(Springfield-jm) – The Illinois Gaming Board data shows casino revenue in the state is down by $200 million over the past decade. The dwindling casino numbers started to take form in 2012 as video gaming machines and sports betting facilities began to pop up in more spots across the state. Data shows that in 2022, video gaming terminals across the area nearly doubled in revenue from $395 million in 2019 to $762 million in 2022. Boasting of providing a more accessible and convenient experience than full-fledged casinos, the machines allow players to place bets on video poker and slot machines in local bars and restaurants. At the same time, the rise in popularity of sports betting has been so meteoric that it eclipsed casino revenue $142 million to $140 million in 2022. Overall, state gaming revenue was up to nearly $1.9 billion in fiscal year 2022, the highest ever and almost 39% higher than in 2021.

 

(Undated-jm) – State Senator Paul Faraci advanced legislation to expand university admissions opportunities to community college transfer students who meet certain academic requirements. House Bill 3760 would require Eastern Illinois University, Northern Illinois University, Southern Illinois University and Western Illinois University to create a four-year admissions program that admits community college transfer students each semester, beginning with the 2024-2025 academic school year.

 

(Springfield-jm) – This is Work Zone Awareness Week with an emphasis on everyone doing their part to keep people safe. Most work zone crashes occur because drivers aren’t focusing on the road says Illinois Department of Transportation Highway Maintainer Don Bradley. He should know, he’s been hit twice…

 

 

IDOT Highway Maintainer Don Bradley. Each year more than six thousand vehicle crashes occur in Illinois Work Zones. In 2022, 32 people died as a result including two workers.

 

(Urbana-jm) – Sexual extortion remains a problem on the University of Illinois campus as the University of Illinois Police reported another instance of this trend. Officials said that on Saturday, a student reported that he sent intimate photos of himself while conversing with someone unknown through a dating app. After the photos were sent, the other person demanded $1,000 or the photos would be sent to the student’s social media contacts. The student did not pay. This is the 10th instance of sexual extortion being reported to U of I Police since the start of the academic year.

 

(Hoopeston-jm) – An Indiana Roofing Company filed a complaint with Hoopeston Police Monday claiming the theft of several tools from a work site. Sentry Roofing said tools and equipment were stolen from a roof top of a building in the 200-block of E. Main Street in Hoopeston.  An investigation is underway.

 

(Washington-jm) – What are some of the factors behind USDA's latest forecast for pork production and price? Rod Bain reports…

 

 

(Rantoul–jc)  –  Today’s WPXN Business of the Day is Community Service Center of Rantoul. The local non-profit provides a wide variety of services from a food pantry to clothing assistance and prescription help. Community Service Center Executive Director Cindy Crawford says one new service is for high school students at Rantoul Township High School, called the Eagles Nest…

 

 

She says their service areas are different depending on the program…

 

 

Community Service Center Executive Director Cindy Crawford

 

(Springfield-jm) – The debate of whether Illinois is growing or shrinking continues.  Last week at Harvard University, Governor J.B. Pritzker denied continued reports that Illinois’ population is shrinking,  pointing to a post enumeration survey that said the state was undercounted by nearly 2%. The Census has Illinois’ population at 12.6 million, down from 12.8 million 10 years earlier.  After the latest report on county population trends showed 92 of 102 Illinois counties lost population, U.S. Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg, sent a letter to the U.S. Census late last month with “ongoing concerns surrounding the repeated undercounting” of Illinois’ population.

 

(Washington-jm) – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin yesterday met with representatives from Champaign County First to discuss the region’s infrastructure priorities and recent federal funding that Durbin secured for the projects. This includes Fiscal Year 2022 and 2023 earmarks for projects in the area: $3.78 million for the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District to increase its electric bus fleet as well as $1 million for mapping the underground geology of the Mahomet Aquifer, the primary source of drinking water for nearly one million people across 15 counties in Illinois. Durbin and Champaign County leaders also discussed federal funding opportunities, through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, for several current projects in the region, including the Curtis Road Underpass Project in Savoy, the Florida Avenue Corridor Reconstruction Project, and supporting the Chicago-to-Carbondale railroad corridor.

 

(Springfield-jm) – The Illinois Department of Corrections is highlighting re-entry programs as part of April’s “Second Chance” Month. Correctional facilities across the state are hosting re-entry summits to help set incarcerated individuals on a path to success when they are released. The Agency’s Re-entry Coordinator Angie Mecagni (meh-cag-nee) says the summits work like a vendor fair…

 

 

Illinois Department of Corrections Re-entry Coordinator Angie Mecagni. The Department is also holding a vital document drive, to help inmates get a copy of their birth certificate or social security card or get a state ID.

 

(Urbana-jm) – A University of Illinois student is facing charges related to a physical altercation at a fraternity house earlier this month. Police officials said Ryan Robinson was identified as the aggressor in the altercation, which happened at Theta Xi during a party on April 8. Another U of I student was held down and battered, which police said constituted aggravated battery and mob action.

 

(Champaign-jm) – The City of Champaign announced that traffic will be detoured as a portion of Anthony Drive will be closed beginning at 7 a.m. Thursday, April 20. The closure, between Dobbins and Dale Drives, is so a wall foundation can be installed on the southern shoulder of Anthony Drive. Officials said eastbound and westbound traffic will be detoured in the area during the closure.

 

(Washington-jm) – The weather finally gives corn and soybean growers some leeway to get some planting done. Gary Crawford reports…