• 25-year old James V. Doyle of Loves Park has been charged with the murder of a missing Machesney Park man. The body of 27-year old Moheb Diab was found early this morning on Eastmont Ave in Loves Park.   Winnebago County Coroner Sue Fiduccia says an autopsy on Diab was performed this morning and reports he died from gunshot wounds.  Diab had been missing since April 13.
  • Donations for the victims of the April 9th tornadoes continue to pour in.  The FCA Foundation, the charitable arm of FCA US LLC, formerly the Chrysler Automobile Company, announced a 25-thousand dollar donation to the United Way of the Rock River Valley. The money will go directly into the Northern Illinois Disaster Relief Fund for those affected in Boone, Ogle, DeKalb, Lee and Winnebago Counties. And the Illinois Gaming Machine Operators Association is donating 20-thousand dollars to the relief effort, too, through the Illinois Tornado Relief Effort campaign.
  • The Illinois Association of Realtors says the spring housing market got off to a strong start in March. Statewide home sales in March rose more than 13-percent from March of 2014.  The statewide median price in March 2015 rose 11-and-a-half percent to $165,000.
  • The Journal of the American Medical Association reports there's no link between autism and the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella. Researchers studied more than 95,000 children over 11 years and found no evidence suggesting that MMR vaccines are linked to autism.
  • Four Chicago men have been indicted on drug charges by a federal grand jury in Rockford.  Two are under arrest, while two others are at large. The four conspired to manufacture, possess and distribute more than one-thousand marijuana plants in the Asher Tool warehouse on 11th Street in Rockford between 2013 and 2015. The warehouse burned this past January.
  • The iconic Black Hawk statue, which overlooks the Rock River valley at Lowden State Park near Oregon, IL, was named one of 12 endangered historic places in Illinois today. Landmarks Illinois puts together the list, and included the Black Hawk statue to bring attention to the immediate need to proceed with an already-developed conservation plan. The group says the poured-concrete statue cannot withstand another winter. They cite two reports conducted by a firm documenting cracks and spalls that dramatically worsened between 2008 and 2014 due to water infiltration.  Friends of the Black Hawk Statue Committee have raised $740,000 in private funds in support of conserving the statue. But, due to budget cuts to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, restoration has been delayed already by a year, and committed private funds are at risk due to missed deadlines.  Landmarks Illinois says a successful restoration of the monument would require pressure from the financial contributors, local officials and the general public. Supporters of the statue encourage anyone that wants to help to  reach out to Governor Rauner and your State Senator and Representative and urge them to expedite the renovation plan prior to next winter.

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