Tagged: McDonough County

Questions about land use dominated the first public hearing on McDonough County’s proposed new comprehensive plan.

About 25 people attended the hearing along with county board members, county government employees, and representatives of the Western Illinois Regional Council, which facilitated the process for replacing the county’s 40 year old comprehensive plan.

Participants in the “Bowl for Kids' Sake” fund-raiser for the McDonough County Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization will score strikes, spares and pledges.

In fact, it's the biggest fund-raiser for the organization each year.  

Paula Rhodes is a board member. She has been a mentor or “big” to two children over the last 15 years. Her first “little” moved away but they keep in contact.

She says, “A flute that I purchased for her so she could be in the band-she's still playing that flute. Those kind of benefits are just wonderful memories.”

Picking up trash for a few hours might not sound like an exciting activity, but if you're locked up you might jump at any chance to get outside for a while.

That is the thinking behind a jail inmate work program started by McDonough County Sheriff Rick VanBrooker. He considers it a good use of resources.

“The taxpayers pay for the inmates' medical, their food, this facility (the jail). This is a program where they can get something back from the system,” VanBrooker said.

McDonough County saw a number of very high health insurance claims last year. This year the trend has reversed; claims are down significantly.

Through the first seven months of the current fiscal year, claims are about $350,000 lower than at the same time last year.

Finance Committee Chair Alice Henry is breathing a sigh of relief.

She says, “Last year was such an anomaly with our costs being much higher than average. And so it looks like it's kind of equilibrating and getting back to more of an average year.”

Wesley Village plans a $6.25 million bond issue to pay for a number of projects. It would like to use McDonough County's bonding authority.

CEO Shelly Ward says the biggest project is expansion of physical therapy. It will triple the size of the department. The nursing home would offer outpatient physical therapy for the first time.