A plan to renovate Nichols Park Pool is back on the table. Jacksonville Mayor Andy Ezard says that the plans, dating back to 2019 to upgrade the facilities is now moving into the next phase.

Ezard says that the city is set to engage a local engineering firm with plans to move forward with possible upgrades after a vote by the City Council coming up Monday night: “Benton & Associates is the lead engineer on this, and they are going to help us. We are going to enter into an agreement with them as far as what we are doing. I think there will be some more discussion in part of the council, because this grant was for $400,000 and then the city matches another $400,000. However, when this grant was evolving, prices have gone up. Maybe this $800,000 project isn’t going to be $800,000. It might be over $1 million. Well, that maybe means the city has to kick in some extra funds if the council wants to go that direction. I think that since we’re going to do it, we need to do it right. I would be in agreement to kick in the extra money in whatever is, or to add features that may have not been talked about 2 or 3 years ago but now are more prevalent, and we should consider those.”

In the original plans, the city was expected to use an OSLAD grant through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to upgrade the gutter system, installing a new pool deck, replacing the surge tank, installing a new zero-depth entry and deck area. Talks of adding a child’s play area have also been discussed as an addition to the facility.

Ezard says the work on the pool is a part of a broader goal to update Nichols Park as a destination: “We are trying to keep Nichols Park relevant…We’ve got to bring it back where it’s a destination. It’s just kind of a stale park, and I think we are taking those necessary steps to keep it going.”

The authorization of the pool improvements is one of the items up for an authorization vote from the City Council for their monthly meeting Monday night at 6PM.

The House and Senate Redistricting Committees released an updated version of proposed Congressional maps late Saturday.

The committees say that the new maps account for public feedback and minority influence. The proposal can be viewed at www.ilhousedems.com/redistricting and www.ilsenateredistricting.com. The public is encouraged to provide feedback during additional hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday.

As for local representatives in this current iteration of the maps, Darin LaHood’s 18^th District goes away. He is now drawn into a proposed 16^th District that treks him northward into the same district with Adam Kinzinger.

Current 13^th District Congressman Rodney Davis would take over the entire listening area in the proposed 15^th District. The new 15th district stretches from Illinois’ western and eastern borders. Davis’ district would have over 20 counties and stretch from the Metro East in the south to just south of the Quad Cities in the north.

He would be drawn out of the 13^th District, which would encompass every major city in Central Illinois from Alton to Champaign. The 13^th would be vacant next year and likely go to Democratic Challenger Nikki Budzinski.

Mike Bost and Mary Miller would fight it out for southern Illinois in the newly proposed 12^th District.

Four Illinois GOP female Senators say that Governor J.B. Pritzker’s COVID-19 for daycare workers will hurt working mothers.

State Senators Terri Bryant, Sue Rezin, Sally Turner, and Jil Tracy released the following statement after Governor Pritzker’s announcement of the mandate this afternoon:

“The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating for families across the state, but women in the workforce have been especially impacted by this unprecedented health crisis. We witnessed countless parents struggling to find affordable and reliable child care for their children. And it was working mothers who were hit hardest, as they juggled their careers and child care during unpreceded circumstances.

“The reality is the most recent mandate is an attack on working mothers as they resume a more normal work schedule. Governor Pritzker’s action has the potential to exacerbate an already growing child care crisis in our state. It’s a shortsighted act that will diminish the already limited and sparse availability of child care to families in Illinois.”

The mandate will cover approximately 55,000 daycare center staff at over 2,800 DCFS-licensed facilities across the state. Staff in the facilities must receive their first dose of the vaccine by December 3rd with their final shot coming no later than January 3rd. If the workers cannot or refuse to vaccinate, they will be required to test for the virus at least once a week.

Regional Department of Corrections Facilities are slightly ahead of their colleagues when it comes to following Governor J.B. Pritzker’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate.

In FOIA-requested data obtained by WLS-ABC7 Chicago’s I-Team and Capitol Fax, Jacksonville Correctional Facility is showing 261 out of 425 corrections employees fully vaccinated, or roughly 61%. That’s well ahead of the 46% statewide. Western Correctional Facility in Mt. Sterling lags behind, showing 168 out of 460 employees reporting full vaccination, that just 37%. In late July, IDOC reported just 44% overall had been vaccinated.

The Illinois Department of Veteran’s Affairs is well ahead of IDOC across the board. Showing just under 75% of the employees fully vaccinated across the state, with just under 81% having at least one dose. The Quincy Veterans Home has 384 out of 476 employees have received at least one or both doses, amounting to 80.7%. According to Capitol Fax, IDVA has improved vastly since July, when the vaccination rate was just 64% across the board.

Jacksonville Correctional Facility is currently dealing with an outbreak of COVID-19. According to numbers released today, the Morgan County Health Department reports 31 cases connected to the facility.

Jacksonville School District 117 is looking at some alternative busing methods in the near future. The school board voted Wednesday night in favor of purchasing two smaller passenger vehicles for a cost of approximately $120,000.

Superintendent Steve Ptacek says it will alleviate the need to have Commercial Drivers Licensed-drivers and they can find other licensed drivers to transport students for the district: “Given the bus driver shortage throughout the state, given the requirement to provide daily transportation for our students to school, we have to think outside the box on ways that we can maximize our personnel to provide required transportation. These vehicles will allow individuals with a lesser license than a CDL to transport students to school in an emergency that we need their use, but with a driver’s license an individual can transport students to sporting events or activities, which we definitely faced the possibility of having to cancel some sporting events this Fall. Yes, this is a reaction. This is a response to the transportation shortage and the dire situation that districts throughout the state are facing.”

The vehicles will hold 10 passengers or less. Ptacek says the plan is to transport students on smaller teams and groups to events to free up CDL-bus drivers to perform their duties in the district. Ptacek also believes that using the smaller vehicles is more economically vialble and more efficient for the district’s needs.

The state is launching a new school safety initiative called Safe2Help Illinois.

Illinois Emergency Management Agency Spokesperson Rebecca Clark says it gives students an easy way to report concerns, whether it’s a suicidal friend, bullying, sexual assault, or threats of school violence: “If this is a critical, time sensitive kind of issue, we have the ability to funnel that information immediately to law enforcement; but in a lot of the cases, we are able to funnel this information to the school officials on the ground. One of the things that we think that is really unique about this program is that it’s really a voice for kids, whether they feel threatened, whether they are worried about one of their friends, maybe they know something and they just don’t feel comfortable telling an adult just yet.”

Safe2Help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and comes at no cost to school districts. Students can access the service via the website: safe2helpil.com. They will also find information to phone, text, email, and the mobile app.

One West Central Illinois business made the second round of Back 2 Business Grants released on Tuesday.

S & S School of Dance in Pittsfield was the lone business to receive grants in the area. They received $15,000. A total of 20 business in Springfield received approximately $1.1 million in the second round of grants, with the majority going to hotels and restaurants. The next closest area to see any funds in the program was the Pere Marquette Lodge in Grafton receiving $250,000.

The Back 2 Business Program has $250 million in American Rescue Plan funding to allocate to small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

So far, Morgan, Scott, Cass and Greene counties have been completely shut out of any funds from the program.

A Springfield State Representative is already lining up his next move beyond the General Assembly.

Current 99^th District Representative Mike Murphy announced early last month that he would not run in the newly drawn 108^th District Seat next year. Murphy said at the time he would not primary against current 95^th District Representative Avery Bourne. Under the current iteration of the state’s legislative maps that are being fought over in court, Bourne and Murphy are drawn together.

Murphy said last month that he feels Bourne is a future of the state Republican Party and hopes for her to continue. This morning on WTAX, Murphy doubled down on retiring from the legislature. Murphy said he’s applied for the job of president of the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce.

Bourne said in a press conference on Friday that she has hated the state remap process but said she would run next year regardless.

The City of Winchester officially broke ground on a half million dollar investment in their library today.

The Carnegie Library, built in 1910, is having a 1000 square foot extension to the west side of the library built. The addition is nearly a decade in the making and is being fully funded by grants from the Illinois State Library and the USDA Rural Development office.

Mayor Rex McIntire says its an investment in the future of the city: “This is a big thing for the City of Winchester. It’s great for our community, because it’s great for our youth of the community. They are our future, and we have to take care of them. We belong to the CEO entrepreneurship program of Morgan and Scott County. We supported it from the very beginning. This place runs right into the same ballpark as that. It helps get your youth interested in the community and hopefully you can keep them here. I’m very proud of the fact that the last three years our population has not declined. It had for twenty years previous to that. With the last three years, we actually had a slight increase. It was only a half of a percent but that is better than losing people.”

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McIntire says that the investments in the library, the downtown area, the pool, and future plans for upgrading city streets has led to local economic development, and has been a key for Winchester maintaining its population by attracting younger families. The need for the upgrade to the library comes on the heels of the youth reading program needing more space.

Representatives from the USDA said that Winchester’s library grant was due to funds made available by the federal government for the 2019 Mississippi and Illinois River flooding. They said several of the grants went out along the western portion of the state, but Winchester’s $331,000 grant for the library was the largest that has been given in over 30 years. The city also received initially $188,250 from the Illinois State Library for the project. The USDA Rural Development Office partnered with Congressman Darin LaHood’s office, and in a matter of approximately 30 days was able to secure the remaining funds to get the project started. The project is under the direction of Trotter General Contracting out of Rushville. Dwight Reynolds of the USDA presented the library with a placard commemorating the grant.

Descendants of A.P. Grout, who originally deeded the land that the library sets on in 1910, were also on hand yesterday. The Griner Family deeded the extra portion of the property so the addition could be added. Craig Aossey of Frankfort, Kentucky and Winchester High School graduate, did the architect renderings for the project.

McIntire says the ground-breaking today was a long time coming: “The first application for the State Library grant, I think was made in 2010. That was three years prior to my term as mayor. Mayor [Dave] Newman was here at that time. They worked with the Library Board and they applied for the grant, and as Library Chair Merrilyn Fedder mentioned today, they were successful in submitting the application but the state just ran out of money to fund it.”

Mark Shaffer, Construction Grant Consultant for the Illinois State Library said during the ceremony that the library’s addition is an extension of Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White’s emphasis on the importance of local public libraries. Shaffer commended retired librarian Darlene Smith, the Winchester Library Board, and the city for remaining persistent. Shaffer also commented on the Prairie Style construction of the library, and how the addition will stick with the unique architecture.

McIntire estimates that the addition to the library will be completed and honored with a ribbon cutting sometime next Spring.

Springfield’s second largest long-term care facility is closing by the end of the year.

Heritage Health-Springfield plans to close on December 17^th. The closure will displace more than 100 residents and 180 employees. The facility has been open by 1985 and is jointly owned by nonprofit Memorial Health and for-profit Heritage Operating Group and operated by Heritage as managing partner.

According to a letter from the group, three primary factors led to the decision to close. The release says the COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented operating costs, the inability to hire and retain workers, and reimbursement from the Illinois Medicaid program has not kept pace with the accelerated operating costs.

Chief Operating Officer Ben Hart told the State Journal Register that patients will be assisted in transferring to other Heritage facilities and non-Heritage facilities. The group manages more than 50 facilities throughout Illinois. The facilities include sites in Petersburg, Beardstown, and Jacksonville.

Heritage spokesperson Melissa Beaver also told the SJ-R employees affected by the scheduled closure will be offered jobs at other Heritage facilities in central Illinois. An inquiry by WLDS on how this would effect operations in Jacksonville and Beardstown has not been returned.