News

The hurdle that Fort Madison must clear to bring passenger rail service to Riverview Park is getting shorter.

The distribution of some unwanted flyers in Van Buren County led to a public forum on hate crimes.

The Illinois EPA has decided to renew a permit a for coal mine near Industry. The permit, called an NPDES permit, allows the mine to discharge certain amounts of pollutants into state waterways.

The week of the Boston Marathon bombing and the workplace explosion in West, Texas, it was impossible not to feel guilty about a nagging sense of loss from flooding. Even there, many people in west-central Illinois were hit far harder, losing everything short of their lives.

The McDonough County Emergency Services and Disaster Agency will open flood damage assessment centers to help those whose property was damaged by April’s heavy rains and floods.

Details are included in this news release issued by ESDA:

The Illinois House is poised to vote Thursday, May 2, on an overhaul of the state's pension systems.  It would reduce state workers', teachers', and university employees' future retirement benefits.

The plan easily advanced out of a House committee Wednesday, and there is a feeling in the capitol that after countless attempts to reduce the state's pension debt, this might be the plan that does the trick.

Insiders say it's significant that the plan is sponsored by House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), who rarely takes action without having support locked up. 

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office will continue providing certain law enforcement services to one community for a limited amount of time.

It’s looking less likely that the Iowa Legislature will adjourn its current session on time.

The panelists discuss the changes coming to the two largest newspapers in Lee County.

Mississippi Valley Media says the Daily Gate City and the Daily Democrat will publish four days per week. A shopper-style paper with news mixed in will be published the fifth day. The changes go into effect May 6.

A delegation from Botswana visited Macomb to celebrate new educational exchange agreements between Western Illinois Univesity and universities in Botswana.