Afternoon News Update: Friday November 14
- A Rockford family has lost their home due to a fire in the kitchen. The blaze started last night in the 300 block of Foster Avenue. Firefighters took about 20 minutes to put it out. The fire did enough damage that the two had to be relocated. The cause of the fire is considered accidental.
- Two people are dead and one man was severely burned when they were found trapped in a burning shed in Rockford this morning. It took place at the corner of Winnebago St and Cedar St. When firefighters arrived, they found the roof had collapsed and the shed was fully engulfed in flames. The injured man suffered what's being described as second and third degree burns all over his body. The victims have not been identified.
- Authorities have a possible motive in a Freeport killing. A man hunt is continuing for 22-year-old Damon Dixson after a 34-year-old Freeport man was found shot in the head. Neighbors say an altercation arose after the victim refused to give Dixson free haircut. Police have an arrest warrant for Dixson, who is considered armed and dangerous.
- Former Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne has died at age 80. She was the first and only woman to hold the office. Jane Byrne was elected mayor in 1979 and was credited with bringing major festivals to Chicago as well as making it more welcoming to filmmakers. She also made headlines by moving into a notorious housing project to draw attention to gang violence.
- Round Two of shopping for health insurance under the federal health care law starts tomorrow. The enrollment period is shorter than last year's, ending on Feb. 15, and prices in Illinois are up slightly on average for the most popular policies. More than 217,000 people signed up for coverage last year.
- A bipartisan effort to name a veterans facility in Galesburg after the former Illinois Congressman Lane Evans is underway. Senators Mark Kirk and Dick Durbin and U.S. Representative Cheri Bustos introduced legislation to do so. Evans died last week after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.
- Republicans will have their largest majority in the Wisconsin Assembly since 1957 for the session that begins in January. A Democrat who lost his election by around 60 votes conceded yesterday. That gives Republicans a 63-36 advantage.
- State officials say Wisconsin residents and businesses recycled about 831,000 tons of paper products and food and beverage containers last year. That's a 79,000-ton increase over 2012. The Department of Natural Resources compiled the information from reports sent in by local governments and recycling facilities.
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