Afternoon news update: May 5, 2015

The Illinois House is meeting to discuss possible changes to the state's workers' compensation program. Governor Bruce Rauner wants to change state law to make it tougher for workers to get money for injuries and he wants to cut fees paid to some medical providers. Democrats say his proposals will hurt workers and their families.
The state has performed a survey of Illinois' ten largest foreign trading partners and their assessment of the state's ability to attract international investment. Those partners say Illinois is seen as having high taxes, outside Chicago isn't as competitive as neighboring states and has high union costs. On the positive side, the officials said Illinois has many well-regarded universities that attract college students. Because of the nations heavy investment in Illinois, it’s said they’re in a unique position critique the state.
Two shootings in Rockford overnight send two men to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Both were suffering from gunshots to their legs. The first was shortly after six o’clock on Underwood Street when an 18 year old man was injured. A 33-year old was the second victim; that happened at 10-30 on Arthur Street. Police are still looking for the shooters.
An 84-year-old Illinois man is walking across the state to help raise money for a memorial park dedicated to his wife. Princeville native Dean Troutman is building a park in his central Illinois hometown on 5.75 acres of land he bought in 2011 as a memorial for Peggy, his wife. He says constructing the baseball and soccer fields, trail, picnic pavilions and other facilities at Troutman Park is costing more than he expected.
The numbers are rocketing up, now that there has been a week of favorable weather, for Illinois crops. The week just completed shows 69 percent of corn and 12 percent of soybeans for the year planted. That compares to the five-year averages of 47 percent and 7 percent, respectively. "Producers in southern parts of Illinois made a good amount of planting progress, and they had a lot of catching up to do," says Mark Schleusener, the USDA's state statistician for Illinois. "They'd had a lot of wet soils earlier in April. They still lag behind the rest of the state, but they have narrowed the gap considerably." There was little to no rain last week, so Schleusener says farmers could use some this week.
The price of gas in Illinois is creeping upward. The statewide average stands Tuesday at $2.69, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report; up 12 cents from a month ago. Beth Mosher, spokesman for the Aurora-based AAA-Chicago Motor Club, says the increase should not be a surprise. "That's expected this time of year, as we're heading into the summer driving season we expect prices to rise," she said. But it's still a low price for this time of year. "By May standards, this price is something that all drivers should be pretty pleased about," Mosher said. Gas was $3.85 a year ago, $1.16 higher than today's price. Mosher says the gasoline market over the last nine months has featured abundant supply, slack demand worldwide and stable crude oil prices. The price of gas in Illinois peaked at $3.92 in June of last year, then plummeted into January, and has been rising since, but Mosher says the price should stay reasonable during this summer.

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