Morgan County’s unemployment rate appears to have leveled off.

Locally, the unemployment rate from November to December stayed at 3.7%. The steady rate ends 7 straight months of swift decline.

Morgan County is at odds with the state trend, which saw the statewide unemployment rate dip for the 9^th straight month.

Strikingly, Scott County actually saw a rise in unemployment from the previous month to 4.9%, after hovering at or below 4% for several months. Despite that anomaly, the remainder of the area remained at 3.4-3.7% unemployment. Brown County remains the lowest in the area at 2.1%.

In over the year numbers for metro areas, Springfield had the third largest unemployment rate decrease at 3.4% compared to 2020.

While this may mean good news for the state’s economy, it appears recovery from the coronavirus recession in the local economy has somewhat leveled off.

Only nine days remain until the Prairieland United Way’s Price Is United event returns. Executive Director Karen Walker says there is only a limited number of tickets remaining: “Sales are going well. I believe we are down to about 17 tickets left. I certainly encourage anyone if you are still interested in the event to go to our website prairielandunitedway.org and be sure to get one of those tickets before they are all gone.”

The current campaign is currently hovering under 70% of its goal this year. Walker says that employer campaigns have lagged behind this year compared to previous ones: “We’ve had many employee campaigns, which is the bulk of what we receive every year, that have been slow to come in or were unable to participate this year due to mostly I think the remote working, Covid, and of course the economy in general situation. For the most part, we are still plugging away at it. We have until the end of February, so we’ve got just a little [less than] 5 weeks left. We are at about 70% [of our goal], so we are definitely below where we normally are at this point in the campaign. Anyone who’s listening that can help us out, we could use your help. This is not the year to sit back if you are able to help. We definitely need it.”

Walker says that pre-allocation meetings were held with area non-profit organizations last week. She says that applications from non-profits will be due in the middle of next month, with allocations beginning in March.

Income tax filing season is currently underway, but many in the country are still waiting on their 2020 return.

18^th District Congressman Darin LaHood is demanding answers from the IRS. LaHood is asking for the IRS to provide answers about the more than 16 million outstanding returns from last year that are still awaiting processing.

In a statement released yesterday LaHood says that the ongoing customer service failures at the IRS have reached crisis levels causing undue burdens on families and businesses.

In December, LaHood joined 99 House Republicans to request that IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig provide information on how the agency plans to resolve its filing backlog process and provide additional resources for the current filing season.

This week, LaHood led nearly 200 bipartisan members of the House of Representatives to urge the U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to give taxpayers a break on penalties from the IRS because of mail delays.

Treasury Department officials warned on Monday that this year’s tax season could be as bad or worse with delays compared to last year. The IRS has urged many families and businesses to use professional tax services and to file electronically and request direct deposit for refunds whenever possible.

A van reported stolen on Tuesday morning from the Northewestern School District in Palmyra has been found.

Macoupin County Sheriff’s Detectives reported that they located the van yesterday in Nilwood. No further details have been released.

Macoupin County Sheriff Shawn Kahl wished to thank the public for raising awareness about the incident and for their assistance to law enforcement in the case.

The Macoupin County Sheriff’s Office released information this morning about a van stolen from the Northwestern School District in Palmyra over night yesterday.

According to a release on the Office’s Facebook page, a Macoupin County Deputy was advised by the school district yesterday that a white 2009 Chevy transportation van was stolen off of their property at around 2:35AM on Wednesday.

The Macoupin County Sheriff’s Office says if anyone has any information to please call their office at (217) 854-3135, extension 1.

The Jacksonville Kiwanis 73^rd annual Pancake & Sausage Day returns in March, but will stay in a drive through format.

Kiwanis Pancake & Sausage Day co-chair Erin Kleinlein says that due to the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and the size of the event, they felt that a drive thru event was necessary again this year.

Kleinlein says the event will look much like last year’s drive thru: “Pancake & Sausage Day will be on Monday, March 14th this year, around the same time as it was last year. The drive-thru set up will be pretty well the same where those who are picking up will enter at the Our Saviour parking lot off of East State Street. There will be plenty of Kiwanians and volunteers directing traffic.”

Tickets for the event are $7 and can be purchased from any Kiwanis member as well as County Market, The Source, Town & Country Bank, the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, among other places. Tickets will also be available at the day of the event. Kleinlein recommends you purchase ahead of time to speed up your time in line the day of the event.

Tickets go on sale next Thursday.

State Senator Steve McClure is hoping to bring joy to seniors for Valentine’s Day.

McClure’s offices are collecting Valentines For Seniors for the second year in a row. McClure is asking students from public and private schools, church groups, scouting organizations, and other groups to create homemade cards that will be delivered to assisted living centers, nursing homes, and long-term care facilities across the state.

Cards, poems, and other well-wishes will be collected between now and Feb. 7 at McClure’s district offices in Chatham and here in Jacksonville. Cards can be placed in the Valentines box located inside the office door during business hours, or in a small mailbox that will be placed outside of the office during off-hours. Cards can also be mailed.

McClure’s Jacksonville office address is 229 South Main Street, Unit B, Jacksonville IL 62650.

Last year, members of the Illinois Senate Republican caucus collected and delivered more than 45,000 Valentines through the statewide “Valentines for Seniors” program.

The Pike County Sheriff’s Office arrested an Indiana man on several drug charges Monday.

According to a press release, during the early morning hours on Monday, a Pike County Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop on the eastbound on-ramp of Interstate 72 in Barry.

Subsequent to the stop, 26-year-old, Kirk M. Beumer of Sheridan, Indiana was cited for Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Possession With the Intent to Deliver a Controlled Substance, and Driving Under the Influence of a Drug Substance or Intoxicating Compound.

Beumer was transported to the Pike County Jail and appeared in Pike County Court on Tuesday. Bond was set at $10,000 with 10% apply. Pike County Judge J. Frank McCartney set pre-bail conditions that would allow Beumer to live and work in Indiana and Missouri. Beumer will be required to drug test prior to each court appearance.

Beumer is next due in court March 1^st with counsel.

A single-story home on West Barrow Road in rural Roodhouse was a total loss last night due to fire.

Roodhouse, Winchester, and White Hall Fire Departments responded to a fully involved structure fire just after 5PM yesterday on West Barrow Road. Flames were visible through the roof when first units arrived and heavy black smoke could be seen from Illinois Route 106.

It took approximately two and a half hours to knock down the blaze. Initial reports from the scene indicate their were no injuries, but a few family pets are believed to have perished inside the home.

UPDATE

Roodhouse Fire Chief Terry Hopkins says that the cause of the fire remains undetermined. Hopkins says that a determination in the future is highly unlikely because there is little left of the structure: “Actually, by the time anybody that far out in the country saw it, I mean [the structure] was pretty much gone by the time they even called. We did kind of locate that the fire started in the center of the home. Like I say, there was so little of it left by the time we got it out, it could be anybody’s guess now. We had mutual aid from White Hall and Winchester on it because it was a remote area and getting water to it that far out.”

Hopkins says that they were called back out to the location around 3AM to suppress hot spots that had re-ignited. Overall suppression efforts took a little over 2 1/2 hours. Hopkins says the home is a total loss and one of the family’s three pets is believed to have perished in the fire. Everyone else, including fire personnel, reported no injuries.