Afternoon News Update: Monday September 15
- A woman convicted of killing her son through a lack of adequate food and medical care will not spend any more time behind bars. 23-year-old Kayla Lund was sentenced to 4 years probation, 500 hours of community service and a $1000 dollar fine for her conviction of involuntary manslaughter. As for jail time, she was credited for time already served.
- Rockford Police continue to investigate the weekend killing of a man on the city’s southeast side. The 41-year-old man was shot Sunday morning. No witnesses have been located and police don't have a suspect description. Police say there's no reason to believe the shooting is gang related.
- Rockford’s airport has made the national news circuit. Fox News recently featured the Rockford Airport in an article. RFD's focus on customer service helped set it above the rest. The article cited the airport's free parking, "Airport Ambassador" program, as well as a new Caribbean-themed restaurant.
- *A Janesville liquor store was hit by burglars early this morning. The burglary occurred at the Liquor Cabinet in the 1900 block of East Milwaukee St. Officers say when they arrived on scene the suspects had already fled. Police say the suspects got away with several bottles of alcohol. There was video surveillance in the shop and police are reviewing the footage.
- A fire destroys a Rockford man's garage. It happened just before 2am in the 300 block of Alliance Avenue. It took crews about ten minutes to put it out. The homeowner says he was working in the garage about 90 minutes before the fire started. The garage is a total loss and the cause is under investigation. No one was hurt.
- Gas prices are down once again in the Stateline region. GasBuddy.com reports the average price for regular, unleaded gasoline in the Forest City is $3.47/g, down four and a half cents from last week.
- Illinois plans up to $300,000 in repairs and waterproofing to the vault that temporarily held Abraham Lincoln's body after his funeral in 1865. The work is part of the effort to prepare Springfield's Oak Ridge Cemetery for a two-day re-enactment of the Lincoln funeral next spring.
- Nearly 100 organizations are joining together to push Illinois lawmakers to pass a school funding reform proposal in the spring. Funding Illinois' Future members include community foundations, civil rights organizations, school officials and business groups statewide. The legislation would overhaul Illinois' school funding formula, which was first put in place in 1997.
- A former president of Mexico will be the keynote speaker at Elgin’s Judson University's annual World Leaders Forum next year. University officials have announced the addition of Felipe Calderón to the March 12th event in Chicago. The Elgin university's annual forum has featured former President George W. Bush and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in past years.
- Wisconsin vineyards are beginning to gather their grapes, but growers say they've seen better harvests. Growers say the picking is behind schedule by 10 days to two weeks. Wisconsin has more than 130 commercial vineyards and more than 80 wineries.
More From WROK 1440 AM / 96.1 FM
