Quinn signs state employee union restrictions

     SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Governor Pat Quinn has signed a law restricting union membership among state employees.

     The law aims to bar employees from joining collective bargaining units and could force nearly 2,000 to give up recently granted membership.

    Quinn and fellow Democrats in the Illinois Legislature adopted the plan after the ranks of state employees covered by union contracts grew to 97 percent.

    Supporters argue Illinois has too few managers loyal to the governor.

    The state’s largest union – the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees – says the law allows Quinn to deny union membership to nearly 3,600 employees. Those include about 1,900 who have joined unions since 2008.

     The Democrat signed the bill Friday while on a trade mission to Mexico.

Emergency Management leader encourages the use of weather radios

Do you hear the tornado sirens when they are tested each month?  Chances are good you don’t notice them because the outdoor warning sirens are intended to alert people who are outside, not in their homes.

That’s why La Salle County Emergency Management Agency Deputy Director Fred Moore says you should have a NOAA weather radio in your home.

He compares them to having a CO detector and smoke alarms.  A weather radio can be programed to only sound alerts for your area.

La Salle County EMA is working with Walgreens to give away one weather radio at each store in Peru, Ottawa and Streator.

Man faces heroin charge after TRIDENT arrest

Drug investigators apparently were keeping an eye on man in Streator.  Officers with TRIDENT arrested Gerome Jackson after pulling him over Wednesday.

Police say they found a small amount of heroin.  Jackson was arrested for possession of a controlled substance and was taken to the La Salle County Jail.