(KTRS) The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is proposing rules to regulate bobcat hunting and trapping throughout the state. The agency released its proposals, yesterday, to amend a wildlife hunting law that took effect Jan. 1. Proposed rules include prohibiting bobcat harvesting in the northeastern and east-central regions of Illinois and requiring hunters to purchase…
MADISON, Ill. (AP) – A 54-year-old southwestern Illinois man has died after falling through the ice on a frozen pond while trying to retrieve a drone. Mark A. Miller of Granite City was last seen near the entrance to the Low Water Dam on Chouteau Island in Madison shortly before 6 p.m. Saturday. Miller’s body…
( KTRS ) Gov. Bruce Rauner wants to reduce the number of inmates in Illinois’ overcrowded prison system over the next decade. It’s one of few areas where he’s willing to devote money at a time when he’s urging lawmakers to be prudent with spending. Rauner’s first year in office has been defined by a…
COLLINSVILLE, Ill. (AP) – The St. Louis area’s first medical marijuana dispensary is slated to open in the city’s Illinois suburbs. HCI Alternatives in Collinsville plans a grand opening at noon Monday at a retail location adjacent to the Illinois State Police’s regional headquarters. A second St. Louis-area dispensary in the village of Sauget near…
ALBION, Ill. (AP) – A staff sergeant from Illinois who served in the U.S. Army and was killed during a mission in Vietnam has been laid to rest next to his parents 46 years after his death. Kenneth Leroy Cunningham was aboard a Mohawk aircraft during a surveillance mission on Oct. 3, 1969, when the…
CHICAGO (AP) – Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner says he backs a top Democrat’s proposed pension overhaul as long as it includes a union-weakening provision on collective bargaining. Rauner told reporters Thursday he spoke to Senate President John Cullerton and they agreed to move forward. However, both sides quickly disputed the specifics. Cullerton says Rauner misrepresented…
CHICAGO (AP) – The State Board of Elections is referring a legal question about three St. Clair County judges’ campaign strategies to Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Circuit judges John Baricevic, Robert Haida and Robert LeChien resigned in name only to avoid retention elections that require 60 percent approval rather than a simple majority. The Belleville…
BELLEVILLE TOWNSHIP, Ill. (AP) – Belleville Township officials have decided to dissolve the 130-year-old township in an effort to save money. The Belleville News-Democrat (http://bit.ly/1T3DLW6 ) reports that board members voted unanimously Tuesday to shut down the township on May 15, 2017. The Belleville City Council still needs to agree to take over the township’s…
( KTRS ) Several Illinois schools will receive more than $20 million in federal grants over the next five years to help improve student performance and ensure students are better prepared for college. State Superintendent of Education Tony Smith says there are five School Improvement Grant winners including the Gordon Bush Elementary in East St. Louis.…
( KTRS ) The Illinois Department of Public Health is alerting the public to the potential of contracting Zika virus while traveling abroad. Two pregnant Illinois women have tested posistive for the virus after traveling to Honduras and Haiti. Physicians are monitoring their health and pregnancies. Zika virus is spread to people through mosquito bites,…