(Ford County-jm) – The Ford County Sheriff’s Office is asking for help from the community in locating a missing teenager. Officials said Kyla Kemplin, 17, hasn’t been seen since February 13. She is described as being white with black hair and blue eyes, 5 feet 7 inches in height and weighing 140 pounds. Other identifying characteristics include a nose ring and a pair of tattoos on her wrist: a smiley face and “Angel of 999.” Anyone who has information about Kyla’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Ford County Sheriff’s Office at 217-379-2324.
(Springfield-jm) – The state of Illinois is making available the expenditures related to the influx of migrants in the state. Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza said a portal on the comptroller's website will provide enhanced transparency into state spending. On the portal site, users can see expenditures, with information including the vendor’s name, which agency paid the vendor, which state fund the money came from, contract information and the total amount paid.
(Springfield-jm) – The Illinois Department of Public Health has issued an updated standing order allowing schools to keep a supply of medications like opioid antagonists on hand, and also permitting school nurses or other trained personnel to administer them to students in the event of an opioid overdose. The updated order builds upon authority established in 2015 to expand access to the medications, which can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. The new order makes clear that schools can obtain a supply of such medications without a prescription.
(Springfield-jm) – Governor J-B Pritzker gave his State of the State and Budget Address before the Illinois General Assembly Wednesday. One of the issues Governor Pritzker is putting a major focus on is education…
Illinois Governor J-B Pritzker.
(Urbana-jm) – University of Illinois professor Lorenzo Vergari says a record-breaking fusion test is a positive step toward the country’s quest for cleaner energy. Nuclear fusion is the same process that powers the sun, and is widely considered as the holy grail of clean energy. Using the Joint European Torus, a huge, donut-shaped machine known as a tokamak, scientists in Great Britain were able to sustain a record amount of fusion energy for five seconds, enough to power around 12,000 homes.
(Rantoul–jc) – The village of Rantoul is set to show its revitalized Youth Center in March. The village has invested over 4 million dollars to modernize the local facility. Rantoul Mayor Chuck Smith says an open house is set for March 16th…
Rantoul Mayor Chuck Smith
(Champaign-jm) – Champaign Police are hoping the City Council okays 72 new high-tech street cameras. The 72 cameras come in the form of 18 boxes. Each box would have four cameras to allow for license plate reading, real time monitoring, plus pan, zoom, and tilt capabilities. It’s a nearly $145,000 proposal. $98,000 would pay for the 72 cameras, and an additional $47,000 for the rest of the boxes’ contents. The department would put one box at 18 intersections throughout Champaign. Each spot was selected based off how busy the intersection is. These would replace some of the current Flock ALPR cameras, saving the department money in the long-run.
(Washington-jm) – What are some of the trends found in USDA's outlook for the domestic corn balance sheet this year? Rod Bain reports…
With FFA week being this week, we were able to talk with several students from area FFA Chapters. Reagan King from Cissna Park High School’s FFA Chapter talks about what is going on today.
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Cissna Park FFA Member Reagan King
We were also able to talk with Jake Kocher from Iroquois West’s FFA Chapter
Iroquois West FFA Member Jake Kocher
Katelyn Graham from Rantoul High School’s FFA Chapter talks about what is going on today.
Rantoul FFA Member Katelyn Graham
(Springfield-jm) – The Illinois Department of Revenue is reminding senior citizens about the availability of the Senior Citizens Real Estate Tax Deferral Program. The program, which works like a loan, allows qualified seniors to defer all or part of their property taxes and special assessment payments on their principal residences. Taxpayers who apply and qualify are allowed to defer a maximum of $7,500 per tax year, including both first and second installment payments. The deadline to apply for the program is March 1.
(Undated-jm) – Illinois was included in a massive cellular service outage that affected thousands across the country. More than 50,000 AT&T customers reported service outages early Thursday. The cities with the most outages included the Chicago area. Verizon and T-Mobile customers were also experiencing outages.
(Springfield-jm) – Governor J-B Pritzker presented his State of the State and Budget Address. In addition to increases in funding to k-12 education and early childhood education, the Governor is also increasing funding in higher education…
Illinois Governor J-B Pritzker.
(Milford-jm) – A 23-year-old Milford man was sentenced to 3 years in prison in Livingston County Court for sex offenses. Felony charges were filed against Shane Deaton for Traveling to Meet a Minor and Indecent Solicitation of a Child. Both are felony charges. Deaton was arrested by the Fairbury Police in March of 2022 for social media communication with a 15-year-old female for sexual purposes. Deaton pled guilty to Indecent Solicitation of a Child and was placed on two years of probation. He was also sentenced to 180 days in the Livingston County Jail and required to register as a sex offender. The probation was revoked and terminated when Deaton was arrested again by the Fairbury and Chatsworth Police Departments at a location in Chatsworth in December of 2023. This time he was chatting with a 13-year-old female for sexual purposes on a social media site. Deaton planned to meet the child in Chatsworth where he was taken into custody. The female was being portrayed by law enforcement.
(Springfield-jm) – A new report shows the state of Illinois is facing a massive budget deficit in the next fiscal year. 53rd District State Senator Tom Bennett of Gibson City talks about the state’s finances…
53rd District State Senator Tom Bennett of Gibson City.
(Mahomet-jm) – New properties may be at their very beginnings in Mahomet, but developers said they expect to fill the newly-purchased lot with local and national businesses. Developers say the plan is to keep some lots from the 10-acre site to develop themselves and sell the others. Buildings should be ready for leasing by the summer or fall.
(Washington-jm) – How does USDA see a forecasted record production of soybeans impacting the supply and demand ledger for the new marketing year? Rod Bain reports…
Over 670,000 FFA students will be participating in FFA Week across the country. WPXN was able to talk with several students from area FFA Chapters. Madison Freed from PBL High School’s FFA Chapter talks about what is going on today.
PBL FFA Member Madison Freed
We were also able to talk with Charles Francis from GCMS ‘s FFA Chapter
GCMS FFA Member Charles Francis
Jenna Clemmons from Fisher High School’s FFA Chapter talks about what is going on today.
Fisher FFA Member Jenna Clemmons
We were also able to talk with Brynn Boundy from GCMS ‘s FFA Chapter. She talks about the FFA auction that takes place on Saturday.
GCMS FFA Member Brynn Boundy
WPXN Weekend News Notes…
The Cadillac in Paxton will host a wine and dessert night on Saturday from 6:30-8. Only 100 tickets will be sold. Cost is $35 per ticket.
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Roberts will host a pancake and sausage breakfast on Sunday from 7-11:30. Cost is $10 for adults, kids 10 and under are $5.
