Disaster declaration sought to help flooded Illinois farmers

SPRINGFIELD (AP) – Officials with the USDA in Illinois say they’ll seek a federal disaster declaration to make farmers eligible for assistance with flood-damaged crops.

Scherrie Giamanco is state executive director for the Farm Service Agency under the USDA. She tells The Springfield State Journal-Register that the declaration would make farmers eligible for loans and possibly emergency funding. Giamanco says county FSA offices across Illinois have collected damage reports.

Illinois saw its wettest June on record this year and flood warnings have persisted on waterways including along the Illinois River.

The USDA’s field report for this week found that more than half of Illinois’ soybean crop and 44 percent of the corn crop were in poor to fair condition.

Person hospitalized after crash near Sheridan

A two-car crash south of Sheridan on Route 71 sent one person to the hospital and closed the highway.

Emergency crews from Sheridan and La Salle County responded to the crash on Route 71 near North 35^th road around 7:15 last night.

One driver was taken by Sheridan Ambulance to OSF Saint Elizabeth Medical Center in Ottawa before being transported to OSF Saint Francis Hospital in Peoria.

The crash remains under investigation and names have yet to be released.

Streator explosion survivor murdered in Texas

A former Streator man who survived a house explosion in Streator last fall was murdered last week while working in a Texas prison.

47-year-old Timothy Davison was beaten to death July 15th while escorting an inmate back to his cell in New Boston, Texas. Davison had been a correctional officer at the prison since December.

The inmate accused of the murder is 37-year-old Billy Tracy, who is serving a life sentence for aggravated assault and battery.

Davison moved to Texas after surviving a house explosion in the 300 block of Court Street in Streator last September. The explosion killed his 82-year-old mother.

Davison had two daughters who live with their mom in the Chicago suburbs.