School consolidation is a possibility

JEFFERSON COUNTY - The possibility of consolidation of schools is on the minds of educators both in the county and across the state.

While Dr. Nick Osborne is in the midst of conducting a consolidation study for Ina, Dodds, McClellan, Bethel and Opdyke-Belle Rive grade schools, the Classrooms First Commission recently released a set of draft recommendations intended to make it easier for school districts to consolidate.

Opdyke-Belle Rive Grade School Principal Debbie Blakey said she can see both advantages and disadvantages to consolidation of the lower-attendance schools in Jefferson County.

She said three to five years ago, the school saw a decrease in its enrollment, but it has been steady through the last few years.

The ability to offer music and art programs to grade school students is one of the possible advantages of consolidation, Blakey said.

"We don't have an instructor for those," she said. "If we had a larger population, we would have the funds for those types of services."

However, Blakey said transportation is likely to be a sticking point, especially if a suggested 50 percent slashing of the transportation fund by Gov. Pat Quinn is approved.

"There may be more costs involved that people don't see," she said. "If all five consolidate, teacher pay scales would go up to the highest of those five schools."  School consolidation is a possibility - http://bit.ly/Iyh87B

Motorcyclist injured in Thursday morning collision at Mt. Vernon

MT. VERNON — One person was airlifted to a St. Louis hospital after a car-vs.-motorcycle collision early Thursday.

Police responded to a report of a motor vehicle accident at 7:12 a.m. Thursday at the intersection of 44th and Broadway streets.

Eric Jiardina, 32, of Mt. Vernon, was traveling west bound in a car on Broadway, and turned in front of Timothy McCullough, 43, of Marion, who was riding a motorcycle.

McCullough was airlifted to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis with extensive injuries. No other injuries were reported.  full story

Jiardina was cited for failure to yield to an oncoming vehicle.

Budget expenses below budgeted projection

MT. VERNON - Jefferson County's budget expenses are 3.7 percent below the budgeted projection, according to Jefferson County Board Chairman Robert White.

Income is .29 percent below projections as well, he said.

The county has received more than $350,000 since March 31, he said, but is still waiting to receive more than $1.2 million due from the state.

White said a large portion of the money received came after Sen. John O. Jones called on the behalf of the county after reading about its issues with Second Judicial Circuit probation reimbursements in local newspapers.

"It was not requested and was not known until he called to let me know that the payment is on the way," White said. "Jefferson County will be missing Senator Jones after the upcoming elections."

White said the county has stood its ground with the probation payroll agreement with Franklin County, which he said keeps Jefferson County from ever getting past three months in arrears.

"Whether the (Second) Judicial Circuit will supplement the extension of any amount over three months is up to them," White said. "We are firm in our resolve to maintain this arrangement and will mitigate these outstanding balances moving forward."

He said though standing firm on the payroll doesn't address the other line items in arrears from the state, but said he believes they will help moving forward.

Jefferson County Treasurer Dan Knox is holding the other 11 counties in the Second Judicial Circuit to a promise that they will not get "too far behind" in reimbursing Jefferson County for probation salaries.

"As a whole, we do not generally get over two months behind, however, there are a couple of counties that are not holding up to the agreement and we'll be monitoring them monthly as we move forward," White explained. - http://bit.ly/HZb5XM

Explosion, fireball reported in Nevada, California

RENO, Nev. -- Astronomers say a loud explosion heard across a large swath of Nevada and California on Sunday morning was likely caused by a meteor.

The sound of the explosion around 8 a.m. prompted a flood of calls to law enforcement agencies on both sides of the Sierra Nevada in the two states.

The explosion rattled windows and shook houses from Reno to Winnemucca in Nevada, and from the Sacramento to Bakersfield areas in California.

Some people in the two states reported seeing a fireball streak across the sky at the same time.

Dan Ruby of the Fleischmann Planetarium at the University of Nevada, Reno, says the reports indicate the meteor broke up above Earth somewhere over the Sierra southwest of Reno.

There were no reports of earthquakes at the time. - http://bit.ly/JEX5So

Illinois mulling introduction of state park fees

CLINTON - Melissa Blasen doesn't think twice about crossing into property owned and managed by the State of Illinois when she heads out for her usual two-mile loop walk. She's been coming to Weldon Springs State Park for years, to exercise or enjoy the outdoors with her two young grandchildren.

But Blasen and other Illinoisans may soon face a choice — watch the state's parks fall further into disrepair, or chip in a few dollars for their upkeep.

With the state deeply in debt, lawmakers in Springfield are mulling a proposal to charge admission fees for the first time to the state's hundreds of recreational properties. The money, proponents say, would be used to close a $750 million backlog in park maintenance and repairs due to years of shrinking budgets.

On a brisk morning last week, Blasen was torn about the idea, remembering how the park was closed at one point but worried that state officials could scare off visitors who regularly fill Weldon Springs' parking lot. "If (the fee) was annual, that might not be so bad," she said.

Three counties to the north, Bob Gagnon had a stronger reaction as he waited for a fish to bite at Gebhard Woods State Park near Morris. On his mind was Illinois' reputation for crooked politics and failed budget management, and how people already are straining with the sluggish economy.

"Our taxes pay for state parks. How much more do they want from us?" said the retired Teamster from Coal City.

If the legislature approves it, a bill sponsored by Rep. JoAnn Osmond, R-Antioch, would allow state officials to charge visitors an annual or daily fee to enter state parks. An annual admission fee would be no more than $25 and a daily pass around $5 to $8.

The House approved Osmond's measure by 81-29 in March, and it is now moving through the Senate. The original bill would charge fees to anyone who entered the parks, but Osmond said the Senate may amend the bill to affect only car visitors.

Illinois is among only seven states that do not charge state-park admissions. The others are Hawaii, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

Marc Miller, director of the state Department of Natural Resources, said the idea isn't merely keeping the park's buildings looking nice. It's about the health and safety of the parks and visitors. He said the biggest costs looming over the parks are roads, roofs of buildings like bathrooms or picnic pavilions, and sewage treatment to keep lakes and rivers clean. - http://bit.ly/Igygi5

Illinois to oust East St. Louis school board

EAST ST. LOUIS — The state superintendent of Illinois public schools says he will oust the elected school board for East St. Louis, arguing it has not acted in the best interest of students.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Saturday that the superintendent intends to take that action in the next 60 days, completing the state's takeover of the district.

According to state officials, the step is the first of its kind but is necessary because they say the seven-member board improperly interfered in contract and personnel issues.

Illinois Schools Superintendent Christopher Koch told a state board meeting earlier in the week that working with the board in East St. Louis has been a struggle.

President of the East St. Louis School Board Lonzo Greenwood could not be reached for comment. - http://bit.ly/Igy8PD

New learning lab helps Mt. Vernon students

MT. VERNON — — Thanks to the Mt. Vernon Township High School Foundation, students are getting additional help with the 21st Century Learning Lab.

“The lab isn’t 100 percent complete yet, but students are in there learning,” said Rob Pipher, the assistant principal and director of curriculum and instruction at the school. “We’re already seeing a difference for the students who are using it.”

The 21st Century Learning Lab was the 2012 major project taken on by the MVTHS Foundation, according to Foundation President Matt Flanigan.

“The lab was $17,500, and our big project,” Flanigan explained. “A lot of our funds raised this year went into this. The Schweinfurth Foundation also provided funds. We always try to do a large program each year that will benefit a lot of students. We completed the engineering lab last year.”

Pipher said there are two components being used in the learning lab at this time, one for reading and one for online learning credit recovery.

“Read 180 is a program we are using to help students who are behind in their reading level catch up,” Pipher said. “At this time, it’s serving 60 students for the semester. ... The reading component is a program that is proven nationwide. Reading is the foundation for everything. With this program, during the first quarter alone, we’ve had students increasing their reading two grade levels.”

For the online credit recovery portion of the lab, students who have failed to receive credit for classes can get caught up.  full story

Jefferson County Board approved salary raises

MT. VERNON — — The Jefferson County Board approved salary raises for the county coroner and circuit clerk during its April fiscal meeting.

The circuit clerk asked for a raise that was in tandem with the county clerk and treasurer.

The raise will be $52,000, up from $50,000 that is the current salary.

The coroner will also be receiving a raise of $34,000 up from $26,000, which is somewhere in the median range of coroner salaries in surrounding counties.

Both of these raises will reflect the loss of a health insurance stipend in the amount of $2,400 that is being removed for a different insurance program.

Dan Knox, Jefferson County Treasurer, reported the general corporate working cash fund is just over $1 million as of today. He added that all outstanding checks are voided or have been accounted for. The checks have to be kept for seven years before they can be claimed as abandoned in case a business comes to the county for any monies, he explained.

He said the county received money owed to them by the state today from November 2011, which helped boost the amount in the general corporate working cash fund.

White said some monies for the participation in processing the payroll for probation officers of the Second Judicial Circuit have been received, which means the board will not have to turn responsibility back over to Franklin County.

“We do have somewhat of an obligation to this process, but not a total obligation,” White said. “This county will not, will not, go into arrears because of this.”

The board also voted to approve a $30 hike for higher internet speeds through Charter Communications. White said until Clearwave Communications can set up internet for the county, they will have to use Charter internet at higher speeds because of the large amount of employees who use it for work.

The board also voted to raise the death certificate fee by $2 because of a state increase.  full story

Medicaid committee can't agree

CHICAGO — A bipartisan group tasked with finding ways to cut $2.7 billion from Illinois' Medicaid budget hasn't accomplished its mission.

Gov. Pat Quinn's deadline required the two Democrats and two Republicans to come up with a plan this week, but they've only agreed on about $1.4 billion in cuts.

The committee worked for months on ways to reform the health insurance program for nearly 3 million poor and disabled Illinoisans. But they disagreed on potential ideas including rate cuts to providers and a potential $1-a-pack cigarette tax increase.

Quinn delivers his own plan Thursday. He's vowed that legislators must be prepared to pass Medicaid reforms this year.

Democratic Sen. Heather Steans says the group will continue working. They've agreed on cutting Illinois Cares Rx, which helps senior citizens pay for prescriptions. full story

I-64 westbound ramp to be closed

MT. VERNON - The Illinois Department of Transportation will be closing the Interstate 64 westbound ramp on Fridays through Monday mornings each week during construction of additional lanes on Interstate 57.

"The ramp closure is for traffic control only," Keith Roberts of IDOT explained. "We're doing this to try to alleviate horrible backups we had in the past for that area."

Roberts said with Illinois Route 37 as a secondary detour for the construction on I-57, people have been using the state highway, then re-entering at the I-64.

"They think they have gotten around any backup, but they are just jumping back into it at the worst place," Roberts said. "This is an effort to help direct motorists away from that area up to the Dix exit during the peak traffic count hours."

Roberts said IDOT has looked at the traffic counts for the area, and said, with a few exceptions, traffic backups on I-57 have been "tolerable"

"The maximum delays of peak hours of traffic are 20 to 25 minutes, maximum," Roberts said. "With the anticipation of people using the backup detour, we need to keep people on the detour past Dix to help with the construction congestion, otherwise, the detour doesn't help."

Roberts said peak traffic hours are northbound on I-57 on weekends, which is prompting the intermittent ramp closure.

"Due to the reconstruction of I-57, and heavier traffic volumes during weekend hours, the ramp from Illinois Route 37 to access I-64 westbound will be closed on Fridays and remain closed until Monday (morning) each week," information from IDOT states. "This closure will continue on weekends only until further notice. Motorists wanting to access I-57 should use Illinois Route 37 north to Dix and access I-57 via the ramps at Dix." - http://bit.ly/HQDmlZ