Power outages persist
Thousands of northern Illinois residents remain without power Thursday after an ice storm brought down power lines and tree branches.
More than 100,000 customers were without power at the height of the storm Wednesday night and into early Thursday. ComEd said it aims to have the power restored for most of the affected customers Thursday night and the rest by this weekend.
McHenry County was particularly hit hard with over 30,000 customers without power. The Elgin School District and other schools called off classes because of the power outages.
Decatur company announces closure
A pharmaceutical company in Decatur has filed for bankruptcy and will lay off hundreds of workers.
Akorn Pharmaceuticals announced they are filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy and will be laying off 450 workers. The company said it will terminate all benefits for employees at the end of the month. Akorn previously filed for bankruptcy three years ago.
County rejects new solar project
A central Illinois county is saying no to a wind farm. The Tazewell County Board rejected a new solar farm proposal Wednesday. The vote was tied and the tie-breaking vote came down to the chairman, who voted no.
A Minnesota-based company called SolarStone Partners had plans to build its third solar farm in Illinois. Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation which takes away local control over the siting of wind and solar farms.
