INA, Ill. – Be prepared to experience life in 19^th century France with the cast and crew of the Rend Lake College Spring Musical “Les Misérables.” Tickets for the show go on sale Monday, March 9, with opening night set for 7 p.m. Thursday, April 9, in the RLC Theatre.

Victor Hugo first published “Les Misérables” in 1862. The novel follows the struggles of several main characters between the years 1815 and 1832 – including Jean Valjean, the ex-convict; Javert, the police inspector; Fantine, a working-class woman; Cosette, the child of Fantine; Marius Pontmercy, a young law student; Monsieur and Madame Thénardier, a criminal husband and wife duo; Éponine, the eldest daughter of the Thénardiers; and Enjolras, the leader of the 1832 June Rebellion in Paris. The novel has been adapted many times in film and television, including the award-winning film of the same title in 2012.

Sara Alstat, RLC Associate Professor of Music, is the director of the spring musical. She said with a young, large cast and crew this year, she’s looking forward to showing off each student’s talents.

“We have many students this year who haven’t performed in a musical before, but I’m ecstatic to see them getting ready for opening night. The cast and crew this year is very large, but I’m already impressed by their dedication,” said Alstat. “‘Les Misérables’ can be a difficult show to perform, but I’m very happy to say it’s coming along nicely. We’re all enjoying working together to put on a great show, and we can’t wait to see the public in April.”

In addition to RLC music students, Thespians, and local community members, the musical will also feature children under the age of 16 as members of Gavroche’s gang. Gavroche will be portrayed by Ava Barker of Mt. Vernon.

“This show requires a huge ensemble with each cast member playing several characters, some as many as 10 or more,” added Alstat. “And there is no spoken dialogue in this show, which will be very challenging with such a large cast. Every character has to tell their story using their singing voice and that’s a huge challenge for any actor, especially actors at this age. This show is the first completely sung-through musical RLC has produced.”

Taking to the RLC stage for the first time will be Olivia Bailey of Mt. Vernon playing Fantine. Bailey said “Les Misérables” isn’t her first musical, having been a part of several at Mt. Vernon Township High School, but it is her first big role.

“I’m very humbled to have been chosen for the part of Fantine and honestly I am very excited for the whole show to come together. I’m very thankful for this experience,” said Bailey. “I wanted to play Fantine because she is one of my favorite characters in the show and I love all of her songs. This is going to be a great production. There are so many talented actors and singers in this show who have already put in so much hard work. You won’t want to miss it.”

Fantine’s child, Cosette, will be portrayed by Sierra Harrell of Opdyke. An RLC veteran, Harrell will make her third appearance in a musical on the RLC stage. In the past, she’s played Rapunzel in “Into the Woods” and Audrey in “Little Shop of Horrors,” as well as roles in the annual fall plays “Tom Sawyer” and “Treasure Island.”

Harrell said she’s looking forward to her role as Cosette as both a challenge and learning opportunity.

“The role is a bit of a challenge for me vocally. I’m definitely viewing this as a chance to learn and grow as both a singer and an actor,” said Harrell. “We have assembled a fantastic cast with a lot of talent and great voices. I don’t think there has been a single rehearsal where I haven’t gotten goose bumps after hearing some of these people sing. I can’t wait to share the stage with these awesome people and pour our hearts out to the audience in this tragic, inspiring, and captivating story. ‘Les Misérables’ is one of the world’s longest running musicals. This show will make you laugh, cry, and fall in love. This is not one you want to miss.”

The storyline also follows the young life of Marius Pontmercy who marries Cosette toward the end of the novel. Marius will be portrayed by Mt. Vernon’s Dalton Miller. This will be Miller’s second time on the RLC stage, having been cast as “Death” in the fall play “Hunchback of Notre Dame.” He is also looking forward to the opening show in April.

“I’m really excited to play the role of Marius and I’m really looking forward to getting into the emotion that this character brings to the stage. Not only does he fall in love, but he also goes through some pretty tough things throughout the musical,” said Miller. “I’m so happy Sara [Alstat] believes in me enough to make me a lead role. I would encourage the community to come because I’ve been in a lot of shows in my life, but I can honestly say that this show is going to be the best one I’ve ever been in. They will be missing out big time if they don’t see this one.

In addition to Bailey, Harrell, and Miller, there are 36 actors, all of whom are expected to help build the set in addition to learning songs and dances:

• Jackson Adams (Mt. Vernon) – ensemble
• Gage Austin (Mt. Vernon) as Gavroche’s Gang Member
• Vincent Bailey (Woodlawn) – ensemble
• Ava Barker (Mt. Vernon) as Gavroche
• Alison Blair (Benton) – ensemble
• Alayna Boese (Carterville) as Eponine
• Tyler Bourland (Ina) – ensemble
• Bethaney Brown (Mt. Vernon) as Madame Thenardier
• Ben Chapman (Ava) – ensemble
• Barretta Chullen (Thompsonville) – ensemble
• Brendan Clark (Thompsonville) – ensemble
• Steven Crawford (West Frankfort) – ensemble
• Isabella Crites (Benton) as Gavroche’s Gang Member
• Jonathon Dauby (Springerton) – ensemble
• Keryn Fitzpatrick (McLeansboro) – ensemble
• Adam Floro (Marion) – ensemble
• John Hunsell (Woodlawn) – ensemble
• Brandon Isom (Christopher) – ensemble
• Kaleb Johnson (Mt. Vernon) as Gavroche’s Gang Member
• Andrew Lampley (Benton) as Jean Valjean
• Matthew Loucks (Sesser) as Enjolras
• Koral McBride (Murphysboro) – ensemble
• Brook Mohr-Bell (Pinckneyville) – ensemble
• Cheyenne Needham (Benton) – ensemble
• Stacie Pinkham (Christopher) – ensemble
• Seyah Schernekau (Mt. Vernon) as Gavroche’s Gang Member
• Krystal Schuch (Mt.Vernon) – ensemble
• Sam Smith (Mt. Vernon) – ensemble
• Emma Spence (Sesser) as Little Cosette / Little Eponine
• Maggie Stacey (Sesser) as Little Cosette / Little Eponine
• Lauryn Strom (Sesser) – ensemble
• Kaleb Triplett (Herrin) as Javert
• Falyn VanDyke (Mt. Vernon) – ensemble
• Jamin Walker (Benton) as Monsieur Thenardier
• Laci Zeidler (Pinckneyville) – ensemble
• Yuting Zhang (Dahlgren) – ensemble

“Les Misérables” will be on the RLC Theatre stage at 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, April 9 – 11 and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 12. Tickets go on sale Monday, March 9, for $12 each. They can be purchased by calling the RLC Box Office at 618-437-5321, Ext. 1467. Some tickets may also be available at the door on show night, if not sold out. For more information, visit www.rlc.edu/springmusical.

By Robert Farrington – Guest Contributor

Congrats grad! You did it – finished school, hopefully found a great job, and are now living your dream. But now that you’re in the real world, it’s time to think about taxes. Yes, taxes. Once a year (at least), you’re going to have to go through all of your finances and file your tax return. It’s not a hard process, and there are a lot of tools to help, but you still have to do it.

If you’re a recent grad, who went into the workforce instead of graduate school, here are some important considerations to think about when preparing your taxes for the first time.

Credits and Deductions For Your Education Costs

Since you’ve graduated, this is the last year you’ll be able to claim any education costs on your tax return. If your parents aren’t claiming you as a dependent, you may be eligible to receive a credit or deduction for any education costs incurred.

Typically, your school will send you a 1098-T, which will show how much you spent on your education last year. Depending on your income, you could receive the American Opportunity Tax Credit, the Lifetime Learning Credit, or the Tuition and Fees Deduction.

Co-owners (left to right) Terri Page and Pat Wilson, have more than 50 years combined experience to help you with your tax preparation needs. Give them a call at 619-439-4641 or stop by the office 101 West Main, Benton, IL.

Student Loan Debt

In 2013, 69% of all college graduates left school with student loan debt. The average balance was $28,400 per borrower. However, you may be able to deduct any interest you pay on these loans.

Generally, you may deduct $2,500 or the amount of interest you actually paid, whichever is less. So if you paid $1,500 in interest that is what you’ll deduct. If you paid $4,000 in interest, you will only deduct $2,500. This deduction can help lower your taxes.

Health Insurance

As a recent grad, you also need to make sure you have a qualifying health insurance plan. In college, you may have been able to stay on your parents’ plan (or until you turn 26 years old).

However, if you’re no longer on your parents’ plan, you need to have a qualifying health insurance plan or you could face a penalty, which could be hundreds of dollars depending on your income.

If you don’t think you can afford health insurance, see what plans you may be able to afford and if you qualify for a subsidy at healthcare.gov.

Start Saving For Your Future (and Saving on Taxes)

Finally, once you get a job, you should start saving for retirement and saving on taxes at the same time. Many employers offer 401k or 403b plans to their employees, which not only help you save for retirement, but also help you save on taxes each year since the contributions are made pre-tax and reduce your taxable income.

If your employer doesn’t offer one of these plans, there are other options, such as an IRA. The bottom line is that you should not only be saving for the future, but you should also look at taking advantage of tax-deferred accounts to allow your money to grow tax-free.

Top 10 Tax Audit Triggers

1. High Income

In this case, it’s simply a matter of “follow the money.” Assuming any individual is as honest as the next, the IRS is likely to have a higher payoff by auditing returns of higher income people. While the overall audit rate is just over 1% of returns filed, a tax return showing over $200,000 of income has nearly a 4% chance of getting audited.

2. High Charitable Deductions

The limit to what you can deduct in charitable contributions is fairly high, as cash deductions to qualifying charities can offset up to half your taxable income. To take charitable deductions, you must have documentation in hand before you file. Contributions of over $250 must be documented by a receipt with specific details spelled out (amount of the donation, value, even if zero, of any goods or services given in return) and in hand before the return is filed, whether it be the normal date or with extension. If you have your supporting documents, don’t fear being a philanthropist.

 3. Certain Activities

A number of professions are looked at a bit more closely by the IRS, perhaps because they combine high income potential with an easy ability to accept cash. These include doctors, attorneys, auto dealers, cab & limo operators, and gas retail store owners. For all these professions, it’s a matter of keeping good records to show you’re not hiding income.

4. Failing to Report Income

If you are a W2 employee or receive income on 1099s as a contractor, the IRS gets notified of this income as well. When these documents arrive in the mail, there’s no excuse for misplacing them, as the IRS has this data as well. If your reported income adds up to less than what the IRS shows you earned, an audit may follow. You may not receive a 1099 if the amount earned is under $600, so your total earnings may be higher than the IRS sees. But that’s OK, you need to report it anyway.

5. Home Office Deduction

The IRS regulations require “that a home office must be used regularly and exclusively for business and the limit tied to the income derived from the particular business.” The current Form 8829 is a 43-line exercise of one’s math skills and patience. For many people, the lack of a separate exclusive area disqualifies their home office deduction.

6. Real Estate Rental Losses

If you are a real estate professional, you may use losses from your real estate to offset other income. The IRS offers a narrow definition of “professional” – it applies only if more than half of the personal services you performed in all trades or businesses during the tax year were performed in real property trades or businesses in which you materially participated, and if you performed more than 750 hours of services during the tax year in real property trades or businesses in which you materially participated. If you don’t qualify as a pro, your losses may only be limited to offset any income from the properties but no more. In this case the loss may be carried forward until used or until the property is sold to someone not related to you. Claiming a loss when you are not a pro is a red flag to the IRS.

7. Schedule C Losses

If you are starting a small business, you might have some losses along the way, and that’s understandable. Unfortunately, the IRS expects that you’ll be reporting a profit in three of five years. If not, the IRS may believe your business is actually a hobby you are trying to write off as a business.

8. Gambling Losses

If you have any winnings from gambling, whether it’s from betting at a horse track, hitting it big at the slots, or those scratch-off tickets at the local newsstand, Uncle Sam is your partner and that income must be reported. Just like a loss in the stock market can offset gains, if you carefully track your losses and keep your receipts, you can use those losses to offset your jackpot money, see Topic 419 from the IRS for more information. If you have no winnings, however, you can’t write off any losses. Claim a net gambling loss for the year, and it’s a potential audit for you.

9. Adoption Tax Credit

This credit is available when you adopt a child into your family, and it’s significant, up to $12,650 for those who qualified in 2012. My friend and fellow blogger Lynnette Khalfani-Cox uncovered a report to Congress showing that 69% of returns that claim this credit are audited. If you adopted a child last year or plan to this year, check out Form 8839 and be sure to have all required documentation on file. Don’t let the threat of an audit let you walk away from a nice tax refund.

10. Missing or Frivolous information

Signature(s), date, Social Security number(s), filing status.  These are items that, if missing, will result in the IRS sending the return back to you, and potentially resulting in an audit. There are times for levity, but there’s no place for humor on your tax return. Even if you’ve paid your tax bill in full, if the return itself doesn’t offer enough information or has writing on it that’s not needed, your return may be deemed ‘frivolous’ and can result in a $5,000 penalty.

Unfortunately, the exact numbers that might trip an audit are a secret the IRS keeps to itself. It’s safe to say that, while there’s nothing you can do to avoid being audited, good record keeping, honest income reporting, and reliable tax software like H&R Block’s will go a long way toward keeping the audit process as painless as possible.

If you’ve received an audit notice and want advice or help from others who have been in your shoes, join us in The H&R Block Community.

The Benton H & R Block, located at 101 West Main Street, is open for business and ready to help. The Benton H & R Block has tax preparers with more than 14o years experience in tax preparation. For all your tax needs or to book your appointment call Benton H & R Block at 618-439-4641.  Office hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.

What Parents Need to Know for Filing Their Taxes

The IRS calls your little bundle of joy a dependent, and with good reason. Even before that baby arrives, you should be aware of how Uncle Sam will be her uncle as well. There will be some nice tax benefits in the years to come. Before that can happen, your new baby will need to have a Social Security number assigned. The good news is that most hospitals have the paperwork all ready for you, and a few days after you bring baby home, their social security card will arrive. Don’t worry, you’re not already planning for their retirement; you need this number to enter on your tax return, to claim your new dependent.

The child tax credit is worth up to $1,000 for each qualifying child. This credit can be both a nonrefundable and a refundable credit. The refundable portion of the child tax credit is called the additional child tax credit

To qualify for the child tax credit, both of these must apply:

• The qualifying child must be under age 17 at the end of the year.
• The qualifying child must be one of these:
  • U.S. citizen
  • U.S. national
  • U.S. resident

Divorced and separated parents

The parent who claims the child as a dependent is eligible to claim the child tax credit. This is true even if the parent’s filing status is married filing separately.

Income phase-out

As your modified adjusted gross income (AGI) increases, the child tax credit begins to phase out. The credit is reduced $50 for every $1,000 — or portion of $1,000 — that your modified AGI is more than:

• $75,000 if filing as single, head of household, or qualifying widow(er)
• $110,000 if married filing jointly
• $55,000 if married filing separately

For the purpose of this credit, your modified AGI is your AGI plus foreign earned income, if any.

Co-owners (left to right) Terri Page and Pat Wilson, have more than 50 years combined experience to help you with your tax preparation needs.

Interaction with other credits

You can’t carry forward any portion of the child tax credit to future years. You need to claim the nonrefundable credits in a certain order to get the most benefit. You might need to calculate other credits first to properly apply the child tax credit.

Additional child tax credit

If your child tax credit is limited, you might be able to claim the additional child tax credit. To qualify for the additional child tax credit, one of these must apply:

• Your earned income must be more than $3,000 for 2013.
• You must have three or more qualifying children.

If you have at least one qualifying child, you can claim a credit of up to 15% of the amount your earned income is more than $3,000. If you have three or more qualifying children, you can either:

• Claim a refundable credit if the net Social Security and Medicare tax you paid is more than your Earned Income Credit (EIC), if any
• Use the 15% method described earlier

In all cases, the credit is:

• Limited to $1,000 per qualifying child
• Reduced by the nonrefundable portion of the child tax credit

In everything in life experience matters, but when the topic is tax preparation experience doesn’t just matter – it’s imperative – a must.

Benton H & R Block has the experience factor covered with nearly 150 years of total experience waiting to serve you and offer the satisfaction and assurance that your taxes will be prepared accurately and that you got the maximum refund. In short, counting on the experience at Benton H & R Block could result in more money in your pocket this tax season.

Co-owners (left to right) Terri Page and Pat Wilson, have more than 50 years combined experience to help you with your tax preparation needs.

Norma Page, the original owner, prepared taxes for 45 years before retiring and now co-owners Terri Page (27 years as a tax preparer) and Pat Wilson (25 years as office manager) have carried on the family business, purchasing the business in 1998.

And with the experience of other staff personnel at the H & R Block in Benton, it tallies up to a whopping 144 years of tax preparation experience for Franklin County and all of Southern Illinois.

H & R Block in Benton was originally located on East Main Street but moved to its present location at 101 West Main Street back in 1995.

H & R Block in Benton is locally owned which means that Terri and Pat serve customers and friends they know and see at church, ballgames and the grocery store. Being a part of the community is important to Terri and Pat and the entire staff at H & R Block in Benton. In all, H & R Block in Benton has 11 full-time employees.

For questions regarding standard deductions, homeowner deductions, itemizing deductions and much, much more go this link on the H & R Block website.

For experience you can count on and service you can trust, stop by and visit H & R Block in Benton at 101 West Main St. or call 618-439-4641 and set up your appointment. They have tax preparers available to serve and assist in your tax preparation needs.

The state of Illinois and local governments saw tax revenue from video gambling more than double last year.

SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Bruce Rauner may be looking to the Bluegrass State for inspiration when it comes to bringing right-to-work laws to Illinois.

Here’s the link to the story.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois senator says he’s altering controversial school funding legislation to increase its chances of passage.

Here’s the link to the story.

Bruce Rauner completed a furious first week as governor of Illinois. His high-profile wife is not far behind.

Diana Rauner is gearing up as first lady, hiring a prominent Springfield political aide as chief of staff and contemplating initiatives that could include children’s advocacy and restoring the capital city’s Executive Mansion.

Here’s a link to the story.