WHOW THE BIG 1520 Radio in Clinton is celebrating its 70th anniversary on the air providing Central Illinois local radio service, with a special on-air Anniversary Show on 10am to 4pm on Saturday, August 5th.

WHOW president and general manager Randal J. Miller, along with station manager Jared White, and station engineer Wayne R. Miller—who began his career on WHOW in the 1970's—will host the on-air party, which will feature interviews with former staff members and community leaders. 

Some of the music featured during WHOW's first years on the air, will be played as well.

Station officials are asking the public for their help in locating former staff members, or memorabilia.  Please contact Randal J. Miller at 935-9590 or e-mail him at whow-at-randyradio-dot-com, if you know contact information of former staff members or if you have memorabilia you'd like to show off that day.

The station will also hold an open house at its studios inside the Big Red Barn at 2980 U-S Highway 51, 4 miles south of Clinton, during those same hours. 

Tours of the station will be given, station memorabilia will be on display, and refreshments will be served.  All those stopping by will be in a drawing for an AM/FM clock radio that will be given away at the end of the festivities, and you don't have to be present to win.

After receiving approval from the Federal Communications Commission, a group of local residents built and signed on WHOW THE BIG 1520 on August 2nd, 1947, with studios above the former Cannonballs Department Store on the south side of the Clinton Square.  WHOW's tower location today is the same place it was 70 years ago, 4 miles south of Clinton on U-S Highway 51.  What was to become known as the “Big Red Barn,” was built in 1972 when the station moved its studios from the Clinton Square, and is where they've been ever since.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Thursday evening announced that it would halt imports of fresh Brazilian beef. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue in a statement said: “Ensuring the safety of our nation’s food supply is one of our critical missions, and it’s one we undertake with great seriousness,” in making the announcement. The suspension of shipments will remain in place until the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture takes corrective action which USDA finds satisfactory. Since March, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has been inspecting 100 percent of all meat products arriving in the United States from Brazil.  FSIS has refused entry to 11 percent of Brazilian fresh beef products. That figure is substantially higher than the rejection rate of one percent of shipments from the rest of the world. Brazil’s meat industry has been in turmoil this year since the investigation of a corruption scheme that allowed tainted meat to pass in-country inspections.

A single vehicle rollover accident on US Highway 51 left four occupants seriously injured and DeWitt County Sheriff Jered Shofner indicates one victim has been airlifted from after a  wreck on US Highway 51 southbound north of Clinton late Tuesday afternoon.

A DeWitt County Sheriff’s Deputy was on scene to provide immediate assistance and the accident forced the closure of portions of the southbound lanes on Highway 51 as traffic was rerouted on Business 51.

The DeWitt County Sheriff’s office has turned the investigation over the State Police.

No other details were available at the time of this story.

The Miller Media Group today named its first-ever General Sales Manager for both its Taylorville and Clinton, IL clusters.

Chris Bullock brings nearly 30 years of radio on-air, sales and management experience to the Miller Media Group stations.  He most recently was with the Cromwell Group in Decatur as their general manager, and spent some 27 years with that company.

Chris will be managing sales in both clusters, plus will take over the account list of retiring account manager Judi Humphrey.

Chris will be headquartered in Taylorville.
 

The Celebrate Clinton Association has announced a change of date for the July 4 fireworks display.

“For reasons beyond our control, fireworks slated for the evening of our Independence Day Celebration, has been moved to the evening of July 5” is the statement released by the CCA on Facebook Friday.

The CCA’s Independence Day Celebration on the Mr. Lincoln Square will still go on as scheduled July 4.

Donations are being accepted at retail locations across the community for the display.

Demoliton is underway at the corner of Business U-S 51 and Illinois 54/10, for the upcoming construction of a new C-store for Clinton.

Buildings demolished this week housed the former Lighthouse used clothing store, and the former Shack Restaurant.

There are several new additions to Scovill Zoo in Decatur.

According to Ken Frye, there are 6 sets of incredibly playful twin baby goats at the petting zoo, one of which is a nine day old Nubian Dwarf goat named Alabaster.

You can catch four newly hatched peachicks following their peahen mother around, but hopefully not into the alligator exhibit.

Three baby wallabies were born this past spring that are finally ready to leave their mother's pouches.

However, Frye says the cutest animals at the zoo are the Red Pandas. There are two that are new to the zoo that are a part of the Red panda breeding program. They aren't out for exhibit yet, but they will be soon.

The Scovill Zoo is open every day from 9:30am to 5pm. You can visit www.decatur-parks.org/scovill-zoo or give them a call at (217) 421-7435.

The annual summer kids movie showings are returning to the Clintonia Eagle Theater starting today with Ice Age: Collision Course.

The showings are Tuesday and Wednesday mornings at 9 am and 11 am and according to GM, Byron Conner, they are free.

Conner thanks all the great, community oriented businesses that step up to help the provide this opportunity parents, baby sitters and kids in the community and surrounding area.

This year's summer kids series includes:

Ice Age: Collision Course (June 6 & 7)
Kubo (June 13 & 14)
The Secret Life of Pets (June 20 & 21)
Storks (June 27 & 28)
Trolls (July 4 & 5)
Sing (July 11 & 12)
The Lego Batman Movie (July 18 & 19)
Monster Trucks (July 26 & 26)
Kung Fu Panda 3 (August 1 & 2)

For more information, check out the Eagle Theater icon at dewittdailynews.com. 

701 days without a budget. 14-and-half-billion dollars in unpaid bills. Those are the numbers in Springfield as state lawmakers move past another adjournment date. The next key day on the calendar is July 1. That’s the start of the state’s new fiscal year says Mark Gebhards—Illinois Farm Bureau’s Director of Governmental Affairs and Commodities.

Former State Senator Darin LaHood of Dunlap now serves in the U.S. House, representing Illinois’ 18th Congressional District. He places much of the blame in Springfield on what he calls “a legislature dominated by Chicago.”

Because the May 31st adjournment date has passed, it will now take a two-thirds majority vote in the Illinois House and State Senate for a state budget to be approved.

U.S. trade officials are meeting this week with counterparts in China to finalize trade protocols regarding the export of U.S. beef to China. The move follows last month’s announcement that the U.S. and China reached an agreement to restart U.S. beef exports to China, sidelined since 2003.

However, as the Financial Times reported last week, China already has access to some prime U.S. beef cuts. That's because there is a flourishing market in secondary imports from Hong Kong, where China's ban on U.S. beef did not apply. Cuts destined for China could make up half of U.S. beef exports to Hong Kong, according to some experts.

Still, beef demand is growing in China, along with demand for higher-quality beef cuts. Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts says the plan gives U.S. beef access to more than one billion consumers…

Roberts told the U.S. Meat Export Federation recently that trade “wins” like the agreement with China is a good start to helping farmers and ranchers when it comes to trade negotiations…

U.S. agriculture and beef groups have estimated that exports to China, once established, could be worth an estimated $2.6 billion for the U.S. livestock industry.

The weekly Crop Progress report is mostly the work of Extension and FSA employees, at the least the data collection part. They report local crop conditions to state USDA offices, mostly on Monday morning, who in-turn tally those numbers and pass them along to Washington, D.C. for compilation and release on Monday afternoon. Work at the University of Illinois shows a strong relationship between the end-of-season crop condition ratings and crop yield, however, agricultural economist Scott Irwin says that doesn't hold so well for the rest of the season

The first corn rating of the season, released just after Memorial Day, wasn't good. The crop had been cold and wet. It showed up, or in this case didn't show up, in the good and excellent categories USDA NASS uses. Those are the two grades the U of I economist say correlate. The math works like this; the first corn condition rating was 65% good or excellent, minus 8 points for the average drop to the end of the season rating, which brings you to 57 percent

If you do, in about mid-July you can use the math in the farmdocDaily article to forward calculate the national average yield for corn; mid-August for soybean.

Bikers of all ages and skill levels will converge on DeWitt County later this month for the annual Tour DeWitt Bike ride that will benefit the Children's Advocacy Centers.

Steve Lobb and his wife Dana along with a host of entities and volunteers are once again readying for Tour DeWitt 2017 that takes place June 24 which will take dozens upon dozens of bikers across the beautiful landscape of DeWitt County. Lobb says after three years of organization, he's learned if it isn't broke, don't fix it.

The tour originates at the Clinton United Methodist Church and there are four levels of routes. Lobb says there is a basic and intermediate route, to Weldon Springs and the next near Syngenta and near Clinton Lake west side access area.

Then there is a couple more challenging routes. Lobb indicates one is about 40 miles that is a similar route to their intermediate routes and then a 62 mile route out to Farmer City.

According to Lobb, the ride benefits the Children's Advocacy Center is something that is close to Lobb. He explains he got involved with the agency about five years ago through a ride they did, and now hosts this event for an agency that is always in need of financial support.

Lobb thanks his wife for all her support in this effort. He also thanks the Clinton Police Department and DeWitt County Sheriff's Department along with clubs like Rotary, Kiwanis, and the Clinton and Farmer City Chamber Commerce offices.

The ride again is June 24 with registration starting at the Clinton United Methodist Church. To get registered, visit tourdewitt.weebly.com. Lobb indicates a pre-register by June 9 gets a rider the Tour DeWitt t-shirt for this year. 

The communities the Children's Advocacy Center serves between DeWitt, McLean and Livingston Counties have always been very supportive of their organization.

Now they might need to be even more supportive if services are going to be maintained locally. Executive Brucker, Judy Brucker indicates it's been over 50 years they have been in the community, but with grant funding starting to dry out in places and fundraising not being as effective, it is time for them to consider other options.

Brucker says having their office in the community is the best case scenario for kids that come to them that have been abused. She explains their services are available at satellite offices in DeWitt and Livingston Counties, which she feels is very fortunate.

Brucker indicates the agency has always operated with the deficit but is seeking out ways to find a more efficient and dependable revenue source. She says they are in the early stages of exploring what possibilities there are from a local level. 

On the heels of the DeWitt County Relay For Life event over the weekend, a government agency also took the opportunity to recognize cancer survivors.

Social Security administers the disability program and often times, someone going through their cancer battle cannot work. Jack Myers with Social Security says often times they apply for disability benefits and sometimes that person may qualify for what is called the Compassionate Allowance Program.

The Compassionate Allowance Program has several different types of cancers on it and Myers notes they can cut down the time it takes to get into the program based on your condition.

To learn more about the Compassionate Allowance Program, visit the Social Security website, socialsecurity.gov and find the search icon and type in "compassionate allowances". 

SECRETARY OF STATE JESSE WHITE IS ENCOURAGING EVERYONE TO THINK ABOUT BICYCLE SAFETY THIS SUMMER.

SECRETARY WHITE SAYS CYCLISTS SHOULD WEAR A HELMET, FOLLOW THE RULES OF THE ROAD, AND BE AWARE OF THEIR SURROUNDINGS.

WHITE NOTES THAT HELMETS HAVE BEEN PROVEN TO REDUCE THE RISK OF HEAD AND BRAIN INJURY IN A CRASH BY AS MUCH AS 85 PERCENT.

19 PEOPLE DIED ON BICYCLES LAST YEAR IN ILLINOIS, WITH HEAD INJURIES THE LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH. DRIVERS ARE REMINDED TO SHARE THE ROAD WITH BICYCLISTS, AND TO GIVE THEM PLENTY OF SPACE WHEN PASSING.

Emerald ash borer adults are emerging from Illinois to Ohio and points northward. They'll continue to do so for several weeks and it means now is the time to treat for them in hopes of saving your Ash tree. This should most definitely be done if the emerald ash borer has been found within fifteen miles of your tree says University of Illinois Extension Entomologist Phil Nixon

Again, you can save your Ash tree, but it'll take about twenty years to do that, if the experience in the state of Michigan is any guide. You or a professional can do that by making an insecticide application

Call your local Extension office for more details about the process and how best to go about treating for the Emerald Ash Borer.