Jacksonville mayor Andy Ezard says a proposed site layout for a new development off Massey Lane may be a pie in the sky, but it shows city officials how Jacksonville should dream about the future.

The presentation was done by Dr Charles Riggs of Illinois College. His students were supposed to make the presentation, but the storms at the start of the meeting stopped that.

The proposed site is funded by a $2-million grant, and it’s called the RISE Development. It is designed to provided workforce housing for the city, and Ezard says the city desperately needs it.

Ezard says the next step is for the $2-million from the state makes it through the budget process.

The proposed site has 500 lots on 100 acres bordered by the Western Knolls subdivision, Massey Lane and Lincoln.

The students’ proposal was to include almost a self contained community, complete with a swimming pool, pickleball courts, a dog park, a playground and athletic fields.

The housing would be directed to households that top out a $121-thousand a year, and for those below that threshold.

Mayor Ezard says once the money is approved, and the city buys the property, it would be up to a developer to run with the project.

The rest of the meeting went quickly.

Five of the eight aldermen were able to make the meeting, and approved a new website services agreement with ADA accessibility for the city’s Revize software system.

And, the council approved a contract with Drop Collaborative for a pre-treatment program for the city’s industries.

The council heard a request for the city’s car show downtown, and spring cruise night in mid June.

And, alderwoman Lori Large Oldennettel reminded all the city wide clean up is planned for June 1^st through the 5^th.

West Central was hit with multiple waves of stormy weather yesterday, prompting flooding, weather watches and warnings.

Morgan County was one of three or four counties to get late afternoon tornado warnings. Sirens went off in Jacksonville, South Jacksonville, Woodson, Winchester, White Hall, Roodhouse, Manchester and other small communities in the area.

The storms pounded a path from Pike through Morgan County and into Sangamon and Menard counties.

There were reports of multiple power poles, as many as 19 down along route 111 south of Waverly into Macoupin County near Palmyra.

A tree was uprooted at Church and Reid in Jacksonville. Branches and tree limbs found there way onto yards and streets throughout the area.

No injuries were reported. And, the sun made an appearance after the storm before dropping below the horizon.

Rain totals range from 3-point-0-6 inches here to upwards of 4 inches in the area. Street and road flooding were major problems throughout the area. Parts of College, Lafayette and other streets were closed for a time during the stormy weather.

Weather the rest of the week is expected to be dry.

Jacksonville school officials officially broke ground last week at the new grade school on the southeastern edge of Woodson.

Jacksonville school superintendent Steve Ptacek says the exercise was ceremonial only, because work on the site had started earlier this spring.

The new Murrayville-Woodson Grade School will cover 40-thousand square feet at the corner of the Woodson-Winchester Blacktop and Water Tower Road. It covers 8 acres.

It replaces the 108 year-old current grade school in Murrayville.

The general contractor is S M Wilson Company in Edwardsville. The architects are Graham and Hyde.

Plans are to have the new school ready by the 2027-28 school year.

The $19-million building program is funded through bonds, and will be paid off by using the school sales tax in Morgan County.

A ten plus hour standoff with police ended peacefully late this morning at Park and Hoagland in Jacksonville.

The suspect was taken into custody, and then taken to Jacksonville Memorial Hospital for an assessment. His name will not be released until after that process.

Jacksonville police chief Doug Thompson says the standoff began with a domestic call shortly after 1 this morning.

He says police were told by a woman that a shot was fired by a man in the domestic dispute, but she was able to get out safely.

Thompson says the woman in question was not a hostage.

The Illinois state Police SWAT time continued talks with the suspect until he gave himself up. That occurred around 11:30 this morning.

Thompson says people living within the perimeter of the protection zone set up by police were offered the chance to leave their homes during the process. Thompson says a couple agreed to leave until the situation was resolved.

Jacksonville Middle School was closed for the day because of the standoff nearby.

The interview with Thompson can be heard on the news page of this website.

New Philadelphia in Pike County got exposure in Chicago this week.

There was a program called, “Land Holds the Truth: Free Frank McWorter and the Freedom Story of New Philadelphia”

It was presented by Gerald McWorter, also known as Abdul Alkalimat. He shared the discussion of the history of New Phladelphia at the Gallery Guichard in Chicago.

The event also officially launched the fundraising campaign to buy back about 80 acres of land that were once part of the town.

Today, the site is recognized as a National Historic Site, and a unit of the National Park Service.

Alkalimat is a professor emeritus of African American Studies at the University of Illinois.