Mt. Vernon man sustained a gunshot wound to the lower back near the intersection of 20th Street and Conger Avenue

A Mt. Vernon man sustained a gunshot wound to the lower back near the intersection of 20th Street and Conger Avenue Tuesday evening.

According to a Mt. Vernon Police Department report, Tevin R. Edwards, 19, of the 800 block of South 20th Street, was admitted to St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Hospital at 9:46 p.m. Monday. The hospital phoned police when medical personnel discovered Edwards sustained a gunshot wound.

MVPD Chief Chris Mendenall said Edwards told police at the hospital that he was walking westbound on Conger past his residence Tuesday night when he felt a stinging pain in his lower back.

Edwards said he was unable to identify a shooter and he immediately returned to a friend’s residence on 17th Street to get a ride to the hospital.

Mendenall said the incident is under investigation.  Rmfif

Potential payment for Superintendent Daniels

Illinois regional superintendents may be getting paid soon, but the state wouldn't be signing the check.

Legislation approved by the Illinois House of Representatives would take about $14 million in funds from the Personal Property Replacement Tax Fund, which provides funds to schools, cities, counties and park districts to pay for the salary and benefits of more than 40 regional superintendents, who haven't been paid since at least July.

Hamilton-Jefferson Counties Regional Superintendent of Schools Ron Daniels said he would like himself and his fellow regional superintendents to get paid, but a money grab from the PPRT fund isn't the way to go.

"That will have a negative impact on our schools and counties, who both receive funds through that revenue source," Daniels said. "I think as we are employed by the state, our income should be provided by the state."

The Illinois Municipal League, which lobbies for local governments at the state house, opposes any diversion of local PPRT fund dollars.

Joe McCoy, legislative director for the league, said schools receive 60 percent of the PPRT fund's billion-plus dollars each year.

McCoy said it's not proper for "municipal money to be used for the salaries of non-municipal officials as a result of the governor electing not to cover the salaries with state money."

However, Daniels, who is currently in Springfield, said he and others are being told that this may be their only option to be paid.

He said Speaker of the House Michael Madigan was the sponsor of the original bill to pay regional superintendents that was vetoed by Gov. Pat Quinn and that he has heard Madigan is not likely to recall the bill.

Daniels said among the regional superintendents in Springfield right now to encourage the state to pay them, there is a lot of frustration.

"If something isn't resolved in a couple of weeks, a lot of people are going to have to start looking for other jobs," Daniels said. "It's a chaotic situation for our schools when no one is taking care of the Health, Life and Safety payments or safety compliance checks. We provide a service to our schools. ... It would be nice to receive a paycheck."

Daniels said he was returning to Mt. Vernon on Wednesday to prepare for the Mt. Vernon Conference, which provides training to more than 100 teachers. - http://goo.gl/NouXK

Marion County Board Looks For More Than a Half-Million Dollars in Budget Cuts; Operations of Sheriff's Department Come Under Fire

The Marion County Board's Finance Committee is looking for more than a half-million dollars in budget cuts. The committee spent three hours Wednesday night going through each line item of the budget, but by the time they were done they had only able to reduce the anticipated budget shortfall by $69,000. Nearly $20,000 of that amount was taking out pay raises put in the budget by county department heads until an across the board pay increase is settled upon for non-union employees. The committee's next step is to call each office holder back to look for budget cuts. However, committee members seem resigned to finding bigger cuts at the sheriff's department or face layoffs or furlough days for courthouse employees if they want to avoid eating into their anticipated $1.3-million cash reserve at the end of this fiscal year. The law enforcement budget makes up about 42 percent of the county's expenditures. The committee even brought up the idea of looking for a private company to operate the jail if it could produce cost savings. The county's shortfall is being made worse because the coming fiscal year is one of those rare years where there is an extra payday, adding another $160,000 in expenses. Another unknown is if the State will force counties to pick up the cost of the Regional and Assistant Regional Superintendents of School out of money the counties currently receive from the personal property replacement tax. Committee member Richard Sinclair estimates the budget shortfall at $411,000 without any contingency fund. Member Erwin Hahn would like to see a $200,000 contingency fund to cover any unanticipated expenses. While he might settle for a smaller figure, Hahn said he would not vote for a budget without some contingency. Most of the cuts made Wednesday night were in the sheriff's department. The sheriff's requests for a new car was cut along with a one-dollar an hour raise for his part time employees. Committee members expressed frustration with overtime running over budget. Finance Committee Chair Dolores Wanzo says the Fraternal Order of Police Contract is not the total blame, saying a lot of the problem has to do with scheduling. There were also questions why a full-timedeputy is assigned to court security when court is in session only limited hours of the day. The committee was also critical ofthe court security officer having a county provided squad car. They rejected raising the Deputy overtime line item even though it is $13,000 over budget for the current fiscal year. The committee also cut $1,000 from the prisoner clothing fund, wanting the sheriff to pay that expense out of commissary fund proceeds. They feel that is a much more justified expense than the money the sheriff took out of the fund to purchase a new prisoner transport vehicle. With the need for more cuts, the finance committee no longer expects to make its original deadline of the regular November county board meeting to approve a tentative budget. No dates have yet been set to call in the office holders to look for ways to cut the budget. - http://goo.gl/BpGmB

Centralia Children's Halloween Parade Start Time Changing

The Centralia Children's Halloween Parade start time on Saturday is changing. Halloween and Fall Festival Committee member Butch Mathus says the decision was made so people didn't have to choose between going to the Children's Halloween Parade or the Centralia High School Football team first round playoff game. 　 "We'll move the parade from 1:00pm to 11:00am, and judging will start at 10:30am at the Centralia Library Park, and we hope everybody understands these unfortunate circumstances, but overall I think it's going to be a wonderful, busy day in Downtown Centralia", said Mathus. 　 Mathus says with the new 11 am start time for the Children's Halloween Parade, it will be over before the football playoff game begins at one at Evers Field in Centralia. There will also be one change in the Fall Festival schedule to accommodate the earlier start time of the Children's Halloween Parade. The public tasting for the Chili Cookoff has been moved to immediately after the parade. 　 Meanwhile, the 85th Annual Centralia Halloween Parade will step off as planned at seven Saturday evening. You'll be able to hear live coverage on WJBD-FM 100.1 or watch via video streaming on WJBDradio.com. - http://goo.gl/ZU47T

Two Morning Accidents in Marion County Sends One Person to Hospital

A 19-year-old Iuka man has been injured in a single car wreck Wednesday morning on State Route 37 just south of Salem. Marion County Sheriff's Deputies say Tyler Powless of Kasznel Road in Iuka ran off the right side of the road, came back across the road, and ran off the left side of the pavement before overturning. The wreck occurred just north of C.J. Heck Road. Powless was taken to Salem Township Hospital for treatment of injuries. A 24-year-old Flora resident escaped injury in a car-deer collision on the State Route 161 Extension near the Roosevelt Road intersection in rural Iuka. Marion County Sheriff's Deputies say Iuka Fire Department first responders and an ambulance was initially dispatched, but the driver, Heather Henson of South Main, did not require any treatment. The wreck occurred at 8:20 Wednesday morning. - http://goo.gl/Q5p04