Coronavirus Recovery Plan Moves to Phase 4 June 26
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Volume 41 Number 26 Thursday, June 25, 2020 22 Pages | 75¢ Grand contract not breached Farris says ATA looks to return to Sparta next year By Dan Zobel Farris, who also repre- Kelley and the other com- The ATA will stay. sents the ATA, said there missioners thanked every- That is what Sparta city has been a lot of confusion body who went to bat to attorney Alan Farris stated and misinformation on keep the Grand in Sparta. during the June 22 city whether this year’s move In other news, the council council meeting about the would lead to a breach approved a TIF redevelop- Amateur Trapshooting As- of contract. He said that ment agreement with Jus- sociation in regards to the would not be the case. tin Hewitt, owner of Broad- Grand American and the “In the long term, we way Grille, in regards to the World Shooting and Rec- should be okay,” Farris old Dandy’s Deli building at reational Complex. said. 333 South St. Louis. On June 15, the Illinois In the near future, Sparta “This is a building we’ve Department of Natural and the region will still feel been trying to address for Resources and Illinois De- the effect, as the Grand years,” said city manag- partment of Public Health brings up to $30 million to er Corey Rheinecker. “We announced that the Grand, the region yearly, includ- would rather not knock it which is managed by the ing as much as $50,000 down.” ATA, would not be held in in sales tax revenue for Hewitt told the County Sparta this year because of Sparta. Journal that the property concerns about the crowds “We have to work on this has been acquired for re- due to COVID-19. for next year,” said Com- tail services. The hope is The ATA remains under missioner Michael Kelley. to have the rehabilitation contract with the state of “This is a good chunk of done within a year. Illinois to hold the Grand our economy, and all of in Sparta until 2026. southern Illinois.” Continued on Page 5 ______ Coronavirus recovery plan Peyton Manker models her extraordinary COVID-19 dress made of duct tape. moves to Phase 4 June 26 By Travis Lott The guidelines state that As fear from the grip group meetings would have Manker’s incredible of the coronavirus starts to be limited to no more to loosen throughout the Randolph than 50 people, cleaning state, including news that and disinfecting of facili- duct tape prom dress Randolph County now has ties and conducting regular zero active cases, all re- symptom checks. By Travis Lott tape to shape the dress. gions of Illinois are set to County had Schools are going to be A recent graduate of Spar- The dress itself is an move into Phase 4 of Gov- required to keep logs of ta High School made big elegant ball gown, with ernor J.B. Pritzker’s Restor students’ temperatures. waves over the past couple ruffles at the top and a Illinois plan this Friday, zero cases as Anyone entering the school of weeks with her corona- large skirt. However, what June 26. building will be screened virus-themed prom dress— makes this dress special is Under the new phase, for symptoms. made entirely of duct tape. the intricate works of art public gatherings will be of June 23 The Illinois Emergency Peyton Manker, 18, of that cover it. opened up from a 10-person Management Agency will Sparta made the dress for “I wanted to put in as limit to a 50-person limit. provide K-12 schools with the annual Duck Brand much detail as possible,” All outdoor recreation will much better for him than approximately 2.5 million Stuck At Prom scholarship Manker said. be allowed, and healthcare curbside service, as he said cloth face masks. contest, in which the com- Each panel of the dress providers will reopen. All his business is not set up As part of the guidelines, pany will award a $10,000 signifies some aspect of schools, summer programs for fast food-style service. students and school staff scholarship to the person the coronavirus. Mank- and daycare centers will be He expects business to will be required to wear who makes the best duct er included silhouettes of allowed to resume while pick up, which he hopes face coverings. tape dress. participants in a virtual following public health will allow him to begin In a press conference When Manker started graduation, people practic- guidance of wearing face to repair the damage this Tuesday, Pritzker said dis- making the dress in Janu- ing social distancing, and a masks and gloves. shutdown has caused him. tricts have flexibility as far ary, coronavirus was not group of frontline workers, Also allowed to open, During the shutdown, as what type of face cover- yet big news in the United honoring nurses, doctors, while following Illinois Landeros said his bills ing that could be, including States, and she was not sure janitors, postal and con- Department of Public piled up, and there was no a cloth face mask, N-95 res- what the theme of her dress struction workers, police Health guidelines, are all steady income to pay them. pirator mask or plexiglass would be. officers, military, firefight- manufacturing businesses, “It really hurts. I was face shield. However, as she was mak- ers and grocery store and gyms, movie theaters, re- about ready to close the Schools were also warned ing the dress, the entire restaurant employees. tail stores and nonessential doors,” Landeros said. “I that a surge in cases could world shifted beneath her One panel interprets the businesses. hope this never happens result in another statewide feet, as it did for everyone mental stress that festered Businesses that employ again.” shutdown. when COVID-19 fear sud- in many as the world locked COVID-19-vulnerable em- On Tuesday afternoon, Schools are now required denly dominated every down. This is portrayed by ployees are encouraged to the governor’s office, Il- to send parents an update facet of life. a masked face with a tear provide accomodations for linois State Board of Ed- about the plans as soon as For Manker and her peers, in his eye and a speech bub- those employees. ucation and Illinois De- possible. this meant cutting short ble noting his frustration. Bars and restaurants will partment of Public Health Dr. Ngoki Ezike, director their senior year and can- Reflected in his eyes are be open indoors, with ca- released guidelines for of the Illinois Department celing proms. tiny coronaviruses where pacity limits of 50 percent. schools returning to class- of Public Health, also urged This gave her all the inspi- his pupils should be. This change is a welcomed es in the fall. parents to get their chil- ration she needed. “A lot of people living one. While local school ad- dren’s vaccinations up to “I didn’t think it would alone are suffering from “I’m excited to open,” said ministrators were hoping date prior to returning to turn into what it did,” mental illness right now,” Flakol Landeros, owner of for specific rules to apply school. Manker said. Manker said. The Goat in Sparta. to their districts, the plan School administrators At first, she tried to dou- Another panel portrays Landeros said his bar and released by the state offers were unable to comment ble-layer duct tape to make people from throughout restaurant has 23 tables, so more generalized guide- on the specifics of the plan a fabric-like material. That the world running from a he will now be able to serve lines, instructing each as of Tuesday, as they had didn’t work, so she began 12 tables. school to develop its own layering fabric under the Continued on Page 6 _____ Landeros said this will be health mitigation plans. Continued on Page 5 _____ Sparta celebrates black independence on Juneteenth By Travis Lott news in order to maintain While the holiday had not The community of Sparta control of their labor force, been celebrated on a large celebrated Juneteenth in a or that the federal troops scale in Sparta in recent way few could remember waited for the slave own- memory, some small get- occurring before. ers to reap the benefits of a togethers were held. June 19 is celebrated as final cotton harvest before This year was different. the day slavery officially stepping in. In light of the recent ended in the United States. Regardless, following Black Lives Matter move- While slavery was meant Confederate General Rob- ment that has shone a light to end January 1, 1863, ert E. Lee’s surrender in on racial inequities in the when President Abraham April 1865, Union soldiers United States, the commu- Lincoln’s Emancipation led by Major General Gor- nity celebrated the holiday Proclamation went into don Granger were dis- in full force this year. effect, that news went un- patched to Galveston, Tex- Local woman Alexis Wil- known to the slaves in as to relay the news that liams put out the call to or- Texas for more than two the war had ended, and the ganize an event, according years, until June 19, 1865. slaves were to be set free. to attendees. From there, According to historians, The day was rightfully local businesses like the there are differing ac- celebrated by the newly Sparta House of Wings and counts of why slaves in that freed slaves for years to Clay Construction, individ- state did not receive this come.