SAT SCORES DOWN IN ILLINOIS
This year's Illinois SAT scores dipped slightly from the year before, but still bested the national average.

Officials said Tuesday that a record number of Illinois students, particularly minorities, took the college entrance exam.

Statewide the average reading score was 591 among this year's graduating seniors, slipping three points from last year. The national average was 502.

Math scores dropped two points to 609. The national average was 515.

Writing scores were also down two points at 586. The national average was 494.

State officials say nearly 10,300 Illinois students took the SAT, a highly selective group. About 144,000 statewide take the ACT, which is required of all Illinois juniors.

Nationally, SAT scores were at the lowest level in nearly a decade.

FREE RIDES PUTS RTA IN A TOUGH SPOT
When Governor Rod Blagojevich trumpeted a measure to give free bus and train rides to poor people with disabilities he neglected to mention that there's no state money for the program.

The lack of funds for the program means the Regional Transportation Authority, which oversees the CTA, Metra and Pace, will have to come up with $5 million to $10 million.

RTA officials previously warned service cuts or fare hikes might be needed to cover the cost of the free rides. RTA spokesman JC Vannatta said Tuesday the agency was still evaluating the budget impact.

The free rides are scheduled to start October 24. According to the Blagojevich administration, up to 275,000 poor people with disabilities are eligible.

Earlier this year, Blagojevich demanded that seniors ride for free in exchange for his approval of a sales-tax hike to fund mass transit.

183RD FIREFIGHTERS STICKING AROUND
A firefighting unit connected with the Illinois National Guard's 183rd Fighter Wing in Springfield, will be kept there for at least another year.

That's despite a plan that had called for the unit's permanent withdrawal from the state any day now.

Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Barack Obama announced the government's decision from the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

The senators say Lieutenant General Steven Blum of the National Guard Bureau said the one-year extension would be granted through September 2009.

The Guard's chief says that the firefighting unit at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport has a backlog of maintenance to be performed on the Air National Guard's F-16 fleet.

ARNETTE FOUND GUILTY
A Champaign County jury has found a 39-year-old man guilty of killing his estranged wife and burying her body in the woods.

The seven men and five women yesterday (Monday) convicted Robert Arnette of first-degree murder and concealing a homicidal death.

Arnette was arrested after volunteer searchers found the body of 36-year-old Naomi Arnette in a wooded area a few miles from her home in Sadorus, about ten miles southwest of Champaign.

The mother of seven had been missing for more than four months. Authorities said she was last seen by her husband in May 2007.

Arnette faces 20 to 60 years in prison on the murder charge when he's sentenced on November 3rd.

ETHICS REFORM IN ILLINOIS
Governor Rod Blagojevich says he's trying to clean up Illinois politics. But he's not signing an ethics bill passed by the House and Senate earlier this year.

Instead, he signed an executive order yesterday (Monday) that includes fundraising restrictions from the ethics bill, including a ban on campaign contributions from large state contractors. The order takes effect in January.

The governor says he'll use his amendatory veto to take the reforms in the original bill further.

But critics say the governor's being disingenuous.

Cindi Canary, director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, says the executive order is weak because Blagojevich is in charge of policing himself and he can rescind the order at any time.

Blagojevich accepted tens of thousands of dollars this year from people and businesses with more than $50,000 in contracts with the state.

GAS PRICES DOWN
Drivers are feeling some relief at the pump.

Gas prices fell for the 38th straight day, bringing the national average to $3.68.

And drivers in our area are seeing prices drop to the lowest they've seen in months, with prices as low as $3.47 in Champaign-Urbana right now.

A national survey shows, gas dropped more than 15 cents in the last two weeks.

But you have to know where to look; AAA is still reporting the average price of gas in the Champaign-Urbana area at $3.57.

AAA expects prices to go right back up again in time for the labor day weekend.