Poster for Mississippi Earthtones Festival (Photo courtesy of city of Alton)

Fight over judges’ re-election ploy goes to State Supreme Court

Belleville City Clerk Dallas Cook, announced Sept. 2, that he has formally filed a petition with the Illinois Supreme Court to remove three former St. Clair County Circuit Court judges from the Nov. 8 General election ballot.

Judges John Baricevic, Robert Haida and Robert LeChien all resigned from Illinois 20th Judicial Circuit effective Dec. 4, 2015, then promptly filed to run in this year’s elections as candidates for the seats they had just vacated on the court.

The three feared they might not be able to garner the 60 percent majority required to win retention under Illinois law.  Candidates can win a place on the circuit court bench with a simple majority.

The Illinois Election Board, an Illinois Circuit Court judge in Springfield, and, most recently, the Illinois Court of Appeals in Springfield, have effectively allowed the three former judges to remain on the ballot.

Madison County board may leave state pension program

Members of the Madison County Board would no longer participate in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF), under a measure proposed by Board Chairman Alan Dunstan.

Dunstan sees the move as a cost-cutting measure. The Madison County IMRF fund is 95 percent funded and financially stable, he emphasizes.

Nineteen of Madison County’s 29 board members currently participate in the state-sponsored pension program, with the county covering 11.67 percent of their contributions to the program each year. That costs county taxpayers $1,692 per board member, or a total of $32,000 per year, according to county officials.

The Madison County Board will vote on the measure this month, according to Dunstan.  If approved, county would leave the state pension program on Dec. 1.

A similar proposal will come before the St. Clair County Board, according to Board Chariman Mark Kern, although the timeframe remains uncertain. Twenty-six of St. Clair County’s board members currently participate in the program.

The county boards are assessing IMPF participation in the wake of a new law (SB 2701) that will soon limit participation only to presently-serving board members who can formally document they spend 600 to 1,000 hours per year in board-related activities, depending on the size of the county.  Those board members would be required to fill out timesheets. New board members would be barred from the program.  

County board members are currently allowed to participate in the state’s municipal retirement plan under a two-tiered program established in 2010.  

Metro-East unemployment rates show some improvement

The unemployment rate across Metro-East remained at 5.7 percent in July; unchanged from June, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES).  However, the area unemployment rate has decreased 0.7 percentage points from the 6.4 percent posted in July 2015, the department notes.

Alton, Belleville, Collinsville, East St. Louis, Edwardsville and O’Fallon have all seen unemployment rates improve over the past 12 months, according to the IDES. Alton experienced the greatest improvement with the unemployment rate decreasing to 8 percent in July; down from 9.1 percent during the same month last year. Edwardsville’s unemployment rate dropped slightly to 4.5 percent from 4.6

However, Granite City – where the U.S. Steel works remains idle – saw no improvement, with its unemployment rate remaining at 8.8 percent, the same as a year earlier.

Across Metro-East, employment increased in retail trade, transportation, warehousing and utilities, professional and business services, mining and construction, leisure and hospitality, wholesale trade, and government. However, employment decreased in the manufacturing, financial activities, and educational and health services sectors.

Illinois’ Statewide unemployment rate was 5.6 percent in July, a decrease of 0.6 percentage points from July 2015 and 0.4 percent from June.

However, job growth rates statewide and across most of Metro-East remain at half the rate for the U.S. as a whole, according to the IDES.

Alton activist recalled as conservative icon

Outspoken to the end, Alton-based conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, 92, died Sept. 5 – just a day prior to publication of her latest book, “The Conservative Case for Trump.”

Schlafly came to national prominence as part of the anti-communist movement in the 1950s and 60s.  She was active in development of the “pro-life” movement and the election campaign of President Ronald Reagan.  She is best known for a leading role in the defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).

Schlafly was the author of 27 books, a long-running nationally-syndicated newspaper column, and the weekly “Phyllis Schlafly Report,” as well as the host of a syndicated radio program.  Despite a long illness, Schlafly spoke at a St. Louis rally for presidential candidate Donald Trump in March and attended the Republican national convention in July. A 50th anniversary edition of her seminal anti-ERA book, “A Choice Not An Echo,” was recently published.

The Eagle Forum, the influential conservative organization which Schlafly founded in the 1970s, maintains offices in Alton and Washington, D.C.

Tenth Mississippi Earthtones Festival set

Alton’s 10th annual Mississippi Earthtones Festival (MEF) is set for Sept. 17, with thousands expected along the banks of the Mississippi River for the yearly environmental clean-up effort and arts festival. The MEF River Clean Up begins at 9 a.m. with boats ferrying volunteers from the Alton Public Access Area, below the Clark Bridge, and Piasa Harbor to clean-up sites on islands and riverbanks.

Music and art exhibits follow on Broadway, between Alton and Henry streets, from noon until 10:00 p.m.  Over the past decade, more than 20,000 volunteers have removed more than 21 tons of trash, according to organizers.

Pre-registration is required to reserve boat passage. For additional information, see the events page of www.DowntownAlton.com.

–Metro East Area News Briefs–