The expansion of the Winchester Public Library is underway despite cold temperatures.

Excavation from Macomb’s Trotter Construction dug out significant area behind the library at the end of November to begin laying foundation work.

Concrete footings were poured last week. Winchester Mayor Rex McIntire hopes that walls can go up soon before winter weather hits: “I’m hoping they can get that foundation in. Once they get that in, then they will start on the walls. You know it’s just like any project, you have to start from the ground up, and the foundation is a very important part of it. It’s going to have a lot of weight on it as an all brick and box structure there. It is a pretty healthy-sized footing.”

The $515,000 expansion is expected to completed by June.

The over 1,000 square foot expansion will add space for the library’s youth and community services programs.

The Christian County Sheriff’s Office has put out a call for a missing elderly person that is believed to be in danger.

Christian County Sheriff Bruce Kettelkamp has issued an alert for 71 year old Rebecca L. Arkebauer of rural Palmer, who was last seen at her residence yesterday around 7PM.

Arkebauer is believed to be driving a red 2020 Ford Escape with Illinois license plate 33053T-B. Family members have advised the Sheriff’s Office that Arkebauer is showing signs of Alzheimer’s and her destination is unknown.

If anyone sees her vehicle or has any information about her whereabouts, they are urged to call the Christian County Sheriff’s Office at 217-824-4961.

As inflation goes, so goes sales tax says one local representative.

C.D. Davidsmeyer says that the Tom Demmer-Avery Bourne Inflation tax credit proposal is a way to help working class families deal with rising costs. Davidsmeyer says that since places are charging higher prices, they are also taking in more of the state sales tax.

Davidsmeyer says the tax credit would help offset the extra revenue the state is taking in: “The whole goal is to say: ‘Look, inflation is affecting people.’ The reality is that inflation affects the middle class and the working class more than it does the upper class. Originally, they were talking about do we reduce sales tax or what’s the best way to approach this. They looked at what the federal government is doing. The goal is to offset some of the inflation that’s been happening by the federal government printing so much money, because the reality is, the State of Illinois has benefited to the tune of almost $10 billion from the federal government…actually well over $10 billion, and our revenue for the State of Illinois is up $1.7 billion. I’m going to say that $580 million-$590 million of that is because of sales tax.”

Davidsmeyer says the G.O.P. led initiative would take more money out of the hands of politicians and place it back in residents’ hands. Davidsmeyer agrees with the Demmer solution of using federal Covid dollars being spent in Democrat-only districts on projects to be re-purposed for the tax credit: “In the state budget plan, they put an extra billion dollars worth of federal funds into pork projects for Democrat-only districts. That’s what I call using taxpayer dollars to buy votes. At the end of the day, they put an extra billion dollars [into those projects] that could be used to offset something to pay down pension debt. It could have paid off our $4.5 billion worth of liabilities that we have for the unemployment that we’ve spent over the last year and a half. There is a lot of things that the money could have gone to, but the Democrats chose to put a billion dollars of pork projects into Democrat-only districts.”

Davidsmeyer believes that state Democrats don’t want to give money back to taxpayers because they feel it is the government’s money to create initiatives and programs. Davidsmeyer says that the tax credit would be a better return on investment for the state’s taxpayers than another program.

The Morgan County Commissioners are reorganizing.

Ginny Fanning and Brad Zeller will be swapping roles in the upcoming year. Zeller will be returning the chairman role, with Fanning as vice chair.

Zeller says that the reorganizing was mandated by state statute: “Every year, the county boards are obliged to reorganize by state statute. It’s traditionally been done the first board meeting in December – that would be the first month after the last General Election. We made sure and looked [the statute] up and it stated that we were obliged to do it by law on the first meeting of December. We would have liked to have waited until we had a full board, because when Ginny and I reversed our roles, then with just the two of us here, we had to make the votes and nominations for ourselves. We really would have loved to waited, but we will get the new board member. The Republican committee will get us a new potential board member, and we look forward to working with them.”

In other board business Monday morning, bills were approved in the amount of $24,375. A resolution to approve the annual State’s Attorney’s Office agreement with the State Appellate Prosecutor’s Office for various services was approved for $14,000.

State’s Attorney Gray Noll told the board that the cost is down this year compared to last year: “Without this agreement, I have always been of the opinion that it would necessitate the county to hire at least one other attorney, if not, two to handle the appeals alone for our criminal court cases, let alone the other things that the Appellate Prosecutor’s Office brings to the table – including help with prosecutions under the Illinois Controlled Substances Act, the Illinois Cannabis Control Act, and tax objections should we need their services for those things. The county contribution for this would be $14,000. That is $1,000 less than it was last year. The reason for that is basically the Appellate Prosecutor’s Office brought in some money on their own end; because of that, they were able to pass the savings for this year onto the county. It probably will not stay in the amount of $14,000, but as of this year at least, it was $1,000 less.”

The county holiday schedule was also approved with the inclusion of Juneteenth as a new holiday. Zeller also noted during Chairman’s Remarks that a tentative agreement had been reached with the the county’s bargaining units, which includes a 3% Cost of Living increase. Zeller says that signatures on the new agreements are expected in the coming days and will be approved at the next commissioners’ meeting.

Illinois’ Senators have joined in on companion legislation to renew the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area Reauthorization Act. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth introduced the Senate bill today, which would authorize the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area until 2038.

18^th District Congressman Darin LaHood introduced the House bill last week. Both bills would extend the expiration date of 2023 on the heritage area an additional 15 years. The heritage area allows several tourists and visitors to the state to understand the historical and cultural impact the 16^th President of the United States had on the State of Illinois and the rest of the country.

According to a press release, Durbin was instrumental in establishing the heritage area in 2008 and in 2019 both senators introduced legislation to expand heritage area into 3 counties in the state. The ALNHA covers 43 counties and includes more than 300 historic sites and five scenic byways.

The Jacksonville Salvation Army is putting out an urgent call for donations and bell-ringers as the Red Kettle Campaign is less than three weeks away from its close.

In a press release today, Captain Chris Clarke says that the annual campaign has reached 42% of its goal of $138,000, with just over $58,000 raised. Clarke says with only 18 days to raise the funds needed to help those in need year round, the Army is hopeful the community will give generously. The campaign will run through Christmas Eve.

The Salvation Army is still in need of volunteer bell-ringers. Individuals, families, clubs and groups are encouraged to sign up to bell ring by going to registertoring.org or by calling 217-245-7124.

The Illinois Farm Bureau is telling its members to get ready for a fight with the new Waters of the United States rules coming from the Biden Administration.

Director of Governmental Affairs and Commodities for Illinois Farm Bureau Mark Gebhards told RFD Illinois on Friday that they are putting out a call to action: “We have had a lot of concern ever since the Biden Administration came out and said they were going to basically do away with the Trump Administration rule, and in essence, kind of go back and rewrite a rule. We are already seeing in the development of this rule that we are going to go back to the Obama era-type rule that had us in a great deal of opposition and concern because of the impact that it will have on our farmers and farming operations in terms of how you define a navigable [body of water], how you define the nexus if you will of these waters, and how U.S. EPA and the Illinois EPA have jurisdiction over these waters and the implications of that.”

Gebhards says Farm Bureau members will be able to let their voice be heard in the upcoming comment period before its possibly implemented: “As this rule is put into the comment period, and we anticipate that will probably happen in the next couple of weeks. We fully intend to issue a call-to-action to our membership to weigh in on that comment period and to provide, again, the points of concern that we will have and why this just will not work. It’s frankly not necessary to have that kind of over-regulation. So, there’s more to come on WOTUS, but there will be a call to action, I would anticipate here probably just prior to Christmas.”

Farm Bureau members will given instructions on how file witness slips and opinions in the call to action within the next few weeks. The Illinois Farm Bureau issued their opposition to the roll back on WOTUS back in June.

The Illinois State Police has announced progress on the state’s FOID renewal backlog.

In a press release today, the ISP Firearms Services Bureau says it is currently processing FOID renewal applications in 38 calendar days. Statutory mandate requires FOID renewal applications to be processed within 60 business days.

ISP Trooper Jason Wilson explains how much the backlog has fallen since November of last year: “When we look at the November numbers in 2020, there were over 138,000 backlogged FOID renewal applications, and now, as of today, we are down to 7,800 and that’s also including all of the applications that have come in throughout the year. We are working as hard as we can to try to get this taken care of, and we do understand the frustration out there. We are doing everything possible to make sure that we can get that [number] down and hopefully the numbers from last year to this year prove that.”

ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly says the improvement in workflow shows that the backlog is heading in the right direction.

A federal agency has given a temporary reprieve to the Spire STL Pipeline a week ahead of a deadline that would have forced it to shut down.

The Journal Courier reports that federal regulators on Friday issued a temporary permit that will keep the pipeline operational through the winter and until a determination can be made about its fate. Spire says it hopes to work on being granted a long-term certificate of operation during the winter. Spire also filed an appeal on Friday with the U.S. Supreme Court to keep the pipeline operational. The Supreme Court in October refused to stay the decision by a U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s decision to vacate the permit for the pipeline.

STL Today reports that comments from the St. Louis-based gas utility have drawn widespread accusations of “fearmongering” from regulatory officials at FERC and the Missouri Public Service Commission, as well as from legal opponents at the Environmental Defense Fund surrounding Spire’s information campaign warning of potential winter gas outages, given the pipeline’s uncertain future.

A federal appeals court said in June that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission didn’t adequately demonstrate the pipeline was needed when it was granted approval for operation in 2018 and that it would have to cease operations by December 13th. The pipeline has been mired in legal trouble from the beginning, including a January 2020 lawsuit by the Environmental Defense Fund that says the pipeline was neither necessary or beneficial, and has irrevocably harmed the environment. The pipeline stretches from Scott County for 65 miles down into the Metro East.

According to the temporary order, Spire must continue to restore damage to the environment along the project’s right-of-way.

A new concept is coming to a historic venue on Jacksonville’s east end this coming week.

Proud Richard’s will be opening in the former Lonzerotti’s located at the former Jacksonville Train Depot building at 600 East State Street.

Owner and Executive Chef Joe Standley, a Jacksonville native, returned to the area last year and purchased the building in hopes of creating a new dining concept for the Jacksonville.

Standley says the menu will focus on seasonal dishes and locally produced ingredients: “Our main focus is on seasonality and trying to use local products at the peak of freshness. One, it allows us to bring a product to the customer that isn’t outrageously expensive because it’s in season; and two, it’s just the best quality and it’s the best way to keep dollars in the town. I think that attention to detail is really what is going to set us apart, and being able to be a little more fluid with our menu and being able to change and grow as we move along.”

Standley has already partnered with Mueller Farms in Bluffs, 4 Lees Farm in Virginia, Oak Tree Organics in Ashland, and Hand of Fate Brewery in Petersburg for ingredients and pieces for the food & beverage menu. Standley says local producers should reach out to him on Facebook if they also would like to partner with him for a farm-to-table relationship.

Standley says one of the things that he hopes the local community will take away from a meal at Proud Richard’s is trust: “I don’t want to give you something that I consider sub-par. I enjoy the idea of trying to be able to build this sense of trust with our guests. When you walk through this door, the menu may be different, but you can always come to know and expect the quality of food that we are going to serve here. That’s the relationship that I am trying to build.”

The restaurant will open on Wednesday. Reservations by phone are now available by calling 217-243-7151. The normal hours of operation will be Tuesday through Thursday 5-9PM, Friday and Saturday 5-10PM, and Sunday 4-8PM.