Rochelle
12:51 pm
Tue April 30, 2013

Quinn, LaHood Join Groundbreaking For Nippon Sharyo Expansion

Nippon Sharyo will add to its existing rail car factory with a $54 million facility for metal fabrication and machining work on rail cars. Outgoing  U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Illinois Governor Pat Quinn joined Japanese dignitaries for the groundbreaking Tuesday. LaHood credited Quinn for the partnership with the Japanese company:

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Government
7:18 am
Tue April 30, 2013

Anti-Corruption Bills Await Senate Action

State Representative Tom Demmer

Legislation inspired by the Rita Crundwell scandal could soon see activity in the Illinois Senate. Crundwell is the former Dixon comptroller who is serving a federal prison sentence for stealing millions of dollars from the city.

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Business
5:18 am
Tue April 30, 2013

Northern Illinois Workforce Development Board Expanding

Credit Boone and Winnebago Counties Workforce Investment Board

An organization that oversees job training and workforce development programs in Boone and Winnebago Counties is expanding to include Stephenson County.

John Strandin is a spokesman for the Boone and Winnebago Counties Workforce Investment Board.

Strandin says the Board had worked closely with Stephenson County on workforce issues before, so the two are familiar with each other.  Strandin says, for a number of reasons, this merger makes sense.

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Starved Rock-area mines
5:06 am
Tue April 30, 2013

Sand Mines On Hold In LaSalle County

Credit Susan Stephens / WNIJ
One of the many active sand mines in LaSalle County.

Yesterday on Morning Edition, we updated you on the contaminated water situation in the small LaSalle County town of Wedron. Today, we check in on another on-going environmental issue in the county: sand mining. 


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Illinois
6:35 am
Mon April 29, 2013

Small Town Consumed By Toxic Water Mess

Credit Mike Moen
Wedron, Il

For several weeks, WNIJ has been following the probe into groundwater contamination in the small town of Wedron. In our latest report, we learn about the long road ahead for this LaSalle County community as it tries to eliminate a problem that has consumed the area in many ways.

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Flood 2013
5:09 am
Mon April 29, 2013

Flood Aid Available For Illinois Residents

Credit Guy Stephens / WNIJ

Flood victims who need extra financial help can use a state program to secure a better interest rate.

In the Disaster Recovery Linked Deposit program, Illinois deposits money when a local bank approves a flood-related loan.

The individual is then charged a lower, state interest rate and the bank gets to keep its charges and fees.

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-Illinois
5:03 am
Mon April 29, 2013

Quinn's Returns Show Charitable Giving

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn paid $7,716 in state income tax.  He's paying about $3,000 more than he was back in 2010. That's because he signed a law in 2011 raising Illinois' income tax rate from 3 to 5 percent.

The governor's tax returns are signed and dated April 14th, a day before the filing deadline. 

And rather than filling out the forms online, he does it by hand.

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WNIJ Sponsors
2:49 am
Sun April 28, 2013

ArtWalk

Join WNIJ in celebrating the arts in Beloit! The Downtown Beloit Association hosts “ArtWalk” -- a full weekend of activities and entertainment May 10th and 11th.

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Jonathan is the General Manager of Tri States Public radio. His duties include but are not limited to, managing all facets of the station, from programming to finances to operations. Jonathan grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago. He has a B.A in music theory and composition from WIU and a M.A in Public Affairs Reporting from The University of Illinois at Springfield. Jonathan began his journey in radio as a student worker at WIUM. While in school Jonathan needed a summer job on campus. He heard WIUM was hiring, and put his bid in. Jonathan was welcomed on the team and was very excited to be using his music degree. He had also always been interested in news and public radio. He soon learned he was a much better reporter than a musician and his career was born.  While at WIUM, Jonathan hosted classical music, completed operations and production work, was a news reporter and anchor, and served as the stage manager for Rural Route 3. Jonathan then went to on to WIUS in Springfield where he was a news anchor and reporter covering the state legislature for Illinois Public Radio. After a brief stint in commercial radio and TV, Jonathan joined WCBU in Peoria, first in operations then as a news reporter and for the last ten years of his time there he served as the News Director. Jonathanââ

Freeport
3:32 pm
Fri April 26, 2013

Freeport Resident Raises Funds For Historic Monument

Ron Werntz is a man on a mission.  Werntz has taken it upon himself to raise donations to restore the Civil War monument outside of the Stephenson County Courthouse in Freeport.  Werntz says when county officials  made it clear there was no public funds in the budget for restoration, he started urging local residents and private companies to pitch in.

The monument was finished in 1869. Nature has taken its toll on the 70-foot structure. The facade is crumbling, but Werntz says it's even worse:

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