BENTON – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Rend Lake is hosting a visit by Santa and a Nature Ornament Craft Day at the Rend Lake Visitor Center on Tuesday, December 19th from 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Stop by to create a nature ornament, meet Santa, and have a photo-op with Bobber the Water Safety Dog. This program is free and open to everyone.

The Rend Lake Visitor Center is open Monday – Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. from October 30, 2017 to March 31, 2018. Stop by anytime to explore the exhibit hall or pick up literature about the 2018 recreation season. For more information about these free events, call the Rend Lake Visitor Center at (618)724-2493. Be sure to “Like” us Facebook at facebook.com/rendlakeusace

BENTON – Franklin County officials continue to be perplexed by funding shortfalls for probation services.

County Board Chairman Randall Crocker voiced concerns during Monday’s finance committee meeting, indicating he wants to meet soon with probation officials. Crocker said although the county is responsible for funding the department, the state continues to lag behind in making reimbursement payments.

Please click on the link below to read the full story from the Benton News.

http://www.bentoneveningnews.com/news/20171206/franklin-county-probation-services-200-percent-over-budget

By ReAnne Palmer 

One of RLC’s newest certificates, the Veterinary Assistant program, is back this spring thanks to a cooperation between RLC and Southeastern Illinois College (SIC). The one-semester, 17 credit hour program prepares students for a career working with animals in a variety of settings, such as veterinary clinics, boarding kennels, grooming salons, pet shops, and animal shelters. Classes are set for all day Mondays on the Ina campus with day and night classes on Tuesdays at SIC. Clinical and intern times will vary by location.

Jonlee Wingo of Dahlgren, LEFT, learns to find the heart-
beat on the CPR dog simulator from Instructor Adrea
Petro, RIGHT, during veterinary assistant class. (ReAnne Palmer-RLC Public Information)

Rend Lake College Allied Heath Dean Kim Wilkerson added the program is a perfect fit for students interested in starting their own businesses. She said, “Students will be trained in animal grooming, making them more marketable for many different jobs. That class is hands-on with live animals, and will give students who want to start their own animal grooming business the experience and knowledge to do so.”

The BLS states job openings for non-farm animal caretakers in general, including pet groomers, will increase by 19 percent between 2016 and 2026. The BLS also reported strong job opportunities for pet groomers due to the increasing number of households that own pets and high turnover in grooming positions.

Courses are offered on RLC’s campus in Ina, with some training at SIC’s David L. Stanley Center in Carmi. For additional information, visit www.rlc.edu/programs-and-degrees/205-veterinary-technology, or contact the Allied Health Division at 618-437-5321 Ext. 1251. Students in SIC’s district should call 618-252-5400, ext. 4130.

Gov. Rauner: Enhanced technology improves taxpayer outcomes

SPRINGFIELD  — Gov. Bruce Rauner’s Cabinet on Children and Youth turned on a new data dashboard today that policymakers and the public can use to make better-informed decisions about the health, safety, education and work readiness of Illinoisans younger than 25.

“When it comes to policy, we know the best decisions for children and families are those that are data-driven,” Rauner said. “Since our goal is equity, we must constantly look at the data and research to drive our work.”

The Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology created the dashboard to advance the aims of cabinet member agencies, including the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development and the departments of Public Health and Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

Julio Rodriguez, DCEO deputy director of the Office of Employment and Training, said the dashboard will help the agency to focus its career-assistance programs.

“It will help us track the success of the Apprenticeship PLUS initiative that was launched earlier this year,” Rodriguez said, “and it will allow the department to identify more ways to help youth make informed career choices.”

The new dashboard can be viewed at the Children’s Cabinet website. It will track data in four categories — education, self-sufficiency, safety and health.

Kirk Lonbom, acting secretary at the Department of Innovation & Technology, said the dashboard will cover 42 metrics, pulling together public information from multiple Illinois agencies.

“Our data analytics team at DoIT is pleased to provide a system that can improve the lives of children in our state,” Lonbom said.

Education data points will include post-secondary retention rates and reading levels. Self-sufficiency measures include education attainment levels, median earnings for youth at 25 and student debt default rates. The safety data will track the percentage of youth living in “safe” neighborhoods, rates of domestic violence, incarceration and recidivism rates among other subjects.

Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Nirav Shah said the data will be key in youth health decision-making. And Cynthia Tate, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development, said the dashboard will provide a bird’s-eye view of the state of Illinois’ children and youth.

“Having this broad spectrum of data available in one place will help prioritize population health goals,” Shah said.

“This forms the bedrock of the Children’s Cabinet project on early childhood workforce development and the GOECD’s mission,” added Tate. “The dashboard helps to connect each of the cabinet projects and serves as a long-term barometer on our work.”

Our weekend will start off with plenty of clouds with some flurries or light snow showers around in the morning. No accumulations are expected at this time though. The clouds will clear out Saturday afternoon/evening making for a quiet rest of the weekend. (NWS PADUCAH)

Seven Day Forecast

Today
Sunny, with a high near 39. Southwest wind 3 to 8 mph.
Tonight
A chance of flurries after midnight. Partly cloudy, with a low around 26. South southwest wind 5 to 8 mph.
Saturday
A chance of flurries before noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 36. Northwest wind 9 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Saturday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 20. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light and variable after midnight.
Sunday
Sunny, with a high near 44. Light southwest wind increasing to 8 to 13 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 21 mph.
Sunday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 30. Southwest wind 5 to 9 mph.
Monday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 51. Southwest wind 6 to 11 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon.
Monday Night
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 28. Northwest wind around 9 mph.
Tuesday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 38. Northwest wind 8 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.
Tuesday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 24. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm in the evening.
Wednesday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 45. Light south southwest wind becoming southwest 5 to 9 mph in the morning.
Wednesday Night
Partly cloudy, with a low around 28. South southwest wind around 7 mph becoming west after midnight.
Thursday
Partly sunny, with a high near 45. West northwest wind 6 to 9 mph.