WIUM Local

Fort Madison is moving ahead with the development of an inspection program for rental properties.

The city council has approved the first reading of an ordinance that would amend the housing code to allow for the inspections.  The program was identified as a priority during a recent city goal-setting session.

It would require every owner of a rental property to register their units with the city by November 1, 2012.  There would be a $25 fee for the 1st unit and $5 for each additional unit.

WASHINGTON, DC

A small delegation from southeast Iowa will spend the next two days meeting with federal lawmakers and representatives of various agencies.

Fort Madison City Manager Byron Smith says the group will push a series of regional initiatives including transportation, flood management, health care, and defense spending.

He plans to also bring up a few Fort Madison-centric ideas during his time in Washington D.C.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn unveiled a plan to overhaul the pension system for state  employees.

It would force state workers to choose between two  plans, both of which would reduce their benefits.

If  employees voluntarily go along with the governor's proposed changes, they would have to pay more into their retirement plans, work longer before they retire, and face reduced cost-of-living adjustments in retirement.

Warren County has sold the stately two-story home that has housed the Regional Office of Education for years. The house sits right across the street from the county courthouse.  The regional office serves Warren, Mercer and Henderson counties.

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church has purchased the building from the county for $74,000.

County Board Chairman Bill Reichow said the office will stay put for the short-term.

Macomb's Earth Day Celebration will bring the public close to nature with several birds of prey on display.

Veterinarian Drew Kaiser is head of the Raptor Rehabilitation Center in Quincy. He will bring a red-tailed hawk, a kestrel, a barn owl and a screech owl to the event.

People love to watch the magnificent birds.  However, he says we are not their best friends.

He says, “80% of the time the trauma that we see are man-made. Whether that's your posts, telephone poles, fences, automobiles, things like that.”