Downtown Galesburg revitalization project begins next week
Construction will begin March 31 on a streetscape and parking lot improvement project in downtown Galesburg.
The revitalization project on Simmons Street between Prairie and Kellogg streets and the adjacent city parking lot includes substantial improvements, including curb and gutter upgrades, asphalt resurfacing, landscaping, decorative lighting, and a pedestrian canopy.
The project will require staged closures of the roadway and parking lot to facilitate the construction. One half of the parking lot will remain open during the majority of construction to allow access to parking and both intersections will not be closed simultaneously.
The total anticipated cost is $2.5 million. Funding for the project includes a $2,082,500 Rebuild Illinois Downtown and Main Streets Grant, plus approximately $400,000 in local money.
Construction is expected to be complete by October.
WIU sets student costs
Western Illinois University has set student costs for next school year.
The Board of Trustees approved a two-percent increase in the tuition to be paid by new undergraduate and graduate students.
Trustee Kirk Dillard called the increase a necessary step.
“None of us like to do it. But when I look and compare us to other institutions and just the world pressures of inflation, this is a reasonable thing to do,” he said.
Western’s undergraduate students pay the same rate for their tuition for four years of continuous enrollment.
The board also approved a five-percent increase in housing and dining rates.
Student fees will remain flat.
Rushville man arrested in child pornography investigation
A Rushville man is accused of possessing and disseminating child sexual abuse material following an investigation by the Illinois Attorney General’s office.
Billy R. Rupple, Jr., 44, works as a security and therapy aide for the Department of Human Services Rushville Treatment and Detention Facility, which houses sexually violent offenders.
The attorney general’s office said Rupple was arrested after investigators searched his house on Thursday, March 20, and found evidence of sexual abuse material.
Rupple is charged with 2 counts of dissemination of child pornography and 10 counts of possession of child pornography.
Illinois State Police, the Schuyler County Sheriff’s Department, and the Rushville Police Department assisted with the investigation.
Changes this year to Hancock County Fights Cancer
Changes are coming to the annual Hancock County Fights Cancer event.
This year it will be held on September 20 instead of in June, and instead of being an outdoor block party, the event will take place at The Legacy Theater in Carthage.
Organizers call HCFC a celebration and recognition of cancer survivors and current patients. The event will include stories about cancer patient experiences, entertainment, and a live auction.
HCFC also raises money for cancer research and to help local people being treated for cancer. Last year the event raised more than $40,000.
The money raised this year will be donated to HUGS of Hancock County and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
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