Quad Cities Waiting For FEMA Checks After Flooding
EAST MOLINE – Most local governments in the Quad Cities are waiting for checks from FEMA to help pay for flood expenses. Davenport, Iowa asked for $3.5 million. In Illinois, Rock Island County asked for $884,000; East Moline and Rock Island each submitted around $540,000 in eligible flood expenses; and Moline applied for $404,000. Nonprofits and places of worship that provided food and child care to low income residents during the floods also applied to FEMA for reimbursement. Steady rain during the spring led to the state’s worst flooding in 25 years along the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. – Michelle O’Neill, WVIK
Illinois Officer Fined $350 For Illegally Parking Patrol Car
CRYSTAL LAKE — A northern Illinois police officer has been ticketed for parking his patrol car in a handicapped-accessible parking space. Lakemoor Police Chief David Godlewski said Tuesday that the officer was issued a $350 fine Sunday for parking illegally at the Lakemoor Crossings Shopping Center.
The Northwest Herald reports that a resident texted the chief about the parking infraction on Sunday. The department also received calls, and one resident posted a photo of the Lakemoor Police SUV on Facebook. The police chef says the officer is being disciplined and declined to release his name. In October, a McHenry County Sheriff’s officer also was issued a citation for parking in a handicapped-accessible parking space. – Associated Press
Parole Approved For Inmate In 1960 Triple-Killing
SPRINGFIELD — Illinois officials granted parole on Thursday to an 80-year-old inmate sentenced to life in prison for the 1960 killings of three suburban Chicago women, whose brutalized bodies were found in a cave at a state park. The Illinois Prisoner Review Board voted 9-4 to approve Chester Weger’s 24th request for release. He had sought parole since 1972. Weger won’t be released for at least 90 days per a request from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. Weger was convicted of the murder of Lillian Oetting. He also confessed to killing Oetting’s two companions, Frances Murphy and Mildred Lindquist, at Starved Rock State Park Near Utica, saying he intended to rob them. Weger later recanted the confession and since has maintained that it was coerced. – Associated Press
Salad Product Recall Over E. Coli Bacteria Impacts 22 States
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says thousands of pounds of salad products are being recalled due to a possible E. coli contamination. The department said Missa Bay, LLC from Swedesboro, New Jersey, is recalling more than 75,000 pounds of salad products that contain meat or poultry because the lettuce may be contaminated with a strain of E. coli. The products were sold on Oct. 14 through Oct. 16 in Illinois and 21 other states. Authorities say the Maryland Department of Health tested an unopened salad product with chicken and the lettuce came back positive for a strain of E. coli bacteria, which can cause diarrhea and vomiting. – Associated Press
