WIUM Local

Turnout was fairly light across west-central Illinois. The biggest snafu in the region happened in McDonough County, where Clerk Gretchen DeJaynes ran hair dryers out to a few polling places that had damp ballots. It's not known what caused the dampness. DeJaynes said she planned to speak to the vendor about the issue.

School bells will ring an hour later on Wednesdays next year in the Monmouth-Roseville School District.

Students might see it as recreational time. Superintendent Paul Woehlke said teachers will be hard at work. They will spend the extra time collaborating to make sure they are all on the same page when it comes to common core standards. The state has adopted the standards with testing of students to begin in 2014.

Aldermen unanimously agreed to donate $800 to the Cornfed Film Fest, which will take place April 13 - 15, 2012 in Macomb.

Film festival co-founder Sue Scott said $600 of the money will be spent on a "Welcoming Package" that will include a program that lists the movies and the community sponsors.

"We'll use a local printer. Our business partners will have special deals for ticket holders ... so we're really promoting the businesses as well as the festival," Scott said.

Dr. David Jameson's retirement left Bushnell without a dentist. The city has moved to fill the cavity in the community.

Mayor Steve Russell said, “We had a team of people here made up of several interested people that might like to work with us and get the word out there that we were interested in having a dentist in Bushnell.”

Representatives from the Bushnell Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Corporation pitched in. He said Kim Pierce of the Macomb Area Chamber of Commerce also helped with the search.

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Former Hamilton School Board member August Dion Gregory, 44, has been found guilty of sexually abusing a minor.  His sentencing is scheduled for Friday, May 18th at the Hancock County Courthouse in Carthage.

Gregory was arrested in December and charged with multiple felonies involving a minor: criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual abuse and criminal sexual abuse.  He was scheduled to go on trial this week.

Monmouth residents often see a bright flare in the north part of town. It's a burner that keeps excess methane from building up at the city's waste water pre-treatment facility.  Someday, it might produce electricity.

City Administrator Eric Hanson said the 15 year-old burner had to be replaced recently. He said the city has installed one that could be part of an energy-generating system.

Although the Occupy Wall Street movement is not involved in conventional campaigning, a political expert says it could have a dramatic effect on a second Obama administration.

Keith Boeckelman is chair of the political science department at Western Illinois University.

He says the president had to toe a moderate line after Republicans took control of the House of  Representatives and the Tea Party movement played a major part in House politics.

The Keokuk School District could soon know if it should expand its preschool program. 

The district currently serves 30 four-year-olds.  Half of them meet in the morning while the other half attends preschool in the afternoon.

Superintendent Lora Wolff says sign-up for next year is already underway.  She says more than 40 applications have already been returned to the district.