Afternoon News Update: Tuesday January 20
- The Kishwaukee Faculty Union has voted to suspend their impending strike for tomorrow. A tentative labor agreement was reached with the administration last night. They have not yet voted to approve the proposed contract. Another meeting will be held to officially ratify the contract after reviewing the tentative agreement.
- A vacant seat in the Winnebago County Board is now up for grabs. Last month Republican Lynn Strathman resigned from her position, to which she was elected in 2010. Winnebago County Republicans are screening candidates to represent the district covering southwest Rockford and Pecatonica. Four people have interviewed for the job. The position isn’t up for re-election until 2016.
- Rockford has seen another drop in gas prices that has pushed it below the national average. Gas Buddy has reported prices have fallen four cents in the past week in Rockford and are at $1.89 per gallon, with the national average now just over $2.05 per gallon. However, the downward trends may soon be coming to a close, due to rallying oil prices.
- A new Illinois state law that takes aim at curbing cyberbullying is causing some controversy. Schools across the state now can demand access to kids' social media account passwords. The new law states that if school authorities have reasonable cause that a student’s account has violated the school’s disciplinary rule of policy, they have the right to access student’s accounts, even if the post took place after school hours. Previously, Illinois schools could only take such action if online bullying occurred during the school day.
- Experts at the University of Illinois say it will take a combination of tax increases, spending cuts and economic growth to solve the state's debt problem. In a new report, the authors say the state's current deficit of $9 billion could balloon to $14 billion within about 10 more years.
- An Air Force veteran and a community college student will be among the guests from Illinois attending President Barack Obama's State of the Union address. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin says retired Air Force Captain Anthony Simone and his wife will join him for Tuesday's speech. Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth has invited Harper College student Homira Wardak. Duckworth says they met through a nonprofit program that provides help to low-income, highly-motivated students. Make sure to tune into 1440 WROK for live coverage, beginning at 8pm.
- The Wisconsin Senate is expected to pass a Republican-backed constitutional amendment that would change the way the state Supreme Court chief justice is selected. Currently, the member of the Supreme Court with the most seniority serves as chief justice. The amendment would change that to have the seven-member court pick its leader.
- Sales of existing homes in Wisconsin declined slightly in 2014, while prices rose modestly. The Wisconsin Realtors Association says homes sales fell 1.5 percent last year, while the median price climbed 3.1 percent. Marquette University economics professor David Clark says today's housing market is on solid ground because foreclosures have declined and mortgage underwriting is stricter.
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