WGFA NEWS for Monday, November 9, 2009 >
WX > Unseasonably mild weather weather continues today, high near 70 with a NW wind at 10 mph. Light chance of rain tonight and tomorrow morning, but then clearing and cool highs near 60.
> A Beaverville man’s two and a-half-year-old reckless homicide case goes to trial this week in Iroquois County. James Brown is charged with reckless homicide and aggravated discharge of a firearm — action that led to the shooting death of 31-year-old Heather Todd of DeMotte, Indiana. Judge Michael Kick will hear the case in Watseka.
It was June 24, 2006 when the 68-year-old Brown came upon his shed being burglarized in rural Beaverville. Police reports indicate Brown investigated himself, firing a shotgun twice at a pickup truck he observed with its door opened. The ensuing police investigation revealed Todd had suffered a fatal wound. Her body was found slumped over in the truck. A male accomplice, later identified as Albert Willis of Hopkins Park, fled on foot. He later plead guilty to the burglary.
> Brush fires kept several area fire departments busy over the weekend. There was also a report of a combine destroyed in a rural Clifton field fire. A grain bin fire in rural Brook kept firefighters busy for several hours Saturday. Brook firefighters responded to the Kathleen Kindig residence on county road 250 East and 1100 South shortly after 8am. Due to the nature of the fire, firefighters had to use a grain vacuum and shovels to remove corn from the bin.
The unusually warm weather over the weekend gave farmers the opportunity to catch up with the fall harvest.
> Two Limestone residents died in a motorcycle crash Saturday near Watseka, marking a second straight day a traffic fatality occurred in Iroquois County.
45-year-old Willis Kilpatrick was pronounced dead after being air-lifted to Carle Hospital in Urbana. His passenger on a Harley Davidson motorcycle, 35-year-old Penny Jo Raj {Rozsh}, was pronounced dead at Iroquois Memorial Hospital in Watseka. The crash remains under investigation by the District 21 Illinois State Police Reconstruction Unit and the Iroquois County Coroner’s Office.
> An Indiana man died in a multi-vehicle crash Friday on U.S. Route 24 near Gilman. Iroquois County Coroner Bill Cheatum identified the victim as 60-year-old Robert J. Smith of Oxford, Indiana. Smith was pronounced dead at the scene. The crash happened just before 12 Noon at County Road 1100 E. Two other drivers were not injured.
State Police report Smith was westbound IN THE WRONG LANE on 24. A van driven by 51-yr-old Keith Fox of Orland Park was eastbound. The two vehicles collided with the Smith car then running into an eastbound Freightliner pulling a box trailer. The semi driver–57-yr-old Tommy Wooten of Alabama–was not injured. Route 24 traffic was re-routed by Department of Transportation officials for about four hours. State Police continue the investigation. An autopsy was scheduled.
> H1N1 clinics are being today in both Illinois and Indiana. Kankakee County recorded its first H1N1 fatality. A 38-yr-old man died from complications of H1N1, but he also had other underlying problems, according to health officials.
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