PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — The southbound lanes of US-131 are closed near Rockford due to debris in the roadway after a semi-truck overturned.

The Michigan Department of Transportation said southbound US-131 is closed at 10 Mile Road due to the crash, which was reported shortly after 10:30 am Thursday.

Drivers are advised to avoid the area and seek an alternative route as authorities work to clear the scene.

• A semi-truck overturned on southbound US-131 near Rockford Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023.
• Crews work to clean up scrap metal from southbound US-131 after a semi-truck overturned near Rockford Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023. (Michigan State Police)
• A semi-truck overturned on southbound US-131 near Rockford Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023. (Michigan State Police)
• A semi-truck overturned on southbound US-131 near Rockford Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023. (Michigan State Police)

Michigan State Police said the semi-truck was hauling scrap metal when it overturned, spilling pieces of metal across the roadway. A magnet truck is heading to the scene to pick up the small pieces of metal.

There were no reports of injuries, according to MSP.

It’s unknown how long the cleanup will take or what led to the crash.

Check back with woodtv.com for updates throughout the day.

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Emma Pierson’s dad, Ryan, once held Dakota’s career scoring record and earned a basketball scholarship to Highland Community College.

Her mom (the former Brenda Fuchs) also played basketball for Dakota, earned a volleyball scholarship to Highland and still holds the school record in the 100-meter high hurdles.

Emma was a gymnast — a good one — until she was told she could only be a gymnast.

“I pulled away from gymnastics when they wanted me to sign something saying that would be the only sport I would play,” Pierson said. “My parents wanted to see what other sports I could play.”

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Like her mom, Pierson now plays three sports and excels in each one.

She went to state in the 400 meters and the 4×100 relay team as a freshman for Belvidere last spring. She led Belvidere Co-op to its first regional golf title last fall. And she now holds Belvidere’s single-game scoring record in basketball after scoring 40 points in a win over East.

“Thank goodness we didn’t sign and decided to try other things,” her mom said. “When they are little, you don’t know what to put them in, so we tried gymnastics just as a little, quick program. But she had other talents that are much cheaper than gymnastics.”

“I’m really happy,” Emma said. “It’s cool to watch gymnastics, but I don’t think I would have liked it when I got older. A lot of injuries happen. It would have been hard on my body.”

Pierson joins East’s Kabrea Jamerson and Boylan’s Halle Stull as the only NIC-10 girls basketball players to score 40 points in the last 12 years.

And she broke the 27-year-old school record of 38 points set by Amanda Levens, who became a two-time All-Pac-12 player at Arizona State and is now the head coach at the University of Nevada.

“She’s a big deal at Belvidere,” Emma said. “She was such a great player. … It feels amazing to do such a big thing at my school as only a sophomore and have two years to grow and develop and get even better.”

Belvidere coach Mike Bradford called Pierson’s record game a “big shot in the arm” for a program that has finished either ninth or 10th in the conference for six straight years and is 5-21 (3-12 NIC-10) this season.

Even more, Bradford appreciates how Pierson got the record.

With the score out of hand, he “didn’t want to rub it in” and told Pierson he was going to pull her from the game. The next two times down the court she passed to open teammates to let them score.

“That was classy,” Bradford said, “knowing the record was in the balance and her time was limited. And she didn’t do it once. She did it twice.”

“I thought it would help boost my teammates more by giving them the feel for scoring,” Pierson said. “I want to give them confidence to help finish our season strong.”

Contact: mtrowbridge@rrstar.com, @matttrowbridge or 815-987-1383. Matt Trowbridge has covered sports for the Rockford Register Star for over 30 years, after previous stints in North Dakota, Delaware, Vermont and Iowa City.

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO/WQRF) – Here are the boys and girls basketball results involving Rockford area teams from Wednesday, February 1 compiled by the ‘Overtime’ team of Scott Leber and Regan Holgate.

Watch ‘Overtime’ live at 11 pm Friday nights on Fox 39 for highlights, interviews and feature stories on high school basketball.

NIC-10 BOYS
Guilford 71 Freeport 70 (Malachi Johnson 3 pointer at the buzzer)
Auburn 57 Belvidere North 56
Boylan 64 Jefferson 35
East 66 Hononegah 50
Belvidere 60 Harlem 49

BIG NORTHERN GIRLS
Rockford Lutheran 48 Stillman Valley 46
Winnebago 68 Rockford Christian 48
Dixon 41 Rock Falls 24
Byron defeated North Boone (Lady Tigers clinch Big Northern championship)
Genoa-Kingston 42 Plano 37

NUIC GIRLS
Pecatonica 48 Dakota 21
Amboy 54 Earlville 28
Stockton 42 West Carroll 39
Polo 62 Forreston 55 (Lindee Poper 1,000th point for Polo)
East Dubuque 43 Warren 28
Galena 54 River Ridge/Scales Mound 45

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — The Forest Preserve of Winnebago County(FPRWC) held a special board meeting Wednesday night. Only one topic was on the table, their decision to terminate the agreement between them and Severson Dells Education Foundation(SDEF).

Both sides say that it is mainly budgetary reasons for why the agreement is currently in limbo. However, it is clear both hope to move forward together.

“The Forest Preserves has agreed to be contributing financially to the organization moving forward. We just don’t know what that looks like, how much that’s going to be moving forward. So they are still committed to helping us financially and obviously we have access to the forest preserve property,” said Vice President of SDEF Catherine Povalitis.

The Forest Preserve currently employs all of SDEF’s paid staff. Over the year the non-profit does contribute to a portion of that pay. If the current agreement is terminated SDEF will absorb all the responsibility for those employees.

“Bottom line we want the Severson staff taken care of. They are the individuals that provide the amazing educational opportunities to the community. Our goals moving forward, is to make sure they are supported and also that the community can receive all the programs and that it benefits both Severson Dells the Forest Preserve and ultimately the community at large,” Povalitis said.

The Forest Preserve recognizes the importance of SDEF saying on their website that the foundation provides some of the best education and programs especially in nature for the community.

“We are gonna continue to work with the forest preserve to determine a partnership that works best for Forest Preserve also Severson Dells, but ultimately what we do is for the community,” Povalitis said.

The meeting was filled with volunteers and employees of SDEF. Their was one public speaker, volunteer of SDEF, Brendan Noble.

“Why not tighten the vague and and improvable aspects of this agreement instead of cutting Severson’s staff loose and creating a distraction that pulls them away from their educational goals,” Noble said.

The two sides had an agreement in 2012 that the FPWC said was not fully approved by their board. FPWC posted on their website more reasons why they have decided to terminate the agreement.

The meeting ended with both sides at a stand still and will continue to discuss an agreement moving forward. The termination is effective March 19th.

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — A TikTok challenge from last year is still causing problems for owners of Kia and Hyundai cars, after online videos showed thieves how to steal them.

Nathan Bjornbak, who lives in Rockford’s Edgewater neighborhood, said he took his dog for a walk last week and came back to find his car, a blue 2011 Hyundai Sonata, was gone.

“Somebody took it from right in front of my house,” he said. “It was locked and it wasn’t running.”

Hyundai and Kia models from 2011 to 2020 have a manufacturing defect that makes them easy for criminals to steal using only a cellphone and a USB cord.

Elderly Rockford woman’s Kia stolen — three times!

Some insurance companies, such as Progressive and State Farm, are not insuring the cars anymore because of the high risk of theft.

New 2022 Kia and Hyundai models have an engine immobilizer to help prevent thefts.

“People need to know that this is happening and that it is a real issue,” Bjornbak said. “If you’ve got a Hyundai or Kia, your vehicle is at risk, 100%.”

Bjornbak believes the so-called Kia Boyz are to blame for his car being stolen, but says he never thought it would happen in his own driveway.

Rockford Police Chief Carla Redd admitted at a recent press conference on local crime that car thefts were up last year and Kia and Hyundai thefts are an issue of concern across the country.

Car thefts in Rockford went from 477 in 2021 to 783 in 2022.

Brazen thieves try to steal woman’s Hyundai from Rockford dealer’s lot

“The number is just astronomically high, by large and far due to manufacturer defects in some vehicles, where that it makes them really easy to steal,” she said.

Bjornbak hopes police will be able to find his car, but he says he’ll never buy a Hyundai or Kia car again.

“They could fix all the problems [that] are known with them and I’ll still never buy them again,” he said. “And if there comes up a class action, or a chance to sue for the money I’m out for my car, yeah, I probably will take that opportunity.”

Police encourage owners of the affected models to invest in a steering wheel lock or auto start system.

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) – 22-year-old Tajanae Glass has been charged with theft for allegedly stealing from the Walgreens where she worked, 2404 S. Perryville Road on Tuesday, January 31st. Glass was caught by the loss prevention manager at the store. By the time she was caught she’d already stolen around $25,000, according to Cherry Valley Police.

A witness informed law enforcement that Glass was in charge for depositing money in the bank for the company. She had been taking various amounts of money from the deposits over the last year.

Glass provided a written confession to police and was subsequently arrested according to officers. She is being held in the Winnebago County Jail without bond. Her arrangement will be on Wednesday.

Copyright 2023 WIFR. All rights reserved.

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Tajanae Glass, 22, has been charged with theft for allegedly stealing $25,000 from the Walgreens store where she worked.

According to Cherry Valley Police, Glass was caught by the loss prevention manager at the store at 2404 S. Perryville Road on Tuesday, January 31st.

The witness told police that Glass had been tasked with depositing money in the bank, but she had been taking various bills from the deposits over the past year, totaling $25,000.

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According to police, Glass provided a written confession to the crime and was arrested.

She is being held at the Winnebago County Jail without bond until her arraignment on Wednesday.

A local jewelry store is back in business following an unscheduled winter break.

Busch Jewelers recently reopened after sustaining heavy water damage to its storefront at 1960 Pawlisch Drive on Christmas Day.

“What happened is our sprinkler system froze, burst and then it activated all of the sprinklers,” Busch Jewelers President and CEO Mitch Busch said. “We had a good five to seven inches of standing water. It was literally a downpour in here.”

Attorney:Threats sent to Rockford restaurant owner before fire were reported to police

Busch said the store’s ceiling, electrical system and carpeting were all damaged and had to be replaced.

Damage to the building, which Busch owns, was approximately $100,000.

“We’ve been working like beavers from the (December) 26th on,” Busch said. “All of the contractors that we hired were fantastic and came through.”

When the store resumed its regular business hours on Saturday morning, a line of eager customers was ready to shop.

“We had about 15 people waiting to get in,” Busch said. “We had the snowstorm, and we thought that would slow us down but it didn’t. The customers kept on coming.”

Busch Jewelers was originally based in Michigan but relocated to 213 W. State St., in Rockford, in 1927.

The business opened a second store at CherryVale Mall in 1976 and closed its downtown location about two years later.

Busch Jewelers moved into its existing building near CherryVale Mall in 1987.

Mitch Busch has been part of the family business for 56 years and said the events of the past month are unprecedented.

“We’ve never had any problem like that ever before,” he said. “We’ve had the pandemic, of course. We’ve had armed robberies, but never anything like burst pipes.”

Ken DeCoster covers business news and features. Contact him at 815-987-1391, kdecoster@rrstar.com or @DeCosterKen.

The man who was allegedly involved in a fatal hit-and-run in Rockford on Christmas Day 2022 has been charged, according to a Rockford Police Department press release.

The incident happened around 6 am on Sunday, December 25, 2022, when officers were dispatched to Rockford’s north side after calls came in about a woman lying in the road on Gilbert Avenue.

When Rockford Police arrived on the scene they found the woman later identified as 48-year-old Lisa Judson of Rockford who was pronounced dead on the scene, according to the press release.

According to WIFR-TV, the woman was killed while shoveling snow near her house in the 3200 block of Gilbert Ave.

Following an investigation by the Rockford Police Traffic Investigators, a vehicle and suspect were identified and officers were able to take 20-year-old Gerwarn Porter Jr. into custody on charges of hit and run involving death.

Porter Jr. is currently being held at the Winnebago County Jail, according to the press release.

Rockford Police said the charge against Porter Jr. is “merely an accusation,” and is innocent until proven guilty.

This story is continuing to develop and will be updated as more information becomes available.

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ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO/WQRF) – Here are the boys and girls high school basketball scores involving Rockford area teams from Tuesday, January 31 compiled by the ‘Overtime’ team of Regan Holgate and Scott Leber.

Watch ‘Overtime’ Friday nights live at 11 pm on Fox 39 for highlights, interviews and feature stories.

NIC 10 GIRLS
Hononegah 57 Auburn 49
Guifford 54 Belvidere 48 (Emma Pierson 36 points for Belvidere)
Freeport 49 Belvidere North 45
Boylan 69 East 20
Harlem 51 Jefferson 44

OTHER GIRLS SCORES
Forreston 47 Oregon 21
Orangeville 41 Le-Win 37
Amboy 30 Newark 25
Sycamore 55 LaSalle-Peru 29
South Beloit 42 Hiawatha 28
Genoa-Kingston 53 Pectonica 40

BIG NORTHERN BOYS
Byron 58 Dixon 36
Winnebago 39 Genoa Kingston 30
Rockford Lutheran 93 Oregon 44
Stillman Valley 53 North Boone 44
Rockford Christian 58 Rock Falls 57

NUIC BOYS
Durand 59 Orangeville 54
Pecatonica 79 Aquinas 49
Fulton 74 Amboy 38 (Damhoff 1,000th point)
Scales Mound 71 Galena 45
Stockton 49 River Ridge 38
Dakota 46 Pearl City 35
Polo 46 Eastland 41

OTHER BOYS GAMES
LaSalle-Peru 44 Sycamore 39