Insurance deadline looms

Get Covered Illinois is urging Illinois residents to enroll for health insurance before the February 15th deadline.  Health insurance marketplace officials say those who fail to sign up by the deadline could face a fine of $325 or more.

More than 800,000 Illinois residents have signed up for insurance coverage since it became available through Get Covered Illinois. Nearly everyone is required to have health insurance. The fines have increased for failing to get coverage before the deadline.

Residents without an insurance plan by the deadline might pay $325 or 2 percent of their income on the 2015 taxes.

Kankakee’s turn to needle Letterman

A northern Illinois city that David Letterman lampooned as an awful place to live is plotting its revenge, more than 15 years later. After Places Rated Almanac called Kankakee and its surrounding area the worst metropolitan area to live in the U.S. and Canada in 1999.  Letterman piled on with a Top 10 list of suggested area slogans. Among them were, “We put the ‘Ill’ in Illinois”.

To spruce things up, Letterman sent Kankakee 2 gazebos, which some high school students hope to turn into a rocking chair to commemorate the late night comedian’s upcoming retirement.  Letterman’s show is sending a film crew to Kankakee to record the students’ work.

State’s rehab services needs money

Illinois rehabilitation services could face a $110 million shortfall in programs that cover mental health and developmentally-disabled adults. The Springfield bureau of Lee Enterprises reports payments that support the two programs are slowing, and a $35.7 billion budget lawmakers passed in May does not include enough money for the rest of the fiscal year.

Cruz okays ground troops option

Sen. Ted Cruz isn’t ruling out sending American ground troops to fight Islamic State militants. The Texas Republican tells ABC’s “This Week” that “if need be, we should go that step.” But he says Iraqi Kurds already have a good fighting force on the ground.

He says they just need to receive arms more effectively from the United States, rather than through the central government in Baghdad.

Florida woman sets records for birth

A Florida woman who delivered a 14.1 pound baby says she didn’t know she was pregnant until her third trimester.

Officials at St. Joseph’s Women’s Hospital in Tampa say Maxxzandra Ford delivered  her son, Avery,  on January 29. They say the infant is the heaviest born at the hospital and one of the largest-ever born in Florida.

After 18 hours of labor, Ford delivered Avery naturally.  Her new son remains in neonatal intensive care, but will go home soon.

Ford, who also has a 1-year old son and a 5-year-old daughter, says she “just melted”  when she finally held Avery.

Governor mum on wage bill

Governor Bruce Rauner won’t say whether he would sign a minimum wage bill that cleared the Illinois Senate. The Moline Dispatch reports the Winnetka Republican was asked during a stop whether he would sign the bill if it passed the Illinois House.

Rauner says “he will get the minimum wage raised” but that it has to be tied with job creation and other pro-business reforms. He has proposed boosting the wage to $10 over seven years.

Powerball rolls on

Powerball is acting like it’s old self again. The jackpot for Wednesday’s game is expected to be $450 million after no one got all six numbers in Saturday night’s drawing. The Powerball lottery has gone nearly a year without its jackpot climbing above $300 million.

Wild Bill on the LP stage

Walt Willey is allowing you to get to know one of the Wild West’s best known personalities Sunday afternoon at LP. Willey World Community Productions is presenting “Wild Bill: An Afternoon with James Butler Hickok” in the auditorium at 2. Tickets are $25 at the door. A portion of the proceeds will be given to the LP Drama Department.

Willey has performed this show in Ottawa previously. The well known soap opera actor annually returns to perform a play during Ottawa Riverfest.

New Museum opens

A new Peru museum opened Saturday showing pieces of a well-known company – now gone. The Westclox Museum, in the west end of a building housing that company received about 25 people in its first day.   Curator Michael Wollach was pleased. Wollach said about 100 clocks can be viewed along with displays of tools and military items.

For now, Wollach says the museum will be open 9 – 4 Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  It may open weekends this summer.