April 12, 2021 MACOMB, IL – Earlier this month, Western Illinois University s Emergency Management program collaborated with the Emergency Operation Center Project (ILETSBEI) and the WIU GIS Center to offer two virtual classes to emergency responders and educators.
The mission of the classes was to provide unmanned Aerial System (UAS) certification by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is mandatory for practitioners and students to be allowed to operate drones and drone-related technology in any professional operations in the area of public safety, from natural disasters, emergencies, to search and rescue.
More than 50 students, from local emergency management agencies, police departments, fire departments, the Illinois State Police, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, and WIU faculty and students, attended the two classes.
January 19, 2021
Galesburg City Council will meet tonight with an opportunity to honor a somewhat legendary figure in Galesburg public safety. Council will vote on a resolution honoring former Galesburg Fire Chief, the late Dale May, by naming the Hawthorne Centre Regional Training Site for firefighters in his honor. Male started as a Galesburg firefighter in 1962, became Chief in 1977, and held that role until his retirement in 1994. He passed away in July at the age of 87. Council documents read that during his tenure as chief, May spearheaded the acquisition and opening of the fire training center at Hawthorne Centre. The center is still in operation today and hosts many area training classes and activities. Some groups that hold training there include the Illinois Terrorism Task Force, the military, many area fire department personnel, and continues to serve as the regional training site for the University of Illinois Fire Service Institute. The renaming would have minimal i