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Local golf event to help fund new teen center

This year’s invitational golf tournament will help raise money to complete a new Teen Center for the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Mississippi Valley.

Event organizers say they’re accepting registrations now for the 2013 Golf Invitational, set for Tuesday, July 9, 2013 at Short Hills Country Club in East Moline, Illinois.

The Invitational has helped raise more than $1.2 million for the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Mississippi Valley.

Video: Storm chaser captures video of tornadoes near Hanover, Illinois


A local storm chaser captured video as tornadoes formed June 12, 2013 just south of Hanover, Illinois.

Joel Wright said he shot video of the storms near the border of Carroll and Jo Daviess counties, between the towns of Hanover and Savanna.

You can see rotation in the storm and, in at least three separate places in the video, it is apparent that funnel clouds form from the storm.

StormTrack8 Meteorologist Terry Swails says Joel is a great local resource and very reliable as a talented, solid storm chaser.

Watch more of Joel’s videos – click here.

Investigators track EF2 tornado near Savanna, Illinois

A National Weather Service team says an EF2 tornado touched down near Savanna, Illinois, just before 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 12, 2013.

It carved a six mile path that reached about a half-mile wide.

Severe weather destroyed one house, injured a resident and knocked out power across the region.

Investigators say that wind speed reached up to 135 miles-per-hour.

It’s just hours after Terry Koser spots a tornado on a path to his property.

“I’ve never seen anything like that with the three tails,” he recalled.

He helps meteorologist Donna Dubberke search for answers.

“Nobody got hurt,” he said.

“How many people were there at the time?” she asked.

“Just me,” he responded.

Dubberke is a real storm detective. This National Weather Service team is checking for clues and documenting damage.

NWS explains why storms didn’t hit Quad Cities

The National Weather Service in the Quad Cities says anyone who prepared for Wednesday’s storms was smart, even if the storms didn’t hit your location.

Severe storms that included funnel clouds and left behind damage struck counties in the WQAD viewing area just north of the Quad Cities during the late afternoon and early-evening hours Wednesday, June 12, 2013.

The NWS sent a storm survey team to survey damage Thursday, June 13 from confirmed tornadoes that struck the night before in Jo Daviess and Carroll counties in northwest Illinois.

The NWS predicted the front, along which the storms would form, would be stationary along Interstate 80 in the Quad Cities.

Stormy forecast postpones weather radio testing

Weekly weather radio tests set for our area Wednesday, June 12, 2013 were postponed because of storms forecast for that afternoon and evening.

The tests were conducted during the 8 a.m. hour in Cedar Rapids before the decision was made to postpone testing for several weather radio transmitters in and around the Quad Cities.

Weather permitting, the National Weather Service reported the weekly weather radio test will happen around 11 a.m. local time Thursday, June 13, 2013 for WXL22 in Bureau County, WXL 61 in Cedar Rapids, KJY64 in Delaware, WLX64 in Dubuque, WXN85 in Fairfield, KZZ56 in Freeport, KSJ92 in Macomb, KZZ83 in Maquoketa, WXL99 in Medill, WXJ73 in Moline and WXN83 in West Burlington.

Sunset Marina’s Cardboard Boat Regatta cancelled

The annual regatta featuring boats made of cardboard and other recycled materials won’t happen this year at Sunset Marina in Rock Island.

The regatta, held annually on July 4, started out as a competition to create one-person boats made of cardboard that would float at Lake Potter.  That’s when it was known as the “Cardboard Boat Regatta.”

A few years ago, the rules changed to allow other recycled materials to be used in the construction of the boats, and the event was renamed the “Recycled Raft Race.”

Dozens of contestants spend time working on entries for the regatta each year.

The regatta has been held for decades, but the event won’t happen July 4 this year.

“What about the people that are planning to attend and  participate by working for weeks to prepare an entry boat for the ANNUAL tradition?” asked Deb Schone, who says her teenage son has been working for months on a boat to enter in the 2013 regatta.

Former Obama chief of staff explores possible run for Illinois governor

(CNN) — Bill Daley, who served as President Barack Obama’s chief of staff for one year between 2011 and 2012, announced Tuesday he was launching an exploratory bid for Illinois governor.

“The people of Illinois are paying a price for political failure,” Daley said in a video announcing his campaign, pointing to stalled pension reform and marriage equality bills in the state legislature.