The owner of the property was burning a fencerow when her home caught on fire. The fire destroyed the home and everything inside. There were no injuries reported. Fire investigators determined the cause of fire was from the burning of the fencerow. The name of the owner of the home has not been released. The fire occurred at 1:38pm Tuesday. full story
Gray says the mild weather may lead some insects to appear earlier but he says that doesn't mean there will be more insects. He says that's because the number of adult insects last year was "relatively low." Gray is more concerned about spring weather. The weather has been a bonus for cattle producers. Knox County Cattlemen's Association President Matt Johnson says the weather has let him use less feed and do field work. full story
It was announced Tuesday during a wind energy conference in Chicago. Southwire's Illinois plant will manufacture 500-miles of overhead transmission cable to deliver 3,500 megawatts of power from Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota to Illinois and beyond. Construction could begin as early as 2014 for the three-year labor agreement.
It'll be called The Rock Island Clean Line Transmission Project. It's expected to cost nearly $2 billion. Governor Pat Quinn says the project provides infrastructure for boosting wind manufacturing. full story
The 43-year-old East Alton man faces up to 35-years in prison. A sentencing date was not immediately set. Authorities have said Ross beat the woman with a bat, threatened her with a knife and said he would suffocate both of them with natural gas. Investigators say he bound the woman to a chair with duct tape and a telephone cord. She eventually managed to escape and call police. full story
The City of Salem will begin demolishing two-water towers next week. The city has contracted with Iseler Demolition Inc. for demolition of the elevated water storage towers at Route 37 North and at 1010 South College Street. Iseler Demolition will move supplies in on Monday, March 12th. Demolition will begin on the Route 37 North tower on Tuesday March 13th at 6:30am.
Demolition should be completed by the afternoon. Some temporary road closures will occur during this demolition, however those have not been announced yet. Demolition will begin on the 1010 South College water tower on Wednesday, March 14th at 6:30am. Demolition should be completed by the afternoon. No road closures are anticipated with this demolition. Both demolitions are weather pending and is subject to change. full story
MT. VERNON - The village of Waltonville recently received a $130,000 grant to tap into Rend Lake's water supply.
The village received a grant through the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for a new pump system to hook into the Rend Lake water line along Hall Lane, said Walter Cox of Heneghan and Associates in Centralia.
"The only other thing that causes me — that we're going to talk about with them is 'metering equipment water main upstream,' is, 'the meter stations and the land upon which they are located shall be the property of the district as soon as the system becomes operational and the water main and master meter are accepted by the district'," he said. "... That one, I've got to sort through and figure out how we're going to accomplish that. If you go ahead with the project once we get past the design stage, that's funded through the DCEO grant, but to be able to physically build it, we'll apply for grant funds through them and/or loan and grant funds through Rural Development." - http://goo.gl/rM8t2