Afternoon News Update: Friday January 30
- The Rockford Public Works department has declared a snow emergency in anticipation of the upcoming snowfall predicted to fall before the kick-off of Superbowl 49. The Odd/Even parking ordinance will be in effect and citizens will be required to follow the protocol or move their vehicles off the street. Northern and central parts of the state may get up to six inches of snow from Saturday night through early Monday. The Chicago area could get even more.
- Governor Bruce Rauner says people he's bringing into his administration are taking "significant cuts" from what they made in the private sector. He's defending top staff salaries following a review by The Associated Press that shows they will make significantly more than Pat Quinn's staffers. Rauner stressed a theme of "shared sacrifice" during his inaugural address. He halted "non-essential spending" and announced he'd be taking a salary of a dollar per year.
- Illinois is threatening to withhold money from school districts that don't give students a new statewide test. Chicago public schools have said they won't give the computer-based exam to a majority of students because of concerns about access to technology.
- Just one day after the Police Chief of Loves Park voiced his frustration with drivers attempting to speed away from police officers, another fleeing suspect crashed. his vehicle.Police say 29-year-old Aaron Prock of Loves Park sped from officers during a traffic stop near Harlem and Forest Hills Rd. They allege Prock ran a stoplight and then sped southbound on Perryville at speeds in excess of 100 mph even though the officer was not in pursuit. Prock lost control of his vehicle and collided with a guard rail, but was not seriously hurt. He was charged with aggravated fleeing to elude among a list of other charges.
- A Stateline area man has survived after being shot three times overnight. It happened in the area of Oakley Avenue and Jefferson Street around 10pm. Officers arrived to find a 34-year-old male suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the leg.The man told officers he was walking down the street with a friend when a dark-colored SUV approached them and fired multiple shots. He was transported to a local hospital for his injuries and is expected to be okay. There have been no arrests and the victim has yet to be identified.
- Authorities in Illinois are warning that police will be out in force this Super Bowl weekend to catch drunken drivers. Over the past five years, 18 people were killed in road accidents on Super Bowl Sunday. According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, half of those deaths were in accidents involving a driver who had been drinking.
- Former Dixon comptroller Rita Crundwell wants to keep hundreds of trophies she won in horse competitions. Crundwell's attorney says in a court filing that the trophies aren't worth much and shouldn't be part of the restitution she's been ordered to make. Crundwell's in prison for stealing about $54 million.
- Woodstock is remembering the late director Harold Ramis. A theater in the Chicago suburb where Ramis filmed the movie "Groundhog Day" will dedicate one of its auditoriums to him this weekend during its annual Groundhog Days Festival. Ramis died last year.
- Fans will get a chance to pay their respects to Chicago Cubs great Ernie Banks. Visitation at Chicago's Fourth Presbyterian Church begins at noon Friday. Banks died last week at the age of 83 after suffering a heart attack.
- Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner is defending paying his staff members significantly more than his predecessor, saying he'll pay what he has to for top talent. The Republican told reporters today that some of his administration hires from the private sector were taking pay cuts to work in state government. The Associated Press found annual salaries of ten top staffers in Rauner's administration are over what Quinn paid to his staffers by roughly $380,000, or 36 percent.
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