WIUM Local

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn unveiled a plan to overhaul the pension system for state  employees.

It would force state workers to choose between two  plans, both of which would reduce their benefits.

If  employees voluntarily go along with the governor's proposed changes, they would have to pay more into their retirement plans, work longer before they retire, and face reduced cost-of-living adjustments in retirement.

Warren County has sold the stately two-story home that has housed the Regional Office of Education for years. The house sits right across the street from the county courthouse.  The regional office serves Warren, Mercer and Henderson counties.

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church has purchased the building from the county for $74,000.

County Board Chairman Bill Reichow said the office will stay put for the short-term.

Macomb's Earth Day Celebration will bring the public close to nature with several birds of prey on display.

Veterinarian Drew Kaiser is head of the Raptor Rehabilitation Center in Quincy. He will bring a red-tailed hawk, a kestrel, a barn owl and a screech owl to the event.

People love to watch the magnificent birds.  However, he says we are not their best friends.

He says, “80% of the time the trauma that we see are man-made. Whether that's your posts, telephone poles, fences, automobiles, things like that.”

The Keokuk City Council has signed off on a plan that could possibly lead to additional federal funding for Keokuk Area Hospital. 

It starts with the panel’s vote of 7-2 last night to contribute $100,000.

KAH CEO Wally Winkler says the city’s contribution will be paired with a $100,000 contribution from Lee County.  He says that money could result in roughly $510-thousand dollars for the hospital.

Winkler says additional state funding is also a possibility.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn said it's time for state lawmakers to "step forward" and rescue the state's Medicaid system, even if requires some painful decisions.

The Democratic governor wants lawmakers to approve his plan for filling a $2.7 billion hole in the system. It includes reducing services for the poor, cutting payments to health-care providers, and raising cigarette taxes by $1 a pack.