Three people were killed Tuesday morning when their small plane crashed just outside Lincoln. Their names will not be released until their families are notified, Illinois State Police said. The plane crashed on southbound lanes of Interstate 55 where the interstate crosses state routes 10 and 121. The crash happened at 8:49 a.m. There was no immediate word where the flight originated or was headed. The FAA and NTSB will investigate. The interchange, on the city's western outskirts, is flanked on the west by cornfields and timber, and on the east by several restaurants and hotels. Witnesses at those businesses reported hearing a "boom" and then seeing black smoke. Police earlier said the plane burst into flames when it crashed. A large tent is erected over the wreckage.  

A house in the 500 block of North Industrial Avenue in Kankakee sustained between $10,000 and $20,000 in damage as a result of a fire on Sunday. According to Kankakee Fire Chief Damon Schuldt, firefighters responded at approximately 5 p.m. and the fire was quickly extinguished. The house appeared to be vacant. There were no injuries. The fire remains under investigation.  

Peoria firefighters were called around 12:20 p.m. Monday to a home in the 900 block of S. Sumner. Dark smoke was seen coming from the side of the home upon the crew's arrival. "It came in as a reported structure fire with a possible elderly person inside. Upon arrival, the guys reported that everyone was out of the home," Fire Battalion Chief Rick Morgan said. Crews were met with high heat and heavy black smoke as they made their attack. "The fire was in a bedroom on the main floor. I think there was about $30,000 damage," Morgan said. The fire was knocked down in about 15 minutes. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.  

Developers who are looking to build new projects in Bound Brook will now have to pay for increased security measures at construction sites after a destructive Main Street fire in January that investigators have said was purposefully set. The borough committee last week unanimously passed the new ordinance, which will be added to its construction code, that will require developers to have 360-degree motion detectors and video surveillance, along with a physical security guard, on-site at all times once there are flammable materials, like wood, at the property. "Because of the fire, I felt it was very important to tighten up security at the building construction sites," said Mayor Robert Fazen. The new ordinance, which was drafted by the mayor, comes about a month after a seven-alarm fire destroyed two apartment buildings that were under construction and two other buildings on Main Street on Jan. 12.  

A fire station south of Tucson that services about 5,000 residents is set to close by May unless union members and the company that owns the station come to an agreement. Nico Latini, president of the Old Pueblo Firefighters Association, the union that represents Rural Metro firefighters in Pima County, said Station 81, at 966 E. Hughes Access Road, south of Tucson International Airport, handles around 1,100 calls annually. Closing the station would double response times, Latini said. Rural Metro Fire does not have mutual aid or automatic aid agreements with the Tucson Fire Department, meaning other Rural Metro fire stations would have to respond to calls in the South Nogales Highway area. The two closest Rural Metro stations to the area are Station 71, on East Benson Highway near South Alvernon Way, and Station 82 in Sahuarita. Travel time between Station 71 and Station 81 is 12 minutes.  

A pair of southwest Ohio lawmakers want any workers compensation claims for a first responder's post-traumatic stress disorder to be paid from the state's unclaimed funds program. A bill submitted for introduction by Ohio Reps. George Lang, R-West Chester Twp., and Niraj Antani, R-Miamisburg, offers an alternative proposal to the first responder PTSD bill overwhelmingly supported last month by the Ohio House. The bill will be formally introduced at the Ohio House's next session on March 24.The bill would provide full coverage for PTSD without an accompanying injury under the Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) but the $44 million startup costs for PTSD coverage would be paid for by the Ohio Department of Commerce's Division of Unclaimed Funds.  

There were 103 reported suicides by firefighters nationwide in 2017. It's a startling number, according to the Ruderman Family Foundation, which last year published a study of first responder deaths that found suicide, not deaths in the line of duty, are the greatest peril firefighters and law enforcement officers face. That's why the Carlsbad Fire Department has begun to focus on how to provide support and resources to its personnel via Critical Incident Stress Management training. "This is a dangerous job, but suicide should not be part of it," said Carlsbad Fire Department Chief Richard Lopez. "We want to do what we can to help my men. We can't be oblivious to the issue." According to the New Mexico Department of Health, Critical Incident Stress Management — or CISM — refers to programs and interventions designed to address the mental, emotional and physical stress of repeatedly witnessing and responding to traumatic events.  

To celebrate Read Across America day, St. George firefighters visited elementary schools Monday to read to students in an effort to help promote the importance of reading. In celebration of Dr. Seuss' birthday, Read Across America is a reading initiative held annually and was first incepted in 1997 by the National Education Association. According to a 2019 report published by the National Center for Education Statistics, one in five American adults are not sufficiently literate, which can cause lifelong consequences. Promoting reading at an early age is becoming increasingly important due to a number of digital temptations fighting for the attention of today's children, said Amy Mitchell, executive director of elementary education and Title I. "The digital age has also been a hurdle. A lot of children would rather play a video game than pick up a book and read," Mitchell said.