Listeners Club

Forgot Password

Not a Member? Sign up here!

WPXN Blog

Governor J-B Pritzker has some strong words for county sheriff's who say they won't be enforcing the new ban on assault weapons

(Springfield-jm) – A bill that limits Illinois counties’ power to regulate wind and solar farms is headed to the governor’s desk after the previous General Assembly approved the measure. Sponsors of House Bill 4412 in the 102nd General Assembly that ended Tuesday say it is needed to better attain the state’s renewable energy goals. Proponents said some counties have more development than others that have been restricting such projects, so the state needed to step in.

 

(Springfield-jm) – Governor J-B Pritzker has some strong words for county sheriff’s who say they won’t be enforcing the new ban on assault weapons. A number of Sheriff’s are taking a stance against the law, saying it’s unconstitutional. Governor Pritzker responds…

 

 

Illinois Governor J-B Pritzker. Gun rights groups say they could be filing a lawsuit against the ban as early as next week. Ford County Sheriff Chad Johnson and Iroquois County Sheriff Clint Perzee are among the sheriff’s that have said they won’t enforce the ban. Champaign County will enforce the ban.

 

(Springfield-jm) – Illinois sports bettors continue to set records. According to the Illinois Gaming Board, $1.03 billion was bet on sports in the state, the second consecutive month the handle has topped the billion dollar mark. Illinois ranked third in the country in monthly handle behind New Jersey and New York. In November, Illinois surpassed Pennsylvania in sports betting revenue and is close to passing them in handle as well. During November, Illinois sportsbooks generated over $15 million for state and local coffers. Year-to-date through November, sports betting in Illinois has produced total tax revenue of more than $114 million.

 

(Springfield-jm) – Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias is kicking off his term by implementing new ethics standards. Secretary Giannoulis signed an executive order that launches a review of state vehicle use, strengthens the office’s sexual harassment policies and prohibits threatening behavior. The goal is to boost the public’s trust…

 

 

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias. Other provisions reinforce rules that office employees and contractual workers cannot donate to the Secretary of State’s campaign fund.

 

(Gibson City-jm) – Gibson City is still working on rebuilding after a fire damaged multiple buildings on the Fourth of July. On Thursday, one of those buildings was torn down. Crews worked to clear the space where the bar Jay’s Place once stood.

 

(Champaign-jm) – The City of Champaign announced that a single lane of Bradley Ave. will temporarily close in three locations between 7 a.m.-4 p.m. on Friday. The closure is due to work on a sewer lining project. Closure locations include: eastbound lane in the 300 block of E. Bradley, eastbound lane in the 500 block of E. Bradley and westbound lane in the 1700 block of W. Bradley.

 

(Springfield-jm) – The 103rd General Assembly was sworn in this week in Springfield. State Representative Mike Marron of Fithian is starting his 4th term in office. He talks about his new district boundaries following the 2020 census…

 

 

State Representative Mike Marron of Fithian.

 

(Champaign-jm) – A Champaign man has been arrested following an investigation into a January 2023 homicide on Garden Hills Drive. On January 5, 2023, Champaign Police were dispatched to the 1200 block of Garden Hills Drive for a report of a Shooting with Injuries. Upon arrival, officers located 21-year-old Jalen Williams from Champaign suffering from life-threatening gunshot wounds to the chest. He later succumbed to his injuries. An investigation indicated that Williams was walking in the street with Zaire Herman, 21, of Champaign, when Herman opened fire, striking Williams. Herman then fled the scene on foot. Champaign Police arrested Herman for his involvement in this incident. He remains in the custody of the Champaign County Correctional Center awaiting arraignment on murder charges.

 

(Paxton–jc)  –  What’s next for the city of Paxton in the streetscape program.? Paxton Mayor Bill Ingold says the final touches are being completed on the first phase of the project and city leaders are now looking at the next two blocks in downtown Paxton…

 

 

Paxton Mayor Bill Ingold

 

(Watseka-jm) – Officials in Iroquois County want residents to be aware of Radon poisoning. Radon is a naturally occurring gas that is released through rocks, soil, and water. The odorless, colorless gas commonly seeps through home foundations into basements and crawl spaces. The Iroquois County Health Department is offering free testing kits to track Radon levels.

 

(Washington-jm) – What did USDA find when it released its first grain and rice stock forecasts for the new year? Rod Bain reports…

 

 

(Springfield-jm) – A new report by an inspector general for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services shows 171 children died while in contact with the department last year, 40% more than the year before. Lawmakers are now demanding action.  The 248-page report released by the Illinois Inspector General shows that in 2022, 49 more children died while in the custody of DCFS than in 2021. That's a total of 171 children who died while on the department's radar or within 12 months after the department made contact with them. DCFS in Illinois receives $1.5 billion in taxpayer money annually. Republicans have called for the head of DCFS to resign. Pritzker blamed Republicans and the previous administration.

 

 

(Springfield-jm) – A measure requiring anyone installing a sprinkler system for a lawn in Illinois to have a licensed plumber hired for inspection is waiting for the Governor’s signature. House Bill 4245 requires irrigation contractors to have their work looked over by a state-licensed plumber or face a $10,000 fine.  The legislation also says that the inspecting licensed plumber shall make the physical connection between a lawn sprinkler system and the backflow prevention device.

 

(Springfield-jm) – Workers in Illinois would be entitled to 5 paid days of leave under a bill passed by lawmakers this week. As many as one and a half million workers in Illinois do not get any time off to take care of personal needs, says Senator Kimberly Lightford of Maywood…

 

 

Illinois Senator Kimberly Lightford of Maywood. Workers would be allowed to use the paid leave for any reason and up to 40 hours of unused time could be carried over annually.

 

(Urbana-jm) – University of Illinois Police said a man was scammed out of $5,000 in the summer during an Internet-based scam. Officials said the victim was searching online for a loan in August and found a website for this purpose. He provided his personal and banking information to the website, which promised to deposit funds into his checking account. After the funds were supposedly deposited, the victim was asked to send back a portion of those funds in cryptocurrency, which the victim did in four transactions. The victim later discovered that the funds were not deposited and that someone had used his identity to make fabricated fraud claims on his checking account. When the bank discovered this, they reversed the fraud claims, but the victim’s account became overdrawn by $5,000.

 

(Champaign-jm) – The Champaign Police Department, CPD, reported traffic stops were up 430.1 % in 2022. Officers pulled over 2,693 cars in 2022, which is a large increase from 508 cars in 2021. The department says COVID restrictions were the cause for the decline. During 2021, officers were only able to stop drivers committing the most flagrant offenses, like speeding and running red lights.

 

(Springfield-jm) – The 103rd General Assembly is underway. State Representative Dan Caulkins of Decatur talks about legislation he will be bringing up…

 

 

State Representative Dan Caulkins of Decatur.

 

(Ford County-jm) – – January is Cervical Health Awareness Month. The Illinois Department of Public Health is encouraging women ages 21 and older to speak with their physician or health care provider about cervical cancer screening and prevention this month and always. Most kinds of cervical cancer can be prevented with early ongoing screening. Each year approximately 12,000 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with cervical cancer. The Centers for Disease Control reports that half of the cervical cancers occurred among women who are rarely or never screened for cervical cancer. The Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program provides free cervical cancer screenings to uninsured and underinsured Illinois women between the ages of 35 and 64, regardless of income.  For more information on the Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program and preventative vaccines, please contact Kristin Buhs, IBCCP Nurse Client Patient Navigator at Ford County Public Health Department at 217-379-9281.

 

(Paxton–jc) Paxton Park District officials continue to thank the local businesses in the area that support programs at the local park district. The youth basketball program is set to begin on January 21st and Paxton Park District Director Cody Evans says there are a lot of sponsors…

 

 

Paxton Park District Director Cody Evans. 43 teams and over 400 kids are involved in youth basketball at the Paxton Park District. Areas include Paxton, Gibson City to Cissna Park.

 

(Champaign-jm) – In order to install lighting for the University of Illinois, Champaign Signal and Lighting will close one eastbound lane and one westbound lane of Kirby Avenue between First Street and Fourth Street. The closures will begin on Monday and will end on Friday. Eastbound traffic will be reduced to one lane and westbound traffic will also be reduced to one lane in the area. Lane closures will occur during working hours only and will be reopened overnight.

 

(Washington-jm) – Corn and soybean markets got some surprises in USDA's revised production estimates. Gary Crawford reports…

 

 

The Gifford Fire Department will hold their pancake and sausage breakfast on Sunday from 7-1 at the German Fall Festival Building.

 

The Paxton Area Chamber of Commerce will host Glo Bingo on Friday, February 10th at the Pueblo Lindo Event Center. Doors open at 6 with Bingo beginning at 7.

 

The 34th annual Paxton Buckley Loda FFA Farm Toy Show will take place on Saturday, February 11th from 9 to 2:30 at PBL High School.

 

St. John’s Lutheran School annual Chicken Dinner, Carnival and Auction on Sunday, February 19th.

 

 

 

Get our App

Facebook

On Air Now

Regular Programming
12:00am - 6:00am
Regular Programming

Listen on Alexa

Weather

Share This Website