Register today for your chance to participate in two new game shows!

Press Release from the Illinois Department of Agriculture

SPRINGFIELD, IL – Two popular televised games shows are making their way to the Illinois State Fair.  Do you have what it takes to compete?  Online registration is now open for those brave enough to compete at the 2017 Illinois State Fair.

This year, the Illinois State Fair will be hosting its own versions of The Newlywed Game and Beat Shazam on the fair’s newest stage, The Rising Star stage. Participants who sign up to play will have the opportunity to win two free tickets to that evening’s grandstand concert!

In The Newlywed Game, two couples will face off against each other by answering a series of questions to determine which couple knows each other better! You don’t have to be a newlywed to participate.  We welcome couples who have been married for 8 days to 80 years!

Beat the DJ is the Illinois State Fair’s take on this summer’s new game show, Beat Shazam on FOX.  Two teams of two will battle it out to see who can correctly name songs the fastest before testing their musical IQ against a local radio DJ. 

To register for a chance to compete in these fun competitions, sign up online at illinoisstatefair.info.  Registration can be found under the Competition tab.  Participants will be notified by email if they have been selected to compete.

by George O’ Connor – Communications Director for Congressman Mike Bost

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative Mike Bost today met with Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson to discuss the ongoing housing crisis in Cairo, Illinois.

“Secretary Carson and I had a frank discussion about the housing crisis in Cairo and failures in the system that helped create it,” said Bost. “Cairo’s suffering is due to years of fraud and corruption at the highest levels of the housing authority, a fact that was highlighted this week as HUD announced that several local housing officials accused of lining their pockets with federal housing funds have been indefinitely banned from seeking similar positions in the future. Ignoring past mistakes will do little to bring justice for the families victimized by the previous housing authority leadership or help them find the safe and sanitary housing they deserve. However, I am hopeful that new leadership is bringing a renewed commitment to getting Cairo back on its feet.”

Background:

A 2015 report in The Southern Illinoisan newspaper exposed the plight of Cairo, Illinois, residents living in United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funded public housing units managed by the Alexander County Housing Authority (ACHA).  Living conditions at two of the authority’s housing units – Elmwood and McBride – are extremely unsafe and unsanitary, in large part due to the neglect of the housing authority and the mismanagement of federal housing funds and potential fraud committed by its employees.

Given the poor physical condition of the Elmwood and McBride properties, and the insolvency of the ACHA’s financials, HUD has determined are beyond rehabilitation.  Now local residents, specifically the nearly 400 who live at the Elmwood and McBride properties, have been served notice by HUD that they must vacate their units in return for vouchers and counseling services that could compel them to relocate far away from the only community many of them have ever known.