Jenna Dooley

WNIJ Morning Edition Producer/Reporter

Jenna Dooley has spent her professional career in public radio. She is a graduate of Northern Illinois University and the Public Affairs Reporting Program at the University of Illinois - Springfield. She returns to Northern Public Radio in DeKalb after several years hosting Morning Edition at WUIS-FM in Springfield. She has added teaching to her resume as an instructor at the Illinois Center for Broadcasting. She is not afraid to brag at parties that she has met Carl Kasell, Ira Glass, and Garrison Keillor (and has pictures to prove it). She and her husband live in Aurora.

jdooley@niu.edu

Earlville: 150 Years And Counting

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Credit Jenna Dooley/pixlr / WNIJ

Credit Jenna Dooley / WNIJ

outdoor screen at Earlville's Route 34 Drive-in

Credit Jenna Dooley / WNIJ

car speakers at Earlville's Route 34 Drive-in

Credit Jenna Dooley / WNIJ

Route 34 Drive-in projector (shown operated by owner Ron Magnoni Jr.

Credit Jenna Dooley / WNIJ

vintage farming sign on loan from an Earlville resident at the Earlville 150th headquarters

Credit Jenna Dooley / WNIJ

By Jenna Dooley

This is an important year for the farming community of Earlville, Illinois. Residents are preparing for the town’s Sesquicentennial.

Think there's nothing to do in Earlville on a Friday night? Think again.

4:06 am

Mon May 13, 2013

After Soggy Spring, Planting Underway In Illinois Fields

Credit DeKalb County Farm Bureau

By Jenna Dooley

DeKalb County farmers are finally getting a chance to plant corn. April was too wet and cold to start the process, but things are looking up for May.

Interactive Corn Planting Map

DeKalb County Farm Bureau spokeswoman Mariam Wassmann says mid-April is the ideal time to get corn in the ground followed by soybeans in May. Farmers are just getting a good start now.

3:55 am

Thu May 9, 2013

Marseilles Dealing With Aftermath Of Flooding

Credit Guy Stephens / WNIJ

The Illinois River Flows Through A Marseilles Neighborhood (Taken April 2013)

By Jenna Dooley

JoEllen Fuller laughs nervously when asked how last month's floods damaged her school.

"Oh Boy. It was horrible. It was just devastating. The clean-up process is in full swing, everything has been removed. We just have a shell." - Marseilles Supt. JoEllen Fuller

6:05 am

Thu May 2, 2013

Area Lawmakers React To Sequester

By Jenna Dooley

In 2011, Congress passed a law saying that, if they couldn’t agree on a deficit reduction plan, then automatic across-the-board budget cuts would take effect. That deadline came and went.

3:32 pm

Fri April 26, 2013

Freeport Resident Raises Funds For Historic Monument

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Credit Jenna Dooley / WNIJ

Civil War Monument in Freeport

Credit Jenna Dooley / WNIJ

Names of soldiers on Stephenson County's Civil War monument built in 1869

Credit Jenna Dooley / WNIJ

Ron Werntz assesses damage on the Civil War monument in Freeport

Credit Jenna Dooley / WNIJ

Sample certificate to raise donations for monument restoration

By Jenna Dooley

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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Community Close-Up 2013

6:12 am

Tue May 14, 2013