While Mitt Romney won big yesterday in the State of Illinois that was not the case here in Clay County, as county voters supported Rick Santorum.
Just over 18% of the registered voters in Clay County went to the polls yesterday.
On the Republican ticket, for President it was Rick Santorum 794; Mitt Romney 389; Newt Gingrich 136; and, Ron Paul 115.
State Representative David Reis (R–St. Marie) paid a visit to Floyd Henson Junior High School in Flora on Tuesday morning. While there, he congratulated the State Champion Girls Basketball Team and took time to pop into a social studies class learning about elections.
“We have a treat today. Mr. David Reis, our state representative, is here to visit, and to recognize our eighth grade girls state champion basketball team,” said Floyd Henson Principal Jeanette Krutsinger while prepping the students. “With that, I expect you to be on your best behavior, be quiet and give your full attention to our state representative.”
“What a special day,” said Reis, “Not quite as special as the day you won your championship, but trust me, you’ll remember this day for the rest of your life.”
A black semi trailer emblazoned with the Southwire logo was parked at Flora Wal-Mart late last week and early this week as a drop off point for a relief effort that company is assisting in for the victims of the Harrisburg tornado.
The truck collected donated items, which Southwire volunteers, including Southwire Flora’s Human Resources Manager Kari Warren, brought to Harrisburg this Tuesday.
Southwire’s community service work is done through Project GIFT, which is what was on the truck parked at Wal-Mart. “GIFT stands for Giving Inspiration for Tomorrow,” said Warren.
Helping with the Harrisburg relief effort was just the latest thing Project GIFT has worked on. “The first thing we did was a response when Hurricane Katrina went through the South,” Warren said. “We have teams at all of our facilities that each do different types of charitable work.”
Thousands of Illinois workers could overlook a special federal tax credit because they don’t know about it. As a result, they could miss out on up to $5,751 extra in their federal income tax refunds through the Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC. Last year, on average, the credit boosted refunds for eligible Illinois workers by $2,250.
AmeriCorps VISTA members created the Southern Illinois Tax Awareness Campaign specifically to increase knowledge of this credit, which can provide a financial boost to working people in a recovering economy.
Anyone earning $49,078 or less from wages, self-employment, or farming in 2011 should see if they qualify for the EITC. Eligible workers must file federal income tax returns-even if they are not required to file-and specifically must claim the credit to get it.
VANDALIA – 'Just enough …!'
Speaking of the championship game of the 40th Annual Vandalia Holiday Boys Basketball Tournament, played Thursday night between Flora and Pana high schools, Flora Varsity Coach Phil Leib said. “We missed some free-throws down the stretch – but we made enough. We gave up some easy points down the stretch – but we stopped them enough. That was the difference in the game.”
And those few free-throws and stops made proved just enough for one big win for the Wolves, 75-69, over Pana for the 2011 championship, Flora's second in three years, and eighth Vandalia Tourney title overall.
A week-long grant writing training program by The Grantsmanship Center, Los Angelos, will be offered in Springfield, IL Oct. 24-28 sponsored by the Illinois Conference of Churches. The workshop is attracting enrollees from throughout the United States.
The training will be located at Grace Lutheran Church, Springfield, and out-of-town students will stay at the Springfield Hilton, two blocks away.
Laurie Vial, executive director, said “This is the gold standard in grant writing training. Alumni of the program have access to support and a top notch database that helps ensure their success in receiving grants.”
A 2.7-magnitude earthquake rumbled Wayne County at 10:20 p.m. Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.
The tremor was centered about 5 miles northwest of Mt. Erie and was believed to have been caused by a shift in the Wabash Fault Zone. The quake came from a reported depth of 17.2 miles.
The last major earthquake in Southern Illinois came on April 18, 2008. The magnitude-5.2 earthquake in rural Wabash County caused minor damage.
State Representative David Reis, R-Ste. Marie, has just announced traveling office hours in the area, with office time this Friday in Flora and later in the month in Louisville.
Traveling office hours help representatives to keep in touch with their constituents despite the wide geographic areas that many elected representatives (Like those of Clay County) have to keep in touch with.
“The basis of an elected official is good constituent services,” said Reis, “My district is just so large, all the parts of nine counties, that we have had these traveling office hours since we started.”
Editors Note: Every year, the Boy Scouts of Clay County Troop 282 take a long trip or go to summer camp. This year was unique in that the Troop went to Yellowstone National Park. We presented excerpts from the travel log written by Troop Leader Tom Barbre in Thursday's paper. The full log is below; the photos are linked at the left-hand side of the page or here.
Participants:
Adults: George Dickinson, Tom Barbre, Mark Smith, Dennis Youngblood, Greg Dulaney, Tim Dickinson, Bruce Slover, Kevin Halsey and Pete Edmonson.
Scouts: Lucas Bienke, Brenden Crays, Andrew Joiner, Charles Watson, Levi Henson, Mitchell Levi, Dalen Stopher, Colin Waller, Rick Davis, Ivan Patrick, Lucas Allen, Colten Dulaney, Dillon Evans, Austin Ludwig, James Payne, Nick Sturm and Matt Ritter.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Met at Scout building. Got there at 11:30 am. Some people already there. As people showed up we put their carryon bags on the bus in the overhead rack. When everyone was there we took the required pictures of all of those who were going. Rick Slaughter of Pictures and more had made our shirts with a picture of Yellowstone on the front. It turned out great. In addition he had made hats with Troop 282, Flora, IL and gave them to us to wear.
Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced
today that on August 16, 2011, Ryan Brazel, 31, Brian Morris, 45, and Steven Folan, 34, all of Palm
Beach County, Florida, were named in a thirteen count indictment charging them with one count of
Conspiracy to Commit Mail Fraud and Wire Fraud, and twelve counts of Mail Fraud.
The Indictment alleges that the three were involved in a telemarketing scam which operated in Florida,
and that the scam bilked over 22,000 victims of $30 million dollars. The Indictment alleges that the
scam victimized consumers in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, all ten Canadian
provinces, and the Northwest Territory of Canada.
It's been crack, methamphetamines, even prescription drugs. Lately, the talk of dangerous drugs has been about something different: the innocuous sounding bath salts. These, along with the synthetic cannabis known as K2, have caused an uproar across the nation and the here in Clay County.
The bath salts in question here are not something that one would buy at a bath store though, but are ones containing stimulants similar to amphetamines or cocaine.
This rise in the use abuse and incidents related to bath salts and K2 has led area health care, anti-drug and law enforcement personnel to call for an educational forum on bath salts and K2.
On August 15-17, President Obama will travel to the Midwest on a three-day economic bus tour, making stops in southern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa and western Illinois.
The President will discuss ways to grow the economy, strengthen the middle class and accelerate hiring in communities and towns across the nation and hear directly from Americans, including local families and small business owners.
The President knows we must do everything we can to promote economic growth, restore confidence in our nation’s future and restore the sense of optimism for future generations.
Additional details about President Obama’s trip will be released as they become available.
The bulk of the “cuts” Gov. Pat Quinn made to the state budget June 30 will not reduce the state budget, but instead push the state deeper into debt, by further delaying payments on state Medicaid obligations, according to State Sen. John O. Jones (R-Mt. Vernon).
Earlier in the week, a jury convicted former Gov. Rod Blagojevich on 17 of 20 counts of corruption, and a workers’ compensation reform measure was signed into law.
Illinois' private lottery manager takes over operations Friday, with both the company and the state envisioning greatly increased sales and more money for state coffers.
Although Northstar Lottery Group formally assumes the reins July 1, the transition to private management has been under way for some time. Regular players have seen new signage and the rollout of new games in recent weeks, but otherwise shouldn't notice a difference if they buy lottery tickets after the first of the month.
Keep an eye out for volunteers walking along U.S. 50 and roads connecting to it for the next few day, volunteers from Pickup America are collecting trash and trying to raise awareness.
The Pickup artists are going across the country, picking up roads and talking to people to try and bring attention to waste and the environmental problems we as a people are facing.
For more information on Pickup America, go to https://pickupamerica.wordpress.com/
One of the only monuments in the world specifically dedicated to women veterans was unveiled this weekend in Mount Vernon. This monument features statues of two prominent female veterans, Sergeant Molly Pitcher of the Revolutionary War and Major Tammy Duckworth of the Iraq War and was created by Xenia born sculptor Don Morris.
Duckworth, an Army helicopter pilot, was injured after her helicopter was hit by rocket fire, losing both of her legs and injuring her right arm.
Since then, Duckworth established the Intrepid Foundation to help other veterans with debilitating injuries. She was appointed in 2006 to serve as the Illinois Director of Veterans’ Affairs and in 2009, she was tapped by President Obama to serve as the Department of Veterans Affairs Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs.
America is the land of the free and the home of the brave. It remains so due to the sacrifices of its brave servicemen and women.
The last weekend of May, we honor those who have paid the ultimate price for a freedom.
On Memorial Day, when we (hopefully) take the time to consider what they have done in the line of duty, before we get into the cookouts, lawn chairs, frosty drinks and ultimately, summer, which Memorial Day has also come to entail.
Students like Illinois Eastern Community Colleges, according to the latest Student Satisfaction Survey, the results of which were presented to the IECC Board of Trustees at the regular meeting, Tuesday, May 17, at Olney Central College.
A total of 95 percent of the 471 survey participants indicated they were satisfied with the overall quality of instruction and 95 percent believe they were treated with respect as an individual. More than 90 percent would definitely or probably recommend IECC to others.
The IECC Office of Institutional Development conducts the survey each Spring semester. The 2011 survey was conducted online from January 18-March 18. Of the 471 students who completed the survey, 93 were from FCC, 107 from LTC, 118 from OCC, and 153 from WVC. There were 172 first year students, 167 second year students, 68 returning students and 64 classified as “other.”
Survey questions included areas in Communications, Building and Grounds Maintenance, Advisement Services, Registration Services, Financial Aid Services, Learning Resource Centers, Technology Services, Instructional Classroom Services, and recommending the college to others.
Clay County State’s Attorney Marilyn D. Brant has announced the sentencing of a Brownstown woman in Clay County Circuit Court by presiding Judge Daniel E. Hartigan.
Winona R. Demain, age 31, was sentenced to a period of four (4) years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, followed by a two-year period of mandatory supervised release for the offense of Residential Burglary (Accountability). Accountability means that either she or someone for whose conduct she was legally responsible committed the residential burglary. The accountable person is treated no differently and is held equally responsible as the person who entered the residence.
According to State’s Attorney Brant, the arrest in this case followed a long string of burglaries in Fayette, Marion, Clay and Washington Counties. Through information provided by individuals in the communities to various law enforcement agencies, a suspicious vehicle was identified. The Illinois State Police Air Ops used an airplane to observe the vehicle during a suspected residential burglary. The plane was equipped with a recording camera, and Winona Demain and another individual were later identified and arrested in Washington County as a result of that video surveillance.
The financial future of the Teen REACH after school program put on by the Clay County Health Department continues to look stormy.
Now, without guarantees for funding from the state, the Health Department is looking to supporters of Teen REACH within the community to help to keep the program alive.
“As of the first part of April, we have been notified through our after school network that Teen REACH funding, if it’s going to be continued, will only be funded at the ten-percent level, through the gear up program,” said Clay County Health Department Special Projects Coordinator Deena Mosbarger. Currently, she says, Teen REACH is funded at the 100-percent level.
