Three area entities and a local developer were honored for their work in the community last night.

The Jacksonville Regional Economic Development Corporation decided that an unusual year like 2020 warranted a different set of guidelines for choosing its 2020 Harold Cox Industry to the Year recipient. In fact, not one but three entities were recognized with the award last night for their annual meeting.

Since 1990, JREDC’s Existing Industry Committee has presented the Industry of the Year Award to a company exhibiting outstanding business development and activity that enhances regional economic viability. To mark the leadership and guidance provided to the Jacksonville region throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Jacksonville Memorial Hospital (formerly known as Passavant Area Hospital), Morgan County Health Department and Jacksonville/Morgan County Office of Emergency Management received the distinction of being named 2020 Industries of the Year.

JREDC also wanted to recognize an individual last night for their further investment in the Jacksonville community. They recognized Mike Hayes and The Hayes Group with the 2020 Champion Award. The Hayes Group has been steadily growing its operations in Jacksonville since 2005. The Hayes Group of companies has grown to include over 400 residential units and several hundred thousand square feet of commercial space, including the former A.C. Humko plant, Dunlap Center and former downtown U.S. Bank building, as well as five buildings on the former MacMurray College campus.

JREDC recognized the award winners as a part of an annual banquet and meeting at Waters Edge Winery last night.

The first round of Back 2 Business Grants was announced by Governor J.B. Pritzker today. Virtually all of West Central Illinois was shut out of the nearly $24 million announced in grants yesterday.

The closest to the region were 12 businesses in Springfield. Three of those businesses were large hotel chains receiving the maximum $250,000 benefit.

Overall, $224 million is left in the program to be distributed over the next several months. Eligible businesses are encouraged to apply before the October 13 deadline by visiting the DCEO website. Businesses in the listening area can visit the Jacksonville Regional Economic Development Corporation, Jacksonville Main Street, the Jacksonville Convention & Visitors Bureau, and the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce for help with applying for the program.

According to the list, 521 grants were announced today with the majority of those grants coming to businesses in Cook and DuPage Counties.

A South Jacksonville family was displaced overnight after a fire.

Reports of a structure fire came in to West Central Illinois dispatch at approximately 10:35 last night located at 216 East Greenwood Avenue.

According to initial reports, the south, front corner of the structure appears where the most damage from the fire occurred on the ranch-style, single story home that sits at the intersection of Greenwood Avenue and South Clay.

WLDS News is working to gather more information.

This story is developing.

Some delivery times for the U.S. Postal Service will begin slowing down permanently on Friday.

The U.S. Postal Service will start to “implement new service standards” for first class mail and periodicals — slowing its target delivery time by about 30%.

NPR reports that some of the changes will result in increased time for some pieces of mail going cross-country and other long distances. USPS Spokesperson Kim Frum told NPR that despite the slow-downs, 61% of first-class mail and 93% of periodicals will not be affected by these changes.

Single-piece first-class mail traveling in the same region will still have a two-day delivery time, but first-class packages will experience the slow-down.

Additionally, beginning on Sunday and ending December 26^th, the Postal Service will temporarily increase prices on all “commercial and retail domestic packages” because of the holiday season. The price increases will not affect international products.

The changes are a part of the Postal Service’s 10-year strategic plan that was announced by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy back in March. The plan was announced in order to make USPS more reliable and efficient.

Frum told NPR that the Postal Service will use more ground transportation, calling it more reliable and cost-effective than air transportation.

Last Friday, the Postal Service announced its standard for first-class mail delivery was met 83.6% of the time throughout the quarter ending June 30, in comparison to its 88.9% performance during the same period in 2020. USPS also reported a net loss of of $3 billion for the quarter ending June 30, compared with the $2.2 billion in the previous year.

It was a nearly record-breaking year at the Illinois State Fair this year. The Illinois Department of Agriculture said today the fair saw over 472,000 visitors pass through the gates this year, making it the second highest attendance for the fair since the Department of Ag began tracking attendance in 2014.

Attendance at this year’s fair was surpassed only by the historic records set in 2019. The first weekend of the 2021 fair also saw attendance numbers increase by over 15,000 people compared to 2019.

IL State Fair Spokesperson Krista Lisser says that the State Fair Board was glad things came back the way they did after a year off: “With the pandemic and everything going on, we were really happy with the State Fair numbers that came out in 2021, and if you were out here on the first weekend, you could tell that there was going to be another successful fair. There were a lot of people out here, and I think a lot of people just wanted to get out and have a sense of normalcy for a minute. It was a success for us to just actually be able to hold the fair to begin with. To be able to have these kind of numbers and see that there were a lot of families that were able to come out, have some fun, that the kids were able to show animals, and were able to do the things that we’ve been doing summer after summer; it was a highlight for us.”

Grandstand ticket sales and revenue saw over 44,500 tickets, generating over $1.5 million in revenue. Overall revenue numbers are not final, but the 2021 Illinois State Fair is estimating an overall revenue slightly over $5 million, ranking ninth for total revenue out of the last 20 years.

The 2022 Illinois State Fair is set to run August 11th-21st.

A Jerseyville man was arrested last week for a sex crime by White Hall Police for a warrant out of Macoupin County.

22 year old Matthew J. Brown of Jerseyville was booked into the Greene County Jail by White Hall Police at 1:54PM on Monday, September 20th for a Macoupin County warrant for aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

According to charging documents filed in Macoupin County Court on September 17th, Brown is accused of one count of criminal sexual assault, a Class 1 Felony, after he allegedly committed an act of sexual penetration by force to a minor on or about August 28th, 2020. Count 2 of the criminal information accuses Brown of aggravated criminal sexual abuse due to the age of the victim being between 13 and 17 years of age when the act occurred and Brown was more than 5 years older than the victim.

Brown is next due in Macoupin County Court for a preliminary hearing today at 1:30PM. He is currently housed at the Macoupin County Jail after a transfer from the Greene County Jail last week.

Thousands of pounds of DiGiorno Frozen Pizza are being recalled by Nestlé over mislabeling that could cause allergy concerns.

Nestlé USA Inc. is recalling 27,872 pounds of frozen DiGiorno Crispy Pan Crust pepperoni pizza, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced on Sunday.

The FSIS says the frozen pepperoni pizza product carton may actually contain frozen three-meat pizza, which is made with textured soy protein. Soy is an allergen that is not reflected on the label.

The batch in question was produced on June 30th, and shipped to stores and distribution centers nationwide. Nestlé was alerted to the problem after a consumer complained that a box labeled as pepperoni pizza actually contained a three-meat pizza, according to the FSIS press release.

There have been no confirmed reports of adverse reactions due to consumption of the pizzas, and the FSIS advises anyone concerned about an injury or illness to contact their health care provider. It’s also asking consumers to check their freezers for these particular boxes, and either throw them out or return them to their place of purchase.

Lot code 1181510721 and a “best buy” date of MAR2022 on the side of the package are the pizzas in question. Nestlé says if your not allergic to soy, it is safe to eat the pizzas.