Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has questions for buy now, pay later lenders.

Raoul has officially opened an inquiry into the operations of six companies. They are Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna, PayPal, Sezzle and Zip.

Don O Brien of the Better Business Bureau says people holiday shopping should be careful if they buy gifts through these services.

He says there are sometimes hidden fees, and high interest rates that end up costing more than the item people buy.

Attorney generals of California, Connecticut, Colorado, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Wisconsin have joined with Raoul in the inquiry.

O Brien says these lenders popped up more frequently after COVID.

He says they became more prominent when shoppers resorted to online buying for the holiday season. And, they’ve continued to flourish.

BNPL loans are a form of point of sale financing that allow customers to divide the cost of purchases into multiple installments. The downside is the build up of debts and fees.

The inquiry aims to determine if BNPL companies are complying with consumer protection laws and whether their products may be placing Illinois consumers at financial risk.

Illinois attorney general Kwame Raoul claims he has won a victory for central and southern Illinois electricity customers in a lawsuit filed for market manipulation.

Raoul says this will effect customers of Ameren, and includes residential and small commercial.

Raoul’s office settled with Dynegy for $38-million.

It stems from the 2015 electricity capacity auction conducted which resulted in an electricity capacity price that was 40 times higher than any other prices negotiation, and nearly 9 times higher than the previous year.

Raoul says the settlement means about $33 and a half million will be refunded to Ameren customers on basic generation service or real time pricing supply rates in the form of one time credits to offset the Ameren electricity bill.

Those credits should be reflected in bills this month.

Supporters of a downtown civic center in Jacksonville have received a big boost with the endorsement by a downtown business group.

Jacksonville Main Street’s board of trustees has voted in support of the Jacksonville Center for the Arts quest to buy the Illinois Theatre Building at the northeast corner of the square.

JCA board member Larry Kuster says the endorsement is significant, because it shows support from a downtown group that can benefit from the project.

JCA is attempting to raise about 8 point 8 million dollars to re-purpose and rejuvenate the building. Kuster says the interest has caused the JCA to extend it’s option to buy the building through February 16^th of next year.

Kuster says the JCA has seen an uptick in the interest.

He hopes that interest converts into real dollars committed to the project.

Jacksonville Main Street board president John Rohn says the historic downtown district offers an atmosphere ripe for arts and entertainment, and Main Street fully supports renovating older buildings for new uses

The new head of the Jacksonville Salvation Army wants to start an information hotline for the homeless.

Captain Justian Corliss arrived in Jacksonville this summer as the new leader for the local Citadel.

He acknowledges the citadel, now on Wall Street, is not the ideal location for those in need. He says the number of meals served has dropped off since the move there.

Corliss has also served in St Charles and East St Louis. He says an idea he likes is a local 2-1-1 number, much like the 911 number. But Corliss says this hotline would help out those at the end of their line.

He says the homeless could call the number and find where to go to seek help, whether that be housing, food or clothing.

Corliss says it will easier to keep track of those who have been helped.

He says this would allow the program to track those who seek help, and find out if they followed through.

Corliss says the Salvation Army volunteers could man the line initially during the day weekdays. But, more help would be needed to keep the line going 24 hours a day.

He’s convinced Jacksonville can do better than what is being done now with the resources available.

A new promotion to push the shopping experience in Jacksonville is being launched later this month by the Jacksonville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

It’s called “Shop Small, Win Big” It launches Black Friday, the day of after Thanskgiving.

Brittany Henry, the JACVB executive director says shoppers who spend $25 or more at any small, locally owned business or local restaurant in Jacksonville may submit the receipt for entry in the drawing.

They can be submitted by sending a photo via Facebook or Instagram message to the JACVB, or e mail a photo to visitors@jacksonvilleil.org, or text a photo to 371-2602.

A $250 winner will be selected each week, and a local business listed on the winning receipt gets $250.

In addition, to make it more attractive outside the city, anyone coming in from out of town will receive two entries per receipt with proof of residency.

More details are available at jacksonvilleil.org.

The Jacksonville city council last night wrestled with the elephant that is in the big room of the city..homlessness.

A packed commission room greeted 9 of the 10 aldermen as the council heard from several people.

The list included Jada Lutzke, who is trying to organize a low barrier shelter in the city to be called the Station. Duke Demott and Luke Shores, who is from the Philadelphia-Virginia area, has been ministering to the homeless here in Jacksonville. He asked that the city provide, rent free, the community park center for meals and gatherings on Sundays. No answer was given at the meeting.

Others included Alan Bradish, the now retired chaplain for the city police department, and Sue Brosmith and David Bergman from New Directions, as well as a representative from In His Service.

All agreed that first and foremost the city needs a place where the homeless can get shelter in frigid weather. Bradish says a center needs to be found soon.

Brosmith says New Directions, which now focusses on temporary housing, can handle up to 20, and there is supposed to be a 60 day limit. But, all who come must be sober and have a police background check.

Bradish says the need becomes more prominent with the start of colder weather. And, the center needs to be centrally located, preferably downtown.

Alderwomen Eren Williams chairs the special studies committee for the city council. This committee is tasked with finding at least a temporary solution.

The hurdles that a solution would need to overcome is insurance, funding, and a location, preferably close to the center of town.

Estimates of the homeless in Jacksonville range anywhere from 15 to 35. Because of the services here, several claimed last night that Jacksonville is taking in homeless from nearby counties, such as Greene, Cass, Macoupin and Montgomery counties. And, several also claimed there are some coming to Jacksonville from Springfield because it’s safer here.

The committee will meet again later this month, an hour before the council workshop session.