WGFA NEWS for Tuesday, February 23, 2010 >
WX > Scattered snow flurries again today, mostly before noon, high near 34. NW wind at 5-10.
– Boys Prep Regional B-Ball resumes tonite on WGFA –
> Indiana State Police expect a section of I-65 to remain closed for several hours today after an accident in which two people died. The interstate is closed in both directions between Lowell and Demotte.
State Police at Lowell said the accident occurred around 5:30 a.m. in the southbound lanes and the semi-tractor trailer and SUV involved in the accident slid into the northbound lanes. Police and investigators from the Lake County coroner’s office remained at the scene just after 8:30 a.m.
Further details were not immediately available. The cause of the accident has yet to be released, although area police reported numerous slide offs and spin outs early today due to ice on the roads, particularly in rural areas and on side streets.
> The Watseka man accused of providing the gun that led to the shooting death of Roger McVay of Watseka last April has been sentenced to nine years in prison. 24-year-old Chad Walwer was handed the prison term Monday in Iroquois Circuit Court. Walwer plead guilty to Unlawful Possession of a Weapon by a Felon–in connection with the 2009 murder of McVay outside a Watseka tavern. State’s Attorney Jim Devine asked the court to impose a 25-year prison term, based on Walwer’s criminal background. Judge Gordon Lustfeldt delivered a nine-year sentence.
Co-defendant Jeffery Hite is still awaiting trial for murder. The 30-year-old Hite killed McVay outside McSki’s Tavern on Walnut Street.
> Bunge’s decision to cease its soybean crushing operations in Danville in April will cost 99 employees their jobs. But the plant will continue to employ 185 workers in its corn mill and grain elevator operations.
State Senator Mike Frerichs says he received only a few minutes notice before the company made the announcement public….
Frerichs, along with Mayor Scott Eisenhauer and State Representative Bill Black say the company gave no advanced warning…so there was no chance at the state level to try to avoid the cuts. Mayor Eisenhauer told us…
Representative Black thinks losing the jobs is not the community’s fault…
Mark Van Emmon, Vice President and General Manager of Bunge Oilseed Processing, says the company is faced with a soybean market that has more capacity than required to operate all of Bunge’s soybean processing assets as efficiently as possible. So he says the company made the difficult decision to discontinue soy operations in Danville.
>>
Bunge North America has announced it is discontinuing soybean processing and related operations at its Danville plant, effective April 23rd.
Deb Seidel, Director of Communications for Bunge North America, says the industry – overall – has an over-capacity for soybean processing….
Seidel adds the Danville plant will continue to handle soybeans as a grain elevator, and in addition, the corn-mill will remain open….
Mark Van Emmon, Vice President and General Manager of Bunge Oilseed Processing, says the company is “faced with a soybean market that has more capacity than required and to operate all of our soybean processing assets as efficiently as possible, we made the difficult decision to discontinue soy operations at Danville.”
“As a long-time member of the Danville community, we are disappointed that we must end soybean processing but we are pleased that we will continue to operate the corn mill and serve local farmers as an elevator.”
Bunge expects approximately 100 employees to be impacted by the discontinuation of soybean processing and related plant operations in Danville. The local plant will continue to employ more than 185 workers.
> A committee approved legislation Monday to authorize the Illiana Expressway, but the measure is likely to be changed again before a final House vote. Officials did not specify everything they’d like changed, but said a provision of the committee-revised legislation that requires public hearings in the most populous city in a county, as opposed to the county seat, ought to be altered.
The House Roads and Transportation Committee voted 10-2 Monday to send an amended version of Senate Bill 382 to the full House. Any representative can propose amendments now that the measure has reached the floor. Before forwarding the legislation, the committee made several changes to the proposal, which originally was approved by the Senate 48-0.
Among the changes, an economic impact study would have to be conducted before the state begins to solicit bids for the proposed toll road connecting Interstate 65 in Lake County with Interstate 55 in Illinois. Public hearings would have to be held before and after an operator is selected.
> The National Weather Service is projecting a “high probability” of spring flooding along parts of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and their tributaries. Hydrologist Mark Fuchs says that several factors could lead to moderate or even major flooding in parts of Iowa, Illinois
and Missouri. Those factors include significant winter snow in northern states like North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota, and heavy rain last fall in parts of Missouri, Illinois and Iowa.
That water became trapped in the soil when the ground froze. Once the ground thaws when the weather warms, significant runoff could cause rivers to rise. Heavy rain over the weekend already has some rivers in Missouri above flood stage, but no major damage is reported.
“Your Illiana News Source” — 94.1 FM, WGFA
