UNEMPLOYMENT CHECKS FROM APRIL 12 MISSING

If you were one of the 6,300 people who did not receive your April 12 unemployment check because of the postal service error you have some options to get another check. Micah Matsoff, Spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Employment Security, told WGEL that if you did not receive your check you have two options you can consider.

One is that you can go to your local IDES office with two pieces of identification and request a replacement check. By requesting the replacement check you will sign a form and that will stop the original check from being cashed.

The other option is to wait and see if you get your original check in the mail. Matsoff said that they have been working with the Postal Service to try to get a definitive date to when people can expect their checks, but the Postal Service has not been able to let IDES know exactly when people can expect to get their check.

Matsoff said the error was found out last week and what had happened was that IDES sent the checks out on time and the U.S. Postal Service signed for them. Matsoff said that since IDES sends checks out on-time people noticed that their checks were late and started contacting the IDES and that is when IDES noticed that it was an error in postal service.

 

MAN CHARGED IN BOND COUNTY COURT ON DRUG CHARGE

39-year-old Riley Davis of Greenville was charged in Bond County Court on Wednesday with two counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance, being cocaine. The charges allege that on December 16 Riley delivered less than 15 grams of cocaine within 1,000 feet of the Bond County Unit 2 High School. On January 9 it is alleged that that Davis delivered 15 grams of cocaine on the property of the Bond County Housing Authority. He is currently being held in the Bond County Jail with a preliminary hearing set for May 11.

TOURISM MEETING

At the Greenville Tourism Committee Meeting Thursday night the committee approved $3,500 for advertising in St. Louis and Belleville for the National Road Festival and Dairy Day. The Committee also approved spending $11,000 on advertising on Cable TV that will run in St. Louis zip codes. Half will run before the National Road Festival and the other half will run before the Bond County Fair. The Committee is doing this to try to get more people from outside the area to come to Greenville.

MUMPS CASES IN ILLINOIS RISE

As mumps cases in Illinois rise, state public health director, Dr. Eric Whitaker, encourages vaccination and education. Whitaker said that Illinois has received reports of 72 cases of mumps, 35 are confirmed and 37 probable cases so far this year. Dr. Whitaker is reminding people to check the vaccination records and to make sure both they and children have been vaccinated and continue good health practices. Whitaker said that mumps is about as contagious as the flu. He also said that if you know someone who has mumps, restrict contact with them as much as possible. Mumps is an infection of the salivary glands caused by a virus. Symptoms include swelling of the glands, close to the jaw, fever, headache, and muscle aches. Mumps can also cause permanent hearing loss. People who have mumps are considered contagious three days before symptoms until about nine days after the onset of the swelling of the salivary glands.

BURGLARY INVESTIGATION LEADS TO SEVERAL ARRESTS

An investigation by Greenville police of several recent burglaries at Greenville College dorm rooms has led to several arrests. Police told WGEL that they questioned a 20-year-old from Edwardsville and through information he provided, they collected most of the items taken from the dorms. The man was released with charges pending. Officers also searched a house on Main Street where they found other items allegedly stolen during the burglaries. Arrested were 30-year-old Carlos Parker of Greenville on a Montgomery County Warrant, 23-year-old Roger White of East St. Louis for alleged Obstruction of Justice, and 25-year-old Veronica Welch of Greenville for alleged possession of cannabis between 2.5 and 10 grams and alleged possession of drug paraphernalia.

 

With a large number of family, friends, soccer fans, and present and former players looking on, the new Tom Doll Soccer Field was dedicated Saturday morning. Doll, a former school board member and driving force behind the creation of a soccer program at Greenville High School, died in September 2004. There were several speakers during the program including current Unit 2 School Board president Mike Suess who recalled that Tom Doll was passionate about two things…soccer and kids. Suess said naming the field in Doll's memory was an appropriate honor.

Echoing that sentiment was former Unit 2 superintendent Dr. Mike Westbrooks who said that soccer at GHS was the culmination of the efforts of many people but Doll provided the "vision and determination." Doll's sister, Diane Bingham, read a poem she wrote for the occasion while his son, Jake, talked about his dad's influence upon his life. Jake Doll added that soccer was something his dad believed in and ten years ago it would have seemed impossible to imagine a soccer field for Greenville High School. In years past the Comets and Lady Comets soccer teams have played on green space at the Greenville Airport.

A former GHS soccer player, Jacob Schlemper, explained how his life had benefited from the efforts of Tom Doll and others. Schlemper's mother, Jane, was another important backer of soccer in Bond County. A memorial bench is planned in her honor.

WGEL talked with Janice Barth, another sister of Tom Doll's and also someone who is active in local soccer, about this honor for her brother. She admitted that Tom would have been humbled by the field dedication and would quickly pointed to everyone else's efforts. She explained that this field is important to the players as it gives them a home on the high school grounds.

A trivia night will be held this Saturday at the Greenville Junior High to benefit the Tom Doll Soccer Field and Jane Schlemper Memorial Bench. For details, contact Jane Wilhite.

VANDALIA COULD BE GETTING ETHANOL PLANT

The opening of an ethanol plant in Vandalia is being considered. The Vandalia City Council signed an option agreement with National Ethanol for 70 acres of land in the city's western Interstate 70 interchange. Vandalia City Mayor Rick Gottman told WGEL that he is excited about and has met with two companies in the last month. One company came to him and asked for an option on 70 acres of land that the city owns. This would employ over 50 jobs with salaries being set in the teens.

Gottman said he thinks it would be a good boost for the farmers in the community because they would be able to get a better price for their grain per bushel. Gottman also told WGEL that the spin offs from an ethanol plant would be good because we all see the rise in gas prices throughout the United States and he thinks we should look at other alternatives for fuel and he feels this is a good opportunity for this region and for the City of Vandalia.

Gottman is not sure how long construction would take for the project, but said the company did take a six-month option on the property to make sure that they have everything in line. Gottman also said that five plants are being planned in the State of Illinois.

Gottman is also not sure how much money it would cost to build the plant, but said it would be a significant amount of dollars to build.