14 dead, including gunman, after mass shooting at Oregon community college

(AP) Oregon Gov. Kate Brown says the gunman in a deadly mass shooting at a community college was a 20-year-old man.

Police say the man is dead after killing 13 people and injuring at least 20 others at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, about 180 miles south of Portland.

Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin says authorities received calls from the college at about 10:30 a.m. reporting an active shooter in one of the classrooms.

Officers responded and found the gunman on campus. Hanlin says they exchanged gunfire with the man, and he died in or near a classroom.

Hanlin didn’t say whether the gunman killed himself or was killed by police.

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Congressman Kinzinger calls for the U.S. to take action after Russian airstrikes in Syria

Does your congressman want another U.S. involved war in the Middle East?

Upon hearing that Russia started airstrikes in Syria, Republican Adam Kinzinger took to the House floor yesterday. He believes Russia is not bombing Syria because they want to defeat terrorists, but instead Russia is trying to “rebuild the Soviet Empire and prop up their dictators in the Middle East.”

Kinzinger says in order to restore order in Syria and the Middle East, the United States must step in. He says it doesn’t mean 300,000 troops have to be sent to Syria but he hopes to “wake up tomorrow and hear on the news that President Obama has said that America will reassert its leadership in the Middle East.”

Kinzinger said what you’re seeing in the Middle East is a “lack of American leadership and a situation spun out of control.”

Archery deer season kicks off in Illinois

The pickup trucks and blaze orange clothes are out in full force across the Illinois Valley.

Thursday is the opening of archery deer season in Illinois. Hunting is allowed a half hour before sunrise and a half hour after sunset. You need to check in your deer by 10 o’clock the night you took it down. The bag limit is one deer per permit. Illinois hunters can only have two antlered deer per year.

The first archery deer season goes through November 19th.

Frank Mautino makes final cut to become Auditor General

State Representative Frank Mautino could have a new job this time next year.

The Democrat is one of four finalists to become Illinois’ next auditor general. William Holland has the job now but is retiring at the end of the year. The auditor general gets a 10-year term and the pay is $152,000 a year.

Mautino says his experience in leading both the ethics and audit commissions in Springfield makes him qualified. The auditor general is the only statewide office elected by the house and senate and not by voters.

He was picked as a finalist among 14 applicants and seven candidates who were interviewed. Joining Mautino as a finalist are: State Rep. Elaine Nekritz, Larry Sanders, an attorney from Marion and Mary Modelski, a county auditor in California.

Utica and Oglesby firefighters put out a brush fire

When the wind is blowing, what you think is a controlled burn can quickly become uncontrollable.

Utica Fire Chief Ben Brown says a farmer was burning a stump before noon Wednesday when it turned into a brush fire right behind the Knights of Columbus Hall. Utica and Oglesby firefighters spent about an hour and a half putting the fire out.

Brown says about an acre was burned. Nobody was hurt.