News

The impending winter storm has prompted Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area to close all facilities by 5 PM Thursday.  

All visitors will be asked to leave, including campers in backcountry areas. 

Some Southern Illinois residents are concerned about hydraulic fracturing related water quality, chemical trade secrets and the size of fines levied on the industry.  

The comments came from among the 175 present at an Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ public hearing on fracking last night at Rend Lake College in Ina. A six-member panel listened to a range of public comments about the IDNR’s proposed fracking regulations.

As part of its Evening Upstairs series, the McCracken County Public Library hosts "An Evening with Mark Twain: An American Icon," a presentation by Robert Brock, tomorrow night at 7 in the second floor meeting room. Brock is professor of theatre at Lindsey Wilson College and is the Artistic Director of the Kentucky Repertory Theatre. The presentation is free and open to the public. For more information visit mclib.net. 

From NPR: BuzzFeed's digital traffic is stratospheric, driven largely by animated GIFs and lists, like the 10 most life-affirming dog rescue stories. But the social media outfit is in the process of building up a team of journalists to offer original news reporting, raising questions of just what it intends to be.

A website similar to Kentucky's health insurance exchange site has been taken down and no longer appears in Google search results after action by Attorney General Jack Conway.

The website was similar to Kentucky's official health insurance exchange site, and Conway's office said yesterday that some consumers trying to find the Kentucky site were landing at the copycat site instead and being given wrong information.

Illinois Central Railroad Company has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor for a number of safety violations and faces more than $100,000 in fines.

The department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration says it began an inspection after observing workers not wearing necessary safety gear while demolishing a Chicago bridge coated with lead-based paint.

The fight over how to address Illinois' pension shortfall is likely to move to the courts following passage of a landmark bill.

The Illinois Legislature approved a measure yesterday to eliminate the state's $100 billion unfunded pension liability by cutting benefits for workers and retirees.

Governor Pat Quinn is expected to sign it promptly. Public employee unions say they'll file a lawsuit if he does. They say it violates a provision of the state constitution that prohibits cutting pension benefits.

The Christian County Health Department plans to submit documentation in January to become just the 23rd nationally-accredited health department in the country.

Assistant director Laura Hammons says the accreditation would be a boon for the county.

A Hopkins County-Madisonville Public Library board member says Christmas has come early in the form of a $500,000 dollar fiscal court allocation for the library’s new facility.

Library board president Carolyn Ferrell says the board reviewed the court's plan this morning and voted to request the funding the court had made available for them. She says, for now, the board will pay the county back with interest it draws annually from its endowment.

The University of Kentucky is about to launch a clinical study that tests an existing medication as a treatment for Alzheimer Disease.

Researchers at UK’s Alzheimer Disease Center think a cholesterol-lowering class of drugs known as fibrates can also prevent the deadly dementia related ailment.