Bill Atkins

Chillicothe

City Council approves annexation  of church property

The Chillicothe City Council has given approval to an amendment on an annexation agreement that had at first prompted opposition from residents.  At the Aug. 10 meeting, the  City Council  voted 6-2 in favor of the agreement on property owned by Sycamore Group LLC that would allow for the sale of the land to First United Methodist Church of Chillicothe, according to reports. The church plans to build a new church building on the property. Alldermen James Thornton and Danny Colwell abstained on the vote, according to reports.

Kids Count helps out local nonprofits youth groups

More than 30 local youth service groups were aided once again this year by the Kids Count program through the Chillicothe Optimist Club. In its fourth year, the program divided up  more than $10,000 to the various groups. The donations were announced on Aug. 10 at the Chillicothe Town Theatre, according to reports. Funds are raised when people buy a movie ticket and they can donate their ticket stubs to a participating group. Then each ticket stub gives that group $1 toward the amount donated to them. In order to be eligible,   groups must be a nonprofit and fill out an application at the Town Theatre to be eligible for donations.

Peoria County

Chief of civil division resigns  from State’s Attorney’s Office

Bill Atkins, the chief of the civil division for the Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office, is resigning effective Sept. 11.  The announcement came Aug. 24 from the Office of State’s Attorney Jerry Brady.

Atkins is resigning to accept a position with Johnson, Bunce & Noble, P.C., a general practice law firm located in Peoria. He will also serve as an assistant public defender.

“ I have enjoyed working with Bill and while I know he will be difficult to replace, I wish him the best at Johnson, Bunce & Noble,” said Brady.

Atkins began his career at Peoria County in January 2004. He has served as the chief of the civil division since May of that year.

During his tenure in the Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office, Atkins managed litigation for Peoria County and provided advice on day-to-day aspects of county government.

He also assisted with the development of the compliance and collections programs in the Circuit Clerk’s Office, advised county officials regarding development of the Peoria Riverfront Museum, represented Peoria County when obtaining permission from the 10th Judicial Circuit Court to keep the American Mausoleum operational, and guided the county through recent reorganization of Workforce Development.

Prior to Peoria County, Atkins served as chief civil assistants state’s attorney in Tazewell County.

Workshop to help residents with property information

Peoria County’s GIS Manager will present a free public workshop titled “Finding Property Information in Peoria County”  from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 17 at Illinois Central College’s North Campus. Participants will learn how to use Peoria County’s front desk map application to locate property information, subdivision plats, and maps. This hands-on workshop will demonstrate how to navigate the map application.  The workshop is offered through Illinois Central College’s Adult Community Programs and registration is recommended due to limited seating. Visit www.icc.edu/ac p (select “Know Your Community” from the catalog) or call 690-6900 to register.   “Finding Property Information in Peoria County” is the final of three Adult Community Programs offered by Peoria County this summer. Additional workshops will be presented during the winter session. For more information on Peoria County’s presentations for ICC’s Adult Community Programs, contact Jenny Fulton, Director of Strategic Communications, at (309) 672-6918 or jfulton@peoriacounty.org.

Peoria

McClure branch of Peoria Library gets new manager

Jamie Jones has been appointed Branch Manager at Peoria Public Library McClure Branch, replacing Pat Pritchard who retired earlier this summer.

The new Branch Manager was working at Peoria Public Library Main Library in the Reference Department as well as leading several book clubs, conducting computer training classes on various subjects and coordinating online trainings for the staff.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English from Bradley University, graduating Summa Cum Laude and a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois. Jamie says, “My time using Bradley’s Cullom-Davis Library while doing research for my English degree—coupled with memories of the wonders of the public library as a child—led to my decision to become a librarian before I graduated from Bradley University.”

Jamie has had extensive experience with library management and resources, working at Illinois Central College Library as a Circulation Assistant at their Peoria Downtown Campus, which involved managing the branch’s circulation duties and student employees, and was quickly promoted to Reference Librarian with responsibility for helping students and faculty to take advantage of the library’s resources.  In December 2012 she joined Peoria Public where she says, “I reveled in working with more diverse patrons and information needs, and especially thrived working with the electronic resources, maintaining access and usage information, and promoting them to patrons.”

Jamie said of her new responsibilities, “As McClure Branch Manager, I will take great pleasure in helping a wide variety of patrons with their widely ranging information needs, but I am most excited to be working inside this small, well-loved and historical branch, right in the heart of Peoria.  From here, I think I’m better placed to serve Peoria’s families with a great collection and programming for all ages, not to mention making new connections with community groups and organizations to better serve them and the McClure community.”

Peoria

OSF Medical Center honors outstanding nurses

The OSF Saint Francis Medical Center honors a nurse for outstanding care with a DAISY Award. Winners are nominated by patients  and their families. The April DAISY Award was presented to Janet VanAntwerp from Washington. She works in  Antepartum.  The May 2015 DAISY Award was presented to Amanda Neudorf of Peoria. She works in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit. OSF Saint Francis Medical Center is the first hospital in the Midwest to participate in the DAISY Award, a national endeavor. The hospital receives approximately 180 DAISY nominations each month. A panel of five judges from the Professional Nursing Congress Recognition/Communication Committee at OSF Saint Francis chooses a monthly winner.

— Peoria County news briefs —