WEST FRANKFORT - A woman found dead along Illinois 149 in West Frankfort early Monday appears to have been struck by a vehicle, according to Illinois State Police officials on the scene.
The incident was reported at about 3:30 a.m. along Rte. 149 near Interstate 57.
State police are continuing their investigation into the matter and have release no further details as of yet. http://bit.ly/s64Jko
A 36-year-old Centralia woman is being held in the Marion County Jail after being arrested by Centralia Police for alleged domestic battery. Rzette Adair of Wright Drive is accused of striking her ten-year-old son during an incident in their home on Sunday. Police reports indicate the boy had run to a neighbor's house after becomming scared. http://bit.ly/tenSb0
An analysis by the Associated Press finds that a dozen state-government work sites in Southern Illinois, including the Murray Center in Centralia and the Centralia and Big Muddy Prison, account for $41-million in workers' injury-impairment awards in recent years.
That's nearly one-third of all the awards and settlements for state employees injured at work from 2007 to 2010.
The Menard Correctional Center led worker payments at the 12 facilities. Taxpayers paid 19-million dollars on 321 injury claims at the lock-up. The average settlement was $59,175. The Associated Press analysis found $1,476,494 paid out for claims at Murray Center. Of the 128 claims filed, 45 resulted in awards averaging $32,811 dollars. At the Centralia Correctional Center, there were 49 claims and 27 awards totaling $1,055,081. That averages $39,077 per claim. At the Big Muddy Prison, there were 50 claims resulting in 32 awards totaling $1,280,348 or an average of $40,011 per claim. Murray Center was seventh out of 12 in workers comp payouts at Southern Illinois facilities. Big Muddy was tenth and the Centralia Correctional Center 11th. The AP's line-by-line analysis of about 7,800 claims is the first comprehensive review of a program now under federal investigation. It showed $127-million paid on 3,700 state-worker claims during the four-year period. Many were still pending at the end of 2010. Andrew Nalefski is a former arbitrator deciding long-term impairment in injury cases. He says the state did too little to defend against claims. Chicago workers' comp lawyer Gene Keefe says the state is too understaffed to combat them. Anne Spillane is chief of staff to the Illinois attorney general. She counters that the state vigorously defended claims but state law makes it fairly easy to show work contributed to an injury that deserves state compensation. http://bit.ly/tenSb0
Centralia Fire officials say there is an apparent happy outcome for a 77-year-old man who had a heart attack at Fridaynight's Centralia-Mt. Vernon High School Basketball game. The man was initially helped by off duty firemen, nurses and doctors in the stands who utilized the school's automatic external defribulator. On-duty firemen joined the efforts upon their arrival. The man reportedly began coming around after being loaded in the ambulance and reportedly was talking to emergency room officials at St. Mary's Hospital. He was later airlifted to a St. Louis hospital for treatment. The man's name has not been released because of federal health privacy
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CHICAGO - A reported cyberattack on a water district in central Illinois has turned out to be a false alarm. It was set off when an American contractor logged onto the system while vacationing in Russia. Jim Mimlitz of suburban St. Louis says he hopes he'll be able to laugh about it someday. For now, he's puzzled. Why didn't terrorism investigators call him? He says he could've straightened things out quickly. Instead, investigators assumed someone hacked into the system from Russia, causing a water pump to shut down five months later. A blogger spread word of the possible hack. Mimlitz had been on vacation when someone from the water district near Springfield called his cell and asked him to check data on the system. He did, but didn't mention where he was. http://bit.ly/tenSb0
A 48-year-old Irvington man has been arrested by Centralia police for alleged possession of a controlled substance. Brad Peters remains in the Marion County Jail. 20-year-old Joshua Lucas of South Pine in Centralia is being held on an outstanding felony warrant. A 42-year-old Texico woman, Rebecca Elliot of Snapdragon Drive, posted $100 bond and was released for alleged driving under the influence. 24-year-old Noah Haynes of Newport Drive in Salem posted $1,000 bond and was released after being arrested by sheriff's deputies for a probation violation. 22-year-old Trent Parker of East Monroe in Farina posted $150 bond and was released on charges of possession of cannabis and drug paraphernalia. http://bit.ly/tenSb0
(Springfield, IL) -- Grape tomatoes in Illinois may be contaminated with salmonella. Front Row Produce is issuing a recall on ten-ounce pint and ten-pound bulk grape tomatoes supplied by Rio Queen Citrus of Mission, Texas. New and safe packages of the tomatoes in stores are marked with a green dot on the bottom of the container. If there's no green dot then customers should not purchase or eat the tomatoes. http://bit.ly/tenSb0
Two Bluford residents were injured in a two vehicle crash at Route 15 and the Harmony Lane east of Mt. Vernon Wednesday afternoon. State Police say 63-year-old Frank Eang of St. Louis pulled from the stop sign on Harmony Lane in front of a car on Route 15 driven by 23-year-old Melissa Dutton of Bluford.
Both Dutton and a passenger in her car, 25-year-old Joshua Coombs of Bluford, were taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Mt. Vernon for treatment of major injuries. Eang escaped injury. He was ticketed for failure to yield at a stop intersection. The wreck occurred at 1:14 Wednesday afternoon. http://bit.ly/tenSb0
Springfield, IL -- In the wake of Illinois' failure to provide tax relief, Sears officials are reminding employees that they're considering options to leave the state. They issued a memo to employees today, saying quote, "Our commitment to you remains the same; to be thorough in our review of all of our options."
The Vice President of Communications Chris Brathwaite penned the memo. He says he hopes lawmakers work out the kinks of the tax deal soon because they have to make a decision on whether to leave or stay by the end of the year.
The Senate passed a plan that would've given the company millions of dollars in tax incentives but the measure overwhelmingly failed in the House. http://bit.ly/tenSb0
Springfield, IL -- Governor Quinn is on board with a legislative plan to stop double-dipping into more than one pension system. If he signs the bill it will prohibit two union leaders from getting payouts from the Teachers Retirement System.
David Ormsby, a spokesperson for the men, calls the move unconstitutional. "The legislation is blatantly unconstitutional because it impairs an benefit that they're legally entitled to", said Ormsby. The union leaders earned the government pension after substitute teaching for just one day. Some lawmakers expressed concern over a potential constitutional breach with the reform but agreed something must be done to end abuse within the system.
The constitution prohibits lawmakers from reducing or tampering with pensions once they've been established. Ormsby says his clients are considering their legal options and prepared to fight the battle in court if that's what it comes down to. http://bit.ly/tenSb0