A Franklin County man is facing two felony charges related to grooming and solicitation of a minor.
Here’s a link to the story at the Southern Illinoisan.
Illinois traffic safety officials learn from Minnesota efforts to reduce roadway deaths
November 1, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Illinois transportation officials heard from Minnesota officials about a campaign working “Toward Zero Deaths.”
Here’s a link to the story at Illinois News Network.
Saluki softball announces 2019 schedule
November 1, 2018 By Leave a Comment
SALUKIS ANNOUNCE 2019 SCHEDULE
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Coming off of a season in which it advanced to the MVC Tournament title game for the second-straight season, the Southern Illinois University softball team looks to compete in 2019 with a 53-game schedule featuring nine opponents that played postseason softball a season ago, including seven who advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
Head coach Kerri Blaylock returns for her 20th season at the helm of the Saluki softball program. The Salukis went 32-21 a year ago and led the Missouri Valley Conference in runs, home runs and runs batted in and finished second in the league in walks and slugging percentage. It was the first time since 2005 that Southern led the league in round-trippers while Southern’s second place finish in slugging percentage was its highest since 2011.
The Salukis will host 24 games at Charlotte West Stadium while playing on the road 15 times and competing in 14 neutral site contests. Southern will take part in five tournaments, three away from home and two in Carbondale.
SIU will face a challenging schedule that consists of 10 opponents that finished the previous season in the top-100 in the RPI, of which five ranked in the top-50 led by NCAA Super Regional qualifier Kentucky. Southern’s five opponents that finished the previous season ranked in the top-50 of the RPI are its most in a single-season since 2013.
We thought we would challenge ourselves a little bit,” Blaylock said. “We feel like we’ve got the pitching staff, our position players are a year older and we just wanted to be able to go out and try to play some of the better teams in the country to get ourselves ready for what we feel will be a pretty hard conference season.”
The Salukis kick off the 2019 campaign by heading to Hammond, Louisiana for the Lion Classic, hosted Feb. 8-10 by Southeastern Louisiana. SIU opens its season with games on Friday, Feb. 8 against Nicholls State and Saint Louis. On Saturday, Southern will take on Nicholls State again as well as San Jose State before closing out the tournament Sunday morning against Mississippi Valley State.
SIU will then take a trip south for the Puerto Vallarta Challenge. The Salukis will face four teams who played postseason softball, including three who advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Southern opens against Mississippi State, who went 38-22 a year ago, on Thursday, Feb. 14, before taking on Northern Colorado on Friday, Feb. 15. The Salukis will take on a pair of NCAA Tournament teams on Saturday, Feb. 16 in Sacramento State and North Dakota State.
“The cool part about the Puerto Vallarta trip is its a little bit of an educational experience,” Blaylock said. “We will go out with local school children and put on a clinic for them. There will be eight or nine hundred local fans at our games which makes for a pretty cool atmosphere plus we will face great competition.”
With the month of February coming to an end SIU will head to Chattanooga, Tenn. for the 2019 Frost Classic. The Salukis begin play on Friday, Feb. 22 against Ohio University, who went 40-16 a year ago and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, before facing off against Western Michigan later that day. The following day, Southern will take on Eastern Kentucky, one of two teams on SIU’s schedule to play in the National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) last season before tussling with former MVC foe Creighton, who played in the Big EAST title game a year ago. Southern will conclude play at the Frost Classic with a game against the hosts from Chattanooga on Sunday, Feb. 24.
After starting the first three weeks of the season on the road, SIU returns to Carbondale to host the Coach B Classic Mar. 1-3. The field is highlighted by Kentucky, who advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals a year ago. The Wildcats finished with the No. 13 RPI a year ago- which is the highest RPI from a previous season by a visiting team since the 2010 season. The Salukis will also welcome Saint Louis, Wichita State and Murray State to southern Illinois for their annual classic.
The Coach B Classic marks the beginning of a 13-game home stretch for the Salukis, who the following weekend (Mar. 8-10) will host Miami (Ohio), UIC, Green Bay and Butler for the Saluki Invitational.
With the tournament slate concluded, SIU opens up the Missouri Valley Conference portion of its schedule with a doubleheader against Missouri State on Mar. 13. Southern will open MVC play against the two teams who finished ahead of the Salukis in last season’s conference standings, Missouri State and Drake. SIU hosts the Bulldogs for a three-game series on Mar. 16-17.
SIU will then travel west for a non-conference mid-week contest against regional foe SEMO on Mar. 20 before returning to Charlotte West Stadium for a weekend series against Valparaiso on Mar. 24.
The following Wednesday, Southern hosts UT Martin on Mar. 27 before traveling to Normal, Ill. for a weekend series at Illinois State. SIU will travel to Saint Louis on Wednesday, April 3 for its final road non-conference matchup of the season before opening a three-game homestead against Evansville on April 6.
Southern will then play the next three weeks on the road, as the Salukis game at Missouri State on April 9 kicks off a 10-game MVC road swing. SIU travels to Indiana State on Apr. 13-14 before going to Chicago, Ill. to tangle with the Loyola Ramblers on Apr. 19-20. Southern concludes its road swing at Northern Iowa on Apr. 27-28.
The Salukis host their final non-conference mid-week of the season on Wednesday, May 1 when they host SIUE. Southern closes out the 2019 regular season with a three-game set against Bradley beginning on Friday, May 3.
SIU will look to compete in the MVC Tournament May 8-11, with Bradley set to host the four-day event in Peoria, Ill.
Head coach Kerri Blaylock returns for her 20th season at the helm of the Saluki softball program. The Salukis went 32-21 a year ago and led the Missouri Valley Conference in runs, home runs and runs batted in and finished second in the league in walks and slugging percentage. It was the first time since 2005 that Southern led the league in round-trippers while Southern’s second place finish in slugging percentage was its highest since 2011.
The Salukis will host 24 games at Charlotte West Stadium while playing on the road 15 times and competing in 14 neutral site contests. Southern will take part in five tournaments, three away from home and two in Carbondale.
SIU will face a challenging schedule that consists of 10 opponents that finished the previous season in the top-100 in the RPI, of which five ranked in the top-50 led by NCAA Super Regional qualifier Kentucky. Southern’s five opponents that finished the previous season ranked in the top-50 of the RPI are its most in a single-season since 2013.
We thought we would challenge ourselves a little bit,” Blaylock said. “We feel like we’ve got the pitching staff, our position players are a year older and we just wanted to be able to go out and try to play some of the better teams in the country to get ourselves ready for what we feel will be a pretty hard conference season.”
The Salukis kick off the 2019 campaign by heading to Hammond, Louisiana for the Lion Classic, hosted Feb. 8-10 by Southeastern Louisiana. SIU opens its season with games on Friday, Feb. 8 against Nicholls State and Saint Louis. On Saturday, Southern will take on Nicholls State again as well as San Jose State before closing out the tournament Sunday morning against Mississippi Valley State.
SIU will then take a trip south for the Puerto Vallarta Challenge. The Salukis will face four teams who played postseason softball, including three who advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Southern opens against Mississippi State, who went 38-22 a year ago, on Thursday, Feb. 14, before taking on Northern Colorado on Friday, Feb. 15. The Salukis will take on a pair of NCAA Tournament teams on Saturday, Feb. 16 in Sacramento State and North Dakota State.
“The cool part about the Puerto Vallarta trip is its a little bit of an educational experience,” Blaylock said. “We will go out with local school children and put on a clinic for them. There will be eight or nine hundred local fans at our games which makes for a pretty cool atmosphere plus we will face great competition.”
With the month of February coming to an end SIU will head to Chattanooga, Tenn. for the 2019 Frost Classic. The Salukis begin play on Friday, Feb. 22 against Ohio University, who went 40-16 a year ago and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, before facing off against Western Michigan later that day. The following day, Southern will take on Eastern Kentucky, one of two teams on SIU’s schedule to play in the National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) last season before tussling with former MVC foe Creighton, who played in the Big EAST title game a year ago. Southern will conclude play at the Frost Classic with a game against the hosts from Chattanooga on Sunday, Feb. 24.
After starting the first three weeks of the season on the road, SIU returns to Carbondale to host the Coach B Classic Mar. 1-3. The field is highlighted by Kentucky, who advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals a year ago. The Wildcats finished with the No. 13 RPI a year ago- which is the highest RPI from a previous season by a visiting team since the 2010 season. The Salukis will also welcome Saint Louis, Wichita State and Murray State to southern Illinois for their annual classic.
The Coach B Classic marks the beginning of a 13-game home stretch for the Salukis, who the following weekend (Mar. 8-10) will host Miami (Ohio), UIC, Green Bay and Butler for the Saluki Invitational.
With the tournament slate concluded, SIU opens up the Missouri Valley Conference portion of its schedule with a doubleheader against Missouri State on Mar. 13. Southern will open MVC play against the two teams who finished ahead of the Salukis in last season’s conference standings, Missouri State and Drake. SIU hosts the Bulldogs for a three-game series on Mar. 16-17.
SIU will then travel west for a non-conference mid-week contest against regional foe SEMO on Mar. 20 before returning to Charlotte West Stadium for a weekend series against Valparaiso on Mar. 24.
The following Wednesday, Southern hosts UT Martin on Mar. 27 before traveling to Normal, Ill. for a weekend series at Illinois State. SIU will travel to Saint Louis on Wednesday, April 3 for its final road non-conference matchup of the season before opening a three-game homestead against Evansville on April 6.
Southern will then play the next three weeks on the road, as the Salukis game at Missouri State on April 9 kicks off a 10-game MVC road swing. SIU travels to Indiana State on Apr. 13-14 before going to Chicago, Ill. to tangle with the Loyola Ramblers on Apr. 19-20. Southern concludes its road swing at Northern Iowa on Apr. 27-28.
The Salukis host their final non-conference mid-week of the season on Wednesday, May 1 when they host SIUE. Southern closes out the 2019 regular season with a three-game set against Bradley beginning on Friday, May 3.
SIU will look to compete in the MVC Tournament May 8-11, with Bradley set to host the four-day event in Peoria, Ill.
Illinois 200 | Chicago is known for Capone, but Illinois gangsters had much wider reach
October 31, 2018 By Leave a Comment
When it came to organized crime in Illinois, Chicago-based Prohibition-era gangsters loomed large during the 1920s and 1930s.
Here’s a link to the story at the Southern Illinoisan.
Two men charged in Monday armed gas station robbery in Carbondale
October 31, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Two Carbondale men are facing felony charges after an armed robbery Monday at a Carbondale gas station.
Here’s a link to the story at the Southern Illinoisan.
Carbondale man charged in Monday Schnucks bank robbery
October 31, 2018 By Leave a Comment
A Carbondale man is facing a charge of financial institution robbery after the First-Mid Illinois Bank inside the Carbondale Schnucks was robbed on Monday evening.
Here’s a link to the story at the Southern Illinoisan.
Gov. Rauner and First Lady get flu shots, encourage Illinoisans to protect their health
October 31, 2018 By Leave a Comment
CHICAGO — Gov. Bruce Rauner and First Lady Diana Rauner got their flu shots today and highlighted the importance of Illinoisans protecting themselves this flu season.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend shots for everyone over the age of six months. Influenza activity often increases in October and tends to peak between December and February. Last year’s flu season was one of the more severe seasons in recent years. It is estimated that flu vaccination prevents millions of flu illnesses and tens of thousands of hospitalizations.
“Diana and I encourage Illinoisans to safeguard their health by getting a flu shot,” Gov. Rauner said. “It’s the best protection against the influenza and it especially helps protect those most vulnerable to sickness like the elderly and young children.”
9-year-old girl and her twin brothers, 6, killed by truck at Indiana school bus stop
October 31, 2018 By Leave a Comment
A 9-year-old girl and her twin 6-year-old brothers were struck and killed by a pickup truck as they crossed a northern Indiana road to board a school bus before sunrise Tuesday, police said. A fourth child was critically injured and airlifted to a hospital.
Here’s a link to the story at the Chicago Tribune.
Officers find bodies of missing Peoria professor, husband in river
October 31, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Two bodies found in a river in central Illinois were identified as those of a Bradley professor and her husband, authorities announced Tuesday night.
Here’s a link to the story in the Chicago Tribune.
More than 20 states, including Illinois, have never had a woman as governor
October 30, 2018 By Leave a Comment
ATLANTA — The last time a historic wave of women ran for office, in 1992, California became the first state to send two women to the U.S. Senate.
Here’s a link to the story at the Southern Illinoisan.
