Rain/Snow mix expected Monday evening in central Illinois
From NWS Lincoln: Minor disturbances will affect the area tonight and Monday night, bringing a mix of light rain and snow. No snow accumulation or travel impacts are expected.
Kickapoo Rail Trail on track for two-year completion with $11.2 million state grant.
After seven years of construction, less than half of the 24-mile Kickapoo Rail Trail in east-central Illinois has been completed. But now, the project could be finished in the next two years, thanks to a state grant. An $11.2 million grant, awarded through the state’s Rebuild Illinois Capital plan will pay for the completion of the walking and bike path.
3 climate impacts the U.S. will see if warming goes beyond 1.5 degrees
As world leaders gather at COP28, the annual climate change negotiations held in Dubai this year, one number will be front and center: 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). That’s the amount countries have agreed to limit warming to by the end of the century. The world is already perilously close to that number. Since…
Snow ends, Bitter cold on Monday and Tuesday
Meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Lincoln are forecasting the first snow of the season Sunday for parts of central Illinois. The accumulation will range from a dusting to an inch of snow. Below are the latest forecasts and updates from the NWS, meteorologist Andrew Pritchard, and IPM News team members.
A new rail trail planned for rural Piatt County could be part of something bigger.
Plans are in the works to construct a 2.3-mile rail trail in a rural area of Piatt County. As initially reported by columnist Tom Kacich in the News-Gazette, the proposed shared-used path would use the railroad right-of-way originally established for railroad tracks as a route for walking, running and cycling between the small towns of…
Lawmakers set to consider nuclear energy on final day of veto session
No movement on efforts to extend scholarship tax credit, allow legislative staff to unionize.
Illinois Senate approves plan to allow new nuclear reactors
Proponents say the plan endorsed Wednesday will ensure the state can meet its carbon-free power production promise by 2045.
Controversial pipeline canceled amid safety concerns, regulatory pushback
Other projects still on the table as advocates, industry groups debate regulatory reform.
The Piatt County Board, with reluctance, approves the county’s first wind farm
The Piatt County Board voted 4-2 on Friday to approve a special use permit for a wind farm in the county. But several members made it clear they were approving the Prosperity Wind project reluctantly, as a new Illinois law gave them no real choice in the matter.
Controversial carbon dioxide pipeline paused following regulatory setbacks
Pipeline ending in Montgomery and Christian counties drew safety, eminent domain concerns.
Frost Advisory in effect Tuesday 12AM-8AM
Lows of 34 to 38 degrees overnight will likely lead to frost forming overnight, especially from Havana to Decatur to Terre Haute northeast where a frost advisory is posted overnight.
Five people killed, residents evacuated for hours as crews contain Ammonia from truck crash
According to fire officials, a multi-vehicle accident caused a tanker carrying anhydrous ammonia to roll over a few miles east of the town of Teutopolis.
Update: Residents returning home after a wreck in Effingham County kills 5, and leaks ammonia
Illinois State Police said the accident occurred Friday and involved “multiple” vehicles. It happened about a half-mile east of Teutopolis on U.S. Highway 40. The area is 78 miles south of Champaign-Urbana, near Effingham.
U of I hopes a new greenhouse will be an incubator for bioenergy crops.
University of Illinois officials held ceremonial shovels Wednesday morning, for a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of construction on a new greenhouse. It will open next summer in the Urbana-Champaign campus’ Research Park and be used for research into bioenergy crops.
Fish in Illinois lakes & streams will no longer be tested for DDT
Illinois is joining a growing list of states that will no longer test fish in lakes and rivers for DDT and other related pesticides. Illinois began testing fish for organochlorine pesticides in the 1970s, a few years after the best-known one, DDT, was banned in the U-S. Up until the ban, the chemicals had been…