Use the Extra Hour this Sunday to Change and Test the Batteries in Your Smoke Alarm

CHICAGO, IL – The Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) today asks Illinoisans to take an extra few minutes this weekend to change and test the batteries in their smoke alarms while setting their clocks back an hour. Clocks fall back an hour for Daylight Savings Time this Sunday, November 5.
“Daylight Savings Time is a great built-in reminder for us all to check that our smoke alarms are working in case of emergency,” said State Fire Marshal Matt Perez.

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reports that between 2009 and 2013 three in five home fire deaths occurred in homes that either did not have smoke alarms or the alarms did not work. More than half of the non-working smoke alarms either had missing or disconnected batteries. Dead batteries caused nearly a quarter of smoke alarm failures.

Illinois law requires every household to have smoke alarms within 15 feet of every bedroom and at least one alarm on each floor of the home.

The NFPA provides the following tips for installation and maintenance of smoke alarms:

• Install alarms close to each sleeping area of the house and on every level of the house. Ensure that the alarms are interconnected.
• Test alarms at least once a month.
• Change alarm batteries at least twice a year. Daylight Savings Time is a reminder to “Change your Clock, Change your Batteries.”
• Replace all smoke alarms when they are ten years old.
• Closed doors may slow the spread of smoke.
• Smoke alarms should be a part of a larger home escape plan for emergencies. Visit the NFPA website for more information on home escape planning.

BENTON, IL – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will offer an opportunity for individuals to obtain a permit to cut downed trees in the North Sandusky Campground for firewood. Commercial use or resale is prohibited. The timeframe for the firewood cutting season is November 20, 2017 through March 2, 2018. Designated cutting hours are Monday through Friday from 8:00AM to 3:30PM. There is no charge for the permit.

Firewood cutters will be permitted weekdays from November 20, 2017 through March 2, 2018.  Permits can be obtained in person between the hours of 8:00AM and 3:30PM, Monday through Friday, at the Rend Lake Project Office. For further information, please contact the Project Office at (618)724-2493

Marion, IL – State Representative Dave Severin (R- Benton) announced that his office will be holding Satellite Office Hours at the Benton Public Library on Wednesday November 8th from 12:00 – 3:00 pm.

“Satellite office hours are a good way for me to make my office and its resources more accessible to the whole district,” Rep. Severin said. “Staff will be on hand to take your opinions and assist with any constituent-related issues you may have.”

The address for the Benton Public Library is S Main St & W Hudelson St, Benton, IL 62812. If you would like to learn more about our office hours, please contact Rep. Severin’s District Office at (618) 440-5090 or through the contact form on his website at www.repseverin.com.

Washington, DC – U.S. Representative Mike Bost (IL-12) today released the following statement after the release of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:

“Southern Illinois’ middle-class families deserve a break. We need more jobs, higher take-home pay, and greater opportunity to get ahead. That’s why we went to work on a plan that simplifies the code and gives average working families a $1,200 tax cut.  The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act gives you the breathing room you need to save for college, help raise a family, or prepare for a rainy day. When given the chance, I have no doubt you’ll keep a closer eye on your hard-earned dollars than any Washington bureaucrat ever will.”

For individuals and families, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:

• Lowers individual tax rates for low- and middle-income Americans to zero, 12 percent, 25 percent, and 35 percent so people can keep more of the money they earn throughout their lives, and continues to maintain 39.6 percent for high-income Americans.

• Significantly increases the standard deduction to protect roughly double the amount of what you earn each year from taxes – from $6,350 to $12,000 for individuals and $12,700 to $24,000 for married couples.

• Eliminates special-interest deductions that increase rates and complicate Americans’ taxes – so an individual or family can file their taxes on a form as simple as a postcard.
• Establishing a new Family Credit – which includes expanding the Child Tax Credit from $1,000 to $1,600 to help parents with the cost of raising children, and providing a credit of $300 for each parent and non-child dependent to help all families with their everyday expenses.
• Retains popular retirement savings options such as 401(k)s and Individual Retirement Accounts so Americans can continue to save for their future.

For job creators of all sizes, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:

• Lowers the corporate tax rate to 20 percent – down from 35 percent, which today is the highest in the industrialized world – the largest reduction in the U.S. corporate tax rate in our nation’s history.

• Reduces the tax rate on the hard-earned business income of Main Street job creators to no more than 25 percent – the lowest tax rate on small business income since World War II.

• Establishes strong safeguards to distinguish between individual wage income and “pass-through” business income so Main Street tax relief goes to the local job creators it was designed to help most.

• Prevents American jobs, headquarters, and research from moving overseas by eliminating incentives that now reward companies for shifting jobs, profits, and manufacturing plants abroad