Officials and business representatives from Centralia, Clinton and Marion counties, along with Illinois Department of Transportation officials, marked the reopening of Illinois Route 161 at Crooked Creek Tuesday morning with a ribbon cutting, hosted by the Greater Centralia Chamber of Commerce. (Photo by Bryan Hunt) Illinois Route 161 west of Centralia and crossing Crooked Creek — closed for the majority of 2019 — reopened to traffic the morning of Nov. 29, to the delight of area residents and motorists.
Dignitaries from Centralia, Marion and Clinton counties, as well as business owners, gathered at the Brookside Township yard Tuesday morning to mark the event — but without stopping traffic.
The Illinois Department of Transportation’s improvement project, broken down into three phases, began on Jan. 2 with the closure of the two-lane stretch of roadway, a vital passageway for commuters leaving and coming into Centralia.
The project involved the replacement of aged bridges spanning the creek, said to be around 80 years old, and the installation of new box culverts which will carry the flow of water from Crooked Creek.
The project also involved the elevation of approaches from both ends — Shattuc and Noltings roads — with the goal of doing away with the overtopping of water from the creek when the area experiences floodwaters.
A hydraulic analysis of the bridge was conducted and showed that the existing level of flood protection for overtopping did not meet IDOT’s drainage criteria.
The project was included in IDOT’s FY 2018 to 2023 Proposed Highway Improvement Program at a cost of $21 million, which included land acquisitions and utility adjustments.
The village of New Baden is jumping on board in allowing cannabis dispensaries within the village limits once recreational cannabis becomes legal next month.
In a 4-to-2 vote, the village approved an ordinance to allow dispensaries at their regularly scheduled Monday night meeting.
The ordinance lists restrictions and regulations, including it being unlawful to: have a dispensary within 1,500 feet of another dispensary; to operate a dispensary between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.; and certain restrictions on advertising.
In addition, the board approved imposing a 3 percent retailer’s occupation tax.
Trustee Nicole Pederson said that while she is not a cannabis user, she is open to the idea and would like to see the village reap the benefits of having a dispensary.
Resident Renee Meinhardt questioned the board on why they would want to draw people into the community by having a dispensary.
"At what point do you have to stop and think what is better for the city? I like the way the community is. You may bring in not-so-morally great people," Meinhardt said.
Pederson said that after research, cannabis dispensaries have "top-notch" security with cameras everywhere, where you can't even enter unless you are 21 years old. In addition, the regulated cannabis is "quite a bit" more expensive.
"It could be your sister, or your grandson buying cannabis," Pederson said. "If I thought it would bring in the riffraff, I wouldn't be for it, but I believe it will be your professionals (who don't work for the federal government), your neighbor, people that you know, buying it. I think that the people who we don't want to attract will still be buying it from their dealers on the corner."
New Baden Police Chief Chuck Mackin, who previously served the Collinsville Police Department, said that he had not seen an increase in problems when the medical marijuana dispensary opened in Collinsville.
The board voted to approve, with trustees Bob Oster and Chris Locke voting against it.
Some of the handmade angels from Clinton County parishes. Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.
And there are lots of angels (vintage handkerchief angels, that is), on display at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville.
The vintage handkerchief angels were handcrafted by second graders all over Clinton County.
"First Communion students from Clinton County created a personalized vintage handkerchief angel for Christmas and use for their special upcoming First Communion Day," said volunteer Marjorie Imming of rural Trenton.
There are over 200 vintage handkerchief angels on display at the Christmas Tree Room at Our Lady of the Snows.
The Way of Lights at the Shrine is not just about the lights anymore; there is so much there to offer, including a Lego bricks display, carriage rides, pony rides, a petting zoo, food trucks on Fridays and more.
With this being the 50th anniversary of the Way of Lights, Imming, who volunteers at the Shrine, said she went to 14 different parishes in the local area to see if they wanted to craft a handmade angel for an angel tree.
Those parishes, all part of the Diocese of Belleville, include All Saints Academy - Breese, St. Anthony’s - Beckemeyer; St. Augustine - Breese; St. Bernard’s - Albers; St. Boniface - Germantown; St. Cecilia - Bartelso; St. Damian - Damiansville; St. Dominic’s - Breese; St. Felicitas - Beaver Prairie; St. Francis of Assisi - Aviston; St. George - New Baden; St. Mary’s - Carlyle; St. Mary’s – Trenton; St. Rose – St. Rose; and St. Theresa – Marydale.
Imming had gone to all of those celebrating their First Communion in the 2020 year and gave each one a handkerchief — a lace one for the girls and a regular white one for the boys.
"I initially did a rough estimate to get a feeling to how many handkerchiefs I needed to make," Imming said.
She was amazed at the response from area parishes — about 225 handkerchief angels.
She said the symbolism of the handkerchief was two-fold: one, it represented being the first ornaments made for Christmas trees; and two, it ties in with those who are receiving their First Communion in 2020.
"Long before mass-produced ornaments were available, handmade handkerchief angels adorned Christmas trees and homes worldwide," said Imming.
Imming said that there was a lot of hard work that went into making the handkerchief angels.
Religion students were able to use whatever they wanted to craft the angel, using their own creativity. They were able to bring them home and work on them or work on them in class.
Imming thanked all of the students, teachers, parents, family members and friends who made this happen.
She invites the public to see the vintage handkerchief angels for themselves as the trees are on display at the indoor Tree Room in the Visitor Center at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville (442 S. DeMazenod Dr., Belleville, IL 62223). The display will be set up until Dec. 31.
| Fri., Nov. 27 |
444.59 |
| Sun., Nov. 29 | 444.81 |
| Tues., Dec. 3 | 447.56 |
| November 27 | .77" |
| November 28 | .00" |
| November 29 | .00" |
| November 30 | 1.67" |
| December 1 | .28" |
| December 2 | .03" |
| December 3 | .02" |
