- former Governor Ryan awarded bail, avoids jail….
- fatality victim identified….
- Wal-Mart projects "Go" in Kankakee, Watseka project studied….
November's unusual warm weather ending; Illiana braces for sleet and ice. Details on WGFA, 94.1 FM.
* Former Illinois Governor George Ryan will be allowed to stay out of jail while appealing his conviction on corruption charges. A federal appeals court granted bail to Ryan. Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer had refused to grant Ryan bail, but the appeals court overruled her Tuesday.
* An Illinois House committee has approved an amended minimum wage increase. The proposal includes a dollar-an-hour increase in the minimum wage next summer and then 25-cents each year through 2009. That would bring the state's minimum wage up to eight dollars an hour.
* The victim of a traffic accident in Newton County, Indiana has been identified. 49-year-old Walter Knapik Jr. of Chesterton was fatally injured when his pickup struck the rear of a semi trailer. Sheriff's Polcie and the Coroner's office investigated at State Road 114 and County Route 200-East just past 10 am Tuesday. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. The semi driver–35-year-old Jeff Huffer of Hebron–was not injured. The accident remains under investigation.
* Two Wal-Mart developments in Kankakee County are progressing; a site in Watseka is under study. Super Wal-Mart projects at the I-57 and Route 45 exchange on the south side of Kankakee and another along Route 50 north of Bradley are both moving forward, according Kankakee Regional Chamber of Commerce Director Dave Hinderliter. Both projects are independent of each other, according to Hinderliter. Future development announcements are expected. In Watseka, Mayor John Weidert confirms developers are studying a potential Wal-Mart development at the site of the former Value Village Mall at Routes 1 and 24-East.
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