Afternoon News Update: Tuesday March 10

Rockford Police say a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle this afternoon at the intersection of Garfield and Kilburn. According to police, the male pedestrian and the driver of the vehicle were taken to an area hospital with non life-threatening injuries.
The first lawsuit filed against the state of Illinois over medical marijuana continues with a hearing in Chicago about documents and secrecy. A Cook County judge is expected to hear arguments today on what documents should be part of the case. A Chicago company called PM Rx is suing the Department of Agriculture, claiming the agency broke its own rules when awarding marijuana cultivation permits. The permit process has been competitive and secretive.
The Rockford Police Department has teamed up with the Illinois Department of Corrections and Winnebago County Sheriff's Police to conduct a parole compliance check which has netted two arrests. Officers checked fifty locations, finding several parolees in violation of IDOC regulations. Rockford Police also arrested two parolees for a variety of offenses.
Chicago O'Hare International Airport employee Jose Martinez is $700,000 richer after winning the Lucky Day Lotto jackpot prize.Martinez, who's a waiter at the airport, says he had fifteen minutes before his shift so decided to purchase the ticket on Friday. He hit all five numbers in Friday's midday drawing.
The City of Beloit is cracking down on crime. The Rock County Sheriff's Office conducted a highway enforcement patrol, netting numerous citations and arrests yesterday. The deployment ran from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and their 19 traffic stops resulted in 15 citations, 2 warnings and 5 warrant arrests. There were also 3 felony drug arrests, 11 misdemeanor drug arrests, 3 other non-drug related felony arrests and 1 non-drug related misdemeanor arrest.
Galena’s rail lines are finally able to be used again. Twenty-one train cars carrying crude oil derailed, causing an explosion that created a plume of black smoke that could be seen for miles. The lines, owned by BNSF Railway, can carry sixty trains a day. Additionally cleaning is slated to take place, until full service will be restored.
The Burpee Museum is hosting its 17th annual Paleofest next weekend. It began in 1999 and has been growing ever since. The event attracts everyone from kids to experts on dinosaurs.This year's Paleofest is also being co-sponsored by the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
The number of heroin-related deaths continues to climb in Dixon. Three people died within 10 days of each other from the drug. Now local law enforcement officials are teaming up to combat this issue. Law Enforcement have said two people and one man died of the overdoses and were between the ages of 25 to 35. Local leaders are joining forces to cut off the supply into Dixon. Lee County officials have claimed the drug is seeping into town from nearby locations like Rockford and Aurora.
New Rock Falls Police Chief Tammy Nelson says her top priority is mobile computers in squad cars. The 50-year-old police veteran is the first woman to serve as chief in the Sauk Valley. She joined the force in Rock Falls in 1991 as a dispatcher and became an officer in 1993.
Authorities say a Rockford man was stabbed multiple times inside the Rockford Public Library. Police say library patrons found the victim lying on the floor of a bathroom Monday afternoon. Witnesses told police the suspect fled the scene in a pickup truck.
Gov. Bruce Rauner has hired a Yale-educated former CIA intelligence officer to lead Illinois' health insurance enrollment efforts Rauner's office announced today that Karin Zosel will be the new executive director of Get Covered Illinois, where she will oversee federal grant programs promoting insurance coverage.

Categories: Local News, News