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LATEST NEWS
Artificial intelligence beginning to influence Illinois agriculture
(The Center Square) – Artificial intelligence is making its mark on many industries, and now appears to be impacting Illinois agriculture. An AI farms project at the University of Illinois has trained a language model to answer agricultural crop questions. School officials said the Artificial Intelligence for Future Agricultural Resilience, Management, and Sustainability Institute will serve as a nexus for multidisciplinary research teams that advance foundational AI and use the advances to address important challenges facing world agriculture. ...
Illinois quick hits: United Center preparing for DNC; Pritzker to sign child care bill
United Center preparing for DNC Construction workers are transforming the United Center from a sports and concert venue into the Democratic National Convention Hall. Beginning Aug. 19, Chicago will host more than 50,000 visitors, including 5,000 delegates, 12,000 volunteers and 15,000 members of the media. The Windy City will host the DNC for the first time since 1996. ...
Winning Lucky Day Lotto ticket for $900K sold in Illinois: 'Dreams can come true'
An Illinois resident won a $900,000 lottery ticket over the weekend.ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watchThe jackpot-winning Lucky Day Lotto ticket was purchased on Saturday at Stop N Shop, on North Huffman Boulevard in Rockford."The winner came in Sunday morning, scanned the ticket, and gasped and his face turned bright red when he realized he was holding a jackpot-winning ticket," explained Raj Patel, store manager at Stop N Shop.Patel said the winner is a town local and a regular customer.The winner matched all five numbers in the Saturday evening drawing.The winning numbers were: 8-11-14-33-34.READ ALSO | Illinois winner of $552M Mega Millions jackpot claims lottery prize"The winner was absolutely thrilled. 'It's a nice life-changing amount,' he told me," added Patel.Stop N Shop will receive a selling bonus of one percent of the prize amount, or $9,000."My advice to our players? Dream big and take a chance on a ticket. This just proved that dreams can come true and I'm so happy for the winner," Patel said.READ ALSO | Winning Lucky Day Lotto ticket for $450K prize sold in Skokie still unclaimed
Illinois Man Loses Legs in Train Accident; Police Seek Information
Decatur, IL – An Illinois man suffered the loss of both legs after being struck by a train near Edward and Sawyer Streets. The incident happened around 8 p.m. when railroad employees saw the man lying on the tracks and initiated an emergency stop. Despite their efforts, the train hit the man. Emergency responders removed him from under the train and transported him to Decatur Memorial Hospital.
Illinois Severe Thunderstorm Watch: 15 Million People at Risk in Midwest
Chicago, IL – A severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for parts of Illinois, affecting over 15 million people in addition to regions in Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The watch highlights risks of wind gusts up to 70 mph, frequent lightning, and hail the size of ping pong balls.
Illinois To Hold Hearings On Reparations
The state of Illinois is set hold hearings on reparations. The state’s African Descent-Citizens Reparations Commission announced the first hearing will take place in Chicago on July 13th. The series of public hearings will discuss reparatory actions for Black Americans in Illinois who are descendants of American Chattel Slavery. The ADCRC is committed to gathering diverse perspectives from the public to shape recommendations for tangible actions toward justice and restitution.
Pritzker enacts new state agency some worry has unknown taxpayer cost
(The Center Square) – Beginning July 1, Illinois will have a new state agency set to roll out over the next three years to handle all things early childhood development. Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed Senate Bill 1 Tuesday in Chicago. He said transferring early childhood services from three different state agencies to a new one will streamline things for parents. “The Department of Early Childhood, our first ever unified state...
AREA POLICE NEWS
LUDLOW — No injuries were reported following a two-vehicle collision Tuesday, June 4, on U.S. 45 south of Ludlow in northern Champaign County. In a news release, Illinois State Police said the accident occurred at the intersection of U.S. 45 and Champaign County Road 3300 North around 6:40 p.m. when a 2016 Chrysler Town & Country van was eastbound on County Road 3300 North and failed to stop at the stop sign at the intersection, where it was struck by a 2022 Chevrolet Silverado truck that was northbound on U.S. 45.
Paxton’s public swimming pool to open June 12
PAXTON – The public swimming pool at Coady Park will have its opening day for the summer of 2024 on Wednesday. The Paxton Park District announced the opening day via its Facebook page on Tuesday. The day will begin with adult swim from noon-1 p.m., followed by public swim from 1-5 p.m.
Chickens in town? Not so fast, say some trustees
BUCKLEY — A proposal from Trustee Shane Stachura for the village to establish an ordinance allowing residents to keep backyard chickens was met with mixed reaction from his fellow members of the Buckley Village Board during their monthly meeting on Monday, June 3, at the Village Hall. After a...
SELFIE AT SEA
From left, Paxton residents Courtney and Justin Bouse, Dawn and Chris Stack and Traci and Shane Kleinert pose with an edition of the Ford County Chronicle during their seven-day Caribbean cruise on the world’s largest cruise ship — the Royal Caribbean Icon of the Seas — which made stops in Saint Martin, Netherlands, and St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Readers of the Ford County Chronicle who are planning to take a trip are encouraged to take any edition of the Chronicle with them, and then take a selfie with the paper at their destination — perhaps in front of a landmark there — and email it to will@fordcountychronicle.com for publication in the next Wednesday edition. Please include names of all people pictured, the town where they live, the location of the photo, and some trip details.
Rantoul man gets 21-year federal sentence for selling meth
URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — A man from Rantoul will spend the next 21 years in federal prison after he was convicted of selling methamphetamine. Prosecutors said Artez Johnson was found guilty of possession of meth with intent to distribute by a jury last August. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Collin Bruce sentenced Johnson to 21 […]
Community Spotlight: Dave Benton Crime Fighter Award from Champaign County Crime Stoppers
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — Champaign County Crime Stoppers is looking to honor someone who is doing their part to make a safer community — and it’s named after WCIA’s dear friend and former anchor, Dave Benton. For Wednesday’s Community Spotlight, Crime Stopper’s Gary Spear sat down with WCIA’s Matthew White to discuss the Dave Benton […]
Coroner’s request for pay raise rejected due to missed deadline
PAXTON — Ford County Coroner Brandon Roderick’s request to see his annual salary increased for his next fouryear term was rejected by the county board Monday night as a result of a missed legal deadline to do so. During a recent meeting of the board’s finance committee to...
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