The Morgan County Commissioners paid three major bills this morning in their lone action items.
Chairman Brad Zeller asked for approval of a traunch of American Rescue Plan Funding to be paid out to R.D. Lawrence for the latest round of renovations at the former Putnam-Springer buildings on North Clay Avenue in Jacksonville for the upcoming move of the Morgan County Health Department. The payment was for $174,605.83.
The Commissioners authorized the work in October of last year. Due to supply chain issues, the health department move isn’t expected to be completed until late May.
The second bill was for the county’s West Central Illinois Dispatch contract for $41,765; and the final bill was a payment to the Adams County Juvenile Detention Facility for $45,003 for the housing of the county’s juvenile inmates. In total, the county’s regular bills totaled $106,072.26.
The only other action item for the morning was an approval of a delinquent tax payment. Zeller says these are a normal action item that come up periodically as people pay off their back property taxes: “As we get these periodically through the year, this is a good thing because the individuals or individual has gotten caught up on all their past due taxes and the property goes back on the tax rolls. This is always a good thing.”
Zeller said after the meeting that engineering plans are currently being drafted for renovations at the Morgan County Detention Facility, with possible proposals currently delayed. He says the county is pressing to get those plans from their engineering firm as soon as possible.
A local representative has weighed in on an Appellate Court’s ruling against an appeal to lift a temporary restraining order against Governor J.B. Pritzker’s mask mandate in public schools.
Representative C.D. Davidsmeyer says that Democratic leadership in the General Assembly has abdicated its responsibility to be a check and balance against the executive’s power: “I’ve been saying all along that there needs to be checks and balances on the governor’s perception of power. It’s been proven that the Illinois General Assembly under Democrat rules is unwilling to step in and be that check on power, so it was on the courts to step in and do the right thing. I believe they’ve done the right thing, and we need to move forward and get back to regular life.”
Pritzker and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul are taking their appeal now to the Illinois Supreme Court in hopes of reinstating the rule. Raoul said in a press release on Friday that the executive order is still in force despite over 500 school districts around the state now moving to mask-optional policies.
The City of Winchester is looking to move its abilities to locate utility lines into the future. Utility Safety and Design, Inc. presented a proposal to the city to create a new master map of the city’s gas mains using the Geographic Information System technology or GIS.
GIS connects data in an electronic format by integrating location data with descriptive information through a computer, tablet, or smartphone.
Winchester Utility Superintendent John Simmons says that the GIS mapping requirement by the Illinois Commerce Commission is quickly upon the city. He says it will also help the city better service its customers: “It transfers all of your cathodic protection, all your reports, and everything to comply with the ICC. It will all be downloaded into this system where if they want to see if we are doing our reports right, they can just go online and bring the information up. I won’t have to do the reports with paper anymore. I can just do it right on my phone at the job site. It’s got an annual fee and a start up fee. It’s not mandatory right now, but ICC is recommending everybody get on board with it for all of their reports and everything. From what I’ve been told, it’s probably going to become mandatory from ICC real soon.”
The data will be able to provide historical and up-to-the-minute data on leaks, valve inspections, odor intensity, new construction, and other major inspections among others. Utility Safety and Design will also be able to modify the GIS system to suit the city’s specific needs. The cost of the service is $3,750 annually plus a one-time start-up cost of $2,000. The city will also have to pay for initial training and user-based data fees up front.
The item is expected to be voted on at the March Winchester City Council meeting.
Illinois College is getting a financial gift in honor of a retiring CEO of a major agriculture business.
GROWMARK, Inc. is honoring the 40-year career of CEO James Spradlin with substantial financial gifts to IC. Spradlin is retiring from GROWMARK at the end of this month.
The GROWMARK Foundation is providing $50,000 to establish the James Spradlin Endowed Scholarship Fund. This permanent endowed fund will provide financial assistance annually to a student or students majoring in agribusiness or a similar field.
In addition, the GROWMARK Foundation will provide a $25,000 gift to Illinois College to be used for internships, global study, student-faculty research, community engagement, and other experiential learning opportunities for students studying agribusiness and other business-related fields.
Spradlin began his career with the GROWMARK System in 1982 as an accounting trainee at Schuyler-Brown FS, shortly after graduating from Illinois College. Since then, Spradlin has held 10 separate roles within the GROWMARK System, serving as CEO since 2014. Spradlin, who now lives in Morton, has also served on the Illinois College Board of Trustees since 2016.
The Illinois Department of Corrections is planning on downsizing its number of prisons. It’s causing some ire from corrections’ employees unions.
Illinois NPR reports that Illinois’ prison population has dwindled to around 28,000. According to Capitol Fax, the Illinois prison population has decreased by 42% since 2015. IDOC says that mounting maintenance costs at facilities are driving the need to close portions of the Vandalia and Pontiac correctional facilities.
Under the proposed plan, Pontiac would close the medium security unit and go from 1,740 beds to 642 beds. Pontiac currently houses 1,144 inmates, including a unit that houses seriously mentally ill individuals. Shuttering of the medium security facility at Pontiac would result in the moving of around 329 inmate, according to the Bloomington Pantagraph.
Vandalia Correctional Center currently has a capacity of 1,001 and would be reduced to 401 inmates under the plan. Vandalia’s capacity downsize would not result in the moving of any prisoners according to the drafted plan.
Both facilities face maintenance costs, including $3.8 million at Pontiac. The reduction of beds at Vandalia will save the state $12 million, according to plan estimates.
IDOC says the department has not started moving people in order to reduce the populations in these facilities, but that claim was disputed by Anders Lindall, public affairs director for AFSCME Council 31. Lindall told Capitol News Illinois that IDOC began moving prisoners on February 11th. Lindall says the union subsequently received notice of IDOC’s intent to reduce populations at Vandalia and Pontiac with a target date of March 16 for the first phase, with additional unit closures to be completed by the summer.
There has not been any information released on how this will effect prison populations at Western Illinois Correctional Facility in Brown County or the Jacksonville Correctional Facility.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recalled two popular aerosol deodorants after a carcinogen has been found inside the cans.
Connecticut-based HRB Brands issued a voluntary recall on Wednesday of four types of Brut deodorant sprays and two types of Sure antiperspirant sprays.
Officials are concerned about the presence of the chemical benzene. It is not an ingredient in the products but unexpected levels of cancer-causing substance were discovered in the propellant used for the spray cans.
The recalled items have an expiration date of on or before August 2023. The FDA advises people with the products to throw them away.
Retailers are being notified of the recall, and consumers with questions can contact TCP HOT Acquisition LLC by calling 866-615-0976 Monday to Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST or visit https://www.brutsurerecall2022.com to request a refund.
Symptoms of benzene poisoning include the following:
A Brown County non-profit group hopes a competition will help spur economic growth.
The Journal Courier reports that Action Brown County has set up a business start-up competition. Entrepreneurs wanting to start a business but maybe don’t have the capital or a firm business plan can apply to the competition by downloading an application at actionbrowncounty.org. Applications will be accepted through April 1st.
Applicants will take part in business workshops and then will develop a business plan to pitch to a panel of judges. The judges will decide a winner from the group of business models, and award the winner $20,000 and provide ongoing support such as accounting, marketing, and customer service.
Applicants will be judged on such criteria as sustainability, employment generation, and sales potential. Although those who apply don’t have to live in Brown County, they must agree to physically locate a business in the county if their plan is chosen as the winner.
For more information, email actionbrowncounty@gmail.com. Winners of the competition will be selected in June.
The Pike-Scott Farm Bureau held its 4th Annual Meeting this past Wednesday and installed a new member to its board.
The members elected Craig Ator, Eric Bradshaw, Bryan Koeller, Andy Sellars, Andy Sprague, and Brandon Whewell to each serve a three year term of office. Ator was elected for his first term.
David Barton (right) honored for his years of service to the Pike County and later Pike-Scott Farm Bureau.
David Barton was presented with a certificate recognizing his service to the members. Barton went on the Pike County Farm Bureau board in 1987. He served as Assistant Secretary from 1993-95.
Officer elections were held at the February Board of Directors meeting later that evening. Reelected were Kim Curry, President; Wayne Brown, Vice President; and Jeremy Thomas, Treasurer. Elected as Secretary was Bryan Koeller.
The Illinois House voted Thursday along party lines to approve retired federal judge Michael McCuskey to be new Legislative Inspector General.
Majority Democrats approved McCuskey’s appointment despite McCuskey lacking approval by the bipartisan Legislative Ethics Commission responsible for recommending candidates for the position. Yesterday, House Republicans voted either no or present to approve the appointment despite McCuskey being a popular choice.
Representative C.D. Davidsmeyer says it doesn’t matter who the General Assembly appoints to the position, the title holder doesn’t have any actual teeth to do their job: “Until we get serious in this body about ethics reform, it doesn’t matter if we appoint Mother Teresa to that position. It doesn’t matter if we appoint Jesus Christ himself to that position, because this body has taken the power away from that position. This body has just recently under the guise of ethics reform.”
Davidsmeyer is referring to SB 539 passed in the Summer 2021 by both chambers of the General Assembly. Republicans argued the bill stripped the powers of the LIG. Democrats and some Republican voted in favor of the bill, but did admit more work needed to be done on ethics reform. Under the bill, Republicans argued the LIG would be prohibited from beginning an investigation into a lawmaker’s conduct unless someone first filed a complaint with the office and also limit the jurisdiction to matters arising out of government service and conduct. The bill also left out the LIG’s independence to issue subpoenas for investigations or the ability to publish reports that implicate or vindicate lawmakers without prior approval from the General Assembly’s ethics commission.
Davidsmeyer also echoed other GOP concerns that Democrats bypassed the process laid out in Illinois statute when it comes to the appointment of the position: “Would you assume that if we create a committee, that the individual should go through that committee, or do we just create it just for the heck of it? So my point here is we need to fill this position, but we need to get serious about ethics reform in this place, right? I’m sure you are tired of people walking around saying ‘You’re just a politician…one of those dirty politicians’ because we are not serious about holding ourselves and our colleagues accountable. Until we get there, it doesn’t matter who we put in this position.”
Judge Mike McCuskey of Peoria
McCuskey’s appointment was approved by the House 77-16, with 19 members voting present and 6 members not voting.
McCuskey was nominated to become a federal judge by former President Bill Clinton in 1998 after presiding over cases for the Tenth Judicial Circuit Court and Third District Appellate Court. He served on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois from 1998 to 2014. McCuskey returned as a judge for the Tenth Judicial Circuit Court from 2014 to 2020. He also served 15 years on the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism. McCuskey told The Illinoize yesterday that neither Senate President Don Harmon or House Speaker Chris Welch contacted him until after the vote was cast to tell him he had been selected for the position. In questions about his politics, McCuskey said: ” Judges don’t talk about partisan politics. We’re talking about what we do as judges. Justice Rehnquist picked me for a national committee. Justice Roberts appointed me for another committee. They don’t pick people on politics. I didn’t get here without having a lot of Republican friends. I was elected circuit judge twice in a county that doesn’t have any Democrats. I’m down the middle, I’ve always been.”
McCuskey replaces Carol Pope who left the job on January 6th. Pope noted in her July 2021 resignation letter that lawmakers did nothing to help her with investigations during the 2020 legislative session. Pope called the office “a paper tiger” in the letter, saying that the most recent round of ethics reforms did little to nothing to empower the position to investigate any legislator accused of wrongdoing while in office.
