Local County Uses Stimulus Money to Help Needy

Helping low-income families buy new school clothes is one way Sangamon County is using federal stimulus money to help people in need.

With the infusion of stimulus cash, the county Community Resources Office has created programs to help people cover the costs of school clothes or dental bills, among other expenses. And some existing programs, such as one that helps people pay the cost of going to and from work, are being expanded.

The new initiatives also include a voucher program that pays for copies of birth certificates for people who want to enroll their children in the Springfield School District’s Early Start program.
Sharmin Doering, executive director of Sangamon County Community Resources, said the new programs were developed with advice from county board members and the general public.
“Last year, we surveyed 2,287 of our customers who came in,” Doering said. “We talked about greatest needs in the community.

“We are excited that we are now able to meet some of the needs that we haven’t been able to address in the past.”

The school clothing vouchers can be redeemed only at the K-Mart on Clear Lake Avenue. The county has $25,000 on hand for clothing. Qualifying families can receive a $50 voucher for each child, up to four children.

Sangamon County Board member Tim Moore was at the K-Mart Thursday when the new program was announced.

“When the kids go to school, they want to look good, and they want to feel good about themselves,” Moore said.

Other stores were asked if they wanted to participate, but couldn’t clear it with corporate headquarters in time, he said.

“The K-mart on Clear Lake was ready, willing and able to go with this program,” Moore said.
People interested in one of the programs must be Sangamon County residents and must meet income guidelines. To apply, people need to call Sangamon County Community Resources at 535-3120 on pre-determined days and set up appointments.

The only exception is the birth certificate program. People who want birth certificate vouchers need to call the Springfield School District at 525-3163 Sept. 2 to set up appointments.

The county is working on additional programs funded by the stimulus program, Moore said.
“We want to take the money the federal and state governments are giving us and use it up,” he said. “We want our community, our citizens across the county, to maximize the benefits of those programs.”

John Reynolds can be reached at 788-1524.

Applying for county vouchers

*School clothing: $50 per child. People can call the county any Friday to set up appointments. The program has a total of $25,000 to distribute.

*Rent and dental work: Call-in days are the third and fourth Mondays of the month. Rental benefit pays up to $400 directly to landlord. Totals of $94,446 are available for rent assistance, $41,675 for dental assistance and $10,000 in denture assistance.

*Transportation to and from work: Funds can be used for gas, car repairs or bus tokens. Call-in-days are the second and third Wednesdays of each month. Total of $10,000 available.

*Prescription drugs/medication: Call-in days are Thursdays. Program has $46,675 available

*Birth certificates for early start students: Appointments can be made by calling the Springfield School District at 525-3163 on Sept. 2. Voucher covers $20 cost of the copy of a birth certificate, which is required to enroll a student in the Springfield School District’s Early Start program. Program has $3,200 available.

Income guidelines

To qualify for county vouchers, people must meet annual income guidelines of:

Single person, $21,660; family of two, $29,140; family of three, $36,620; family of four, $44,100; family of five, $51,580; family of six, $59,060; family of seven, $66,540; family of eight, $74,020.

For families with more than eight members, add $7,480 for each additional member.


By JOHN REYNOLDS
THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER

Cleaning Up the Illinois River

Even the nicest house and car require maintenance and upkeep. And postponing maintenance can end up being costly.

Illinois’ rivers and streams are no different.

That’s why cleaning up will be a major element of the statewide “It’s Our River Day” on Sept. 19. The statewide event also will celebrate of what Illinois rivers offer to wildlife, to outdoor recreation and to tourism.

“We want it to be more of an outing that represents all the positive things that rivers can provide,” said Illinois Department of Natural Resources Director Marc Miller, who pushed the first “It’s Our River Day” five years ago.

Tammy Becker, programs manager for Living Lands and Waters in East Moline, said cleanup efforts remove items that could leak pollutants.

“Any appliance we pull out could contain oil, other lubricants or even gasoline,” she said. “I can’t tell you how many mysterious containers and barrels we have found on the river that contain chemicals, fertilizers and hydraulic oil.

“All these things are extremely toxic not only to people, but all the animals and fish that rely on the river to survive.”

Keeping it clean

Rivers generally have benefited since the federal Clean Water Act was enacted in the 1970s.

“Today there are walleye and bass tournaments on the Illinois River,” said Gary Clark, director of DNR’s office of water resources. “Thirty years ago, people didn’t even want to boat on that river.”

The Living Lands and Waters organization conducts annual cleanups in several states, working mostly along the Mississippi River, but also on tributaries like the Illinois River.

Becker said the cleanups are becoming victims of their own success.

“It’s definitely getting better, especially in the areas we work on along the Mississippi River,” she said. “In areas we have worked over the past 10 years, it’s been getting really difficult to find garbage to keep everybody busy.

Even so, vigilance is required.

Scott Hewitt, who operates Lincoln’s New Salem Canoe Rental in Petersburg, said it doesn’t take much trash to ruin a canoe trip. Broken glass is dangerous for boaters in flip-flops, and fly-dumped trash always is an eyesore — a visual speed bump on the natural landscape.

And though Hewitt acknowledged progress in cleaning up the Sangamon and other Illinois Rivers, more is needed, he said.

“It’s needed,” he said of the coordinated effort to maintain the state’s rivers and streams. “But I wish it wasn’t necessary.”

‘Travel dollars’ at stake

Zoom out and the Sangamon River looks like a postcard for the Midwest in late summer.

Zoom in, however, and the picture has some blemishes.

At Irwin Bridge, often a trouble spot in the past, Hewitt recently unearthed a half-buried tarp and looked over the innards of an old washing machine lying in the water near the bank.

Just up the road, a pile of shingles — off-loaded in a relatively neat stack — is a testament to the ongoing problem of people who don’t take the effort and expense to properly dispose of waste.
“There’s no reason litter should mar that picture postcard view,” Miller said.

And it is more than a picture postcard view. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said hunting, fishing and wildlife-based recreation is worth $3.2 billion to the state’s economy.

“The impact is real,” Miller said.

Hewitt said Illinois has to take care of its rivers because if visitors find them unsafe and unattractive, they can take their travel dollars elsewhere.

More than trash pick-up

While the purpose of the event is serious, “It’s Our River Day” won’t be all work and no play.
Hewitt expects people to enjoy canoeing the stretch of the river between Irwin Bridge and New Salem.

In southern Illinois, participants can canoe the Cache River. At Starved Rock near Utica, tours are being offered of the lock and dam on the Illinois River.

In central Illinois, river sweeps and other activities are planned for Bath, Beardstown, Decatur, Peoria and Rushville. In Chicago, a rain-barrel painting contest is on tap.

Miller said he wants participants to look beyond piles of trash to see the potential of the state’s rivers.

People seem to be getting the message, Becker said.

“There are definitely fewer people dumping,” she said. “It’s gotten much better everywhere we go.”

Chris Young can be reached at 788-1528.

Sangamon Paddlers It’s Our River Day

When: 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sept. 19

Where: Meet at the Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site, Sangamon River picnic area

What: Volunteers will participate in a Sangamon River clean up on water and land. Paddlers will collect trash between Irwin Bridge and New Salem. Shoreline cleanup will take place at the Irwin Bridge put-in point and the New Salem take-out.

More info: http://www.newsalemcanoe.com/ or call Scott Hewitt, 494-3957.

Cooperating organizations: Sangamon Paddlers, Friends of the Sangamon Valley, Lincoln’s New Salem Canoe Rental, Lincoln’s New Salem State Historic Site, Sangamon Valley Sierra Club, AT&T Pioneers.

On the Web

For a complete listing of events, visit: http://www.cleanwaterillinois.org/.

Anyone wishing to organize an event should contact Olivia Dorothy at 785-0075.

Living Lands and Waters: http://www.livinglandsandwaters.org/.

Prairie Rivers Network: http://prairierivers.org/.

Illinois River Watershed facts

*The Illinois River watershed covers 44 percent of the state’s area.

*Ninety percent of the state’s population resides within the watershed.

*The Illinois River drains 28,906 square miles including 3,058 square miles in Indiana and 1,070 in Wisconsin.

*Includes the drainage basins of the Des Plaines, Kankakee, Fox, Vermilion, Mackinaw, Spoon, Sangamon and La Moine rivers.

Source: Illinois State Water Survey

Some pollution tough to combat

Gregg Good of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency says the Illinois River has improved “demonstrably” since 40 years ago, when it was considered an environmental nightmare and a receptacle for trash.

“The Illinois River is a modern-day success story,” Good said.

Small streams are improving too, and aquatic life is on the rebound as water quality gets better.
Over the past four decades, Good said the focus has been on controlling or eliminating point-source pollution, such as pollution that comes out of a pipe.

“I don’t think there is any doubt that 30 to 40 years of ratcheting down point-source pollution has helped a lot,” Good said.

However, non-point-source pollution, like runoff from agricultural fields, lawns and parking lots is more difficult to regulate.

“That is a tougher nut to crack,” he said.

Illinois is “blessed with rich loess soils,” Good said, but heavy rains can wash fertilizers and sediment into rivers, contributing to problems far downstream.

“We’re in a big agricultural state, and we’re pointed out as one of the states that is a major contributor to hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico,” Good said of the “dead zone” that extends into the Gulf where the Mississippi River enters.

Tackling non-point-source pollution is the next frontier when it comes to cleaning up Illinois’ rivers and streams, he said.

By CHRIS YOUNG
THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER

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Energy Bill: Greater Transparency or Higher Cost for Commercial Real Estate?

If landmark energy legislation is signed into law this year, the impact on commercial real estate could be a burden or a boon, depending on your point of view. With the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 sponsored by Henry Waxman (D–Calif.) and Edward Markey (D–Mass.) clearing the U.S. House of Representatives on June 26, the potential for passage is gathering steam. The U.S. Senate is poised to take up the bill when it returns to work after Labor Day.

TO READ MORE ON THIS ARTICLE CLICK HERE

A Not-So-Long Road to Recovery for Retail Real Estate?

Jones Lang LaSalle Retail last week issued a "perspective on recovery" for the retail sector in which JLL Retail President and CEO Greg Maloney predicted that the recession will bottom out during the last quarter of this year, to be followed by the beginning of revitalization for the retail industry in first quarter 2010.

JLL Retail's prediction for a gradual recovery in the retail industry is based on a number of key economic indicators that the firm says are slowly stabilizing. First, job losses are slowing -- the average monthly job loss for May through July was about half the average decline for the previous six months and there was a slight improvement in the unemployment rate during July.

CLICK HERE TO CONITUNE READING

By Sasha M Pardy

Mixed Signals: Nonresidential Construction Forecasts See Little Improvement Near-Term

The free-fall in nonresidential development may be bottoming out, if the activity seen by the nation's architects is any indication. Although the much-anticipated "sustained growth" phase is still not expected to materialize until well into next year.

After plunging nearly five points in June, the Architecture Billings Index, which measures new work for architects and is considered a leading indicator of future commercial and institutional construction, jumped nearly six points in July to 43.1, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported last week. Meanwhile, the value of new nonresidential construction starts rose 13% in July to an annualized rate of $170.5 billion, rebounding from a steep 26% drop from the end of last year through June, according to McGraw-Hill Construction.

Other reports detected a nominal increase in construction spending and a slowdown in the shedding of industry jobs. And a quarterly survey of the attitudes of nonresidential contractors suggests that while the bottom of the recession appears to be at hand, the recovery likely will be slow and painful

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING



By Randyl Drummer

TAX INCREASE?

Beginning Tuesday, Illinois shoppers may notice they are paying more for their favorite shampoo. Or toothpaste. Or candy bar. Or adult beverage.

Sales tax changes approved by the Illinois General Assembly last spring to help pay for road improvements, school construction and other public works projects take effect Tuesday.
Starting Tuesday, a $10 box of chocolates, now $10.10 with tax, will set you back $10.75 in the city of Springfield.

That anti-dandruff shampoo used to be considered a medication and carried a sales tax of only 1 percent. Now the sales tax will be at least 6.25 percent – or more in areas, such as Springfield, where local governments impose their own sales tax (1.5 percent in the city’s case).

Unless, of course, a doctor prescribes the shampoo. In that case, it’s still a medication.
Munch on a handful of plain, dry-roasted peanuts for a snack, and you are eating food taxed at 1 percent. Buy the honey-roasted version, and you are eating candy, which is taxed at 6.25 percent at the state level.

Yogurt-covered fruit? Candy.

Yogurt-covered pretzels? Food.

Less confusion

Although the changes sound confusing, the Illinois Department of Revenue, which receives the sales taxes retailers collect from their customers, thinks the changes actually will reduce confusion about what is taxed at what rate.

“We believe this will reduce errors in classification of grooming products so that, no matter where a customer goes to buy a tube of toothpaste, they’ll be charged the same,” said Revenue spokeswoman Sue Hofer.

David Vite of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association agrees the changes will make things less difficult for retailers. Well, up to a point.

“Certainly in two areas (soft drinks and grooming products), it will be easier. Candy is not going to be any easier,” Vite said. “Any time you have a system that taxes different products differently, there is confusion. This gets rid of a lot of problems for the retail industry.”

The Illinois Petroleum Marketers Association represents 500 members who operate more than 3,500 gas station/convenience stores in the state.
“It is confusing, but we have to work our way through this thing,” said executive vice-president Bill Fleischli. “We don’t want down the line to have members subject to an audit and then be subject to penalty and fines.”

The changes are intended to raise revenue for the state that will be used to pay off the bonds issued for public works projects. It was part of the $31 billion capital bill approved by lawmakers last spring.

Extending the sales tax to candy is expected to raise $35 million to $38 million for state government, Hofer said. Changes in tax rates for grooming products will raise an estimated $14 million.

Prices going up

Reaction among some Springfield retailers varied. Rob Flesher, president and co-owner of Pease’s Candy Shops of Springfield, said the increase will “immediately cut into our sales.”

“All of a sudden you’re adding 6.75 percent to everything we sell,” Flesher said. “In this economy, people have only a limited amount of money for discretionary funds.”

Flesher said Pease’s products do not fall into any of the exceptions outlined in the new taxes.

Bill Caslin, co-owner and manager of Springfield Novelties and Gifts, doesn’t think the changes will be a big deal for his business, even though he sells soda, candy and personal care products.

“We do our best to be competitive,” Caslin said. “In that regard, we hope to do our best not to pass it on. Some people are going to recognize there has been an increase, but I don’t think it will be too drastic.”

People shouldn’t expect to skirt the tax changes by buying their candy bars in vending machines. Hofer said the tax applies to those products as well.

“Whoever owns the candy that goes into the machine pays the tax,” Hofer said.

Capital City Vending Co. operates vending machines throughout the city. A person answering the phone there Tuesday, who would only identify himself as Dave, said prices will go up.

“You have to pass it on. There’s no way not to,” he said.

He predicted candy that now costs 80 to 90 cents will probably increase to $1.

Not everything is seeing a tax increase, Hofer said. Seltzer water, previously taxed as a soft drink because it is carbonated, will now be taxed as a food because it contains no sweeteners.
Liquor taxes also to rise

Taxes on alcoholic beverages are also going up to help pay for the capital bill.

The state expects to collect another $109 million from alcohol excise taxes, which are based on the gallonage and alcohol content of a product.

The tax increases amount to 81 cents on a fifth of liquor, 13 cents on a bottle of wine and 2.6 cents on a six-pack of beer, Hofer said.

However, Bill Olson, president of the Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois, cautioned that those numbers only apply to the increased taxes distributors will pay to the state.

“What we pay on taxes isn’t the only factor,” Olson said of beer prices. “We are getting an increase from breweries. Both of those go into the price we sell to the retailer. The retailer determines how much they will charge consumers.”

Famous Liquors on Wabash Avenue in Jerome put up a sign advising people to buy now because taxes are increasing Sept. 1. Manager Fred Manker said that warning hasn’t prompted a big increase in business yet. But if the pattern repeats from 1999, when taxes were last increased, he said customers will start flowing in as the deadline approaches.

Manker said he’s already been notified by distributors that prices will be going up.

Department of Revenue spokeswoman Sue Hofer said the department expects some retailers are stocking up now on supplies before the taxes increase. However, the department won’t know for sure for several more weeks because of delays in collecting those taxes.

By DOUG FINKE
THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER

Extream Makeover in East Central Illinois

The past week EXTREAM MAKEOVER has been in East Central Illinois helping out a local family.

Nathan and Jenny Montgomery and their two boys and two girls had been chosen for ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,"

Show staff surprised the Montgomery family at Salt & Light Ministries in Champaign earlier in the morning, and toured the charity on Anthony Drive in Champaign before heading to Philo to visit the home. Nathan Montgomery is executive director of the nonprofit. His wife, Jenny, is a teacher's aide.

The home, about 100 years old, needs more than a little work, according to family members. During a previous filming in the house, a snake reportedly slithered out of a vent, Dan Montgomery said. Squirrels have been known to chew on wires.
The Montgomerys have tried to repair the home throughout the years, but "it's been one thing after another" and the projects became overwhelming, said Brandy Montgomery, sister-in-law of Nathan.

The build sight is in the middle of downtown Philo and there are plenty of homes in the area.Neighbors say even with the around the clock construction, they slept just fine last night and it's exciting to have something so big in their tiny town.

To see video clips from the work week and the REVEAL Click here or visit www.wics.com

The Fed Extends TALF Program for Commercial Real Estae Lending

The Fed Extends TALF Program for Commercial Real Estate Lending - But Will It Help?
The Federal Reserve and Treasury Department announced this week that they will be extending the TALF (Term Asset-Backed Loan Facility) program into 2010 to stimulate new activity in the commercial real estate industry.


The TALF program, launched about six months ago as part of the government’s stimulus effort, works with banks and lending institutions to make credit available, including loans for new commercial construction.

Critics of the program have said that the TALF is well-intentioned, but too small to make a significant difference, and that it cannot stimulate the lending necessary to boost the industry.

Economists around the country are in near-agreement that the Great Recession has come to an end, but the technical definition of an end to a recession and the impact on consumers and businesses are two different things. With the economy starting to show life again (residential housing is stabilizing, unemployment is finding balance, and industrial output is on the rise), is it too soon to expect the commercial real estate industry to bounce back, even with the help of the TALF program?

Vacancies are still rising in most markets across the U.S., and landlords/property owners have been forced in many cases to lower rents just to stabilize occupancy in their buildings. All of this puts a great deal of stress on property owners who are struggling to meet their mortgage commitments, and the credit crunch that froze the credit market in 2008 has yet to thaw, leaving owners with few places to turn when they want to roll over their debts. The end result is often bankruptcy, mortgage default or a forced property sale.

Are there multi-millions of dollars in commercial mortgages currently teetering on the brink of default? And, if so, how will that impact the lending market as the economic recovery takes hold? The Fed and Treasury believe the extended TALF program (now running through June 2010) will help spur investors, staving off the worst of the possible mortgage defaults on the horizon. But many experts agree that the TALF program has had some success in CMBS markets, but that companies facing defaults will benefit little from the extended program.

Click here for more on this topic from bloomberg.com

NAI Global

Renters Beware

CHICAGO —

The Better Business Bureau says renters need to be on the look out for scammers.

More people are renting than buying in the current housing market, so authorities say be wary when scanning online rental ads.

In one scheme, scammers take information from legitimate ads and post it with their own e-mail address. Victims responding to the ads are then asked to wire rent money.

Steve Bernas of the Better Business Bureau says this is a version of an old scam. His group's advice is to only deal with local landlords and visit a location before paying any money.
Also be suspicious of a rents that are much cheaper than average.

Real estate firms involved in listings can be checked with the bureau free at their Web site, www.bbb.org

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Posted Aug 25, 2009 @ 08:12 AM

ATTENTION Samll-Business Owners...

Attention small-business owners: Time is running out on an opportunity to access fee-free business loans that are guaranteed up to 90%.

Earlier this year, the Small Business Administration set aside $375 million to temporarily eliminate loan fees and increase the agency's loan guarantee to 90% for certain loans. The moves were part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which was signed into law by President Obama in mid-February. So far, the SBA has used about 55% of those funds; they have translated to $6 billion in loans under the 7(a) and 504 programs, says John J. Miller, an SBA spokesman.

However, barring another act of Congress, SBA-backed loans will revert to their pre-Recovery Act status by the end of November or December, Miller says. The impact will be palpable. Loans made once the funds run out will only get a 75% to 85% guarantee, down from 90%. The decrease will make it tougher to get approved for a loan because lower guarantees raise a bank's risk, says Eric Grimstead, a business advisor at the Center for Economic Vitality at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash. In addition, business owners taking out loans through the SBA loan will have to pay a 2% to 3% loan guarantee fee again, he says.

November is more than two months away, but given that the SBA loan approval process can take as long as 120 days, applicants had better get cracking, says Dave Mulcahy, the director of the Small Business Development Center at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas.
Here are six ways to speed up the application process for SBA loans:

Update your financials

To accelerate a loan's approval, prepare and provide at least three years of tax returns and up-to-date financial statements, including income and cash-flow statements, balance sheets and sales projections, says Tom Burke, the senior vice president of Wells Fargo SBA lending in Minneapolis. If you don't have a business plan, write one. And if you don't have a marketing plan, write one of those too, he says. "Business owners have to be able to show that they can pay everyone back," Burke says. (Click here for the SBA's loan application checklist.)

Tap a preferred lender

Use a preferred SBA lender such as TD Banknorth or KeyBank, Grimstead says. Conventional wisdom says business owners should consult a bank with which they already work, but if that institution doesn't currently work with SBA loan programs, the process can be take weeks longer than comparable loans at SBA-ready lenders, he says. Not only is there a massive learning curve when working with SBA programs, which are complex and change frequently, but nonpreferred lenders also have to send loans into the SBA for approval, which can take up to four weeks, Burke says. Conversely, preferred lenders are generally able to underwrite their own SBA loans, he says.

Ensure the right fit

When scanning the list of preferred lenders, find ones that cater to businesses like yours, Burke says. For instance, some banks won't authorize SBA loans to start-ups. Others may avoid restaurants or other similarly risky ventures, he says. Also, take into account differences in banks' credit policies. For instance, Wells Fargo will extend a real estate loan for 25 years, but other banks do so for just 20 years.

Hedge your bets

Even if you secure the word of a preferred lender, make sure you've applied to a couple other banks backups, Grimstead says. "Some borrowers get three or six or even 12 weeks into the process only to get a 'no' from someone at the bank," he says. To slash your risk of rejection, apply to a few different banks at the same time. (Note that going through the application process at several banks will not harm your credit, says Mulcahy, from the SBDC in Beaumont, Texas.)

Offer more backup

SBA loan programs often require less of a down payment than typical business loans, says Becky Naugle, the state director for the Kentucky Small Business Development Center at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. For instance, banks providing normal business loans might require owners to put 20% to 40% down, but banks working through an SBA program might require just 10% down. Despite this lower standard, consider putting more down or offering some sort of personal guarantee, she says. "If particularly risky business owners can mediate a [bank's] risk by having a personal guarantee, that could push it through faster," she says.

Get help

An experienced business advisor can also help push your company's loan through quicker, Burke says. Check out a local Small Business Development Center, or tap a volunteer business professional in your area via SCORE, a nonprofit business counseling service, he says. There's also at least one SBA district officer in each state whom business owners can ask questions about SBA loans.

Write to Diana Ransom at dransom@smartmoney.com

Village President Thomas Yokley estimated Sunday the cost of damage could reach $10 million as a result of a tornado that damaged homes and businesses in Williamsville last week.

He added that he doesn’t have a specific figure yet but that the cleanup alone would cost the village $30,000 to $40,000.

There were no organized volunteer programs in Williamsville or Loami on Sunday, as many affected by tornadoes that struck Wednesday took time to clean up their homes and wait for insurance adjusters to arrive this week.

“Probably mid-week we’ll evaluate and see if we need to have another cleanup program next Saturday,” Yokley said. “We’re in pretty good shape right now.”

Loami’s village president, Alan Mann, said the village has another community cleanup scheduled for Saturday.

“It’s come a long, long way,” Mann said. “It’s just amazing. It looks like we’ll be in good shape.”
Mann says he does not yet have damage estimates.

Many Williamsville residents spent Sunday getting their homes ready for restoration.

Williamsville Fire Chief Keith Hamrick, who lives on the heavily damaged Lester Street, said most people on his block were “getting down to the last little bits,” of cleaning on Sunday.

“We’re just getting ready for restoration,” he said. “It’s been pretty hard to balance my professional job and personal life having my own stake in it.”

Allen Schnellenberger, who also lives on Lester Street, said he plans to rebuild the south side of his house, which sustained heavy damage during the tornado. Now, he’s waiting on insurance adjusters. He said he estimates damage to his home would total $120,000 to $130,000.

Yokley said crews would be in the village today and Tuesday, using heavy equipment to haul branches and debris that have piled up.

“We’ve had a tremendous amount of help from all kinds of other communities, state agencies, county agencies and just a tremendous outpour from volunteers,” he said.

Yokley estimated 35 to 40 dumpster loads of debris has been hauled away already, as well as 30 to 40 semi truckloads of brush.

By: Rhys Saunders
THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER

Bernanke says US economy on cusp of recovery

JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke declared Friday that the U.S. economy is on the verge of a long-awaited recovery after enduring a brutal recession and the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Economic activity in both the U.S. and around the world appears to be "leveling out," and "the prospects for a return to growth in the near term appear good," Bernanke said in a speech at an annual Fed conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

The upbeat assessment was consistent with the Fed's observations earlier this month. The central bank has taken small steps toward pulling back some emergency programs to revive the economy.

Still, Bernanke stressed Friday that despite much progress in stabilizing financial markets and trying to bust through credit clogs, consumers and businesses are still having trouble getting loans. The situation is not back to normal, he said.

Restoring the free flow of credit is a critical component to a lasting recovery.

"Although we have avoided the worst, difficult challenges still lie ahead," Bernanke told the gathering. "We must work together to build on the gains already made to secure a sustained economic recovery."

Strains in financial markets worldwide persist. Financial institutions face "significant additional losses" on soured investments and many businesses and households are experiencing "considerable difficulty" in getting loans, he said.

The Fed chief's remarks come two years after the financial crisis broke out and nearly one year after it had deepened to the point of sending the nation into a near meltdown.

Click here to continue reading

Williamsville After Math Photos

Photos of the Tornado damage taken by Williamsville community members http://cli.gs/9EZHZt6 minutes ago

Local Tornado Victims

At least 19 people were injured and dozens of homes and businesses were destroyed as a line of severe weather spawning one or more tornadoes slammed into the Springfield area Wednesday afternoon. The Sangamon County communities of Williamsville and Loami were the hardest hit.
Two of the 12 people taken to St. John’s Hospital were admitted in fair condition, according to Roscoe Cook, nursing coordinator. One was injured when a car was flipped by the wind and the other was blown off his motorcycle, Cook said.The other 10 were treated and released.At Memorial Medical Center, seven people were being treated for weather-related injuries Wednesday night. None was expected to be admitted, a nursing supervisor said.The destruction in Williamsville, about 10 miles north of Springfield, appeared to be the worst.Thirteen-year-old Ryan Degner was home alone when the tornado crossed Interstate 55 and pummeled the town of 1,400.

** Listen to Ryan tell his story **

"I heard a boom — glass breaking, stuff falling off the side of our house, and I freaked out,” said Degner, who'd gone to the basement. “I was thinking about the cat, and my mom and my brothers and stuff; they were at the baby sitter’s. They’re all right and everything.”About five minutes later, he said he went upstairs to find the side of the home they’ve lived in for six years was gone.“I started crying and freaking out,” he said.For Loami, about 10 miles southwest of Springfield, it was the second time in less than six months that a tornado, or suspected tornado, had struck.Authorities said 10 homes were destroyed, and another dozen were severely damaged.IN SUMMARY

Williamsville

About 25 structures severely damaged or destroyed, mostly on the northwest side of town.
Williamsville Christian Church badly damaged.

Casey's General Store heavily damaged; Williamsville Route 66 Antique Mall destroyed.
Entire town without power.

Emergency shelter set up at Williamsville Community Center, 141 W. Main St.
Loami

Ten homes destroyed. Another dozen badly damaged.

Trees, limbs and power lines down throughout the area, limiting access to some sections of the community.

Scattered areas without electricity and phone service.
Springfield
Trees and power lines down along East Lake Shore Drive near Vivian Lane and Parkway Drive.
AreawideInjuries
Nineteen people treated at Springfield hospitals' emergency rooms for storm-related injuries. Two admitted in fair condition with the rest treated and released or expected to be.
Power failures
City Water, Light and Power reported 3,300 customers without electricity at the height of the storm at 3:30 p.m. That number was down to about 265 by about 9 p.m.
AmerenCILCO reported 1,137 outages in Sangamon County at 8:30 p.m., including 689 in Williamsville and 97 in Loami.

WILLIAMSVILLE:

Storm leaves destruction, injuries A church was damaged beyond repair, two businesses were destroyed, roofs were ripped off homes, and several people were injured, though none seriously.

Recovering from Wednesday’s tornado is going to take some time.

Early estimates were that 20 to 25 homes in the town of 1,400 that’s 10 miles north of Springfield were severely damaged or destroyed. The injuries included two motorcyclists caught in the storm, a worker at Williamsville Christian Church who was hurt by a collapsing wall and a man who was injured when the winds hit his house, said Sangamon County Sheriff Neil Williamson.

“From my experience and what I’ve seen, it was a tornado,” Williamson said. “You can tell by the way the trees are bent, the roofs are taken off the houses, and the way the boards are driven into the sides of buildings.”

Most of the damage was on the north and northwest sides of town. Rescuers, as well as concerned neighbors, went from home to home immediately after the storm, and the Sangamon County Rescue Squad conducted a second search with specially trained dogs.

“We don’t have any reports of anybody who is missing, but again, somebody could be missing and we just don’t know about it yet,” said Bill Russell, deputy coordinator of the Sangamon County Office of Emergency Management.

Church ‘is gone’As rescuers searched the area, Pastor David Beals of Williamsville Christian Church stood near a line of yellow police tape. He had been inside the church when the tornado hit.

“We had some kids from the community that were coming over to the church because they heard the storm was coming,” Beals said. “I told the kids to go down in the basement. I heard some sound, and I looked outside and saw debris falling.

”Instead of heading for the basement himself, Beals said he ran to the sanctuary to warn some workers who were doing a remodeling job. As he was running up a ramp that connects the old part of the church to the newer portion, “I was picked up in the air and slammed against the wall,” Beals said. “I saw one of the workers come out of the sanctuary, and he jumped over the railing to get down in the basement. “We ended up on the ground together.”Beals said it appears the church building was destroyed. The kids in the basement were not hurt.“The building is gone, but the church is still here. The church is the people,” Beals said.

‘Didn’t last two minutes’One of the Williamsville residents who rode out the storm in his home was Allen Schnellenberger. He said his neighbor and his neighbor’s two children joined him when the tornado sirens sounded.

They were watching television and thought the worst had passed, when they heard a bolt of lighting hit, which apparently knocked out their power. They heard another boom, and then the tornado arrived, blowing out the basement windows.

Everybody ran to the center of the basement to get away from the debris.

“It didn’t last two minutes. It sucked the basement windows out, and it was gone,”Schnellenberger said.

Part of his roof was torn off, and all of the windows were blown out.

Despite the damage, Schnellenberger was taking the loss in stride. His wife, Rose, passed away unexpectedly a few months ago, which puts the damage to the house in perspective, he said.“I’m kind of numb. Nothing bothers me anymore,” Schnellenberger said. “It’s just a house. Compared to losing my wife, this is nothing.”Rode it out in a pickup

The Casey’s General Store near Interstate 55 also was severely damaged.

Casey’s employee Helen Blake of Athens said it suddenly got very dark, and a customer came in and said, “It’s here.”

A few people took shelter in a bathroom, while others, including Blake, headed for a walk-in cooler.

“We heard a big bang and could hear the glass flying. I was scared for my life,” Blake said.

Sherman resident Bill Lillard didn’t make it into the Casey’s.

He was about ready to pull into the parking lot when the storm hit.

There was no time to run for cover, so he rode out the storm in the cab of his Chevrolet pickup.

“There was nothing to do but hold on,” Lillard said. “I wasn’t sure if the truck was going to stay on the ground.”

Several windows on the truck were blown out, but luckily, it remained upright.

“It was raining so hard and blowing so hard, you couldn’t see anything,” said Lillard, who suffered a few scratches from the broken glass.

Two cyclists injured Williamson said two male motorcyclists had just gotten off the interstate near Casey’s when the worst of the weather hit.

“They drove right into the storm,” the sheriff said. “When I last saw them, they were laying on the ground. They had neck braces on. They were banged up pretty good.”

As of 8:45 p.m., 689 of the 692 AmerenCILCO customers in Williamsville still were without power.

Leigh Morris, spokesman for Ameren Illinois Utilities, said the utility expected that half would have power restored overnight.

Police blocked off the severely damaged area of town, though by late Wednesday, they were escorting people back to the damaged structures so they could get medicine and other necessities.

A curfew is in effect until 6 a.m. today, Williamson said.John Reynolds can be reached at 788-1524.Route 66 Antique Mall in Williamsville destroyed
Jack Caldwell, one of five owners of the Williamsville Route 66 Antique Mall, said it appears that Wednesday’s tornado touched down first in a cornfield directly west of his building.

Two employees were in the one-story structure just off Interstate 55 as the storm approached. They sought shelter in a closet.“And the only area that’s standing is an office, a break room and the closet,” Caldwell said in a phone interview.

Caldwell, who lives in Williamsville, got to the antique mall within about five minutes of the tornado’s arrival.

He stopped and saw the two employees, and then “the building — it was just gone.

”The mall, which houses about antique 100 dealers, is nearing its 10-year anniversary, opening in Nov. 1, 2000.— Deana Poole
Red Cross arrives on scene in Williamsville
WILLIAMSVILLE — By late Wednesday, Red Cross volunteers had set up a shelter for displaced residents at the Williamsville Community Center, 141 W. Main St.

At 9:30 p.m., volunteers were setting up cots for 12 people who planned to stay overnight, shelter manager Ann Dixon said.

About 10 families registered at the shelter over the course of the evening. Dozens of residents along with emergency responders moved in and out of the facility to take a break and eat soup, salad and other food items donated by the nearby Blucat Café.

The restaurant wasn’t damaged but did lose power, so employees brought the food over to the shelter so it wouldn’t go to waste. The Red Cross also provided food from McDonald’s.

At about 7:30 p.m., the building’s generator overheated, causing it to lose power. Dixon said Williamsville Junior High School will serve as a shelter if power is not restored or an overflow occurs at the community center.

Lawrence McVickers, 76, was at the shelter, talking to neighbors and helping himself to a bowl of hot soup.

The lifelong resident of Williamsville and his wife, Margie, also 76, were in the basement of their bungalow, catty-corner from Williamsville Christian Church, when the storm hit. The couple heard the sirens and decided to take cover.

“We felt a change in pressure, Margie really felt it,” he said. “It broke all the windows out… the back part (of the house) lost the roof. In the front part, the roof is still on, but all the windows are gone. It’s a big mess.”McVickers said the couple would be staying with his brother-in-law Wednesday night. He said it’s too soon to know what the couple will do in the long run since the house is inhabitable. Last July marked the couple’s 10th anniversary in the house. He credited first responders’ quick actions to help the couple evacuate. “They came and got us right away,” he said.

LOAMI: 10 homes destroyed, 12 damaged

LOAMI — A suspected tornado destroyed 10 homes and severely damaged another dozen Wednesday afternoon, the second time this year the community 10 miles southwest of Springfield has been struck.

There were injuries, authorities said, but none was serious.

Whether it was straight-line winds or a tornado that hit about 3:30 p.m. had not been determined.

The worst damage happened near Mill and Witt streets and John’s Creek Road, said Chief Deputy Jack Campbell of the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office. Many homes along East Loami Road also were damaged and left without electricity or phone lines.

As the severe weather approached and the tornado sirens went off, Chandra Ushman, 32, who lives on Mill Street, got out of her parked van, shut the garage door and told her three children to head for the basement.

“My kids were crying,” she said. “I had to walk my dog down (the stairs).”Once downstairs, Ushman began praying.“The pressure was unreal,” she said. “My house started creaking. I threw myself on top of my kids. My dog had his nose pressed against me the whole time.”

Then everything went still. She started hearing water pouring into her basement.“I didn’t know how to get out, and I didn’t have a (phone) signal,” she said. “I was too scared to get out of the basement.”

She and her three children eventually had to walk barefoot through glass after learning they couldn’t get out of one of the doors. A neighbor helped them out another door.

Twice in six monthsVillage President Alan Mann said he’s certain Loami will bounce back again.

“Everything can be rebuilt. I know it’s hard for people to realize it, but we’re OK,” he said. “... We knew it was coming, and we had plenty of alarm.”Mann said that’s unlike the tornado that hit March 8, destroying half a dozen homes.“This time, we knew 30 minutes before it hit,” Mann said. “Last time, we didn’t.”For cattle farmer R.P. Minder, 83, a lifetime’s worth of work was swept away in a matter of minutes.“The tornado hit and tore her all to hell,” he said.Minder was home alone at the time, standing in his garage on East Loami Road when he knew from the strength of the wind that it was time to head to the basement.

A few minutes later, Minder walked upstairs and looked outside. A large barn, a cattle shed, a storage building and two grain bins were destroyed. One of the two bins was carried more than a hundred yards from its foundation.

Minder said he’s thankful that he and his wife, Wilma, 73, weren’t injured.“We worked all our lives and finally had it built up nice like we wanted it, and in 20 minutes, it was gone,” Minder said.

“It’s a bad situation, but neither one of us were hurt and that means a lot.” ‘Sucker came fast’Just down the road, Pat and Theresa Gaffney were home with a mechanic who had come over to fix their lawnmower.“It was just raining, and it didn’t look that bad,” Pat Gaffney, 79, said. “That sucker came fast and was gone fast.”The mechanic had just walked over to the Gaffneys’ door to talk to them and was about to walk back to his truck. Luckily, he didn’t.

Several trees in the yard were uprooted or damaged, several of them totaling the mechanic’s truck.About 97 AmerenCILCO customers in Loami were still without power at 8:45 p.m., according to Leigh Morris, spokesman for Ameren Illinois Utilities. Morris said he expected power to be restored to all customers overnight except those who could not have it restored as a safety precaution.

There was no need to set up an emergency shelter in Loami, authorities said, because everyone displaced by the storm had somewhere else to stay.In Morgan CountyBefore reaching Loami, the storm downed trees and power lines in Morgan County, where there was an initial report of a tornado. Sheriff Randy Duvendack said no injuries were reported. At least two houses were damaged, he said, one significantly.

He said the damage was concentrated in three locations — on Leetham Road near Nortonville, on Heart’s Prairie Road and Clevenger Road.
Staff writer Deana Poole and staff photographer Jason Johnson contributed to this report. Rhys Saunders can be reached at 788-1521.

Will Commercial Real Estate Defer Recovery?

Investors and analysts remain very pessimistic over the prospects for the commercial real estate market, expecting significant further declines that some think might derail the prospects for a broad economic recovery.

While we agree that commercial real estate markets will likely be the very last part of the economy to participate in the economic recovery and significant problems remain (particularly on the financing front). It is doubtful that the commercial market will exert much of a drag on the recovery in GDP, jobs, or growth.

Declines in total real estate construction spending have been a major drag on the economy. Over the past twelve months, total construction outlays declined by $109.9 billion to a June, 2009 level of $965.7 billion, so it appears there is still plenty of room for additional declines in the months and quarters ahead.

However, a more careful examination of the underlying data strongly suggests that almost the entire decline is behind us.

Of the $109.9 total decline, $105.3 billion is accounted for by reduced residential investment spending. In the second quarter, real residential investment plunged at a 30% annual rate, even though housing starts have already increased by 2.5% over the first quarter level.

That disparity reflects the lags between a start and actual construction outlays, which play out over several months. If starts continue to rise, as most analysts now expect, residential investment will be either neutral or a contributor to growth in this third quarter and certainly positive by the fourth quarter.

The outlook is presumably far less favorable with regard to commercial real estate, where defaults and foreclosures are still rising, possibly deterring any thought of new construction. Again, a review of the components suggests it is also near bottom. Over the past 12 months, private nonresidential construction spending declined by $4.7 billion to a level of $711.9 billion in June. This decline seems very modest given the turmoil in various commercial markets.

In fact, four categories, lodging, office, commercial, and communication, declined by $50.6 billion, compared to the total decline of $4.7 billion for all nonresidential construction.

Other categories increased spending. For example, spending on power generation rose by $10.7 billion, on private education by $3.5 billion, and numerous other categories were either flat or rose. The four categories that experienced a dramatic decline in spending fell $171.9 billion.
While additional declines are certain, the pace of decline should moderate. This may not relieve the stress in the commercial mortgage market, but it does suggest that the drag on GDP and growth from commercial real estate will be quite limited.

By Charles Leberman

H1N1 At UIS

The first case of HIN1 flu has been confirmed at the University of Illinois Springfield, and health officials there are taking precautions.

The illness was confirmed late Friday and has been reported to the Sangamon County Health Department, as required by law, said UIS spokesman Derek Schnapp.

“All campuses and universities across the nation are planning and preparing for this,” he said. “We’re following guidelines given to us by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It seems the best advice is to stay home or in your room.”

University officials sent an e-mail notice Friday to advise the campus community what someone should do if they develop flu-like symptoms.

The symptoms of H1N1 are much like those of regular, seasonal flu — fever, body aches, sore throat, cough, runny nose chills and fatigue. Those between the ages of 19 and 25 are thought to have a higher risk of getting H1N1 flu.

University officials could not confirm details of the H1N1 case, but a student is thought to have contracted the disease.

Move-in day for UIS students is Wednesday.

By CHRIS DETTRO
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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15 Illinois Air National Gaurds Retrun Home

Fifteen members of the Security Forces Squadron, 183rd Fighter Wing, Illinois Air National Guard, returned to Springfield’s Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport three hours later than the scheduled 2 p.m. arrival Sunday because of rain delays in Chicago.

The squadron left Springfield in early February and spent the past six months at Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan, according to the Illinois Air National Guard. The base is a key logistical hub for the war in Afghanistan.

Some of the squadron’s tasks included controlling security at entry points to Air Force areas, security of aircraft, base perimeter security operations and internal and external patrolling.
About 60 people waited more than three hours to welcome the squadron members home. Several family members were kept up-to-date about the delays via text messages to the guardsmen, who were in a plane on a Chicago airstrip waiting out the rain.

When the squadron arrived, they were met with a deluge of cheers and shouts. Many looked disoriented and slightly dazed as they walked around finding their family and friends.

“It’s just hitting me all at once,” said Chris Mazrim, 21, of Springfield. “I don’t know what to expect.”

Mazrim was met by family and friends and said he looks forward to taking some time off and being around his family.

For the families of many of the guardsmen, the past six months have proved taxing and required them to readjust their home lives. Still, many of them say technology has allowed them to keep in relatively close contact with the guardsmen.

Deanna Victor, 39, of Pleasant Plains, said she was able to communicate with her husband, Marc, 31, about every four days. The Internet allowed Marc to do things such as record himself reading books for his 4-year-old son, Marshall.

Before leaving for Kyrgyzstan, Marc routinely took Marshall to a barbershop in Ashland for haircuts. The pair would go in Marc’s pickup.

When Marc left, Deanna found herself being both mom and dad. “You have to step into the dad role with a son,” she said. “It was an experience. You don’t realize how much your spouse does until they’re gone.”

“I had never done yard work before.”

Deanna said her daughters, Rachel, 13, and Sarah, 11, helped out tremendously.

Marc’s departure also meant the family had to postpone a trip to Walt Disney World in Florida, which they plan to take in October.

As the children rushed to greet Marc at the arrival gate Sunday, he picked up Marshall and began walking toward the rest of the dozen family members waiting to see him.

“I’m just happy to be back with my family,” he said.

The 183rd still has approximately 40 people deployed to various countries throughout the world.

By mailto:rhys.saunders@sj-r.com
THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER

www.NaiTrue.com

State Fair Reviews

Josh Turner has a bass voice that must be heard to be believed but he didn’t begin to show what he could do until the third song of his set.

Turner was the closing act of a youthful country triple bill Sunday night at the Illinois State Fair Grandstand.

Partway through that third song, “Backwoods Boy,” the music came to an abrupt halt and the lights went out. Then Turner sang a few solo notes, dropping his voice to subterranean depths before bending the note back to the surface. He sounded as deep as a Harley but polished as the leather on a new pair of boots.

Turner played hits such as “Firecracker” and “Your Man.”

Toward the end of his set, the stage went dark again, and a low rumble began to emerge from the sound system. An old steam train appeared on the video screen, and Turner fans cheered at the opening of his career-making hit “Long Black Train.”

At Turner’s invitation, most of the Grandstand stood and clapped or swayed along, many concertgoers stirring for what seemed like the first time in the nearly 4-hour show.

The official attendance figure was 3,358, not bad given the afternoon thunderstorm and a forecast for more bad weather (which, other than a pleasant cool breeze, did not materialize during the concert).

Citing concerns about mud, fair officials closed the track, which usually hosts a pack of eager fans in a standing-room-only crowd clustered near the stage. That’s too bad.

It would be unfair to say the attendees weren’t into the show — many were. People were tapping their feet; a woman patted her date’s back in time to the music. Most concertgoers were paying careful attention, but to an extent that was almost too polite.

I’ve never seen a Grandstand concert from anywhere but the middle of a sea of people on or just behind the track, and hadn’t realized how much of the energy of a show comes from the cheering, throbbing crowd. It just wasn’t the same in the middle of the Grandstand, a football-field away from the stage.

Turner overcame that Cumberland-sized gap, and so did Jamey Johnson, the second performer of the night.

Johnson has an intensity about him that’s difficult to explain. Part of it owes to his appearance: shoulder-length hair and a chest-length beard. And part of it is his voice: a rich, dark bass that smolders like the remains of a redwood forest fire.

Johnson doesn’t prance about the stage, instead standing still at center stage, playing his guitar. He has the air of someone deadly serious about his music — he didn’t say a word to the audience until he was 46 minutes into his set, and by my count said 23 words that weren’t part of a song lyric.

“You guys sing up here in Springfield?” Johnson asked during “In Color.” Then, after the last verse, in which the audience sang along, Johnson said, “I didn’t realize there were so many of you. It’s good to see you all too.”

Johnson’s songs range from wistful to dark, as “That Lonesome Song,” in which he sang: “What the hell did I do last night? / That’s the story of my life / Like trying to remember words to a song nobody wrote.”

Johnson ended his set with “Give It Away,” after which he set down his guitar, raised his arm to the crowd and walked off the stage. Always leave them wanting more, they say, and Johnson did.

Opening act Chuck Wicks didn’t connect with the crowd quite as well. Wicks sang his hit “Stealing Cinderella” and “Man of the House,” a song he said recently gained new meaning for him after he spent time with soldiers about to be deployed and the families they’d be leaving behind.

The song is about a 10-year-old boy who takes on added responsibilities around the house. “It’s hard to be a kid when you’re the man of the house,” Wicks sang.

Brian Mackey can be reached at 747-9587.

By mailto:brian.mackey@sj-r.com
THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER

A group of seven Illinois National Guard soldiers who aren’t used to being the center of attention got steady applause Thursday as they headed down Ninth Street as grand marshals of the Illinois State Fair’s annual Twilight Parade.

The parade is the traditional kickoff for the fair, which begins its 10-day run today after Thursday night’s free preview.

The grand marshals, all veterans of the war in Afghanistan, included Capt. Lenny Williams of Dyer, Ind., First Sgt. Ed Panosh of Chicago and five soldiers who were wounded in action: Sgt. Michael Brown, Chicago; Sgt. Dirk Bryant, Rochelle; Spc. Mitch Chapman, Newton; Spc. Kayleb Cash, Hindsboro; and Spc. Chad Arnold, Watson.

Williams, commander, B Battery, 2-122 Field Artillery, said the soldiers are normally “behind the scenes.”

“I don’t think they are comfortable with the cameras and the limelight, but this is a huge honor. Also, I think the people appreciate seeing them,” Williams said.

While overseas, the soldiers were part of a security forces team under Williams’ command that performed police-mentoring duties on 32 forward operating bases throughout Afghanistan.

The security forces team was part of the Illinois National Guard’s 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, which represented the largest deployment of Illinois Guard soldiers since World War II.

Brown, who sustained injuries to his arm when a roadside bomb damaged his Humvee, said the soldiers knew the dangers, but that didn’t stop them from focusing on their mission.

“You kind of figured that stuff was going to happen, but you still had to go out and do the mission. The mission is always first,” he said.

Both Brown and fellow soldier Bryant said it was an honor to represent the Guard in the parade.

“I’m very happy to be here,” Bryant said. “I’ve never been to the state fair. I’m looking forward to the parade and everything else.”

Bryant was injured in January when he shot in the left hip. He received treatment in Afghanistan, Germany and Fort Knox in Kentucky.

Williams said it was especially appropriate for the five wounded soldiers to serve as grand marshals and to get to hear the applause from people watching the parade.

“The thing with them is that they were medivac-ed out of Afghanistan,” Williams said. “So when we came home and had a welcome ceremony, they weren’t with us. This is a good way to honor them and the sacrifices they made.”

The theme of this year’s Illinois State Fair is “An All American Fair.”

Amy Bliefnick, manager of the fair, said asking the soldiers to be the grand marshals was Gov. Pat Quinn’s idea.

“I thought it was an outstanding suggestion,” Bliefnick said.

Thursday’s parade, which started at Ninth Street and North Grand Avenue, included marching bands, fire trucks and floats from several area businesses and groups.

One of the people standing near the beginning of the parade was Tom Borsch of Shiloh, who drove about 90 minutes to see the parade. He agreed that selection of the Guard soldiers as grand marshals was a good choice.

“Our veterans, whether they come back disabled or healthy, they need the attention because they put their lives on the line for us over there to protect our country,” Borsch said.

Williams said the wounded soldiers would be spending Thursday night as guests at the Executive Mansion.

A ribbon-cutting to officially open the 2009 Illinois State Fair is set for 9:30 a.m. today. It will be Quinn’s first as governor.

Twilight Parade Results

High School Marching Band Competition

Honor Band – Rochester1

st Place – Lincoln Way

2nd Place – Normal West

Floats

Governor’s Sweepstakes – CORA

Commercial

Grand Marshal’s Award – Shirley’s Lights

Director’s Award – Wal-MartIllinois

State Fair Award – L & M Gymnastics

Non-Commercial

Grand Marshal’s Award – ABATE

Director’s Award – Springfield Arts Council

Illinois State Fair Award – Pinwheels for Prevention

Novelty and Specialty

Grand Marshal’s Award – Lincoln Laffers

Director’s Award – Ansar Shrines

Illinois State Fair Award – The Sun Room

Walking Units

Grand Marshal’s Award – Lanphier High School

Director’s Award – Memorial Medical Transplant Unit

Illinois State Fair Award – Marching Spartans

By mailto:john.reynolds@sj-r.com
THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER

How To Cut Down On Your Grocery Bill

Are your weekly grocery shopping and drugstore bills getting out of control? Don't fret. There are ways to trim those tabs by as much as 20% without shortening your shopping list.

The trick: switching from brand-name products to generic labels. OK, so some may not come in a pretty bottle or be as tasty as your favorite brands, but in many cases, the only thing that's not premium about generics is the price.

That's because most generic brands are made by the same manufacturers that churn out the products you know and love, says Joanna Pruess, author of "Supermarket Confidential." Take away the fancy packaging, and you've got identical breadcrumbs (4C Foods Corp.), tinfoil (Alcoa Reynolds Wrap) and frozen vegetables (Birds Eye).

Here are five types of products that you should always purchase generic:

1. Produce

Choosing unmarked oranges over those with a Sunkist sticker on them isn't an apples-and-oranges conundrum, says Mary Hunt, publisher of The Cheapskate Monthly newsletter. Without the marketing sticker on, say, Chiquita bananas, the underlying produce is identical. "It's crazy to pay more," she says.
Click here for a table showing just how much you can save with generic produce.

2. Over-the-counter medications

Feeling under the weather? Don't dismiss your drugstore-brand pain, cold and cough medications. The Food and Drug Administration requires that any products with the same active ingredient must meet the same efficacy standards. In consumer-speak, that means your drugstore ibuprofen must be just as effective as its brand-name counterparts, which includes Advil, Motrin and Pediacare Fever, among others. And the price difference can be astronomical.
An added savings tip: While going off-brand is a great deal for over-the-counter and prescription meds, you can get even better deals by shopping online -- but it's tricky.

Click here for advice on staying safe and saving money while buying medicine online.

3. Organic food

If you're looking to trade up to healthier organic foods without inflating your monthly grocery bill, private store labels are your best bet to save, says Teri Gault, founder of the Grocery Game thegrocerygame.com, a program that helps consumers match manufacturers' coupons with supermarket sales. "Certified organic is certified organic," she says. "There's no need to go for the brand name."

Making things easier, most big chains have an organic line -- Meijer has Meijer Organics, for example, while Publix has GreenWise Market and Safeway has O Organics. You'll pay more than you would for conventional generics, but up to 50% less than brand-name organic products. Click here and here for more tips on how to save on organic foods.

4. Basic skincare and beauty

Next time you hit the drugstore to buy your favorite body lotion take a hard look at the drugstore-label version that's likely sitting right next to your brand of choice. "It's very easy for companies to back-formula out and reproduce a product," says Paula Begoun, author of "Don't Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me." "With simple products, there's nothing very elegant about the couple-dollars-more-expensive original."

That said, be wary of the generic versions of much pricier products that use an exotic ingredient to get results -- namely, anything in the anti-aging or acne-reducing categories, cautions Begoun. Chances are that inexpensive anti-aging cream doesn't have enough of the active ingredients to do much for your fine lines and wrinkles. Wondering what else is worth splurging on?

Click here for some ideas. Read our story here for other cheap deals.

5. Pantry Staples

Single-ingredient items, such as flour, salt, spices and sugar, are held to government regulations for production, packaging and storage. In other words, sugar is sugar, regardless of its label. Another reason to go generic: These items rarely attract in-store sales or manufacturer's coupons, adds Gault.
Click here for other ways to cut your grocery bill.

By Kelli B. GrantReporter, SmartMoney.com

Big Brother & Big Sister Recieve Grant

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Illinois Capital Region today will receive a $45,000 grant award from Comcast Inc. for an After School Mentoring Youth Development and Volunteer Expansion Project.

The money will be distributed over a three-year period.

The primary goal of the initiative is to serve 354 children in Sangamon and Logan counties. With the help of teachers and school counselors, Big Brothers Big Sisters will identify the children with the greatest need and match them in a professionally supported one-to-one mentoring relationship to enhance academic performance and social skills development.

The secondary goal will be to provide leadership development training to the volunteer Big Brother/Big Sister high school and college students to develop them as mentors to make the greatest impact on the children they are matched with and increase the number of male and black mentors.

By Staff Report
THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER

Illinois State Fair Butter Cow

It's not often a sculptor works with something that also tastes good on a cracker.

But sculptor Sharon BuMann's 2009 butter cow will be unveiled later this week at the Illinois State Fair.

The butter cow is a fixture at the fair but it's always a secret what it will look like and what kind of barnyard scene it might be in.

Last year's butter cow was accompanied by a creamy calf and a couple of skunks.

This year's mystery will be solved Thursday when the butter cow is unveiled in the dairy building at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

The fair runs Aug. 14-23.

Coal's Future Wagered on Carbon Capture

Coal's Future Wagered on Carbon Capture
Capturing Carbon Emissions

The device is being housed in a building four stories tall and bigger than a football field. A 150-foot-tall exhaust stack -- so wide that it would take six adults with their arms fully stretched to reach around it -- will reach into the sky. And pipelines will run out of the building and into saline aquifers two miles underground. The entire contraption will start up as early as September.

The purpose: capturing carbon dioxide emissions and stashing them in underground rock formations -- a critical part of the global effort to slow climate change. This is the technique that promoters say will make coal "clean" and critics say is an expensive pipe dream.

The stimulus bill devoted $2.4 billion to pilot projects. On Monday the Obama administration awarded $20 million of that to a program that uses supersonic shockwaves to compress carbon for storage, on top of $408 million in stimulus money awarded to two other carbon pilot projects. It has pledged $1 billion more to a model plant called FutureGen. If the Waxman-Markey climate bill becomes law, a new Carbon Storage Research Corp. would pump another $1.1 billion a year into researching this nascent technology, and first movers would get billions of dollars more in bonus emission allowances that could be sold.

Click here for full story.

By Steven MufsonWashington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Keeping An Eye On Commercial Real Estate

When Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke meets with his fellow governors Tuesday, the state of commercial real estate market is sure to be high on their agenda. While a deterioration in the residential real estate market kicked off the recession, the rapid decline of the commercial market could quickly undo all the recovery efforts taken so far.

While there are "green shoots" showing up throughout the U.S. economy, commercial real estate isn't one of them. Last month, Realpoint Research reported that June delinquencies in commercial mortgage-backed securities rose an "astounding" 585% to a 12-month high of nearly $29 billion. In June 2008, delinquencies totaled only $4 billion.

Other assessments of the commercial real estate market were even more alarming. In July Real Capital Analytics found 5,315 troubled commercial properties nationally, valued at more than $108 billion; and in June, Real Estate Econometrics LLC predicted that the default rate on commercial real estate is likely to reach 4.1% by year's end. That projection would imply defaults on about $44.3 billion of commercial mortgages, based on the $1.08 trillion of such loans held by U.S. banks in the first quarter, according to data in the report.

"In all, about $1.5 trillion in commercial real estate loans are coming due within two to three years, and every vacant property represents another lost source of money needed to pay off those obligations," Walter J. Mix, a managing director at LECG LLC, recently wrote in The Deal magazine.

Bernanke is likely to be especially wary of trouble in real estate markets after famously saying he expected the spillover of trouble in residential real estate not to have a huge effect on the overall economy.

According to Bloomberg:
The Fed is "paying very close attention," Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee on July 22, the second of two days of semiannual monetary-policy testimony before the House and Senate. "As the recession's gotten worse in the last six months or so, we're seeing increased vacancy, declining rents, falling prices, and so, more pressure on commercial real estate."

Other Fed governors are worried about commercial real estate too as Janet Yellen, president of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, called it a "particular danger zone," last month, while N.Y. Federal Reserve Bank chief William Dudley said he expects that marketplace to be "under stress for some considerable period of time," according to Bloomberg.

And as LECG's Mix notes in his column, "with about 60% of these assets on the books of commercial banks ... commercial lenders are beginning to see plenty to worry about on the horizon." And indeed there may be much to worry about: Considering the unpopularity of the current banking sector bailout and the sky-high deficit, another one to backstop commercial real estate losses would be a long-shot. - George White

H1N1 Slowing down in Illinois

The swine flu virus is continuing to slow in Illinois.

Illinois Department of Public Health officials on Friday reported only 18 new cases. No new swine flu deaths were reported.

Since April, there have been 3,443 confirmed and probable cases of swine flu in more than 40 Illinois counties. A total of 17 people have died from the virus in the state, the same number reported last week.

The department has been updating its state swine flu tally each Friday. But this week's update was delayed, and officials released updated case numbers to The Associated Press.

Also Friday, the federal government said schools should only close this fall if large numbers of students have swine flu, and schools could allow sick children to return 24 hours after a fever is gone.

TEXTING A DISTRACTION??

Gov. Pat Quinn plans today to sign two proposals meant to curb behind-the-wheel texting and other potential driving distractions.

The governor will sign House Bills 71 and 72 during a ceremony at Northeastern Illinois University, according to a Quinn spokeswoman. Also expected to attend is Secretary of State Jesse White, whose office oversees driver services.

Distracted driving has become a serious -- and sometimes deadly -- traffic safety issue as more and more motorists use cellular telephones and other electronic devices while on the road, supporters of the legislation say.

One high-profile example involved the death of 2006 Matthew Wilhelm, a bicyclist who was struck in Urbana by a teen-age motorist who was downloading ring tones to her cell phone.

A state legislative task force created after Wilhelm's death found that one in four accidents nationally occur because of driver inattention. Statistics compiled by the Illinois Department of Transportation show that cell phones were the primary or secondary contributor to 1,001 traffic accidents in 2008 and 1,357 crashes in 2007.

The two pieces of legislation were written in an attempt to improve traffic safety.

House Bill 71 prohibits reading, writing or sending "an electronic message" while driving. That ban would apply to e-mail, text messages, instant messages and Internet-surfing.

However, it wouldn't apply to drivers using global positioning system (GPS) devices, drivers who use electronic devices while parked on the shoulder of a road or drivers who use an electronic device in hands-free or voice-activated mode.

More than a dozen states, along with the District of Columbia, already have enacted laws barring motorists from text-messaging while driving, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.

House Bill 72 outlaws the use of cell phones while driving in a school zone or in a highway construction zone. It, too, includes several exceptions, such as using a cell phone in an emergency.

Violating either new law would be a traffic offense, subject to fines, and the offense would be noted on a motorist's driving record.

Both bills, once signed into law, would take effect Jan. 1.

By mailto:adriana.colindres@sj-r.com

150 Aally Against Racism Outside of Springfield's Municipal Center West

Amid demands for the firing of two employees believed to be responsible for tying and hanging a noose in a workstation at City Water, Light and Power, Mayor Tim Davlin said Wednesday that “everything is going exactly the way it’s supposed to.”

CWLP spokeswoman Amber Sabin confirmed to The State Journal-Register Wednesday that the two men allegedly involved in the incident are still working. Davlin wouldn’t talk about whether any disciplinary action has been imposed.

During a city council meeting Wednesday night, Davlin said “there’s an order” to be followed whenever an employee could be disciplined.

“We have an agreement with the unions to do exactly, to follow those orders, line by line,” Davlin said. “If we don’t do it, if we haphazardly … make any decision outside of that, (it) could jeopardize the case. Someone could walk that could be guilty. So we’re going to follow exactly what our union contract says that we do with the union employee when it comes to discipline. …
“I’m telling you that everything is going exactly the way it’s supposed to happen in a situation like this,” Davlin said.

Davlin’s remarks weren’t well received by some people in the crowd that packed the city council chamber.

One man shouted: “We need action now.” Another shouted: “Business as usual, right?”
Before the city council meeting, a crowd of about 150 people of all ages and races rallied outside city hall, denouncing racism and making it clear how they felt: A noose isn’t a prank or a joke — it’s a hate crime.

The rally was prompted by the recent discovery of a noose found hanging in an employee workstation shared by both white and black employees at City Water, Light and Power’s water plant. CWLP employee Mike Williams said he believes he was the intended target of the noose, which is thought to have been hanging in the work area for a couple of days.

The rally was held as the Sangamon County state’s attorney’s office is reviewing what type, if any, criminal charges will be filed in the case. It also was held on the eve of the unveiling of a sculpture commemorating the 1908 Springfield race riot, scheduled for 10 a.m. today at Union Square Park.

Those at the rally chanted: “What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!” Signs read: “Not in 2009. No way,” “Why can’t we all just get along” and “Racism is a sickness.”

“No way. No time. No how is that behavior acceptable in any workplace,” Springfield resident Amy Green shouted through a bullhorn. “No one – black, white, Asian, male, female, gay, straight — should have to put up with that kind of behavior in the workplace. It is not acceptable.”

Davlin, corporation counsel Jenifer Johnson, and Alds. Gail Simpson, Mark Mahoney and Frank Lesko were spotted in the crowd. CWLP general manager Todd Renfrow didn’t attend.

Nicholas Stojakovich, chairman of the Springfield Community Relations Commission, was among the rally’s speakers. He decried the noose as a “horrible symbol.”

“One of the biggest concerns is systemic racism,” he said, adding that some city departments have too few minority and female employees.

Many rally participants joined the crowd at the city council meeting.

Williams told the council that CWLP completed its investigation without interviewing him. He also said other CWLP employees have told him they’ve had similar experiences.

“So, I beg of you, as this ground starts to shake and the rumble is coming, to please don’t just ignore this, don’t sweep this under the rug,” Williams urged the council. “Adopt a no-tolerance policy immediately that says if you are caught or if you admit jokingly, unintentionally or whatever it may be that you committed such acts, that you will be terminated immediately.”
Archie Lawrence, president of Springfield chapter of NAACP, called hanging a noose “the ultimate insult.”

“The only thing that’s worse than hanging a noose is hanging itself,” he said, adding that he finds it impossible “to believe that anyone would hang a noose did not have the intent to send a message that black people are not welcome in this town, that black people did not deserve to perform their job without any type of threat or intimidation.”

Ward 7 Ald. Debbie Cimarossa said she was outraged by the incident.

“I cannot think of any business reason that someone would hang a noose in someone’s work site,” she said. “And I want something done about this. I am totally embarrassed.
“Mr. Williams, I apologize from myself,” Cimarossa said. “I think we really need to take a good look at this and move forward as a city needs to do.”

Deana Poole can be reached at 788-1533. Bernard Schoenburg can be reached at 788-1540.
Where the case stands

Mike Williams, an assistant water works operator, found a noose in the workstation he shares with others at City Water, Light and Power’s water plant on July 26.

Williams has been interviewed by the Springfield Police Department and the FBI. Police have completed their investigation and turned the results over to the state’s attorney’s office.
Police have said they believe two white men are responsible — one who allegedly tied the rope, and another man on a different shift who allegedly hung it up. Their names have not been disclosed. Authorities have not released the police report or the results of CWLP’s internal investigation.

Police have labeled the case disorderly conduct, but said it could be considered a hate crime, if that was the motivation behind the incident.

Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Schmidt said Wednesday his office is still reviewing the case to determine what, if any, charges will be filed. It’s unclear how long that process will take.
City Water, Light and Power also conducted its own internal investigation, which was completed last week. CWLP says no decisions have been made based on that investigation.

THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER
Posted Aug 05, 2009 @ 06:09 PM