Afternoon News Update: Wednesday September 10
- The Winnebago County Coroner's office has identified the victim in a fatal motor cycle crash. Officials say 64-year-old Marshall Anderson was riding his motorcycle in the westbound lane on U.S. 20 and trying to exit onto S. Main Street. At that point, he collided with another car, lost control, and fell to the ground. Anderson was taken to Rockford Memorial Hospital, but died from his injuries.
- A fire has forced a Beloit resident out of his home. The fire broke out at around 6am in the 6400 block of W. Beloit Neward Road. When crews arrived, they saw a big fire and thick smoke coming from the first floor of the home. The fire caused an estimated $100,000 in damage.
- A local Rockford middle school is receiving a major facelift. The Rockford School Board is replacing the windows at Lincoln Middle School. The board agreed last night to accept a bid for approximately $2.2 million. The old windows will be replaced with energy-efficient ones. While the move calls for a steep upfront cost, the school district says the windows will end up paying for themselves.
- Illinois officials say they won't release complete information about companies applying to grow or sell medical marijuana until after the application period ends. Former state lawmaker-turned political watchdog Susan Garrett says that will make it difficult to determine if state regulators are giving politically-connected companies more favorable treatment.
- Products made by Illinois prison inmates will be demonstrated and displayed in Springfield starting Wednesday. Illinois Correctional Industries will host a two-day open house at the Department of Corrections' Concordia Campus to show off goods. Organizers hope to attract anyone who has a business that could hire inmates.
- Local governments will get more than $1.5 million in grants to inspect pollution-control facilities and to investigate complaints about illegal dumping. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency announced the grants to 19 communities. Local officials must use the money to hire and train landfill inspectors under state requirements.
- Wisconsin wildlife officials say a deadly bat disease hasn't spread beyond a single Grant County mine. The Department of Natural Resources found signs of white-nose syndrome in the mine during surveys conducted earlier this year. Test results released in April showed 2 percent of bats in the mine had the disease.
- Supporters of Illinois fracking extraction said today that they seek the changes in proposed rules to govern the practice appear to violate a compromise between industry and environmentalists. A coalition of industry groups outlined more than 65 areas of concern to a legislative panel. The panel must decide whether the rules can implement a new hydraulic fracking law and if it can take effect as written.
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