Afternoon News Update: Monday December 22
- Autopsies are being done today on four victims of a weekend shooting in Rockford. A gunman killed a woman, her two children and her boyfriend late Saturday. No arrests have been made and police haven't publicly revealed a motive for the attack. Anyone with information is urged to call Rockford Police or Crime stoppers.
- The brother of imprisoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich says in a new book that prosecutors tried to use him as a pawn to get his sibling on charges that he attempted to sell President Barack Obama's old Senate seat. Robert Blagojevich's publisher gave The Associated Press an advance copy of the book. It's set for an April release.
- Governor Pat Quinn has departed for his annual holiday trip to deliver Christmas cards to wounded soldiers. The outgoing governor is headed to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in previous years he's visited U.S. service members in Germany.
- Former Green Bay Packers and Bears running back Cedric Benson has been charged with public intoxication in Texas. Austin police records show Benson was arrested following a verbal disturbance between a male and a female in a taxi. In 2011, Benson pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor assault charges and served five days in jail.
- The City of Beloit will not be collecting trash and recycling on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Collection will be delayed by one day beginning Thursday on Christmas Day and again the following week beginning Thursday on New Year's Day. Collection will take pace on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.
- The Janesville Fire Department will be conducting live fire training exercises on several area homes this week. Residents should be advised that these are controlled training burns and should NOT call 911. They will take at several homes remaining on the triangle-shaped property between Milton Avenue and Prospect Avenue. The homes were set for demolition so a new central fire station can be constructed there.
- Gas prices are over 50 cents lower than during last year’s holiday season and they continue to plummet. Average retail gasoline prices in Rockford have fallen 17.3 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.41 per gallom. Gas Buddy is reporting that Rockford gas prices are one cent lower than the national average.
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