Brad Palmer

Hot, dry weather has now led some towns to call off holiday fireworks.

Cooling centers are now open throughout Williamson County to help residents battle the extreme heat.

An SIU Law Professor says today's Supreme Court ruling will stir up both sides of the healthcare debate again.

The blue skies and bright sunshine are unrelenting.

This is what a drought looks like, and state climatologist Jim Angel says there's no end in sight. He says the National Weather Service has the rest of June being drier than normal, and the same story for July.

Southern Illinois' rainfall total for the year so far is eight to 10 inches below normal. The drought is considered severe in many parts of southern Illinois.

The drought continues to worsen across southern Illinois, southeast Missouri and southwest Indiana.

The administration at SIU-Carbondale has notified the Non-Tenure Track Faculty Association about possible layoffs.

The university's director of labor and employee relations Brent Patton sent union president A.J. Barrett a letter dated Monday about potential layoffs of non-tenure track faculty.

The letter says the major factors for possible layoffs are a significant cut in state funding and an expected decline in enrollment. The letter says other factors include the uncertainty of funding for the Southern Region Early Childhood Program and potential pension reforms.

Union leaders and area lawmakers are blasting Governor Pat Quinn's plan to close the Tamms Supermax Prison, the Illinois Youth Center in Murphysboro and an adult transition center in Carbondale.

During a news conference Wednesday outside Lt. Governor Sheila Simon's Carbondale office, State Representatives Mike Bost and Brandon Phelps along with State Senator Gary Forby joined with correctional officers to urge Quinn to sign the budget which includes money to keep these facilities open.

A fugitive from Kentucky is in a southern Illinois jail after barricading himself inside a hotel room.

Illinois State Police say 41-year-old Billy Utley of Clay, Kentucky is wanted on a capital offense. He fled Kentucky and holed up inside a hotel room in Cave-in-Rock early Wednesday morning.

Troopers say area residents were evacuated.  But Utley, who was considered armed and dangerous, eventually surrendered without incident and was taken to the Saline County Jail.
 

A Herrin man is in a St. Louis hospital with a possible life-threatening injury after a stabbing incident.

Herrin Police say 45-year-old Charles Morris was apparently stabbed near 15 Orchard Drive around 5 a.m. Tuesday.

Illinois State Police, the Williamson County Sheriff's Department and Energy Police are assisting in the investigation.

No arrests have been made.

Illinois State Police are also investigating a stabbing along Interstate 24 in Johnson County.

Illinois' pensions systems should get more scrutiny under legislation Governor Pat Quinn signed Monday afternoon. 

Illinois will be hiring its first "state actuary."
 
Until now, Illinois' five state pensions systems have issued their own reports on their financial health.

In the future, an independent "state actuary" will look at the retirement funds for state and university workers, legislators, judges, and public school teachers in the suburbs and downstate.

Members of an Illinois education task force exploring ways to keep elementary and high school students in school will meet at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Governor Pat Quinn says heat forecast across Illinois this week could bring ``extremely dangerous'' conditions for the elderly and children.

Quinn Monday urged Illinoisans to take precautions and check on vulnerable family members and neighbors. His office says the state has opened more than 120 cooling centers. Those centers are at Illinois Department of Human Services offices across the state.

Routine mosquito testing in Jackson County has turned up the first positive batch of West Nile Virus.

The manager of the Williamson County Regional Airport wants to expand the charter flights offered at the facility.

Supporters of Murray Developmental Center in Centralia are urging the Governor to sign the state budget and keep the facility open.

A Bonnie man was killed and six others were injured after a head-on collision on Rend Lake Dam Road Sunday evening.

The Republican nominee for the 12th Congressional District in southwestern Illinois is waiting to find out who his Democratic opponent will be in the November general election.

The 2nd annual Big Muddy Air Race is set for takeoff from the Southern Illinois Airport Saturday.

Leaders of the Carbondale Convention and Tourism Bureau say the office will shut down at the end of June without a new agreement with the city.

The state's regional offices of education are preparing for streamlining as they wait for the governor to sign the bill authorizing the change.

The Shawnee Group of the Sierra Club is trying to help people get prepared for fracking in southern Illinois.

In politics today, money talks - and the nonprofit group Every Child Matters says since kids aren't high-dollar campaign contributors, the presidential candidates aren't paying attention to their needs.

Illinois' Lt. Governor will be featured speaker at the annual Carbondale Memorial Day Service.

Legislation to streamline Illinois' Regional Offices of Education has been approved by the Illinois House.

Illinois Lt. Governor Sheila Simon says she'd like to see the Tamms Supermax Prison and the Illinois Youth Center in Murphysboro retooled and stay open.

John A. Logan College's incoming president got to meet the entire campus community and the general public Thursday during a special reception on the Carterville campus.

A suspect wanted in connection with a Carbondale shooting is under arrest.