Illinois’ Back2Business Grant applications opened in the state on Wednesday. Members of local businesses and regional and public business organizations gathered in Downtown Jacksonville on Wednesday to talk about the program and answer questions around the launch.

Jacksonville Regional Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Kristin Jamison says that members of all 4 key Morgan County and Jacksonville business organizations have been designated as community navigators for the grant program by the State of Illinois: “We – meaning Jacksonville Regional Economic Development Corporation, Jacksonville Main Street, the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Jacksonville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau – are all community navigators for the Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity’s Back 2 Business grant. This is one of what we assume will be a number of programs that are rolled out through the American Rescue Plan funds. As community navigators, we are here just to help facilitate this program to small businesses and non-profits that might qualify for funding. There is $250 million throughout this program, and we again, anticipate that there will be more funding that will roll down in the coming months. We will serve as community navigators through the end of this calendar year at least. It could go on further. That’s what we know at this time.”

Jacksonville Main Street Executive Director Judy Tighe says that all of the business organizations will help any potential applicants with the process and answer any questions along the way: “If anybody has questions or trouble with the application, we can help navigate them through that and explain the program to help people identify whether or not they are eligible, what kinds of documentation they’ll be required to submit. There are a lot of factors in the application process that can get you extra priority points, and obviously those that fell through the cracks or receive as much funding as expected through other programs are given consideration.”

Executive Director of the Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce Lisa Musch says that all businesses who believe they qualify or have applied for other programs in the past should attempt to apply: “We do want to encourage all of our small businesses to apply even if you have already received some funding in some way. That just puts you a little bit lower on the priority list, but it doesn’t mean you won’t get funded. The application is very simple. The portal this time is also allowing you to check your status. The program is pretty quick – about 8 weeks turnaround time this time around. It’s very similar to the Business Interruption Grant, but different in that you can continue to take a look at your application. You can check the status and make sure you have everything submitted appropriately, and then, you can also check to see what decisions have been made in regards to your application. We think it will be a really good way for businesses to keep track of what it is, and it’s a very simple app. A lot of people already have this information gathered because they have applied for other grants. We encourage you to go ahead and throw your hat into the ring. You might as well.”

Musch says there aren’t many restrictions on how a business spends the funds compared to the previous grant opportunities: “There aren’t a lot of restrictions except for if you have already received funding from one of the other programs, the expenses that were paid for with that funding cannot be utilized for this funding as well. For a lot of people, [those other grants] didn’t cover all their expenses. This is just an add on.”

Executive Director of the Jacksonville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau Brittany Henry says information on the grants, paper applications, and her office like the others are open for any business owners, especially those in the hospitality industry, to come by and ask questions: “We have some folders in our office that has all the information if people need hard copies. There is $25 million allocated for hotels in this program. That is an industry that the Convention & Visitors Bureau is here to help with. Those industries that have been hit really hard that haven’t necessarily received that funding in the past, this is for them. If businesses have received any PPP loans, that seems to be question that I have gotten quite a bit in my office, are they still eligible for funding – yes, you can still apply.”

Tighe says that are limits on the amount of money that businesses will get through this program: “Most of the grants will be $5,000 up to $150,000. A lot of that is going to be based on your business’ income levels in comparison to prior years.”

Musch adds that total losses in revenue will also be factored in: “The amount a business receives will be based upon the total loss in gross revenue from 2020 to 2019 divided by 6, and then, increased to the nearest $5,000 increment. So, DCEO is using a pretty standard formula in how they decide how much money people are receiving.

The program is on an 8-week rolling application process. Jamison says when all the funds are distributed, the grant program ends. Jamison says there are some set aside amounts for certain industries: “The amounts include $100 million for businesses in disproportionately impacted areas. That is not what this area qualifies for. Also, $25 million for those that applied for B.I.G. grants but did not receive that grant, $80 million for specific hard-hit industries like hotels, $25 million for restaurants that didn’t receive Restaurant Revitalization funds, and $30 million for arts businesses and organizations.”

Jacksonville Main Street falls under the Illinois Main Street and National Main Street spoke of the community navigator program while JREDC, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Area Convention & Visitors Bureau fall under the Illinois Department of Public Health spoke of the system. There are 21 spokes in the navigator system that perform the same duties to act as facilitators to the state’s grant and various economic revitalization funding.

For the first time during the pandemic, sole proprietorships are now eligible for relief funds. Blessings on State owner Gwen Eyer says her revenues struggled over the last year, and the grant program would be a way for to recoup losses and various costs over the last year and a half: “Looking only at cancellations, not looking at lost revenue of those who might have booked – during the pandemic I can show $7,990+ in cancelled revenue. They were on the books – then off books. They were coming, and then, they weren’t. That’s nearly $8,000. We are maintaining a historic home. We are preserving a historic home. We need any money we can get. That was my ‘paint one side of the house’ money right there in lost revenue, so having any kind of opportunity as a sole proprietor is needed. I work hard to run my business, and to run it professionally. We have a very high reputation, but to do that, I need money. I need guests so that I can live in that home and enjoy being an innkeeper. You can’t be an innkeeper if no guests come.”

The arts and performance venues are also included in this new program. Kristin Davidsmeyer of the Jacksonville Arts Association says they hope to get a piece of the funding to make up for many of the fundraisers and programs cancelled due to the pandemic: “Some of our big fundraisers were postponed and cancelled. We own a historic building that we have to maintain upkeep on. We still keep our gallery director on staff. Half of our art openings were cancelled. We have hosts that run the gallery hours, and they were laid off. This is very exciting to be able to apply. Arts is usually kind of on the low end of the totem pole. We had classes that we had to cancel last year – the pottery classes, the adult classes, the kids classes. We are planning on doing those again this Fall, so fingers crossed.”

Bev Coats of World Travel says that the travel industry and her business is still dealing with the pandemic and all of the delays and problems associated with travel restrictions associated with tourism: “The revenues have been drastically down and now the issue is with travel is what you need to do to go anywhere. A booking that used to take you maybe 30 minutes to do is maybe taking you 2 hours to do today. A lot more time has gone into it, but I will say, we had a lot of people that didn’t use a travel agent that called us to help. We helped those that we could. A lot of them we were not allowed to because they had not booked through us, but we helped every single person that had an issue throughout this whole pandemic, and we will continue to do that because it is so important for people.”

The application portal for the Back2Business grant can be found on illinois.gov/dceo or by visiting any of the four business organizations’ websites or social media accounts. Office hours and paper applications and questions that need to be answered in person can be found at the following locations and phone numbers:

Jacksonville Main Street
222 West State Street, Jacksonville IL 62650
Phone: (217) 245-6884

Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce
155 West Morton Avenue, Jacksonville IL 62650
Phone: (217) 245-2174

Jacksonville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
310 East State Street, Jacksonville IL 62650
Phone: (217) 243-5678 or toll free at (800) 593-5678

Jacksonville Regional Economic Development Corporation
620 East State Street, Jacksonville IL 62650
Phone: (217) 479-4627

The Village of South Jacksonville Code Enforcement Office appears to be in a bind over a civil contract entered into by Mayor Tyson Manker.

According to documents obtained by WLDS, on July 26^th, Manker entered into an administrative agreement with village resident Linda Diddens to clean up her property located at 122 West Vandalia. According to the agreement, the residence has been in violation of multiple code provisions throughout the years, which have been documented in the Code Enforcement Office.

Village Police Chief Eric Hansell says that the agreement directs village resources to clean up the property and absolves the village of liability in cleaning up the property: “[Mayor Manker] had made an administrative agreement between Linda Diddens and himself or actually the Village of South Jacksonville to go in and provide a dumpster using village funds and village employees and/or volunteers to assist in cleaning her property, which would be throwing away personal property or whatever is outside that they deem necessary. It absolves the village of any wrongdoing if something that she didn’t want thrown away got thrown away or a tree got cut down that she didn’t want cut down. Basically, he entered into a civil contract with her, which prohibits the police department from enforcing any codes violations at her residence; basically circumventing what we need to do as a codes enforcement or a village.”

Hansell says he doesn’t have a problem with the village helping a resident out who doesn’t have the funding to clean up their property or who are elderly or physically unable to clean up their property. He says in those situations the village has volunteered to help in the past: “We have done that with a couple of residents in town that just don’t have the funding. They don’t have the ability because they are elderly, but what we did was we provided volunteer labor and I went on my Saturday off work and we cleaned up brush and piled it out front [of the residence]. Then, we got rid of it for them. They were a special circumstance. The way that I look at is that the village had allowed them to get to the level [of non-compliance] that they were, and then all of a sudden we imposed restrictions on them and expect them to clean it up when they are 80 and 85 years old, and they don’t have the physical ability nor the money to do it. We got a church group that came and helped cut brush, drag it to the curb, and we ended up getting it hauled off. Now, we did use Village resources to haul it off. We had the employees load it in a backhoe and a truck and then hauled it to the brush drop off. It was a community effort that really didn’t cost anything hardly to the Village, and it assisted the elderly residents in getting their property into compliance.”

Hansell says that the two residents who have had the brush clean up done were enrolled through the LEARN program at the Jacksonville and South Jacksonville Police Departments, which is a community-oriented program that helps residents address life, health, and safety issues they have when they don’t have income or means to address those problems.

Hansell believes that the Diddens case now absolves his department from enforcing the codes of the village, and if there is further non-compliance, the village would have to go to civil court to settle the matter with Ms. Diddens.

The Village Trustees said at Tuesday night’s special session meeting that they were made aware of the contract at last month’s business meeting. Trustees also were told that Village Attorney Rob Cross had not seen the contract before it was issued to Ms. Diddens.

Diddens’ contract now is on hold as the village board determines the next steps to determine the contract’s validity and the village’s obligation to fulfill the agreement.

Illinois Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin were in Peoria with Governor J.B. Pritzker on Thursday to celebrate the heroism of the C-130 Aircraft Fleet of the Illinois National Guard.

Duckworth was questioned about her opinions of the Afghanistan withdrawal. Duckworth says her attention in the situation is to getting Americans, allies, and one of her constituents out of the country: “Right now, my focus is on getting all Americans out of Afghanistan and getting the thousands of brave Afghani men and women who worked with the United States out of the country. We can talk later on about the draw down and all of that, but right now, our focus needs to be on making sure we leave no American behind, and especially for me, the priority is Mark Frerichs who is from Illinois, who has been held by the Taliban for well over a year. We need to get him home.” Frerichs, a Navy veteran from Lombard, was kidnapped near Kabul in February 2020 while working as a civil engineer. The State Department last year offered a reward of up to $5 million for information in his case. The New York Times reported in November that Frerichs was still in custody with the Taliban while the Trump Administration was negotiating a deal with them.

Duckworth says that the debate over the choices of the U.S. To remain in the country for the last two decades can be made later. She says that the country let troops down by not updating the mission for them in Afghanistan: “We are letting our troops down when we send them into harm’s way based on a debate that happened 20 years ago and has not yet been updated. Where we need to be right now, today, is focused on getting Americans out of Afghanistan, getting our interpreters and those who worked with us and to whom we made a promise out of Afghanistan. I will tell you if we do not do that, no one will ever work with the U.S. ever again.”

Duckworth has already signed on to a letter asking the Biden Administration to expedite the refugee and immigration process out of the country. The Taliban pledged Tuesday that they will be offering an amnesty period while the U.S. continues to evacuate allies and citizens out of the country. It’s a promise that Duckworth and several others view with heavy suspicion. 2,448 U.S. Troops have been killed in the ongoing war, with over 20,000 severely wounded during their service overseas.

The U.S. has pressed the Taliban on Frerichs’ safe return, saying his case will weigh on the legitimacy of any future Taliban-led government in Afghanistan. Duckworth and Durbin sent a letter to the Biden Administration on Tuesday asking that Frerichs’ release be included in any further negotiations with Taliban leaders.

The Illinois Department of Transportation is putting out their annual call for Snowbirds.

The program hires temporary workers to help remove snow and ice from Illinois’ state roadways.

IDOT Spokesperson Maria Castaneda says that the snowbirds are on call when the calendar turns to winter: “These jobs will be posted beginning next week. We will be looking to fill these positions throughout the Fall, bringing people aboard in time to remove all that snow that hits us anytime, but typically around November. For this type of position, you do have to have a Commercial Drivers License – that’s that Class A or B or the CDL; and we also do require you to pass a criminal background check. Then, the applicants are selected based on availability, experience, and their qualifications.”

For additional information, including details on the application process, pay and the potential for benefits, idot.illinois.gov for more information.

The Greene County Board and Spire STL Pipeline appear to have reached a settlement on litigation surrounding damages to the county’s roads.

The county initiated a lawsuit against the natural gas pipeline company in the spring of last year after in September 2019 after a Roodhouse Township roadway was made impassable. The county had accused the company of violating the road use agreement by not properly or improperly repairing the roads.

The Greene Prairie Press reports that Greg Ray of Craig & Craig LLC, which had been representing the county in the matter, presented an offer from Spire for settlement in the amount of $825,000, which Ray suggested the Greene County board take. Spire presented the offer on August 6^th. According to the Greene Prairie Press, the offer is an increase of a little over $166,000 from a previous offer of settlement. The county and highway commissioners had originally sought over $2 million in damages.

Accordingly, Greene County State’s Attorney Caleb Briscoe said via email to the board that they should accept the offer as many of the townships also included in the suit had previously settled with Spire in their disputes.

After attorney fees, the county will split a little over $800,000 between White Hall, Roodhouse, Carrollton, and Kane to repair roadways.

Spire is still seeking to have their Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity reinstated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission after having it revoked back in June after a Washington D.C. Court of Appeals ruled that FERC didn’t properly follow legal requirements in issuing the certificate. Ray told the Greene Prairie Press that he was glad that the county was able to even be given a settlement in the midst of Spire’s other legal woes.

A nearby school district that was placed on probationary status for not following the governor’s mask mandate for schools has reversed course.

WGEM reports that Camp Point Central called a special board meeting on Monday night and decided to fully follow the mask mandate in a 7-0 vote.

The School Board had voted 3-2 last Thursday in favor of making masks optional or students with two members of the board absent.

Camp Point School Board President Jason Ippensen told WGEM today after many discussions and weighing the pros and cons of the situation, the board believed this was the best course of action at this time.

Camp Point was listed with now 32 schools on probationary status by the Illinois State Board of Education yesterday for not complying with the mask mandate. The probationary status warned the schools that they could have their recognition status stripped, their state funding taken away, and their ability to compete in IHSA/IESA sanctioned sports revoked.

Several parents were in Springfield yesterday at ISBE’s monthly meeting continuing to protest against the mask mandate.

The Illinois Department of Public Health today announced it has lifted the “do not consume” advisory for fish caught in the Illinois River.

These changes are the result of continued sampling by the Fish Contaminant Monitoring Program. Fish consumption advisories are based primarily on protecting sensitive populations, including women of childbearing age, pregnant women, fetuses, nursing mothers, and children younger than 15 years of age. While there is no known immediate health hazard from eating contaminated fish from any Illinois water body, there are concerns about the effects of long-term, low-level exposure to chlordane, PCBs, and methylmercury in fish.

For the first time since the 1970s, there is no longer a “Do Not Eat” advisory for fish in the Illinois River due to declining PCB concentrations. The statewide methylmercury advisory for consumption of predatory fish species remains in effect for all Illinois waterbodies, as they eat other fish leading to a higher concentration of the hazardous element. Fish advisories can be found on the IDPH website where you can view an interactive fish advisory map to learn which Illinois waters have a special mercury advisory or a PCB or chlordane advisory, and find additional resources.

The Illinois State Board of Education placed 21 schools in the state on probation status for refusing to enforce the state’s mask mandate for students ordered by Governor J.B. Pritzker on August 4^th.

One of those schools may end up causing issues with the WIVC sports calendar if they are unrecognized by ISBE.

Camp Point Central District #3 joined the list of the 20 other schools from all around the state who received letter that they either comply or risk losing their recognition, state funding, and participation in IHSA/IESA sanctioned sports. WGEM reports that the Camp Point School Board voted on Thursday, August 12th by a vote of 3-2 to make masks optional for students.

In a post on the school’s Facebook page, Camp Point officials say if they lose their recognition status that the district would lose 40% of its budget through the state’s Evidence Based Funding Formula and if state grants were factored in, that would be about 50% of the funding.

Camp Point currently competes in the WIVC North in football.

This story is developing.

Village of South Jacksonville Police Chief Eric Hansell has been back on the job for a week since his reinstatement. Hansell however has not had all of the tools he needs to do his job effectively.

Hansell revealed to the Village Board of Trustees last night that he was still locked out of his email and that the Freedom of Information Act designated officer at the Police Department had been removed by Mayor Tyson Manker back in May.

Hansell says currently he also doesn’t have access to the village’s civil asset forfeiture fund from drug busts: “For the drug fund, I can’t put any money into the bank. I can’t transfer any money out of the bank because I’m not a signatory on the account nor do I have authorization to create an account, which is something we need to do to remain in compliance with the Illinois State Police requirements for [asset] seizures. That situation comes up here and there when we seize money or assets, I have to be able to have access to those. Hopefully, we will be able to get that rectified.”

Hansell says he currently has to go through former interim chief Sergeant Brian Wilson to get his email: “I did end up getting, through a temporary password that had been provided to Sergeant Wilson, access to email; but I needed to get everything transferred over back into my name. I’m still getting and receiving emails but it ends up going out or coming in under someone else’s name instead of my actual name. We are kind of working through it. I’d just like to get things cleaned up and back to where they should be pretty quick.”

Hansell also revealed to the board during old business that the village currently isn’t in compliance with FBI mandates that any village employee or person handling the village police’s server information, emails, or information technology be certified with the FBI for special training. The FBI mandates that all people handling criminal justice matters be aware of certain disclosures and requirements when handling police reports and investigations. Hansell told the village board that Mayor Tyson Manker refused to sign on to compliance with Sergeant Wilson when Wilson presented Manker the affidavit from the FBI for compliance.

Hansell says that by being non-compliant the village’s police department faces dire consequences if they were to be audited: “We could lose our credentials as a department, and our access to any FBI information. It requires a contract being signed by the Village President or Mayor if he is going to administer the program. If he or she refuses to sign it, then they can’t administer the program. They cannot be ‘in the know’ or have access to the information that is sent and received through our email system. You have to sign a contract and you have to take a training, and depending upon your level of access to the system or administration of the system, you have to achieve either a Level One or a Level Two certification [with the FBI.] For an administrator, it would be a Level Two.”

Hansell says that his department also cannot access the FOIA system in the village through the new website to comply with FOIA requests through his department. Village Trustee Paula Belobradjic-Stewart asked Village Clerk Amy Scoggins to document the lack of access in the village’s minutes until Hansell’s access and compliance to the systems are restored.

Hansell was also instructed by a 4-2 vote by Village Trustees to restore keycode access to Village Hall. Mayor Manker had revoked the trustees’ entry into the building after hours on May 10^th by executive order. Trustee Mike Broaddus voted against the measure citing past administrations’ malpractice at Village Hall. Trustee John Stewart also voted no but did not provide a reason. Broaddus eventually rescinded his no vote saying, he wished to not have access personally but understood that during Mayor Manker’s leave of absence that trustees should have access to conduct business after normal office hours.

In other business, the board voted to have Trustee Tom Jordan be the person to oversee day-to-day operations at Village Hall with Manker’s absence. Trustee Belobradjic-Stewart nominated Jordan because he was retired while the remaining trustees all still work. The motion passed 4-1, with Jordan abstaining and Trustee John Stewart voting ‘no’. Trustees also voted to restore various access and an office to Village Clerk Amy Scoggins, which all passed unanimously.

Trustees debated for about 30 minutes last night on the itinerary of proposed events for Freedom Fest’s 3-day schedule.

Several trustees were having a hard time reconciling the budget of the event solely to the village’s tourism funds, which they say must be an event that brings people to the Village of Jacksonville to use the village’s businesses and hotels. Over half of the board conceded that the event had been marketed as a fundraiser for the village’s police and fire departments and not as a tourist event to attract outside visitors.

The board took action on four of the five main events slated for the fest. The World War II Memorial, the 5K run/walk, the parade, and the Little Miss/Mister pageants were all approved to proceed. Police detail for the 5K and the Parade, which overlap in time, will have to be worked out in the coming weeks, according to Chief Hansell. Hansell says he only currently has 3 full-time officers on staff. The BBQ Cook off was officially cancelled after it was announced that no one had signed up. Village Treasurer Tiffanee Peters was instructed by the board to contact Jones Meat & Locker to cancel the meat order that was to be provided to participants for the cook off.

The final piece of Freedom Fest concerning live band entertainment has been tabled. The cost for Mason Light and Sound gave pause for concern, as the stage, sound, and lighting was potentially contracted for $9,000. Bands slated for the Saturday music line up have also been paid. However, village trustees were concerned about contracts. The board had never seen the contracts for the bands or the stage until approximately one week ago during a Village finance committee meeting.

Village Trustee Tom Jordan says there are also other concerns about the event: “We are still very concerned about the COVID [uptick], and if that would be a factor on whether we can hold these events. The cost, which we were not privy to a lot of the costs it entailed, also gives some reason for concern.”

Trustees conceded that more information on contracts with the scheduled bands and the stage company needed to be taken under advisement by Village Attorney Rob Cross. A possible finance committee meeting or special committee of the whole may be called to make a decision on the concerts within the next two weeks.