(Springfield-jm) – Illinois Link card users temporarily won't be able to make purchases or ATM withdrawals. Scheduled maintenance is set to take place from August 20 to August 21. Officials say this is because the state is transitioning to a new link card system. Link cards will be inactive beginning at 11 p.m. on Saturday, August 20 until 6 p.m. on Sunday, August 21. The Illinois Link Helpline and the Illinois Link card website will also be down during that time.

 

(Chicago-jm) – The 2022 Chicago Air and Water Show is this weekend. The U-S Navy Blue Angels and the U-S Army Golden Knights parachute team hi-lite the two day event set for Saturday and Sunday. Several other military and non military planes will also take to the skies.

 

(Springfield-jm) – The Illinois State Police is announcing the result of a summer firearm enforcement blitz. Since 2019, the state police have run hundreds of these special details, making sure those who have had their FOID card revoked, do not have any guns. This latest effort ran from mid-June through the end of July says State Police Director Brendan Kelly…

 

 

Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly. Kelly says while this alone won’t put an end to gun violence, these enforcement details are an important tool for law enforcement.

 

(Urbana-jm) – As students return to the University of Illinois campus this week, they are doing so amidst a labor dispute that could impact them directly. The university’s service workers are pushing for a new contract to replace the current one that expires on Monday. They and their union have been trying to negotiate with the university, but union leaders are frustrated by what they see as a lack of respect from the university. So far, the university has offered a 67-cent wage increase in the next year for dining service workers and a 25-cent increase for building service workers. But the workers and their allies are outraged by this, especially given the fact that U of I president Tim Killeen is getting a $235,000 raise. If a deal isn’t reached by Monday, the union will deliver a strike notice to the university. That would result in more than 800 employees walking off the job 15 or more days later.

 

(Champaign-jm) – A trio of siblings were indicted by a federal grand jury on Thursday on nine counts charging them with conspiracy to commit forced labor and kidnapping. Guatemalan nationals Domingo Francisco-Juan, Lorenza Domingo-Castaneda and Catarina Domingo-Juan are facing the possibility of life in prison and mandatory restitution for their alleged crimes. The indictment alleges that between December 2015 and March 2021, the three brought two minors from Guatemala to the U.S. to work at Domingo-Castaneda and Domingo-Juan’s homes. The minors were allegedly compelled by the defendants to provide childcare, cooking and cleaning in the homes and to work outside the homes in local hotels, factories and a restaurant. Domingo-Castaneda and Domingo-Juan are further alleged to have forced a third minor to work in their homes and at a local business. This case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations with the assistance of the Champaign Police Department, Champaign County Sheriff’s Office, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Champaign County State’s Attorney’s Office.

 

(Paxton-jm) – The Paxton Masonic Lodge will be holding their Get Out of Dodge raffle coming up next month. The grand prize is a trip to New York City to see two  Broadway shows. Lodge Spokesperson Jim Sherl has how you can get your tickets…

 

 

Paxton Masonic Lodge Spokesperson Jim Sherl.

 

(Champaign County-jm) – People in Champaign County can now apply for assistance in paying their energy bills through the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission’s Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. People can sign up for an appointment to meet with program representatives. Those meetings begin September 1 and will take place at either 1776 East Washington Street in Urbana, 2009 Round Barn Road in Champaign or the Rantoul Business Center. The office in Rantoul is brand new and will open on September 1.

 

 

(Springfield-jm) – With the new school year upon us, it is more apparent that many school officials and parents in Illinois want no part of new standards of teaching sexual education in the classroom.  Democratic lawmakers passed a bill that aligned the state’s standards with a national model. School districts were given the option to opt-out, and they have in droves. According to the website Awake-Illinois, only 20 school districts have decided to fully follow the standards, with 534 opting out. In accordance with the National Sex Education Standards, the Illinois State Board of Education said elementary students, including kindergartners, will learn about consent, gender identity, hormone blockers and healthy relationships. Middle schoolers will learn about dating violence prevention, different types of sex and sexual harassment. High schoolers will learn more about their bodies, pregnancy and sexual health.

 

(Springfield-jm) – Data from a moving website shows the outmigration from Illinois has continued this year.  According to the moving website moveBuddha, data for state-to-state moves shows that for every 42 moves into Illinois there are 100 moving out, the third highest outbound interest in the country this year, behind New York and California. Illinois also has the 10th largest tax burden nationally, with the combined impact of personal income tax, property, sales and business taxes comparatively high. The report notes that when Illinoisans leave the state, they take high incomes with them. The IRS estimates more than $16 million in tax dollars left Illinois from 2019 to 2020 as residents moved away.

 

(Springfield-jm) – The state treasurer’s live unclaimed property auction is tomorrow at the Illinois State Fair. The auction is a popular event each year, and includes several unique items, says Illinois State Treasurer Mike Frerichs…

 

 

State Treasurer Mike Frerichs. The auction will be held on the state fairgrounds in Springfield at the Lincoln Stage. You can preview items starting at 9 am. The auction begins at 11.

 

(Danville-jm) – A Danville man will spend 27 years behind bars after he pleaded guilty to murdering a woman in 2019. Henry Graham was charged with First Degree Murder in connection to the death of 29-year-old Tara Jackson in a motel room in early January of 2019. Witnesses told investigators that they heard arguing and yelling coming from the room the night of January 2, which was followed by motel staff finding Jackson unresponsive the following morning. A forensic pathologist determined that Jackson died from asphyxiation caused by strangulation and smothering.

 

(Urbana-jm) – A former student at the University of Illinois has been sentenced to three years probation after admitting to watching child pornography in his dorm room. Daniel Meyka, 19, of Mount Prospect pleaded guilty in June, admitting that he looked at and distributed pornographic pictures of young girls online in September of 2021 while in his dorm room at Saunders Hall. Police said a search of Meyka’s phone and computer resulted in 160 pornographic photos and another 140 videos being found that were downloaded between September 2 and 20, 2021. The state pushed for a six-year prison sentence. Meyka's arrest resulted in his expulsion from the University of Illinois. he will have to register as a sex offender.

 

(Paxton-jm) – The Paxton Area Chamber of Commerce Golf Outing is coming up in September. Chamber President Austin Curtis talks about the event…

 

 

Paxton Area Chamber of Commerce President Austin Curtis.

 

(Savoy-jm) – A 26-year-old man is facing charges for burglary to a motor vehicle, possession of burglary tools, and possession of drug paraphernalia. It happened at Willard Airport. Police say they received a call saying that Eric Welch of Farmer City, was checking vehicles in the airport parking lot.

 

(Gibson City–jc)  –  Music will fill the air in downtown Gibson City on Saturday night. The Gibson Area Hospital Summer Bash will feature the nationally known group Night-Ranger. Gibson Area Hospital Spokesperson Bill Kirby says a fun walk to raise money for the Gibson City Fire Department, lots of food and music hilite the event..

 

 

Gibson Area Hospital Spokesperson Bill Kirby

 

 

The 146th Fairbury Fair runs through Sunday.

 

The 2022 Cissna Park Old Settlers will take place today and tomorrow.

 

The final Rantoul Farmers Market of the season will be held this evening from 4-7 pm at the corner of Garrard and Congress.

 

Paxton IGA will hold their cookout benefiting Boy Scout Troop 32 on Saturday, from 10-2.

 

The Gibson Area Hospital and Health Services Summer Bash will take place Saturday with the band Night Ranger performing at 7 pm.

 

St. John’s Buckley Ladies Aid/LWML will host an ice cream social at St. John’s Lutheran School on Sunday from 10:30-1.