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Officers And Officials Honor Deputy Sheriff Jacob Keltner

Red and blue lights flashed for miles in Rockford Thursday night as police officers and firefighters from across the region took part in a procession across the city. They accompanied the body of a McHenry County Deputy Sheriff from the hospital where he died to the coroner’s office. McHenry County Deputy Sheriff Jacob Keltner died Thursday afternoon, several hours after he was shot in the parking lot of an extended stay hotel in Rockford. Keltner was working with a U.S. Marshals Service task...

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Unpacking Pritzker's Tax Proposals: Retail Discount

Victoria Lunacek

Laid-Off Chrysler Workers Expected To Be In High Demand

Statewide: Video Gambling And Addiction; The Governor's Plans To Raise Money

By • Mar 9, 2019

Video gambling has exploded across much of Illinois.  The machines are available at corner bars, neighborhood restaurants and more.  That means they are easily accessible to the people who are addicted to gambling.  Is the state doing enough to help those individuals?  We have a report.  

And Governor J.B. Pritzker has ideas to raise more money for the state.  More gambling is one of his proposals. We look at that and a few of his other plans.  

That and more on this week's Statewide.

Rep. Bustos Expects Tough Road Ahead For Transparency Bill

By • Mar 8, 2019
Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the For The People Act Friday. The bill would require political organizations to disclose large donations, and make changes to Congressional ethics rules. Illinois Representative Cheri Bustos introduced the legislation, and says it was spurred by citizens’ political frustration.

More Open Meetings Act Violations by WIU Board & Administration

By • Mar 8, 2019

The Western Illinois University Board of Trustees held closed door meetings with the administration on June 1, 2018 and June 7, 2018. Many of the issues discussed during those meetings should have been talked about in public, as per the Illinois Open Meetings Act (OMA).

Drinkin' With Lincoln Episode 2: Freeport Lincoln Looms Large

By Clint Cargile • Mar 8, 2019
WNIJ

In this episode, we visit with Lincoln presenter George Buss in his hometown of Freeport, Ill. George has been portraying Lincoln for more than 30 years and proudly serves as the official Lincoln of Gettysburg. George loves Freeport because it's a town steeped in Lincoln history. It was here, on August 27th, 1858, that Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas held the second of their seven debates. This debate is infamous for Douglas's introduction of the Freeport Doctrine, which helped him defeat Lincoln in that race, but propelled Lincoln to the presidency just two years later.

NIU Gamers 'Level Up' With Equipment And Locations

By Andrew Heiserman • Mar 8, 2019
Andrew Heiserman

Talk about sports and many people think of baseball, soccer or football. But esports are growing in popularity.

On a cold March afternoon, two students feverishly hit buttons on Nintendo controllers in the basement of the Neptune Residence Hall. They're playing Super Smash Bros. Think of it as the Mortal Kombat of Mario.

NIU is just one of the many colleges across the country joining the growing esports movement. First, let's break down the "e" part.

Perspective: Just What Does A Local Newspaper Deliver?

By Lonny Cain • Mar 8, 2019
Pixabay

I was studying journalism at NIU in DeKalb in the ‘60s when I got a summer job at the local paper. Not in the newsroom. In the Circulation Department.

We tied up individual routes and tossed the bundles on the dock.  Drivers lined up to hustle them out. Speed was important. The clock was king.

I have learned to appreciate and love the sound of those bundles hitting the dock. And now I see more than bundles. There are not as many hitting the dock as there used to be. Newspapers are shutting down.

I shouldn’t have to tell you why a local newspaper is needed.

Springfield Man Charged With 1st Degree Murder In McHenry Co. Deputy Sheriff's Death

By Susan Stephens • Mar 7, 2019
Bloomington Police Department

The man accused of the murder of a McHenry County Deputy Sheriff in Rockford Thursday will be returned to Winnebago County to face charges.

Floyd E. Brown, 39, is charged with first degree murder for the shooting death of Deputy Jacob Keltner, who died Thursday afternoon in a Rockford hospital. Keltner was working with a fugitive task force from the U.S. Marshals office as they tried to serve a warrant on Brown, a Springfield resident who was staying at the Extended Stay America hotel on Rockford’s east side.

McHenry Co. Sheriff's Deputy Killed In Rockford Shooting; Suspect Arrested

By WNIJ News • Mar 7, 2019
Guy Stephens

The suspect in Thursday's shooting of a sheriff's deputy at a Rockford hotel surrendered to police after several hours of negotiations. Floyd E. Brown, a central Illinois resident, crashed his car near Lincoln, Ill., then barricaded himself inside while Illinois State Police negotiators maintained contact with him. He is expected to be brought back to Winnebago County, where he faces first-degree murder charges. He is also facing federal first-degree murder charges, which make him eligible for the death penalty.

Unpacking Pritzker's Tax Proposals: Cigarette And Vaping Taxes

By • Mar 7, 2019

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker is asking state lawmakers to raise the tax on cigarettes, and begin taxing vaping products. It’s part of a plan he introduced last month to balance the state budget.


Opening Minds Behind Bars

By • Mar 7, 2019

Ro’Derick Zavala grew up in Chicago at 21st and State Street — the northern tip of a four-mile corridor lined with 8,000 units of public housing. His mother worked three jobs, including one at Walgreens, where she would pick up the Disney and Hanna Barbera books that inspired Zavala to fall in love with reading at a young age.

That passion should’ve made him a successful student. But on Chicago’s south side, in the 1980s, it was hard to find a safe place to go to school.

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News From NPR

Exclusive: White House And Ivanka Trump Propose New Spending On Child Care

By • 3 hours ago

In the midst of a presidential budget proposal destined to generate controversy for its expected drastic spending cuts, White House senior adviser and first daughter Ivanka Trump wants to have a conversation about increasing the availability and affordability of child care.

NPR has learned that the 2020 White House budget set to be released Monday will call for increased spending on child care and propose a new initiative to address shortages.

It Takes A Village To Save A British Pub

By • 4 hours ago

The Packhorse pub sits in the tiny village of South Stoke in the west of England amid rolling hills dotted with sheep. For more than a century and a half, it played a crucial role in the village and marked milestones in the lives of local families.

Gerard Coles, who was born half a mile from the pub and now brews cider nearby, started coming to the Packhorse when he was 15 and underage, sometimes with his school teacher for lunch.

How Much Difference Will Eli Lilly's Half-Price Insulin Make?

By Bram Sable-Smith • 4 hours ago

When Erin Gilmer filled her insulin prescription at a Denver-area Walgreens in January, she paid $8.50. U.S. taxpayers paid another $280.51.

She thinks the price of insulin is too high. "It eats at me to know that taxpayer money is being wasted," says Gilmer, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes while a sophomore at the University of Colorado in 2002.

The diagnosis meant that for the rest of her life she'd require daily insulin shots to stay alive. But the price of that insulin is skyrocketing.

Pakistan's Long Support For Militants Puts The Country In A Bind

By • 5 hours ago

Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S., Asad Khan, says India is hastily and unfairly blaming his country for a Feb. 14 suicide bombing that killed more than 40 Indian security force members in the disputed Kashmir region.

"India pointed the finger at Pakistan within minutes. The Indian government and media went into overdrive, whipping up war hysteria against Pakistan," Khan said recently in Washington.

Instead Of Wrestling A Girl, High Schooler Chooses To Forfeit State Wrestling Match

By & Amanda Morris • 6 hours ago

When high school senior and wrestler Brendan Johnston realized he had to face Jaslynn Gallegos, a high school senior, and Angel Rios, a high school junior, in last month's Colorado state wrestling championship, he knew his shot at a state title was over.

Johnston refused to compete against Rios and Gallegos because they are both women.

Gallegos went on to place fifth place in that tournament and Rios was fourth — marking the first time girls have placed at a Colorado state wrestling tournament.

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