ACCESSIBILITY
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MacMurray CollegeMacMurray College recently purchased the former Franklin Elementary School building in Jacksonville, Illinois.
The former school building is located on the corner of South Clay Avenue and Franklin Drive, across from Freesen Football Field on MacMurray campus.
The College’s initial plan is to use the property for a new fitness center and weight room that would be ready for students to use this coming fall semester.
Additional plans for the building are still under discussion and will be a part of the campus master facilities plan once completed.
“We are excited to move forward on this project,” Marcy Jones, director of communications and marketing, said. “Plans for the property are still in the development stage so we will have a better understanding of how we will fully utilize this building as the summer progresses.”
There is an urgent need for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) volunteers across Illinois.
The local counties with the most need for volunteers are; Pike, Morgan, and Cass.
Volunteers come from all walks of life and are selected on the basis of their objectivity, competence, and commitment.
CASA serves over 50 different counties across Illinois. According to Adams County CASA, a volunteer is appointed to a child’s case, he or she is responsible for taking the time to get to know the child and the people who have regular contact with the child as well. A CASA reviews records, and speaks with parents, foster parents, teachers, and most importantly the child.
Adams County CASA Coordinator, Erica Parish shared that when a child's case is not picked up by a volunteer, the case is sent to the coordinator, and due to high demand, that doesn't guarantee a child's case will get the proper care and attention they deserve.
There is a big need for CASA volunteers. There have been 32 cases assigned just to Adams County within the last two months. And most of the time, a CASA volunteer is the only consistent person in that child's life from the beginning to the end of case, said Parish.
Currently, in Pike County, there are 75 children in the court system, with 26 of them still waiting for a CASA volunteer to be their voice. Out of the 95 children in the court system in Morgan County, 37 need a volunteer. And out of the 25 children in the court system in Cass County, 12 children still need a volunteer.
Patricia Reep has been a volunteer for two years, and in that time she has learned just how important this role is in a child's life.
get to speak for the children. I get to talk to them to about what they would like to see. I get to spend time with them and see how they are growing and changing. I really enjoy that. They just want to be loved, said Reep.
From the seven counties the Advocacy Network for Children in West Central Illinois represents, there are 89 volunteers to 588 children needing protection.
Currently, in Sangamon County, there are over 600 children in foster care. CASA of Sangamon County serves 230 children currently. There are still approximately 370 children in need of a CASA.
CASA of Sangamon County is a volunteer-powered network of committed people who believe society has a fundamental obligation to these children. Our volunteers believe that every child has the right to be treated with dignity, to be safe, and to thrive in the embrace of a loving family. This is one cause where the actions of a single person mean everything. When you advocate for an abused or neglected child, you give that child a voice and a chance for a better life. - Jennifer R. Dowd, MA CASA Program Director
Champaign County currently serves about 325 kids in the court system with 110 volunteers. We couldn’t do the work we do serving these children without our volunteers. They are the backbone of the program working every day to ensure kids' needs are being met. - R. Rush Record, MSW Executive Director
Click here to VOLUNTEER!
Anyone interested in learning more about how to help children in need, CASA is funding trauma training.
The Advocacy Network for Children will be hosting a two-part training session at John Wood Community College on June 12th, 2024 starting at noon.
The session will focus on poverty and trauma and the biases involved.
QUINCY, Ill. (KHQA) — Quincy city officials are not satisfied with Southern Airways Express after finding the number of passengers per month is well below expectation.
Officials believe there are a number of issues that could be the root of the problem.
"We've got to have reliable air service and we still don't have that," said Mayor Mike Troup.
The Quincy Regional Airport's goal is to reach 10,000 passengers total for the year, which would enable them for a $1 million federal grant.
In order to reach that goal, they set a monthly goal of 833 passengers.
But Interim Airport Director Tairu Zong says those numbers have been nowhere close to where they need to be.
"In the past couple months, we found out that even without weather issues during the winter, we still aren't hitting our expectation," said Zong. "It's not even close."
Officials say this is due a number of canceled flights.
Zong says obviously in the winter months, weather plays a factor, there are other issues that played their role as well.
"The second one is maintenance issue," Zong said. "I cannot speak for them, but the report I got, it constantly had a lot of delays or cancellations due to maintenance issues. The last one is crew issue."
A total of eight flights were canceled in May--five for maintenance, two for weather and one due to issues with the crew.
Mayor Mike Troup believes everyone understands a flight being canceled due to weather, but the number of flights canceled outside the winter months leaves doubt in the minds of many.
"To have a clear weather day and you get a flight canceled, the next time you are making that scheduled trip, you've got less confidence that you are going to book the flight," said Troup.
Troup says another major concern was centered around trips that were supposed to be non-stop adding an extra stop.
"That's not been a consistent, reliable system," said Troup. "They've changed their schedules and we just need better explanations."
Zong says conversations with Southern Airways are ongoing to solve the issues.
In the end, he says he wants what is best for all in the community.
"Their thoughts are very important to us," Zong said. "Their concerns and opinions are very important to this airport. The airport will not make a decision without taking their consideration as part of it."
Quincy, Ill. (KHQA) — A suspect is in custody in Texas for residential burglary after a Quincy police investigation.
The Quincy Police Department began an investigation in February 2024 after reports were made from a Quincy retirement living facility that an unknown person had entered residents’ apartments and stole credit and debit cards, which were then used at various stores in Quincy.
The Elder Service Detective using the Flock ALPR was able to locate a suspect believed to be from the Houston, TX area and the car he was driving at the time of the incident.
The investigation was a month’s long investigation which ended in Houston, on June 11, after a traffic stop by Texas DPS, based on information provided by Quincy detectives.
Markinious Hartfield, 43, of Houston was taken into custody on an Adams County warrant for Residential Burglary.
Hartfield was also wanted out of Indiana, Georgia, Massachusetts, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Iowa for similar offenses targeting assisted living and retirement communities across the United States.
Possible charges are pending in other states based on information QPD turned over to other jurisdictions.
Hartfield is in the custody of the Brazoria County Detention Center in Texas awaiting all extraditions.
