Officers from Pontiac, Fairbury and Dwight have been pulled from the county's Proactive Unit (WJEZ file photo).

PONTIAC – Police officers from Pontiac, Dwight and Fairbury have been pulled from the Livingston County Proactive Unit.

The mayors of Pontiac, Dwight and Fairbury are expected to meet with the Livingston County Board chair, regarding a possible suspension of an intergovernmental agreement for the anti-gang and drug unit which also consists of officers from the Sheriff’s Department.

Dwight Police Chief Tim Henson says he removed his officer from the unit because of the ongoing investigation surrounding the sheriff.

“Until that investigation is completed, the Dwight Police Department will not be participating in the Livingston County Proactive Unit,” said Henson.

Pontiac Police Chief Dale Newsome says his department is waiting until certain issues are resolved.

“The Pontiac Police Department has suspended our involvement with the Livingston County Proactive Unit until the issues involving management are resolved,” said Newsome.

Fairbury Police Chief Jack Wiser chose not to comment at this time and Livingston County Sheriff Marty Meredith was not immediately available for comment on Thursday morning.

Under a current agreement, the county pays the three towns for each officer that is part of the Proactive Unit.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Early reports are out saying the Disco Queen Donna Summer is dead at the age of 63. She had been battling cancer.

Michael Loccisano / Ethan Miller, Getty Images

Kelly Clarkson has received a lot of flak over the years concerning her weight. She is a healthy girl that does seem to go up and down and as much as she is in the spotlight the media seems quite unforgiving to her! The 30 year-old American Idol Season 1 winner stepped out in New York looking very thin and trim! She attended an ABC and Entertainment Weekly party looking fantastic! She has not admitted to or endorsed any weight loss program or exercise routine and I say good for her!

He’s known for Triple D, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, but at the end of the month, he heads to Indy to drive the pace car! Food Network chef, Guy Fieri. He usually drives into Triple D locals in a red 1967 Chevy Camaro Super sport Convertible. But at the Indianapolis 500 he’ll be cruising the track in a 2013 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 that tops out at 205 mph!

Since Charlie Sheen was fired from his role on Two and a Half Men and Ashton Kutcher came on board the future of the show has been shaky to say the least. Ratings have been slipping as fans don’t seem to be embracing Kutcher and the new dynamic. So, what’s the network to do? Well, CBS decided to move the comedy from its Monday timeslot to join their huge hit The Big Bang Theory on Thursday nights! 2 Broke Girls is the likely contender to take over on Mondays.

Another death in the Kennedy clan, Robert Kennedy Jr.’s estranged wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy, has apparently committed suicide on the eve of their impending divorce. Reports are that she hanged herself in a barn on the property. She and Kennedy had been married for 16 years and had 4 children.

A hotel masseur, Luis Gonzalez, has come forward and admitted to actually going to bed with John Travolta in 1997! The accuser sat down with the National Enquirer, enough said.

Robert Downy Jr. is perhaps the biggest comeback kid ever! The numbers have been crunched and the actor who plays Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes stands to make about $50 million dollars off of The Avengers! He is physically in the movie for about 37 minutes, soooooo…smart man!

Would you love to know who the world’s most powerful celebrity is? You might be surprised! It’s Jennifer Lopez? According to Forbes Magazine, she earned $52 million dollars last year after joining American Idol and releasing her new album. #2 is Oprah, #3 is Justin Bieber, #4 Rihanna and #5 is Lady Gaga.

Zappos

Are you one of the many women who fell victim to Kim Kardashian’s promise of shaping up the easy way with Skechers toning tennis shoes? Did you wear the shoes faithfully only to notice absolutely NO CHANGE? I feel your pain. I felt pressured, myself, to take the easy way out. You mean all I had to do was wear these great looking tennis shoes and I could tone everything from the waist down? I was all in! I purchased a pair of Easy Tones by Reebok. I too, have had no toning, but I really like how they feel on my feet and they seem to keep my lower back in line, so I can’t say I am unhappy with them. Reebok settled a suit with the Federal Trade Commission last September for false advertising and checks are expected to be cut within the next few months. Well, now Skechers is in the hot-seat, the FTC says that the only thing purchasers of the Shape-Ups got was a workout of their wallet as these shoes were upwards of $100 a pair! Skechers, however, says they stand behind their claims, but they have decided to agree to settle the claims to avoid any further legal proceedings. The FTC goes so far as to say that consumers who purchased and wore Skechers Shape-Ups actually gained weight instead of losing!

So, what if you want to get in on the lawsuit? It’s easy really, just log onto the FTC website and go to the Skechers Refund page or you can call the hotline at (866) 325-4186. This all proves that the only way to lose weight and tone is through diet and exercise, my two least favorite words in the English language!

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A new study shows an association with coffee drinking and longevity. What are the details?

The National Institute of Health stated that their 13 year study showed and association with drinking up to six cups of coffee a day and a reduction in heart disease and stroke. Researchers caution that there was no certain cause and effect, just an association.

However, the study does fall in line with similar research in the past couple of years. So drink up!

Tell us what you think and earn points!

Jabari Parker photo by Mark Myre

A great kid on and off the floor.   Jabari Parker is one of the nicest people you will ever meet.    His faith in god is incredible and the way he handles himself is awesome.   The soon to be senior star of Simeon High School is on the cover of Sports Illustrated.   They are calling him the next Lebron James.   He has division one offers from everyone in the country and he will make his decision later in the year.   On a personal note we watched Derrick Rose play at the Pontiac Holiday Tournament and now we get to watch Jabari play one last time in late December.   My advice is get your tickets now because the gym will be sold out.   ]]> http://wjez.com/parker-hits-cover-of-si/feed/ 0 Jabari Parker photo by Mark Myre http://wjez.com/home-foreclosures-at-five-year-low/ http://wjez.com/home-foreclosures-at-five-year-low/#comments Thu, 17 May 2012 11:50:36 +0000 Todd Lowery http://wjez.com/?p=70095

Photo by Getty Images News

The latest report shows good news for the housing market. Are we out of the woods yet?

Although it is a good sign, the housing market is still far from recovered. Foreclosures were down 14% from this time last year.

Home prices are still down from last year as well and it may be a slow road back to 2008 price levels.

(WJEZ file photo)

PONTIAC – A resolution establishing the coroner’s salary and an intergovernmental agreement with Showbus are among the items to be considered by members of the Livingston County Board tonight.

During the 6 p.m. meeting at the Livingston County Public Safety Complex in Pontiac, the board will also vote on various appointments to fire protection districts and staffing replacements.

Also, a Pro-Active Intergovernmental agreement will be considered along with resolutions for a Veteran’s Working Cash Loan and approval of settlement agreements.

The board is scheduled to have an executive session, regarding collective negotiating matters.

(photo courtesy of PTHS)

PONTIAC – A Pontiac Township High School junior received a summer music camp scholarship from the Pontiac Women’s Club.

Maureen Doran was awarded the scholarship for her participation this summer in the Illinois Summer Youth Music Camp.  The Pontiac Women’s Club Music Committee chair Lorraine Kammerman presented the award to Doran.

Photo by Getty Images News

A really cool celestial event takes place this Sunday as a solar eclipse will be viewable in the United States. What time should you look for it?

Start looking for the eclipse late afternoon Sunday into the early evening hours. Here, in Illinois we will see a partial eclipse, but the southwestern states will see a full eclipse in a swath from Northern California to West Texas.

Remember, don’t look at the sun directly. Use a sheet of paper with a hole in it with another sheet below. You will be able to see the crescent created by the sun and moon just fine.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

June Cleaver just about ruined my life! In fact, all these famous TV Moms may have destroyed my psyche! You see, I was a latch-key kid beginning at the age of about eight, when I stopped going to a daycare facility after school. Yes, I am proud to say that my mother was one of “those Moms” that had a job! My mother always worked, she never greeted me at the door with an apron, a smile and a plate of cookies. Never! I mean my mother was rarely even off work early! Now that I am thinking about it, I think my entire childhood the woman never took a vacation day or a sick day! It was hard, I’m sure, breaking into a male dominated workforce and banging her head on that glass ceiling!

But in her quest for financial dominance in a male-run society, she was deprived of the joy of those cookies and milk moments with her very precious only daughter. There were no chocolate chips, no sugar cookies with frosting! No snickerdoodles, no oatmeal and raisin! No, this girl had to fend for herself. It was a box of raisins and tap water, cos I was far too meek and mild to pour milk from a glass jug! Oh no!

I would watch Leave it to Beaver and wonder, why? Why was my mother not home? Why was she not there with a plate of cookies and a smile? Well, as I have become a grown-up, I know why; in fact I deprived my daughters of the same life. Thank goodness they went to Gramma’s after school, cos they got more than homemade cookies, they got attention!

But, I digress. My point of this story is to tell you what the most store-bought cookies in America are. See, I was way off topic there, wasn’t I? Sorry about that! Coming in at #8, cos my list only begins at 8 is Chewy Chips Ahoy, in 7th place is another Ahoy-Chips Ahoy Chunky, the # 6 cookie is Regular Chips Ahoy, matey! The top 5 look like this: 5. Pepperidge Farm Soft Baked Chocolate Chunk, 4. Nilla Vanilla Wafers, 3. Keebler Fudge Shoppe Fudge Stripes, 2. Pepperidge Farms Milanos and the #1 most purchased cookie in America is…O-R-E-O!

John Travolta time traveling? (photo by Getty Images)

And here we go! Plaintiff #1 in the John Travolta versus three masseurs has dropped his lawsuit! He was the one that came out earlier this week and changed the date of the alleged incident since Travolta’s attorneys were able to prove the actor was on the East coast at the time the guy said it happened on the West coast! Plaintiff #2 is still pursuing his suit and really not much has come out concerning plaintiff #3.

Hey ladies, if you want to get to know Tom Cruise better, pick up a Playboy magazine. He gives an in-depth interview covering everything from Scientology to the rumors that he is gay. Oh and in case you are wondering; he has never had plastic surgery!

Who went home on DWTS last night was a complete shock! After receiving a perfect score Maria Menounos was sent packing! With three celebrities left, next week is the finale. And it is official, the next season will be an All-Star line-up, featuring past contestants.

J-Lo is dropping hints that she may NOT return to American Idol next season. She says that being a judge ties you down and she would like to other things and spend more time with her kids. But here’s the big reveal; she could be wrangling for a raise. She makes $12 million per season, which is two more than Christina Aguilera on The Voice, but $3 million less than Brittany Spears will get on the X-Factor! Ouch!

Ryan Seacrest has had his mansion for sale for quite some time and even has had to come down on the price. Now we know why. He just bought Ellen DeGeneres’ house. He got it for $49 million, which is a total steal since it was valued at $125 million. So, maybe, just maybe, Seacrest has purchased a bigger place to move in Julianne Hough?

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Justin Sullivan, Getty

So, Facebook is about to go public, meaning now you and I can buy a stake in the social networking site. It is expected that the company could bring in billions immediately, so with that news, they have decided to sell even more! Instead of the 337 million planned, they will now sell 421 million shares at $34 to $38 per share. Tomorrow is the big day! When we come into work in the morning, history will be made with a new  symbol on the ticker “FB”. Mark Zuckerberg himself will still have controlling power owning 55.8% of the company to retain his voting power.

With all this good news, you’d think Facebook would be feeling pretty good! With over 900 million users logging on at least once per month, what could possibly be going wrong? Ask General Motors that question and they will give you quite an answer. The announced today that they will no longer continue to purchase their side-bar ads at $10 million dollars on Facebook, claiming that they have seen zero increase in sales off of them. They will, however, continue to use their own Facebook page. Ouch!

(WJEZ file photo)

PONTIAC – This past week, 472 visitors were counted at the Route 66 Museum Complex and 791 people stopped at the Pontiac Oakland Automobile Museum.

According to Pontiac Tourism, visitors came from 18 states and 18 different countries, including: Australia, Czech Republic, Ireland, Poland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Six coach bus tours are expected in town this week and on Saturday, several car clubs will visit, including the Austin Healy Car Club, the Mini Coopers, MG’s and the Rockford Early Ford V8 Car Club.

(WJEZ file photo)

PONTIAC – The Country Financial Big Hitters Relay for Life team has announced the winner of the Mother’s Day gift certificate bouquet.

Mary Maurer of Strawn won the bouquet of gift certificates valued at $600, which includes money toward various restaurants and stores in the area.

The second place prize of $100 to Gem’s Carpet Cleaning went to Cindy Stephens of Forrest; third place prize of a $25 Collision Revision Vehicle spa service went to Lauri Ruff of Gridley and the fourth place prize of the vehicle spa service was awarded to Amanda Cox of Gardner.

The Relay for Life team raised $1,150 and thanks all donors and sponsors for their contributions.  Team members include: Stacy and Marlon Eilts, Teresa Grant-Quick, Sharrie Orendorff, Mary Daniel, Kori Daniel, Judy Crawford, Shanna Mackinson, Jean Smetzer, Mary Helen McCorvie, Lisa Heberg and Dennis Haab.

Photo by Getty Images Entertainment

Some of them were crystal clear, but others took viewers by surprise. Did one of your favorites get its walking papers?

Shows like ‘Desperate Housewives’ simply had their finales, but others like ‘House’ and ‘GCB’ were flat out cancelled. Another big one is ‘CSI: Miami’ which ends a huge run on CBS.

Below is a list of shows that either end this season by choice or were cancelled by the network execs.

Our list is courtesy of webpronews.com.

Alcatraz (Fox)
Allen Gregory (Fox)
Are You There, Chelsea? (NBC)
Awake (NBC)
Best Friends Forever (NBC)
Bent (NBC)
Breaking In (Fox)
Charlie’s Angels (ABC)
Chuck (NBC)
CSI: Miami (CBS)
Desperate Housewives (ABC)
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (ABC)
The Finder (Fox)
The Firm (NBC)
Free Agents (NBC)
GCB (ABC)
A Gifted Man (CBS)
H8R (CW)
Harry’s Law (NBC)
House (Fox)
I Hate My Teenage Daughter (Fox)
Man Up! (ABC)
Missing (ABC)
Napoleon Dynamite (Fox)
NYC 22 (CBS)
One Tree Hill (CW)
Pan Am (ABC)
The Playboy Club (NBC)
Prime Suspect (NBC)
Remodeled (CW)
Ringer (CW)
The River (ABC)
Rob (CBS)
The Secret Circle (CW)
Terra Nova (Fox)
Unforgettable (CBS)
Work It (ABC)

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After a slow couple of weeks, our choices for home viewing today shoot up. We have five movies to choose from today.

‘The Grey’ stars Liam Neeson as a wolf hunter hired to protect oil rig workers in Alaska. Things get complicated when their charter plane crashes and the elements including a pack of wolves stalk the group on their way back to civilization. ‘The Grey’ is rated R.

Katherine Heigl portrays a woman trying to make a living as a bail bond agent in ‘One For the Money’. The twist is that the murderer she is hired to track down could in fact be wrongly accused. ‘One For the Money’ is rated PG-13.

Today’s third selection is ‘Chronicle’. When a group of teenagers gains supernatural powers it doesn’t take long for their powers to turn them to the dark side of the human psyche. ‘Chronicle’ is rated PG-13.

Horror fans unite as ‘The Devil Inside’ comes to DVD and Blu-ray. The storyline is a mother is put away for three murders she committed 20 years ago. When her daughter visits her in the insane asylum she has to determine whether she is crazy or possessed. The truth will shock her. ‘The Devil Inside’ is rated R.

Our final movie is the Oscar nominated ‘Albert Nobbs’. Glenn Close stars as a woman who lives her life as a man in 19th century Ireland. She soon finds herself trapped n the world she has created. Close was nominated for Best Actress in this role. ‘Albert Nobbs’ is rated R.

We certainly have a lot of choices today.

TMZ

Ashton Kutcher is getting into character for his role as Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. And let me tell you, he bears quite a resemblance to the young tech giant! But can he pull off the attitude?

In 2010, we were shocked and amazed when we saw Lady Gaga present herself to the world in the infamous meat dress. She stirred up quite the controversy when she strutted herself draped in steak at the VMAs, but never fear that dress may have long since rotted, but there is always meat lockers to raid and that she did! She mooo-ved herself onstage in Tokyo in a brand new and I must say, better looking meat dress then did what anyone with a beef would do and that was to post the pictures on Facebook. Yum.

If you think the “tanning-mom” is hot for the not-so-obvious reasons you may be thrilled to know that Patricia Krentcil has said she would be willing to pose for Playboy even though she hasn’t been asked. However, she does admit that she has been approached to do a reality TV show. Seriously? Are you kidding me?

Remember way back in 2009 when Poison front-man Brett Michaels was nearly crushed to death by a piece of the set at the Tonys? Remember it caused a brain hemorrhage that nearly caused his untimely death? Well, that lawsuit has just been settled! No details have been released, but both parties said they came to an amicable resolution. Hmmm, so?

Photo by Getty Images News

Today the creator of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg is 28 years-old! Twenty-eight years-old! Talk about a phenom! This billionaire boy has set his sights on Wall-Street as Facebook will go public later this week making this kid even more dough! It is expected that going public could generate some fast cash of say about $100 billion dollars! Yep, billion! But a lot of people are saying Facebook is a fad; don’t buy into the hype or into the company.

But there is one guy that had a dream that came to fruition, Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple. He says he would buy Facebook stock all day long! But wait, will he? Nope, he says he won’t cos he isn’t looking to make any money. What? Let me tell you who else says they won’t invest, Warren Buffet who has been an adviser to Zuckerberg.

Something I didn’t know about this whole deal is that Zuckerberg never wanted to take the company public, but there is this little section in the 1934 Securities and Exchange Act known as “the 500 rule”. The rule is simply this; once a private company has more than 500 investors, it must begin releasing quarterly financial information to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, thus “going public”. Will this change the face of Facebook? Only time will tell.

(WJEZ file photo)

PONTIAC – The District 90 Board of Education has approved the hiring of an assistant principal at Pontiac Township High School.

PTHS Principal Jon Kilgore says Brian Hensley spent some time as a teacher and administrator.

“Brian has spent 10 years in the Unit 5 Normal School District teaching science and he is currently the assistant principal at Turner Junior High School in Jacksonville,” said Kilgore.

Also on Monday night, the District 90 board hired Jennifer Babb as an English teacher and appointed Nick Vogt to coach girl’s tennis and Gary Brunner for girl’s golf.

In other matters, the group decided to continue with the final phase of a heating, cooling and lighting project and they heard a presentation from Elston Flowers on the foreign language department.