It might not have been a day she wanted, but it likely was a day she’ll never forget.  The Auburn woman who rescued a man stuck in his motorized wheelchair on some railroad tracks there a week ago, was treated Tuesday like the hero she is.

The day started out with a three-minute all-you-can-grab shopping spree at a grocery store in Chatham.  Then, 19-year-old Ashley Aldridge was honored as Auburn’s first “Hometown Hero.”
But Aldridge says she was just doing what anyone should have done.  She rescued Earl Moorman split seconds before an Amtrak train whizzed by.  Even Amtrak spokesperson Marc Magliari took notice.

Amtrak gave Aldridge train tickets for anywhere in Illinois.  A local martial arts school gave her an honorary black belt.  But Aldridge gave Moorman the chance to keep on living.

Moorman, by the way, is reportedly getting a replacement motorized wheelchair from a Macon County resident Tuesday.

And in other State news, the state was warmer and wetter than normal last week — that means a mixed bag for the state’s crops.

Much of the state received an inch of rain — though southern Illinois got a bit less. Corn and soybean farmers could use a break, but the winter wheat crop is starting to go in.

Many of those fields are in southern Illinois, where some soybeans aren’t turning color yet.

Overall, 54 percent of the state’s corn crop is in good to excellent condition and is 13 percent harvested. Soybeans are 3 percent harvested and 80 percent are turning color.