FUTUREGEN ALLIANCE EXECUTIVES IN MATTOON FOR SERIES OF MEETINGS (Herald & Review, 9/1) - Federal and state officials will join FutureGen Alliance executives during meetings in Mattoon on Tuesday and Wednesday. Kristina Johnson, undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Energy, and Warren Ribley, director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, will meet with FutureGen board of directors about the cooperative agreement for building a coal-fueled power plant with underground storage of carbon dioxide.

UPCOMING FARMLAND AUCTION EYED AS PRICE INDICATOR (State Journal-Register, 9/1) - About 1,600 acres of prime central and southern Illinois farmland will be sold at bankruptcy auction this month partly as a result of record-high prices for corn in the summer of 2008. VeraSun Energy Corp. began selling off pieces of its ethanol business after filing for bankruptcy reorganization last fall. The Sept. 10 sale of land near Litchfield, Danville and Granite City is being watched as an indicator of land and commodity prices.

AUGUST 19 TORNADO DAMAGE TOTALS MORE THAN $13 MILLION (State Journal-Register, 9/1) - A pair of tornadoes that tore through Loami, Williamsville and rural homes and farm fields in Logan County on Aug. 19 caused more than $13 million worth of structural damage, according to official reports.

HEARING SET FOR UNION'S SUIT OVER ILLINOIS LAYOFFS (AP, 9/1) - A hearing is scheduled next week in southern Illinois in a major union's lawsuit meant to block Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn's plan to lay off about 2,600 state employees. The hearing is scheduled for Sept. 10 in Vienna.

SUMMER OF 2009 ONE OF 15 COOLEST EVER (State Journal-Register, 9/1) - The summer of 2009 is expected to go down as one of the 15 coolest ever recorded for Illinois. Although final calculations haven't been made, it appears that Illinois' average temperature for June, July and August was 71.4 degrees.