Afternoon News Update: Tuesday September 2
- A rollover accident in Winnebago County that sent one man to the hospital on Monday is suspected to involve alcohol. The crash happened around 5:30pm yesterday at the intersection of Stateline and Crowley roads in Durand. Illinois State Police say the pick-up truck was traveling eastbound when the driver lost control and struck a mail box, causing his car to flip. The man remains hospitalized.
- Winnebago County authorities have identified the victim in a car accident near Cherry Valley. The Winnebago County Coroner's Office says 62-year old Debra Hopkins was traveling northbound in an SUV when she was hit in an intersection by a semi traveling eastbound. The crash happened yesterday near the intersection of Mulford and Baxter roads.
- Construction crews will begin work this week on the new Genoa Road interchange with I-90 toll way. The old bridge over the toll way was demolished and rebuilt so that the toll way could be widened. The new eastbound exit ramp is anticipated to open by the end of this year, with completion of the new eastbound entrance ramp scheduled in 2015.
- The Illinois Department of Corrections is investigating a prison power outage to decide whether the state's correctional facilities are adequately prepared for emergencies. An August 20th storm caused a 92-minute blackout at Vandalia Correctional Center. One prisoner at the minimum-security facility attacked a guard and others became unruly.
- Illinois is starting to take applications from people who want to be able to use medical marijuana. People whose last names start with the letters A through L or their caregivers can apply for special ID cards now. Those with last names beginning with M through Z have to wait until the first of November to apply.
- The Illinois state climatologist says that after a cooler-than-usual July the summer finally turned warmer in August. And the season has been one of the wettest on records. Officials state that the statewide average temperature in August was 73.9 degrees. That's just above the average for the month and about 3.6 degrees warmer than July's 70.3 degrees. The July figure tied the coolest July on record for the state.
- Gov. Pat Quinn is living on minimum wage for this week. Raising the state's $8.25 hourly minimum wage to at least $10 an hour has been a re-election focus for the Chicago Democrat. Quinn says he'll spend $79 this week on food and other expenses. His campaign says that's the estimated amount left for minimum wage workers after transportation and housing costs.
- The two candidates for governor agree on one thing: not raising the state’s fuel tax.Both Bruce Rauner and Gov. Pat Quinn described the tax as “regressive,” but the two disagree on the current method of using those funds on infrastructure projects. Quinn support larger, multi-year capital programs, like the just-expired Illinois Jobs Now program.
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