Counterfeit Bills

There have been a spate of reports of counterfeit bills in the area during mid December, everything from $10 bills up to $100s. The C'dale PD has posted a photo of one of the suspected passers here.

Arrest

On Dec 28, the C'dale Police arrested Terry L. Cristoff on two counts of Aggravated Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault of a Child.

Planning Commission

First meeting of the Planning Commission for 2011 takes place Jan 5 at 7 p.m. in room 108 of the Civic Center. On the agenda:

A. PC 11-09, 7:00 p.m. NeuroRestorative requests a Special Use Permit for a Group Home I, not in compliance with administrative occupancy permit requirements related to spacing and/or licensing in subsection 15-2J-2C, in the RR, Rural Residential, District at 24 Chippewa Drive.
B. PC 11-10, Lisa Thomas & Jessica Lagona request to rezone from R-1-15,
Low Density Residential, to R-2, Medium Density Residential, for property located at 1211 West Sycamore.
5. Old Business
Comprehensive Plan Implementation
6. New Business
A. Planning Commission Meetings Calendar for 2011

Seasonal Closures 2

The Newell House closed for the holidays just before Christmas and won't reopen until Jan 3. That leaves Melange as the nicest restaurant open for your New Year's Eve dining pleasure and with the reports that it's closing on Dec. 31, that may leave Appleby's as your selection for fine holiday dining.

New City Clerk

In case you missed this (I know I did) Rachael Keehn was appointed the new city clerk, effective Feb 18, upon Janet Vaught's retirement. Though she has a law degree from SIUC, a quick Google search doesn't indicate what career she was pursuing before accepting the clerk position.

David Derge

A reader of the blog pointed out some similarities in Chancellor Cheng's plans to furlough employees and layoff those who do not agree to the furlough to occurrences during David Derge's tenure as President (the titles of President and Chancellor switched offices starting with John Guyon's term in 1987) of SIUC from 1972-1974.

During his 2 year tenure, Derge reduced the number of top administrators at SIUC from 21 to 6 and, in what he announced as a move to help the university balance its budget, eliminated 104 teaching positions. Critics changed that the 104 dismissed had all gone public with criticisms of Derge and his administration. The controversy led the Board of Trustees to remove him in 1974.

Seasonal Closures

Local favorites Thai Taste and Global Gourmet are closed until after the first of the year. Guess than means someplace else for New Year's Eve dining.