Veterans Drive project moving forward

MT. VERNON - After years of planning and design, the extensions of Veterans Memorial Drive and South Davidson Avenue are being bid.

"At long last," Mayor Mary Jane Chesley said. "I've been anxious for this one to happen."

The contract for engineering of the project was awarded in 2010, to Henry, Meisenheimer & Gende, Inc. The project calls for a 5,355 foot extension of Veterans Memorial Drive beyond Wells Bypass in its present five-lane construction to intersect with an extension of South Davidson Avenue in its present three-lane construction. Sidewalks, storm sewer and curbs/gutters are included in the project plans. The pre-bid estimate for the project is $5 million, with $4 million in state funding.

In addition to the roadway extensions, the council has also approved going out for bids on a water main extension along the roadways and a sanitary sewer extension and lift station.

"We would like to be able to open the bids at a special meeting in late April," City Manager Ron Neibert said. "We usually have a special meeting at the end of the month to approve the new budget. Because there are five Mondays in April, there is no way to have the information to present by the second meeting in April, and that would put the award out three more weeks before another council meeting."

Neibert said once the project is bid and construction started, it would take about 12 to 15 months for completion.

Councilman Todd Piper pointed out the extension projects will open about 600 additional acres for development in the area, which has already been designated as a tax increment finance district. Chesley also added the extension project will move some traffic off Wells Bypass, Potomac and Broadway.

Capital funds and capital public utility funds will be used to for the water and sewer portions of the project, which are estimated at about $2 million.

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Board approves resolution Resolution establishing a Site and Construction Fund

MT. VERNON — The Mt. Vernon Township High School Board of Education approved the next step toward the construction of a new high school.

On Monday, the board approved a resolution establishing a Site and Construction Fund, to and from which all new-construction-related funds will be deposited and disbursed.

"We've got all those funds on the financial report, well, now we'll have a (Fund) 60 in there," Board chairman Carl Miller said. "That is where the money will go and where the money will be paid out for a 21st century beautiful school."

The board passed a second resolution related to fund management for new school construction.

MVTHS Superintendent Mike Smith said the district advertised for financial advisory services in an effort to have an independent financial advisor in place before the underwriting and sale of bonds.

"We want a third party that's removed from that process so they don't stand to make any money from the sale of the bonds," Smith said. "This is a, as we move forward with subsequent bond sales, they'll tee up those sales. ... They'll help us, if we wish, interview underwriters, ask financial questions, they'll set up the parameters under which they will set up the rates for those bonds, and basically manage that process."

The board approved a resolution to select Kings Financial Consulting as the district's financial advisor services for the financing of the construction of a new high school.
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Illinois awards $478K in grants to help veterans

SPRINGFIELD (AP) — Illinois officials are announcing nearly $500,000 in grants to not-for-profit organizations which help military veterans.

The Department of Veterans Affairs said Monday it would award $478,000 to ten organizations for the third quarter of the fiscal year.

The proceeds come from the Veterans' Cash scratch-off lottery ticket that Gov. Pat Quinn pushed for in 2006.

Four times a year the state agency's Veterans Cash Grant Committee reviews applications and awards grants that help address Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder, homelessness, health insurance costs, long-term care and disability benefits.

More than 170 organizations have shared about $9 million in funding so far.

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Mt. Vernon City Council to discuss tax increase

MT. VERNON — The city council will be discussing a one-half percent increase to its Municipal and Service Occupation Tax — commonly referred to as Home Rule sales tax — during its meeting tonight.

The council announced its intention to raise the tax during a workshop session last week, stating the increase would be used to pay the debt on capital projects and to undertake additional projects, according to Mayor Mary Jane Chesley.

Capital projects are currently financed through the food and beverage tax, the 2 cent per gallon diesel tax and the telecommunications tax.

"Unfortunately the revenues from those three sources are not enough to cover what we need to be doing," Chesley said last week. "The city is proposing a half-cent increase to sales tax to provide the revenue that we'd be needing to carry on these projects that we so desperately need to complete, particularly in economic development and quality of life."

If approved, the city's tax rate would go from 7.5 percent to 8 percent. Council members have said the rate proposed is less than area cities of comparable size, with Marion, Carbondale and Fairview Height boasting tax rates higher than 8 percent.

The council will also be looking at moving forward on several capital projects tonight, asking for authorization to seek bids for the Veterans Memorial Drive and South Davidson Avenue roadway extension project, the Veterans Memorial Drive and South Davidson water main extension; the Veterans Memorial Drive and South Davidson Avenue sanitary sewer extension and lift station; and the Shiloh Road lift station.

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Bus tour to retrace Trail of Tears

Bus tour to retrace Trail of Tears

GOLCONDA — The Illinois Chapter Trail of Tears Association is offering a guided bus tour of the Trail of Tears across Southern Illinois on March 24.

The bus tour will begin at 8 a.m. at the parking lot of Golden Circle Senior Center in Golconda, proceed west across Southern Illinois and then return to Golconda.

The eight-hour, 60-mile trip will include on-board trip guides, who will provide historical information about the path of the trail through Pope, Johnson and Union counties. Stops will be made at historic locations on the trail. The tour guides will share Trail of Tears stories along the way.

In 1838 and 1839, the U.S. government forced several groups of Native Americans, the largest group being Cherokee, to leave their homelands in the eastern states and travel to Oklahoma Territory to live. Many died while making this trip. This event and the path of their journey became known as the Trail of Tears.

Registration is required, and seating is limited. Box lunches will be provided. Registration is $30 per person. Checks should be made payable to Trail of Tears Illinois Chapter and mailed to Trail of Tears Illinois Chapter, P.O. Box 313, Anna, IL 62906.

For more information, call Sandra Boaz, chapter president, at 618-833-8216 or Joe Crabb, vice president, at 618-949-3355.

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Missouri campground deaths may be murder-suicide

BOURBON, Mo. — The weekend killings of a woman and three children at a campground and resort in eastern Missouri was being investigated Sunday as a possible triple murder-suicide.

Crawford County Sheriff Randy Martin told broadcaster KSDK that investigators believe the shootings happened Saturday morning in a remote area along a gravel road at the Blue Springs Ranch & Resort and that the bodies had been there for “hours” when a guest found them about 1 p.m. Each victim sustained one gunshot wound, and a handgun was found close to the bodies, he said.

Asked if he believes the woman shot the three children and then herself, Martin told the station, “We don’t know for sure, but it kind of appears it could be that way. But again the investigation is still kind of early.”  full story

Nebraska gambling measures fizzle in Legislature

LINCOLN, Neb. — A push to loosen gambling restrictions has fizzled this year in the Legislature, despite claims that Nebraska could preserve jobs, generate much-needed revenue for counties and tap into the millions of dollars that are poured into South Dakota and Iowa casinos each year.

Lawmakers have killed a bill this year to let gambling outlets to run more keno games per hour. A legislative panel rejected a constitutional amendment proposal that would have allowed casinos within 60 miles of a border state, unless the border state shared some of its gambling revenue with Nebraska. And a bill that would allow machine bets on past horse races faces an uncertain future as lawmakers mount a filibuster to stall a vote.

Columbus Sen. Paul Schumacher said gambling opponents have pressured lawmakers into defeating many of the proposals at a time when Nebraska could use the revenue. Lawmakers are trying to balance Gov. Dave Heineman’s tax-cut proposal with funding for child welfare, Medicaid payments for hospitals and nursing homes, and other state needs.  full story

Study: Sleepy People Eat 550 Extra Calories a Day

 

If traditional weight-loss diets have failed you, you might just try hitting the sack.

Growing evidence has linked healthy weight with getting adequate sleep, and in a new report presented at the American Heart Association’s annual Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism conference, researchers found that sleep deprivation is associated with overeating. In the study, people who were sleep deprived ate more than 500 additional calories daily.

That’s a lot of calories. It doesn’t take a mathematician to figure out that over time, the excess consumption can translate into unwanted pounds — though the current study was small and short-term and did not measure participants’ long-term changes in weight.

The study’s lead author, Virend Somers, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic, studied 17 healthy but sedentary men and women in a lab clinic for 11 days and nights. The participants agreed to spend the entire study period at the facility, where researchers recorded their every movement, through a special monitor the participants wore, and tallied everything they ate, either from a cupboard in their room or food they ordered. That way, Somers and his team could make relatively accurate calculations of how much energy the participants were taking in in the form of calories and how much they were burning off through activities like walking.   full story

Three injured in crashes in Randolph, Washington counties

Three people received major injuries in two unrelated crashes in Randolph and Washington counties.Illinois State Police responded at 12:35 a.m. Saturday to a crash on Illinois 155 south near Ames Road in Randolph County. Police said the pickup truck drove off the road and rolled several times.

The 18-year-old male driver was flown to St. Louis University Hospital. A male passenger, whose age was not released, was taken to Red Bud Hospital. Both were not wearing seat belts, police said.The investigation is ongoing.Illinois State Police investigated a Friday crash that left an Oakdale man with major injuries.Police responded at 10:20 a.m. to the crash on Illinois 15, east of Coolidge Road, in Washington County. Christopher E. Harkness, 39, was driving a concrete mixing truck, according to police. He was passing a slow moving vehicle when he traveled off the road, returned to the road, lost control and overturned. Harkness was taken to Washington County Hospital and then flown to St. Louis University Hospital. He was wearing his seat belt. Harkness was charged with improper lane usage and failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash.
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About 1,700 workers take Ford's retirement offers

DETROIT -- About 1,700 Ford Motor Co. factory workers have decided to take early retirement offers and will leave the company by June 1.

The automaker says it will bring back about 250 laid-off employees and hire some replacements at lower wages.

Ford offered the buyouts to all 41,000 factory workers last fall in an effort to cut its skilled trades and production workforces. It offered skilled trades workers like electricians and plumbers $100,000 to retire. Production workers were offered $50,000. The company has about
9,000 skilled tradesmen, which it says is too many.

Spokeswoman Marcey Evans says Ford won't replace all of the retiring workers. New factory hires will be paid around $16 per hour, a little more than half the wage of a longtime union worker. Skilled tradesmen make above $30 per hour, but changes in factory equipment in recent
years have cut the number of workers needed.

Ford is adding thousands of workers this year to help satisfy growing U.S. auto sales. Factories in Wayne, Mich., near Detroit; Louisville, Ky.; Chicago and near Kansas City, Mo. are getting additional workers.

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