community Action Agency will be hosting a drive thru health fair next week. The health fair will take place on Friday, November 6th from 1-4 at their Danville location, 56 N. Vermilion Street.

 

 

(Gilman-cf)-- Moisture levels are in corn and soybeans are key when it comes to harvest season for farmers in the area. What exactly is the optimal moisture level for the grain that is harvested to be taken to the elevator? Ford Iroquois Farm Bureau Manager David Treece has the answer… 

 

 

Ford Iroquois Farm Bureau Manager David Treece.

 

 

(Paxton-jm) -- Paxton police have released their recent activity report. On October 26th, Max Jones, who was reported as being homeless, was arrested for possession of meth and possession of drug paraphernalia in the parking lot of the south Caseys. On October 25th, Tredarin Crumbly of Chicago fell asleep and struck a utility pole at the intersection of Taft and Ottawa, no tickets were issued or injuries reported in that incident. Also on October 25th, Hayley Wells of Paxton was arrested for domestic battery and Stephen Callan of the United Kingdom was arrested for aggravated battery for a fight at the Cobblestone Inn bar. On October 24th, Jean Rodriguez-Chevalier of Rantoul was arrested for driving with no valid license and illegal possession of adult use cannabis and cited for expired registration and squealing tires following a traffic stop at Pells and Market. Also on October 24th, Jacob Hill-Campbell of Paxton was arrested for driving on a suspended license and ticketed for improper use of registration and operating an uninsured motor vehicle following a traffic stop at Market and Patton. On October 23rd, James Gillen of Danville was arrested on a Champaign County warrant.

 

 

(Urbana-jm) -- A Dewey man faces up to 30 years in prison for possessing drugs. Shane Burdette was arrested and charged with possession with intent to deliver cocaine after officers searched his home and found 40 grams of cocaine and $3,100. He faces a mandatory sentence of 6 to 30 years if convicted.

 

 

(Washington-jm) -- Despite restrictions on treat-or-treating this year, millions of us are still carving weird faces in pumpkins , lighting them from within and putting them outside. Why? What started this practice? Here's one possible origin. Gary Crawford reports…