South Jacksonville now has a way to claim costs when it is forced to keep a vehicle.

The Trustees approved the new storage fee ordinance, which was modeled after Jacksonville’s.

Village board president Dick Samples says the ordinance fills a hole that was left in the current village code.

He says the ordinance is patterned after Jacksonville’s ordinance when it comes to towed vehicles, or vehicles involved in a criminal investigation.

Samples says the village will now be able to collect fees, and offset the storage cost.

There will be a $50 administration fee, and a $35 per day storage fee, that must be paid in full before the vehicle is returned.

The board last night approved the new tax levy last night running about 4-point-7 percent higher than a year ago.

The board opted not to take any action to expand the number of gaming licenses in the village, and considered a bid for at least one new tornado siren. No action was taken.

An area county health department leader has been appointed as a co chair for a new partnership in Illinois aimed at developing a statewide public health blueprint.

Greene County public health administrator Molly Peters has been appointed co-chair for the SHA/SHIP partnership.

Peters will help steer the processes of the state health assessment and the state health improvement plan for a five year period.

Peters serves as president of the Illinois Association of public health administrators.

Jacksonville school superintendent Steve Ptacek plans to hold a meeting the third week of December on the school board’s proposed 2026 tax levy.

The school board is considering seeking a 10-percent increase.

Ptacek says the tax levy increase request is partially fueled by the property tax extension limitation law, or PTELL.

He says he will show that a 10-percent increase in the tax levy, which is the requested amount a government body seeks, does not necessarily hike property taxes by the same amount. Other factors, including changes in assessments drive the bills more directly. And, PTELL caps the property taxes at the CPI, the consumer price index, 2-point-9 percent.

Ptacek will conduct the presentation Monday, December 15^th at 6 PM at Jacksonville Middle School.

The same presentation will be conducted at the 6 PM regular school board meeting on Wednesday, the 17^th.

Steve Ptacek will join us Monday morning at 10:30 on What’s On Your Mind to talk about the tax levy request.

Crimestoppers of Morgan County is looking for help in the search for a stolen car.

The crime of the week from the Morgan, Scott, and Cass Crimestoppers is the theft of a car from a subdivision south of Jacksonville.

The theft occurred between 2 and 6 AM last Saturday in the 100 block of Adele Court in the Sandy Creek subdivision off 267 north of Woodson.

Morgan County deputies say a 2011 Gray Lexus ES350 was taken from the residence.

Anyone who might have information about this incident is urged to call Crimestoppers at 217-243-7300, or report the crime to the Crimestoppers Facebook page. People can also use the website…morganscottcrimestoppers.com.

The Jacksonville Salvation Army was able to open space this week to given the homeless a place to go in the cold weather.

Temperatures yesterday and overnight dipped to single digits.

Jacksonville Salvation Army Captain Justian Corliss says the Citadel provided space this week to keep people warm and out of the weather.

He says volunteers and staff have been able to man the warming center.

Captain Corliss says the final goal is to find a more permanent solution that is not just for a single cold snap.

He says a more permanent solution needs to be found in the city.

The Salvation Army is working with Alan Bradish, New Directions and other individual agencies in the search for a larger and more centrally located warming center. Bradish is promoting a rejuvenation center where people could come, rest safely, re-focus and catch a second or third breath.

The group has been meeting with the special studies committee of the Jacksonville city council, led by aldermen Joe Lockman and Erin Williams.

Meanwhile, Captain Corliss says bell ringers are still needed for the Red Kettle campaign. He has been impressed with the response from Jacksonville so far. You can pick a time and place to ring at registertoring.com.

A member of the recently formed Jacksonville Center for the Arts board offered a big Christmas gift to the proposed transformation of a downtown Theater into a fine arts center.

JCA board member Cathy Randall made the pledge of $1-million toward the project.

Randall is a former Jacksonville alderman and active locally. She made the pledge in honor of her late husband, Robert “Bob” Randall. Both are long time backers of efforts for performing arts.

Bob Randall died in November of last year at age 79.

Cathy Randall says her husband long believed a multipurpose civic center with a performing arts facility could transform the downtown area into a cultural hub for Jacksonville.

The JCA has proposed to raise $8-point-8 million for the project, part of which is to buy the building. The option to purchase the Illinois Theatre has been extended to mid-February.

Randall hopes her commitment will inspire others to make contributions to the project.

The city of Jacksonville is reminding businesses with licenses, and rural fire protection permits about an end of the year deadline.

City clerk Angela Salyer says licenses expire December 31^st for bowling alleys, movie theaters, skating rinks, tax services, horse drawn vehicles, and tattoo parlors.

She says rural fire protection contracts also expire at the end of December.

Owners or occupants of rural commercial, industrial, residential and farm property can get the contractual service through application with the clerk’s office.

The annual fee is determined by the assessed valuation of property, and farmsteads are assessed on current improvements upon one half acre of rural property.