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

MVTHS Board approves resolution

MT. VERNON - A resolution for a line of credit was approved by the Mt. Vernon Township High School Board during its April meeting.The line of credit is for $1.5 million and would last until Dec. 31. The money would be held in reserve in case the money is needed, Superintendant Dr. Michael Smith said depending on state revenue monies, among other situations."We have not had to use that in the past," Smith said, "and we hope that we won't need it."The board also approved the permanent abatement of monies from its working cash fund to site and construction of the new high school.President of the board, Carl Miller, said the working cash fund was temporary, and the money will now be in an account to be used for bills as needed toward construction costs.In other business, the board:

Approved a bid for the second phase of G Building window replacements to Litteken Construction from Breese. The amount cannot exceed $111,000 for the construction;

Heard that attendance is up, but enrollment at the school is down compared to last year. Smith said better attendance will make up for the gap in state aid made by lower enrollement numbers;

Were updated that contracts for the new high school are being reviewed prior to presentation to the board.  Smith added he would be speaking with city officials to answer any final questions they may have on the project later this week; and

Heard state testing is coming up next week. - http://bit.ly/I3EAcB

Mt. Vernon Mobile home ordinance approved

MT. VERNON — An ordinance which will prohibit further mobile homes placed in RM2 zoned areas of the city was approved Monday, with no public comment.

“This is an amended version of the ordinance as originally presented,” City Manager Ron Neibert said. “The changes have taken place due to public comment up to this time.”

Under terms of the new ordinance, there is a provision which will allow current property owners to receive a conditional use for mobile homes up to Dec. 13 in RM2 zoned areas, as long as the person placing the mobile home owned the property before Jan. 1; the application for conditional use be submitted before Oct. 31; the mobile home must be placed by Dec. 31; and is adjacent to a lot in which a mobile home is currently situated, not next to a stick built home unless written permission is presented by the owner of the stick built home.

Other changes from the original ordinance presented state the mobile home must have been manufactured not more than 15 years prior to the date of application for a building permit and is subject to inspection for compliance with Mobile Home Standards if it is older than five years.

Neibert said the changes to the zoning ordinance for RM2 allowed uses also amends a portion that has nothing to do with mobile homes — it now allows duplexes to be built in the zoning district.  full story

Still filing your taxes? Time's almost up

This year, you have a little more time to file your income taxes. But now is not the time for any more procrastination because Tuesday evening is the deadline:

Q: Why is the income tax-filing deadline on April 17 this year and not April 15?

A: This year, April 15 falls on a Sunday and Monday, April 16 fell on the District of Columbia's Emancipation Day. By law, District of Columbia holidays are treated like federal holidays when it comes to tax deadlines.

Q: What if you are not going to make this year's deadline for filing your federal tax return?

A: You can get a six-month extension to file your tax forms, as long as you make the request by midnight Tuesday.

Q: How can I file an extension?

A: By mail, via tax-preparation software or online via the IRS website, www.irs.gov. To request the extension, you must fill out IRS Form 4868, which is available on the IRS website, through most tax preparation software, as well as in public libraries and post offices.

If you opt to mail in the form it has to be postmarked by Tuesday to be considered on time. Forms filed online on the IRS website or by using tax software can be sent in as late as 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday. If accepted, you will have until Oct. 16 to file a complete tax return. The IRS requires taxpayers to pay up by Tuesday's deadline or face a host of penalties.

Q: What are the penalties?

A: The IRS will charge interest on unpaid taxes at a rate that currently is about 3.25 percent and is compounded daily. The IRS also will charge a late payment penalty of one-half of 1 percent of any tax not paid by April 17. It is charged each month or part of a month the tax goes unpaid, up to 25 percent. That interest rate can jump to 1 percent, however, if the tax bill hasn't been paid within 10 days after the IRS issues a notice of intent to levy. But a payment plan can be worked out with the IRS that can reduce the rate to one-quarter of 1 percent.

Q: Will post offices be open later than usual?

A: No. Many metro-east post office will operate Tuesday under regular business hours. Belleville Post Master John Sertich said the advent of filing online has left little if any demand for later than usual hours on tax day: "We don't do anything special for tax day anymore. The scheduled collection time will not be extended. Whatever time is on the mailbox is the time they have to meet. There will be no special collections. If they do bring in a tax return and they want it post marked by tomorrow, they bring it to my counter. We are open till 6 p.m."  full story

Still filing your taxes? Time's almost up

This year, you have a little more time to file your income taxes. But now is not the time for any more procrastination because Tuesday evening is the deadline:

Q: Why is the income tax-filing deadline on April 17 this year and not April 15?

A: This year, April 15 falls on a Sunday and Monday, April 16 fell on the District of Columbia's Emancipation Day. By law, District of Columbia holidays are treated like federal holidays when it comes to tax deadlines.

http://bit.ly/ISnnDK

Best Buy announces locations for store closings -- 6 in Illinois

RICHFIELD, Minn. -- Best Buy on Saturday announced the locations of 50 stores that it is closing this year, including seven in California, six in Illinois and six in the company's home state of Minnesota.

The struggling electronics chain said last month that it would close some of its so-called big box stores, cut 400 corporate jobs and trim $800 million in costs. Best Buy plans to open 100 smaller, more profitable Best Buy Mobile stores.

The company is trying to avoid the fate of Circuit City, which went out of business in 2009. It faces slower sales of expensive items like TVs, plus increased competition from Amazon.com and discount stores like Target.

Best Buy has about 1,400 locations in the United States. It has already closed two stores this year, one in Missouri and one in Arizona. Most of the rest of the 50 will close May 12, others this summer.

Best Buy said it would try to find other jobs in the company for the workers.

On Tuesday, Best Buy said CEO Brian Dunn had resigned after the board of directors began investigating his "personal conduct." The company lost $1.7 billion in the most recent quarter, partly because of restructuring costs. - http://bit.ly/IHyUIa

Illinois couple bound with tape, robbed of artwork

EVANSTON, Ill. -- A pair of robbers has broken into the home an Evanston couple, bound them with duct tape and stolen three paintings.

The robbery on Friday left 67-year-old Ronald Fink bloodied and bruised and his wife, Bonita, recovering from a mild heart attack at a hospital.

The intruders made off with an estimated $10,000 worth of artwork.

Evanston police suspect the robbers knew Fink had sold another painting at an auction last year for more than $300,000 and were hoping he had other similarly expensive artwork. Fink says he did not.

The two robbers came to his home and told him they were delivery men with a package to drop off. Once inside, Fink says, they jumped on him and taped the couple's hands and feet. - http://goo.gl/k0eMr