Five aldermanic seats on the Jacksonville city council will be up for re-election next spring.
The filing period starts in November. The petition circulation starts on Monday.
The five seats involved in the election include two filled by mayoral appointees. They are Rob Thomas in Ward one, and Mark Sorrill in Ward 5. Sorrill filled the seat after Don Cook retired last winter, and Thomas was appointed after Eren White Williams stepped down for health and family reasons.
The other seats involved in the election are held by Alison Rubin de Celis in Ward 2, Joe Lockman in Ward 3, and Aaron Scott in Ward 4.
All five positions are four year terms.
The filing period will run November 16th through the 23rd.
The consolidation election date is April 6th, unless three or more candidates file for any one position. That would require a primary February 23rd.
Any questions can be directed to city clerk Angela Salyer, or deputy clerk Sue Thomas at 479-4613.
Documents are available through the city’s website at jacksonvilleil.gov.
A stalled front that dumped high humidity levels and heavy rains is being blamed for a rainy first half of August.
Rainfall for the month, through 18 days, now stands at just under 5 and a half inches. Normal rainfall for all of August is two inches less, at just under 3 and a half inches.
Over the weekend, rains dumped about 4 and a half inches here.
That surpassed the nearly 4 inch rainfall June 11th and 12th, and the over 3 inch rainfall April 28th.
It follows a dry July, with just over an inch and a half of rain.
Normal rainfall for the three summer months, June, July and August…is just over 11 and a half inches. Jacksonville has received over 16 inches of rain here for the same three months.
There has been measurable rain on 9 of the 18 days so far this month.
There were three days of over an inch of rain in March, two in April, 2 in May and three in June…plus the one day this month. That’s 9 days this year in which Jacksonville received at least an inch of rain in a 24 hour period.
WLDS-WEAI is an official reporting station for the National Weather Service.
Pathway Services Unlimited will hold a different kind of bingo fundraiser later this month.
It is GloBingo at the Jacksonville American Legion on the 28th.
Pathway executive director Ryan Dowd says the event is a new experience for the agency.
He’s not sure what to expect.
People must be 18 and older to attend. Doors will open at 6 that night, and bingo begins at 7.
Dowd says Pathway is emerging from a tough time.
He says the client population was down in the years that followed COVID. But, he says the numbers now are good, with only one opening at a home.
Over $1-thousand in cash prizes will be offered during the game. There will be a cash bar, 50-50 drawing, and a silent auction with items such as meals, Cardinal tickets and gift baskets.
The Jacksonville Area Conference of Churches is helping collect food items for the Sunday Sack Lunches to Go program.
The conference is partnering with Go Church for the drive to help the hungry in the Jacksonville Area.
Collected supplies will be donated to Go Church to include in their food distribution program.
The items needed include mixed fruit cups, breakfast bars, granola and trail mix bars, packets of cookies, creamy peanut butter cups, peanut butter crackers, tuna and chicken salad with cracker packs, pudding cups, and slim Jims.
Monetary donations are needed, with checks payable to Go Church.
Items will be collected through September 20th, and supplies can be left with all participating churches.
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.
