The Jacksonville Sunrise Rotary pulled two names today for their Pork Bundle Blast raffle. Governor for Rotary District 6460 Ryan Byers drew out Luke Worrell of Jacksonville and Kim Connor of Springfield as the two winners. They each received certificates worth $100 of listed pork products from DeOrnellas Premium Pork of Murrayville.

Sunrise Rotary members had been selling raffle tickets since July. Club members sold 257 tickets at $10 each. The club also received donations from Westown Ford and Don Pigg, which brought the net receipts for the fundraiser to $2,880.

The Jacksonville Sunrise Rotary Club will use the funds for scholarships, and many local events and donations to other organizations in the Jacksonville area.

The Jacksonville Public Schools Foundation is canceling the 5K Run/Walk for Education scheduled for this Friday, September 18^th due to unforeseen circumstances.

All participants will be contacted and registration fees will be returned. Thanks to generous sponsors, the Foundation will still be able to award teacher grants to District 117 teachers this year.

If you have any questions, contact Amy Albers at the Jacksonville Schools Foundation Office at 217-243-9411 extension 1133.

The Illinois State Police and a local sheriff are urging the public to be mindful of farm equipment on the road after a crash in Schuyler County yesterday evening.

Illinois State Police District 20 was called to the scene of a tractor vs. semi crash on U.S. Route 24 in Schuyler County at the Fulton County Line at approximately 5:58PM yesterday.

According to preliminary reports, A 2010 White Volvo Semi was traveling westbound on US 24 just south of the Fulton County line in Schuyler County and failed to reduce speed. The semi then struck the rear of a New Holland Loadmaster farm tractor hauling a bale of hay sending it off the roadway and overturning. The semi truck driver, an unidentified 44 year old man from Chicago was transported from the scene to an area hospital with undisclosed injuries. The tractor driver, a 32 year old man from Rushville was also transported to an area hospital with undisclosed injuries.

The Chicago semi driver was cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. ISP reports indicate more charges may be filed pending further investigation.

Schuyler County Sheriff Bill Redshaw is urging all area residents to please slow down and be mindful of the annual harvest farm traffic on rural highways this time of year.

U.S. Marshals and the FBI are now on the look out for a woman who robbed a bank on Illinois Route 29 in Sherman yesterday afternoon.

According to several Springfield media outlets, a short, white female with pink hair wearing a mask and a plaid shirt walked into the Alliance Community Bank at located at 5530 North Street on Route 29 carrying a box at approximately 2:30PM. She allegedly told bank tellers that the box contained a bomb.

She took an undetermined amount of cash from the tellers before leaving the location towards Andrew Road on foot. No vehicle description and no other suspect information has been released at this time.

The Illinois Secretary of State Bomb Squad and the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office initially investigated the scene. The Illinois State Police used helicopters to provide surveillance of nearby cornfields. U.S. Marshals and the FBI based in Springfield took over the investigation at around 7:30 last night.

If you have any information on the person in this incident, contact FBI Springfield at 217-522-9675.

Murrayville-Woodson Police are currently investigating a string of car break-ins in the overnight hours between Friday and Saturday in the Village of Woodson.

Police report that between the hours of 11PM and 4AM Friday and Saturday, 8 unlocked vehicles at various locations throughout Woodson were reported to be rummaged through. 1 car had $2,500 in cash stolen and another, a white 2006 Chevrolet Equinox was stolen. Various amounts of cash were taken from the remaining vehicles. In all, approximately $3,000 was stolen.

Murrayville-Woodson Police have obtained a video of 3 unidentified suspects in the case and are currently working to obtain more.

Murrayville-Woodson Police Chief Derek Suttles wishes to remind members of the community to lock their vehicles at night and make sure that vehicle keys are also removed to a secure location at night. He says no valuables should ever be left in a vehicle or left in sight while locked inside a vehicle.

Anyone with any information into the incident can call the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office at 217-243-6123 or the Murrayville-Woodson Police at 217-882-3351. Anonymous tips also may be sent to the Morgan-Scott-Cass Crimestoppers at 217-243-7300 or by texting at 274637. The first word of the text tip must be payout.

Governor J.B. Pritzker announced a $50 million program to revitalize the state’s downtown and main street areas in Hillsboro on Friday afternoon.

The idea behind the one-of-a-kind program is to kick start projects in areas struggling over the past year and a half due to the pandemic. Pritzker says the grants will range in size from $250,000 to $3 million for certain projects.

Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s Aly Grady says the money can be used for a number of different projects: “This will help with funding projects like pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, modernization and rehabilitation of structures in disrepair, and investment in local high speed broadband.”

The deadline to apply for these grants is January 10^th. The program is being funded by American Rescue Plan money. DCEO will be hosting technical assistance sessions on the new program, including a webinar hosted today on its website.

Businesses and local area chambers of commerce can find out more information by visiting the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s website for more information.

The Jacksonville Kiwanis Club is turning a century old this week and has met an ambitious goal ahead of their birthday.

Luke Worrell says that through a huge push from their members over the last few weeks they have managed to exceed the goal of contributing to 100 causes, groups, or scholarships ahead of their 100^th anniversary on Thursday.

Worrell says the group usually does contributions to 25-40 local groups annually but they wanted to go big for their anniversary this year: “The club did a great job. We typically reach around 30-40 groups annually. This was certainly an ambitious goal, but it was a group-wide effort. I’m ecstatic to say that from last September to this September, we’ve currently reached 105 [groups], so we even added 5 extra.

Worrell says that by July of this year the club had only reached about 34 groups because of being hampered by the pandemic; and fellow members ramped up efforts in just the last two months to reach the goal.

Worrell says the effort all goes back to the kids in the county: “From last September to this September, we have poured in over $65,000 into Morgan County, and specifically, the motto of Kiwanis is ‘To Serve the Children of the World.’ It’s pretty remarkable really that we’ve been able to pour in $65,000 to kids-centric, kids-based programming and protection here in Morgan County.”

The Kiwanis hope to celebrate the success of the 100 for 100 campaign at an upcoming banquet in November. More information about the banquet will be released at a later date.

The Illinois Senate returns to the Capitol today to vote on the green energy bill.

Senate Bill 2408 passed on an 83-33 vote Thursday despite concerns from central and southern Illinois lawmakers where communities would lose jobs and face future power shortages.

The bill intends to eliminate carbon emissions by 2050 in the state and hopes to reduce coal-fired power plants by 2045. The bill sets a goal of 2040 for 50% of Illinois’ electricity to come from “renewable” energy sources such as wind and solar power. According to the State Journal Register, these sources now only provide 10% of the state’s power.

Opponents say by saving thousands of northern Illinois jobs in nuclear plants that are receiving a $700 million subsidy, the bill would mean the loss of more than 1,000 jobs by the premature closure of coal-fired plants operated by CWLP and at Prairie State.

87^th District Representative Tim Butler said during floor debate on Thursday that downstate communities would be forced to rely on energy produced in other states burning fossil fuels. This could mean incredible downsizing at the Prairie State plant, which helps operate several of the state’s rural electric cooperatives.

The bill is expected to pass along party lines later today.

A new law meant to crack down on uninsured drivers in the state is having its effect.

According to a report from Newschannel 20, the Secretary of State’s electronic insurance verification program has suspended approximately 2,700 Illinois license plates due to not having valid automobile insurance.

The new compliance program went into effect on July 1^st. The process of electronic verification is automatic.

If the Secretary of State’s office finds a driver is uninsured, a letter is sent to the vehicle owner giving them a chance to prove they have insurance before suspending their registration.

Vehicle owners who are unable to prove they are insured will have their license plates suspended and face a $100 reinstatement fee.

If you are concerned, the Secretary of State says drivers should contact their insurance agency rather than visit a driver’s services facility to correct any issues.