Afternoon news update: May 7, 2015

A day after parading several injured people to the House floor to demonstrate the effects of workplace injuries, Illinois House members sprung a batch of budget-related bills for votes. "Let's look at what's really gone on for 12 years" of Democratic governors, said State Rep. Ron Sandack (R-Downers Grove)."Twelve straight bad budgets. Completely unbalanced. Spending more than we have. And it's a shame." While the 2015 spring session may not be a typical year, there's no year in which lawmakers simply run the governor's budget as proposed. The controlling Democrats bypassed the committee process and put Gov. Bruce Rauner's proposed social service cuts into bills which got No votes from Democrats and Present votes from Republicans. A later demonstration, with bills to add money to the budget for programs that serve autism patients and bury the indigent, drew Yes votes from Democrats and Present votes from Republicans. Games, anyone? Hold on, said one angry Democrat. "I ask you, who is playing games with autism?" asked State Rep. Elaine Nekritz (D-Northbrook). "Back in February, the governor zeroed out $4.3 million from the autism services line. Next, on World Autism Day, he reduced the autism lines by $1 million." The General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn May 31. A budget bill on the floor after that date requires a three-fifths vote, rather than a simple majority. The fiscal year begins July 1.
Thursday morning, Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey, and mayors from surrounding communities, spoke out against cuts to the local government distributive fund. This fund is the municipality’s share of state income taxes. Morrissey says if this cut is approved by the general assembly, it will cut seven and half million dollars from the city’s budget with the city’s police department taking the biggest hit.
Administrators at Huntley High School are considering changing the school bell after an experiment conducted by a sophomore student found the tone was disruptive to learning. The 16-year-old founder of the school's experimental science club devised tests to measure student concentration. He discovered that students exposed to the high-pitched bell didn't perform as well on tests.
A Poplar Grove man is found guilty of committing sexual assaults of a child 2010 to 2011. 49-year old Christopher Keithley was found guilty of two counts of Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault and one count of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse to a child under the age of 13. Keithley's sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 18th. He faces a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.
Boone County fire officials say a woman has died in a house fire this morning. Her identity hasn’t been released. It happened around 7:30 this morning in 4800 block of Bates Road. One other person was also injured and is being treated at St. Anthony Medical Center.
American Airlines is joining the list of carriers flying the Boeing 787. Passengers took the plane that Boeing calls the Dreamliner on a flight today from Dallas to Chicago. American is the only U.S. airline using the new jet. Some of the Dreamliner’s systems were created by UTC Aerospace Systems in Rockford.
DeKalb County may someday host the first "food hub" in northern Illinois. Organizers are planning a packing and distribution center for fresh produce grown by local farmers. Supporters of the idea include the city of DeKalb, the DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation and the Center for Governmental Studies at Northern Illinois University.

Categories: Articles