Local News
Warmer with increasing clouds today, Rain tonight
We will get one warmer day today before we start to drift back into colder temperatures. We will see increasing clouds during the day today with a high of 47. Winds from the south will gust better than 25 miles per hour during the day today. Then, rain for tonight with a low of 28. Winds will start from the south bu...
Jan 17, 2025
Vandalia School Board handles some personnel matters at their monthly meeting
The Vandalia School Board handled some personnel matters at their monthly meeting on Thursday. The Vandalia School Board approved the resignation of VES Teacher Aide Alicia Gonzales. The board also approved the employment of Brooke Thull as VES Teacher Aide. And, the Vandalia School Board approved Chad Bowers as Assi...
Jan 17, 2025
Indiana lawmakers propose state absorb disgruntled Illinois counties
Legislation in Indiana would create a commission to take in the Illinois counties that have voted to secede from the Land of Lincoln. Last election, seven more Illinois counties joined 26 others--including Fayette County--to greenlight a proposal to explore splitting from the state. Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston ...
Jan 17, 2025
Defense Rests In Michael Madigan Corruption Trial
(Chicago, IL) -- Michael Madigan's landmark corruption trial is one step closer to finishing. Attorneys for the former Illinois House Speaker formally rested their case yesterday. There was a brief rebuttal case from prosecutors, who then also rested. Jurors are expected to return next Wednesday to begin hearing closin...
Jan 17, 2025
Illinois State School Board Seeks $11.4B For Upcoming FY
(Springfield, IL) -- The Illinois State Board of Education is seeking more than 11-billion-dollars for the upcoming fiscal year. The board approved the spending plan this week, which is a nearly five-percent increase over this year's budget. It is unclear how much Illinois will set aside for public education considerin...
Jan 17, 2025
Raoul Sues Alternative Retail Electric Supplier
(Chicago, IL) -- Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is suing an alternative retail electric supplier. Raoul filed a lawsuit against Spark Energy and Spark Energy Gas. The suit accuses the company of using fraudulent, unfair and deceptive business practices to mislead Illinois consumers into paying millions of dollar...
Jan 17, 2025
Vandalia PD providing update on last week's bomb threat incident at Vandalia Jr High School
The Vandalia Police Department is providing an update on the bomb threat incident reported at the Vandalia Junior High School on January 9, 2025. The Update from Vandalia Police Chief Jeff Ray---- The threat, received via multiple phone calls, prompted a coordinated response to ensure the safety of students, staff, an...
Jan 16, 2025
Brief Warm Up begins today
We will get above freezing today. Over the past 12 days, we have barely been above freezing at all. But, we will get a brief warm up for the next couple of days. For today, we will see sunny skies with a high of 36. Winds out of the west will gust better than 20 miles per hour today. Tonight we'll see partly cloudy ...
Jan 16, 2025
Fayette County Board Chairman talks about proposed new courthouse and jail project
We hear today from Fayette County Board Chairman Jacob Harris as he talks about the proposed new courthouse and jail project. On Tuesday, the Fayette County Board's Public Building Commission decided to go with a somewhat scaled back plan for the proposed new courthouse and jail, as compared to the original proposal. ...
Jan 16, 2025
Illinois Climatologist looks back at 2024, what lies ahead for 2025
The Illinois State Climatologist says extreme weather swings don't appear on the horizon this year. During an Illinois Soybean Association webinar, Trent Ford said 2024 got off to a dry start which allowed farmers to get an early start during spring planting season. Ford says Illinois was not heading into winter with ...
Jan 16, 2025
2025 Illinois Tax Filing Season Begins January 27
(Springfield, IL) -- The Illinois Department of Revenue will begin accepting 2024 state tax returns on January 27th. That is the same date that the IRS begins accepting federal individual income tax returns. Illinois will be participating in the IRS Direct File program this year. Eligible taxpayers will be able to use ...
Jan 16, 2025
Sunny & Cold Today---Bit of a Warm Up is on the way
We will be sunny and cold today but a bit of a warm up is on the way. We will see sunny skies today with a high of 24. For tonight, we'll see mostly cloudy skies and we'll actually see temperatures creep overnight into the upper 20s with winds out of the southwest gusting better than 20 miles per hour. Meanwhile, we w...
Jan 15, 2025
Fayette County Board approves scaling back potential project for new Courthouse & Jail, will be providing public more information
The Fayette County board has approved scaling back the potential new courthouse and jail project. And, they will be providing a lot more information to the public in the coming weeks. During the Public Building Commission meeting on Tuesday, the board heard from Sydney Goldberg from Goldberg Group Architects, who pres...
Jan 15, 2025
Illinois Supreme Court asked to toss law prohibiting open carry of firearms
The Illinois Supreme Court is considering whether to find a state firearms statute unconstitutional in the case Illinois v. Tyshon Thompson. Thompson was found guilty of violating state law for having a firearm in a vehicle without a permit in 2020. Despite having a Firearm Owners ID cards, he was sentenced to 30 mont...
Jan 15, 2025
Legislation would raise age limit for Illinois driving test from 79 to 87
Illinois is the only state that requires a behind-the-wheel driving test based on age, but that may soon change. Secretary of State Alexi Gianoulias says the Road Safety and Fairness Act would make the age for behind-the-wheel testing 87, raising it from 79. Last year, about 55,000 drives between the ages of 79 and 86...
Jan 15, 2025
Madigan Ends Testimony In Racketeering Trial
(Chicago, IL) -- Michael Madigan is finished testifying in his racketeering trial. The former Illinois House Speaker left the witness stand yesterday after nearly 12 hours of testimony over four days. Madigan said he regretted keeping up meetings with Danny Solis because his behavior was concerning. Solis secretly reco...
Jan 15, 2025
Illinois Investing $2.5M For Frichtl Expansion Project in Effingham Co
(Effingham County, IL) -- Illinois is investing two-point-five-million-dollars for Frichtl's expansion in Effingham County. The investment will enable Frichtl to purchase space in Dieterich's new Industrial Park East and construct a new foot meat processing and packaging facility. The goal of the project is to increase...
Jan 15, 2025
State Treasurer Returned $299M In Missing Money in 2024
(Springfield, IL) -- The Illinois State Treasurer's Office is touting the amount of missing money returned last year. Illinois State Treasurer Michael Frerichs announced that his office returned nearly 299-million-dollars as part of Illinois' missing money program. More than 331-thousand claims were processed last year...
Jan 15, 2025
Message from I70 Media
Jan 14, 2025
A chance of flurries this morning and cold today, down to zero for a low tonight
We still have a couple of cold days in front of us before a late week warm up. We have a chance of flurries this morning but then we'll otherwise see mostly sunny skies with a high of 24. Winds will start off the day from the southwest but will shift to the north this afternoon and gust better than 20 miles per hour. ...
Jan 14, 2025