Benton, West Frankfort, Illinois News | Franklin County News
Newspaper covering Franklin County, Illinois
Dry and warm conditions will continue into Wednesday night, with increasing humidity levels. Heat indices near to around 100 degrees will be possible Wednesday and especially Thursday. Chances of showers and thunderstorms will return to the entire area by Thursday, continuing into the first part of the weekend. (National Weather Service Paducah)
Press Release from State Representative Dave Severin
State Representative Dave Severin (R-Benton) issued the following statement on the override of the Governor’s veto of an income tax increase.
“I am disappointed that the House has concurred with the Senate to override the Governor’s veto. I understand that things like our schools, universities, and healthcare facilities are in dire straits and that the threat of junk bond status loomed large over everyone’s head. What passed yesterday will help address those issues in the short term but also means that a 32 percent, permanent tax increase will be imposed on every Illinois family, and that is wrong. We already know that simply raising taxes without making significant structural changes doesn’t work. It didn’t work in 2011 and it won’t work today.
“Over the past week my district office has been flooded with stories of families and businesses on the verge of leaving Illinois for Kentucky, Missouri, Indiana, and other states. So this tax increase may have been the last straw for many. Until the legislature gets serious about addressing the root causes of our financial difficulties, I fear we’ll be faced with more tax hikes in the years to come. That being said the mission of returning Illinois to an attractive home for families and business does not ride on one vote, and we will have many more opportunities to improve our state in the coming months.”
Press Release from the office of Governor Bruce Rauner
SPRINGFIELD IL – Governor Bruce Rauner today announced that Chief of Staff Richard Goldberg will be transitioning back to foreign policy, national security and consulting following a three-plus year term as senior adviser to the Rauner 2014 campaign, Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative Affairs and Chief of Staff. Kristina Rasmussen will serve as Chief of Staff.
“Rich is one of the most talented policy, political and communications advisors I’ve ever met and I will forever be indebted to his faithful public service for the last three and a half years,” Governor Rauner said. “I respect his decision to return to national security, foreign policy and consulting. Diana and I will always value his counsel and we wish him the best of luck in his next adventure.”
Prior to his service with Governor Rauner, Goldberg served as Deputy Chief of Staff for then-Senator Mark Kirk where he helped negotiate three rounds of economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran and worked to secure the deployment of an advanced U.S. missile defense radar to Israel. Goldberg also serves as a Navy Reserve Intelligence Officer and served in Afghanistan in 2011.
From the National Weather Service, Paducah, KY
The weather radar used by the National Weather Service Forecast
Office in Paducah Kentucky, KPAH, will be down for approximately
four days beginning Monday July 10th for technicians to install an
important technological upgrade. The work on the WSR-88D has been
scheduled to minimize any potential impacts to office operations.
During the outage, radar coverage is available from adjacent radar
sites including Owensville Indiana (KVWX), Ft Campbell (KHPX),
Louisville Kentucky (KLVX), Memphis Tennessee (KMEG), and St Louis
Missouri (KLSX).
A crew will install a new signal processor, which replaces
obsolete technology, improves processing speed and data quality,
provides added functionality, and supports IT security.
This is the first of four major upgrades, known as the service
life extension projects, planned in the next five years to replace
and refurbish major components of the 20 year old WSR-88Ds and to
keep the radars operational into the 2030s. The $150M investment
is being made by the three organizations that use these radars,
the NOAA National Weather Service, United States Air Force, and
Federal Aviation Administration. The other service life extension
projects include refurbishing the transmitter, pedestal, and
equipment shelters.
…LAKE WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING…
The National Weather Service in Paducah has issued a Lake Wind
Advisory, which is in effect until 7 PM CDT this evening.
This Lake Wind Advisory covers all of Southern Illinois and
Southwest Indiana, as well as a small part of Southeast Missouri
and Northwest Kentucky, generally north of a Dexter Missouri to
Owensboro Kentucky line.
* TIMING…of the higher winds will be from 1 pm to 7 pm CDT today.
* WINDS…Sustained near 15 mph, with gusts between 20 and 25 mph
are expected in the advisory area.
* IMPACTS…The south to southwest direction of the winds may
cause choppy waters on lakes generally oriented south to north.
This may lead to issues navigating or maintaining stability of
water craft, as well as for skiers.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A Lake Wind Advisory indicates that winds will cause rough chop
on area lakes. Small boats will be especially prone to capsizing.
&&
by Steve Dunford
At 4:35 p.m. yesterday afternoon, the Mt. Vernon Police Department responded to a report of gunshots fired in the 700 block of 25th street. All available units responded to the scene.
A short time later there was an individual presented to the emergency room of St. Mary’s-Good Samaritan hospital with gunshot wounds. WSIL-TV reported that a family member said the victim passed away.
Witnesses at the scene said that Roderick Shondale Oats Jr,, 18 of Mt. Vernon was a person of interest. After a manhunt, Oats was taken into custody at 11:51 pm last night.
Along with the Mt. Vernon police department, the Illinois State Police and the Jefferson County Coroner’s and States Attorney’s office aided in the investigation.
The information was taken from a press release by the Mt. Vernon police
by Steve Dunford
This evening, this Honda 250 four wheeler was stolen on Sandburg Road between West Frankfort and Zeigler, near the Plumfield area.
If you have any information, please call the Franklin County Sheriff’s office at 438-8211.
Please share this on Social Media.
http://www.weather.gov/pah/June2017ClimateSummary
PADUCAH, KY – National Weather Service. Please click on the link above for some interactive weather charts with some climatological information for the Paducah warning area. Here is the introduction below.
June 2017 Climate Summary: Temperatures were near normal to slightly below normal while precipitation varied across the region. Rainfall was below normal across much of southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, southwest Indiana, and northwest Kentucky (Henderson, Owensboro area). However, there were some locations that picked up higher amounts due to thunderstorms. Portions of Perry County Missouri along with parts of Perry, Jackson, and White counties in Illinois and Pike County Indiana experienced heavier rainfall amounts due to thunderstorms. South of the Ohio River over much of west Kentucky, rainfall was generally above normal with amounts of 5 to 7 inches in many locations.
