Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White has announced his annual campaign to target scofflaws who abuse disability parking at shopping centers around the state during the retail season.

The message of the operation is simple according to Secretary of State Spokesperson Beth Kaufman, ‘If you don’t belong there, don’t park there’: “It’s a statewide shopping mall effort, and we will kick off in Chicago, Springfield, and Fairview Heights. Throughout the holiday season, enforcement details will be going on statewide. Parking in one of those spots without a placard can be up to a $350 fine, and parking there by misusing someone else’s placard can be a $600 fine.”

If you get caught using a deceased person’s disability placard, you get fined as much as $2,500 and lose your license for a year. Currently, there are over 530,000 permanent placards, over 34,000 meter-exempt placards; over 50,000 disability labeled license plates; and over 6,900 disabled veterans plates in the state.

Secretary White urges individuals to report abuse of parking spaces for people with disabilities by calling 217-785-0309. Callers should be prepared to report placard and license plate numbers, as well as the location of vehicles. People can also report abuse via the Secretary of State’s website at ilsos.gov and complete the Parking Program for Persons with Disabilities Abuse Complaint Form.

Local unemployment numbers fell for the seventh straight month. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says the seventh straight month of decline in unemployment is also true for the rest of the state. Jobs were up in all fourteen major metropolitan areas in Illinois.

Locally, Morgan County’s unemployment rate fell to 3.8%. A similar decline occurred in neighboring counties of Scott, Cass, Brown, Sangamon, and Greene. Most all of West Central Illinois is below 4% unemployment.

The largest job growth in the state metro areas were in Carbondale, Chicago, and the Quad Cities. The industries that saw job growth in a majority of metro areas included: Leisure and Hospitality; Transportation, Warehousing and Public Utilities; Wholesale Trade, Other Services and Government; Manufacturing; Mining and Construction, Professional and Business Services and Education and Health Services.

HSHS St. John’s in Springfield is relaxing its visitor policy.

Starting today, the hospital will allow two visitors per patient in virtually all settings, including inpatient visits, the surgery waiting area, and the emergency department.

Visitation throughout the hospital had been restricted to just one person since earlier this year due to COVID-19.

Some restrictions remain in place, including a mask requirement for all visitors, and a rule that visitors must be 18 or older unless they are the parent of a child receiving care.

The Illinois Department of Employment Security announced Monday that unemployment benefits’ disbursement is going through a major overhaul.

IDES Acting Director Kim Richards says the decision to revamp payment options came after KeyBank decided to stop providing debit cards for unemployment insurance benefit purposes: “Beginning on December 27th, claimants who defaulted to a debit card option as the preferred method of payment will begin receiving paper checks instead of the benefits being placed on a debit card. The department will continue to make benefit payments as normal to those claimants who chose to receive them via direct deposit.”

To ensure there is no interruption or extended gaps in benefit payments to claimants, IDES has contracted with Chase bank to issue the paper checks. Benefit payments will be made via paper check rather than a debit card. The press release on Monday didn’t say whether IDES is trying to make arrangements with another vendor for debit card payments.

Direct deposit of unemployment benefits to the claimant’s banking institution is still available. While claimants will still have access to remaining funds on their KeyBank debit card, no further payments will be made to those cards beginning December 27th. The KeyBank cards will work as usual until that date.

Richards says those who have a debit card should consider switching to direct deposit: “If you are currently receiving a debit card from KeyBank in order to receive your unemployment insurance benefits, we want to encourage you to visit the Illinois Department of Employment Security’s website and consider switching your method of payment to direct deposit prior to December 27th.”

Step-by-step instructions on switching to direct deposit can be found in the Direct Deposit Guide on the IDES website at ides.illinois.gov/payment. For those not selecting a direct deposit option, paper checks will be mailed to the address associated with the claimant’s account. Residents should create an ILogin account to ensure their address is up-to-date.

Information about creating an ILogin account can be found at ides.illinois.gov/ilogin.

A Murrayville man who was arrested in connection to several break-ins in Murrayville and Woodson over the summer is heading to prison.

27 year old Dustin R. Black pled guilty to theft and violation of an order protection yesterday in Morgan County Court.

Black was arrested by Murrayville-Woodson Police on July 13^th after Black was pinpointed as a suspect who had broken into Murrayville Town Hall removing tools and equipment. Black was also a suspect in several other break-ins around the Murrayville area that also had items taken out of semis, along with a burglary to a Murrayville Fire engine. Black was later apprehended after returning to Town Hall later that night. At the time of his apprehension, Black told police he was armed with a pistol.

The order of protection violation came on July 14^th after a party familiar with Black had placed the order at the Morgan County Courthouse that morning after Black’s first appearance in court.

Yesterday, Black was sentenced to 2 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, given credit for time served, plus ordered to pay fees and court costs.

Governor J.B. Pritzker signed Congressional maps into law yesterday.

The new U.S. House District map moves Rodney Davis into representing the local area and moves Darin LaHood to the north. Davis has yet to announce whether he will run for re-election in the newly drawn district. LaHood says he will seek re-election in his new district to the north.

Pritzker says the new maps, that saw Illinois lose one Congressional seat due to population loss, aligns with the Voting Rights Act that ensures equitable representation in Congress across the state.

Change Illinois called the signing of the maps brazenly partisan and will pre-determine winners and losers prior to elections. Change Illinois also called the map undemocratic and undermines voters’ choices.

State Senator Steve McClure echoed similar concerns in a released statement late yesterday, saying the map was passed in a non-transparent manner. McClure called the map one of the most gerrymandered in the history of the United States. McClure also chided Pritzker for breaking his promises by signing the map.

The new Congressional maps go into effect immediately.

A Greene County non-profit is disbanding after two decades in existence.

The North Greene Salvation Army is disbanding due to a lack of membership. The Greene Prairie Press reports that only 3 members in the group, and all three are unable to keep up with the work in supporting the community due to health concerns.

The North Greene Salvation Army chapter was chartered in March 2001. Karen Meehan, one of the remaining members told the Prairie Press that one of the reasons they are unable to find members is that there is a background check and training required before one can be a part of the group now. When the group first started, the non-profit was completely on a volunteer basis and full of members from the local community.

The North Greene chapter was known for providing assistance to people needing transportation to medical appointments, assistance in paying for utilities, and providing food vouchers to the needy.

Anyone who has interest in trying to keep the group going in the North Greene area can contact Cathy Hunnicutt at 217-490-3148.

An area community college shuttered all of its locations today due to a ransomware attack.

Lewis & Clark Community College in Godfrey announced today it was closing its campuses after experiencing a ransomware attack overnight. Laura Inlow, manager of marketing and public relations for Lewis & Clark told Riverbender that leadership and IT personnel were investigating the attack, the extent of damage to the college’s systems, and in the meantime all computer information systems had been taken offline.

Lewis & Clark officials did not indicate how long systems would be offline and the college’s community would return. Lewis & Clark officials have told students to not attempt to use their logins to access any campus systems during this time, including laptops.

18^th District Congressman Darin LaHood has introduced a bill that would allow the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area to be reauthorized by Congress.

The bill would allow the state to allow the Heritage Area to continue its operations through 2038 by ensuring federal funds would remain flowing.

The heritage area covers 43 counties and partners with communities, organizations, and individuals in promoting the cultural and historical significance of Abraham Lincoln across Central Illinois. In a press release announcing the bipartisan reauthorization act, Executive Director of the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area and its managing partner the Looking for Lincoln Coalition Sarah Watson says that one community in the area saw a 47% sales tax revenue increase during tourist season. Watson called the Lincoln National Heritage Area an economic engine for many of the small communities it works with, as well as stimulates local economies due to the public-private partnerships created.

The ALNHA was designated by Congress in 2008 through legislation introduced by LaHood’s father, Ray, who was serving as Representative at the time.

LaHood was joined by 13^th District Congressman Rodney Davis, 17^th District Congresswoman Cheri Bustos, 16^th District Congressman Adam Kinzinger, 12^th District Congressman Mike Bost, and fellow Congress people Mike Quigley, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Robin Kelly, Bill Foster, Brad Schneider, and Bobby Rush as original co-sponsors of the bill.

Residents of Waverly will be seeing a large solar farm to their east in the coming years.

WLDS has gathered more information on a solar farm being installed in Sangamon County that passed the Sangamon County Board last month.

The 3,250 acre project will encompass the unincorporated township of Lowder in southwestern Sangamon County along the Illinois Route 104 corridor, and will have parcels along the Morgan-Sangamon County Line up to Ackerman Road to the east.

According to the project managers of the Double Black Diamond Solar project, Boston-based solar development company Swift Current Energy, the $535 million project will create nearly 1,000 jobs beginning next year and generate around $2 million in tax revenue per year. 

Double Black Diamond will be constructed over a year’s time starting at the end of 2022 with a lifespan of the project set for approximately 35 years. The site is expected to generate 592.8MW of energy, enough to power 85,000 homes.

Molly Berns, executive director of the Springfield-Sangamon County Regional Planning Commission told WICS Newschannel 20 on November 10^th that the power produced from the solar farm will be fed back to the MISO electric grid, which stretches from Minnesota to Louisiana.

According to Swift Current Energy’s website, they also have small scale solar and wind farms in Christian, Logan, and Mason counties.