Illinois

Putnam County Rotary Club to host Illinois River ports speaker for Ag Night on March 27

Published

1 year ago

March 11, 2025

Putnam County Rotary Club to host Illinois River ports speaker for Ag Night on March 27

The Putnam County Rotary Club will host Ag Night 2025 at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 27, at the Putnam County High School in Granville.

Continuing a tradition dating back five decades, Putnam County Rotary hosts the event in conjunction with National Agriculture Week to honor local farmers and those whose support of agriculture strengthens the local and regional economy and provides food to the population.

This year’s featured speaker will be Robert Sinkler, sharing his perspective on the importance of the Illinois River ports in the marketing of locally harvested corn and soybeans. The Illinois Waterway Ports Commission, a consortium of five port districts, including 10 counties along the Illinois River, was created in 2023 under the leadership of Sinkler, dedicated to the protection and preservation of the river for commerce and recreation. That Commission is one of four Midwest ports, collectively referred to as the Corn Belt Ports of which Sinkler now serves as executive coordinating director.

With federal recognition, the Commission has helped attract and fund projects to refurbish and modernize aging locks and dams, and to bring new river-dependent commercial infrastructure projects to the waterways. Among Corn Belt’s greatest projects will be a federally funded $38.6 million new 700-foot loading dock, conveyor system and storage facility at the Hennepin Barge Terminal, primarily for soybean products.

The speaker’s background includes past leadership service in numerous government and Army Corps of Engineers positions, as well as executive positions with biotech leader Allonnia, technology leader Intrexon and water resources company Dawson & Associates.

The Illinois River plays an important role in corn and soybean markets, facilitating downstream and export sales. The Illinois Waterway Ports alone handle more than 14 million tons of freight annually from the Illinois River Watershed which includes nearly half of the state’s agricultural land and some 90% of the state’s population.

For reservations email PutnamCountyRotary@gmail.com by March 20. Cost includes dinner and dessert for $18 a person or $162 for a table of 10.

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Illinois

Beecher City farm suffers heavy damage following ‘wicked storm’

Published

9 hours ago

June 18, 2026

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Beecher City farm suffers heavy damage following ‘wicked storm’

BEECHER CITY, Ill. (WAND) – Farms were damaged in Effingham County Wednesday evening when a powerful storm swept through at around 8 p.m.

The McKay Farm in Beecher City was heavily damaged when the rapidly moving storm hit.

“Two buildings were totally destroyed,” Dan McKay told WAND News on Thursday. “We’ve got five grain bins and they’re all damaged.”

The buildings collapsed onto farm equipment and a semi that were parked in the structures. A utility pole was snapped and ripped out of the ground.

In nearby Shumway, another farm was hit. A barn collapsed, with a grain bin being ripped apart and debris traveling several hundred feet through a nearby corn field. A house on the property was also damaged.

There were no injuries on either farm.

“It was a really wicked storm,” McKay stated.

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Illinois

Powerful tornadoes leave behind devastation in Illinois

Published

19 hours ago

June 18, 2026

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Powerful tornadoes leave behind devastation in Illinois – CBS News

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Violent tornadoes ripped through central Illinois on Wednesday, leaving behind swaths of destruction. One man described how he shielded himself and his family from the storms. Rob Marciano reports.

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Illinois

Storms bring damaging winds and heavy rains to central Illinois

Published

1 day ago

June 18, 2026

Press Room

Storms bring damaging winds and heavy rains to central Illinois

PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Multiple rounds of severe storms impacted central Illinois on Wednesday bringing damaging wind gusts and very heavy rain. Our area was sparred from the worst of the tornadoes, but areas south of I-72 were not so fortunate with damage to homes and injuries reported.

An outflow boundary from our morning storms struggled to get any further north than highway 136, which was about 30 miles south of what was anticipated early this morning. This kept the risk of strong tornadoes just south of our local region, though we still had plenty of rain and instances of large hail and gusty winds roll through central Illinois.

The worst of the wind came with the storms in the morning. As the severe storms moved through the area they produced measured gust of 60-70 mph with localized gusts estimated to be around 80 mph. The winds resulted in tree, powerline, and structural damage from Knox through McLean County.

Storm Reports

Galesburg – Tree and power line damage
Williamsfield – Roof partially torn off building
Princeville – Tree damage
Dunlap – 60 mph wind gust
Bellevue – 60 mph wind gust
Germantown Hills – Trees down
Roanoke – 60 mph wind gust
El Paso – Power poles snapped
El Paso – Multiple semis and campers rolled on I-39
Gidley – 70 mph wind gust
Chenoa – Semi rolled on I-55

Dunlap – 1.0″ size hail
Metamora – 1.0″ size hail
Armington – 1.0″ size hail

Rain reports

West Peoria – 4.37″
Lexington – 4.00″
West Peoria – 3.98″
Washington – 3.97″
East Peoria – 3.47″
Dunlap – 3.40″
Goodfield – 2.47″
Towanda – 2.43″
Peoria (PIA) – 2.24″
Lewistown – 2.20″
Galesburg – 1.84″
Chillicothe – 1.52″
Pontiac – 1.27″