Afternoon News Update: Tuesday October 7
- Rockford Police are investigating a body found in the Rock River. Our partners at Eyewitness News have learned that the body found was skeletal remains of a male. The body was found on an island near the Rock River. Police have recovered the body and at this point it is only being labeled a death investigation. An autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow. Keep it tuned to 1440 WROK and Eyewitness News for the latest as this story develops.
- A Rockford aerospace company will be making the national headlines later this year with helping NASA. UTC Aerospace Systems is providing three circuit cards at its Rockford site for the unmanned flight of the Orion spacecraft in December. The power components designed in Illinois will be affixed to the first deep-space exploration vehicle commissioned by NASA in four decades. Michelle Forster, deputy manager of the Orion program for UTC, told the Rockford Register Star that the cards operate like circuit breakers on a home.
- The Village of Roscoe is enforcing a new ordinance that only allows downtown businesses to display banners four times a year for a maximum of thirty days each time. Residents believe the banners are a big pull to bring the community into local businesses and keep them informed. The zoning committee plans to discuss the banner ordinance to try to make it more business friendly during Thursday’s meeting.
- A disabled Rockford man suffered serious injuries after being struck by a car. The accident happened Monday in the 400 block of S. Phelps. Police say the 71 year-old was driving south in his motorized wheel chair in the center of the roadway. He was hit by a 52 year-old Rockford woman. The man was taken to a hospital with serious injuries. Police say speed and alcohol do not appear to have a role in the accident. The crash is under investigation.
- First lady Michelle Obama will be in Illinois later in the day to campaign for Governor Pat Quinn. She will attend a Quinn fundraiser and a rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago to encourage early voting. President Barack Obama campaigned for the governor last week.
- A poll in the Illinois Governor's race shows incumbent Pat Quinn gaining momentum and leading his Republican challenger Bruce Rauner. The latest 'Reboot Illinois/We Ask America' automated poll shows Gov. Quinn leading Rauner 44% to 40%. Most polling shows this race to be a virtual dead heat.
- Wisconsin wildlife officials are asking trappers who accidentally capture wolves to participate in the agency's wolf collaring and monitoring program. Department of Natural Resources officials say trappers who discover a wolf in their trap should contact the agency. It will then determine if the wolf is a good candidate for the monitoring program.
- A Chicago attorney and anti-corruption campaigner is stressing that a court-appointed monitor is needed to ensure the state's Department of Transportation is in compliance with political hiring bans. Last month, Quinn aides announced the transportation department was laying off 58 people at the center of a state investigator's findings that more than 250 people were improperly hired for political reasons at the agency over the past decade. The report found that the questionable hiring of "staff assistants" accelerated under Quinn.
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