Op-Ed |
Where did all our local newspapers go?

Photo: Zo Willibrord/Pexels


from Jim Hightower

I no longer receive my local newspaper, the Austin-American Statesman.

Oh, the paper still comes, but it’s just paper, minus the news part — news that our community once counted on to keep up with local government doings, corporate shenanigans, citizen actions, and other critical features of our city’s democratic life.

What happened? Wall Street profiteers swept in a few years ago to conglomeratize, homogenize, and financialize the Statesman.

Jim Hightower
It’s now a money cog in the Gannett/USA Today chain of some 200 major dailies that the syndicate seized. Indeed, Gannett itself is wholly owned by SoftBank, a Japanese hedge fund. Those distant bankers are not interested in local news, but in slashing news staffs to fatten their profits. In Austin alone, Softbank has cut two-thirds of the paper’s journalists since taking over — and coverage of local stories has also plunged by two-thirds.

Interestingly, the Statesman recently ran a front-page piece about a local union protest by flight attendants demanding fair wages. On that same day, the paper also reported that Uber and Lyft drivers were striking in Austin.

But at the same time, the Statesman journalists were picketing right in front of the paper’s office, protesting the greed of SoftBank/Gannett and the demise of local news. Curiously, Statesman editors did not consider this local news about our newspaper to be news, so they cravenly kept this important information from the people.

Austin was not alone in this news blackout by the chain’s managers. Journalists at a dozen other Gannett papers — from Akron, Ohio to South Bend, Indiana — were picketing, yet, none of those papers ran a peep about their journalists’ defense of local news. Nor did Gannett’s flagship paper, USA Today, mention this nationwide union rebellion by its own journalists.

To support journalists and real journalism, go to newsguild.org.


About the author ~
OtherWords columnist Jim Hightower is a radio commentator, writer, and public speaker. This op-ed was distributed by OtherWords.org.

St. Joseph businesses robbed

ST. JOSEPH -- Salon 192, Geschenk Coffee, Cafe & Gifts, and Country Chics were burglarized early Tuesday morning. The break-ins are still under investigation.

If you have any information to help solve these crimes, contact the Champaign County Sheriff at 217-384-1213. If you would like to stay anonymous, contact by phone at Champaign County Crime Stoppers at 217-373-8477 or online at 373tips.com.

SJO recognizes the voice of Spartan sports, Keith Sjuts inducted into Hall of Fame

Keith Sjuts joins Hall of Fame
St. Joseph-Ogden school district superintendent Brian Brooks presents Spartan alumn Keith Sjuts with a Hall of Fame plaque during a halftime ceremony at Friday's home football game against Central Catholic. Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Keith Sjuts was one of four individuals inducted into the St. Joseph-Ogden Athletic Hall of Fame at Friday's Homecoming game Bloomington Central Catholic. He joins Kelly Duitsman Hunt, Dick Duval, and Stan Harper among the Class of 2021 inductees.

A lifelong member of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Flatville, Sjuts was the voice of SJO football and basketball for more than 20 seasons. He wore the Spartan basketball uniform all four years of his prep career and earned first-team recognition for both all-conference and all-area teams his senior year at St. Joseph-Ogden High School.

Learn more about his athletic career and success after high school in his bio below.



Biography

Keith Sjuts is a 1977 graduate of St. Joseph-Ogden High School. In high school, Keith played baseball for one year and ran track for one year. He played basketball all four years of his high school career. Keith was selected to the 1st Team All Area and 1st Team All Conference teams his senior year.

After high school, Keith became Branch Manager of Safety Clean, as well as a member of Corporate National Blitz Team for Safety Clean. He was a Co-Owner of TK Wendl’s. In 1994, he started working at Zep, Inc. and was the National Rookie of the Year. He was also the National Account Manager and Sales Trainer of Zep Inc. Besides work, he was able to have some fun and continue his athletic career by playing on the Regional Traveling Softball Team with his brother Mark and brother-in-law Wally.

Keith was the voice of the Spartans for over 20 years, serving as the announcer for both the football and boys basketball teams. One of his favorite memories was announcing the only state semi final football game hosted at SJO against Williamsville. He also always enjoyed the rivalry games between SJO and Unity.

Keith has been a lifelong member of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Flatville where he has held several positions on the council, including President of the church council. Keith takes great pride in being a part of the St. Joseph-Ogden community his entire life.

He wants to thank his team of people who have surrounded him to help him earn this great accomplishment, especially his most valuable team member, Roger Koss.

Keith’s greatest joys are his son Ryan, daughter Rylee and granddaughter Charlie.



* Biography provided courtesy of St. Joseph-Ogden High School

Village Crier: December 31, 2020

Local news briefs for St. Joseph and Tolono

Active COVID cases remain low

According to the Champaign-Urbana Health District there are 65 active COVID-19 cases, five more than the area's six week low of 60 on Sunday, within the six villages covered by The Sentinel.

To date, there has been 73 positive cases in Ogden, 36 in Royal, 426 in St. Joseph, 6 in Sidney, 11 in Philo and 324 identified in Tolono since March of this year.


St. Joseph IGA open New Year's Day

Looking for additional snacks for tonight's countdown to 2021? The St. Joseph IGA will be open today from 6a-8p. The store will also be open on January 1, New Year's Day, from 6a-6p for last minute shopping needs.


Recycling reminder for Tolono residents

The Village posted a reminder that users should only place approved items in are recycling bins and asks that all boxes be broken down or flattened in order to make plenty of room for the increase in material due to the holidays.

Recycle bins use is for Tolono residents only. If the bins are full, residents are asked to take items back with them. Leaving boxes and recyclable material on the ground next to bins is considered illegal dumping. Illegal dumping is punishable with a $500 fine from the village. There are surveillance cameras to record activity at the bin location.

Here is a list of acceptable items that can be disposed at recycling bins.


Possible winter storm on New Year's

Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a Winter Weather Advisory for today starting at 4:03am until 12pm on January 1. In addition to Champaign County, the advisory also covers Edgar, Vermilion, Shelby, Coles, Piatt and Douglas counties.

The area is expected to see a mixture of precipitation late tonight and Friday. A winter storm system is expected to bring snow, sleet and freezing rain to the area. While the exact track and strength of this storm has not been determined, the threat for ice and snow now appears to be likely to make road conditions hazardous during early hours New Year's Day.

Current prediction calls for snow accumulations up to a half inch, sleet accumulations between one and two tenths of an inch, or ice accumulations between one- and two-tenths of an inch.

For the latest road conditions throughout Illinois visit www.gettingaroundillinois.com.


Forest preserve collecting Christmas trees

The Champaign County Forest Preserve District is accepting Christmas trees now until mid-January. Only undecorated trees will be accepted. Artificial trees or commercial drop-offs will not be taken as they cannot be used for the natural recycling by the Preserve District.

The tree can be dropped off any day of the week between 7am and sunset. Once you arrive at the park, there are signs to direct vehicles to the following drop-off locations:

• Homer Lake – drop trees off near the Maple Sugar Grove
• Lake of the Woods – drop trees off at the west maintenance entrance off Rte. 47.
• Middle Fork River – drop trees off at maintenance building

The trees are chipped and used for trails and landscaping at forest preserves throughout Champaign County. When the lakes freeze over, the trees are dragged onto the lake with cinder blocks attached to them. These will sink when the ice thaws to provide a natural aquatic habitat.


Billy Bob's closed

On December 11, the Champaign County public health agency suspended the health permit for Billy Bob's in Ogden. Yesterday, Judge Roger Webber granted a restraining order sought by the agency barring the restaurant from operating without a valid health permit.

Billy Bob's, represented by attorney Tom DeVore, will be back in court at 9am on January 12, when the TRO expires, for another hearing to force the restaurant to comply with the state's ban on indoor dining.

Judge Ben Dyer was replaced on the bench by Webber after a request submitted by DeVore, who had hoped for a friendlier court after Dyer shot down a pair of earlier attempts by DeVore to keep two other clients open, the Apple Dumplin' and Mary Ann's Diner in Champaign.

The timing could not be worse for the establishment which will now be closed during a typically profitable New Year's celebration. On their Facebook page, a message stated that the restaurant will be open "for carry-out in the near future".


Number of active COVID-19 cases continue decline locally

With Christmas eight days away, the number of positive COVID-19 cases in The Sentinel area continues to decline. As of today between the six villages there are 81 active cases, which is just two cases shy of the four-week low of 79 on December 7.

Decembe 17 Covid report The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 8,828 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus in the state, including 181 additional deaths. One of the decease was a female patient from Champaign County in her 70s. As of Wednesday evening, 4,751 Illinoisans were reported hospitalized. Of those, 1,056 patients were in the ICU and 575 patients with COVID-19 were on ventilators.

Area residents are relieve to see the positivity decline. As of Thursday morning, the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District was reporting three cases in Ogden, Philo and Sidney with 4 each and no reported cases in Royal. In the low 50s much of the past week, St. Joseph is down to 46 cases and Tolono has 24 in the are covered by the 61880 zip code.

"I do think it’s positive to see so many people willing to wear a mask to try and help slow the spread though," said Kendra Pence, of St. Joseph. "I know many don’t necessarily like the masks or believe they totally help, but I think they are helpful and I’m thankful and feel more comfortable when I see people wearing them. In many counties around us, you don’t see a lot of masks, so it is refreshing to see people here willing to try and do their part to slow this thing down!"

Overall, the average statewide positivity rate is down to 8.4%, which is more good news considering some parts of the country are experiencing a surge in new COVID-19 cases. Weeks before Thanksgiving on November 13 that number was at an alarming 13.2%.

"I think we’re seeing the decrease in positivity rates because there are more people staying home with the current restrictions and as they do venture out they are wearing masks," says Brian Booher, of Tolono. "I hope we can continue to decline and allow for some of these restrictions to be relaxed more, especially as a vaccine has been released and people in the area are getting it."

Three of the state’s 11 regions are already below the criteria initially set by Governor J.B. Pritzker to move back to Tier 2 mitigations, which would bring back indoor dining and allowing bars to operate with restrictions again.

Susan McDonald Santiago, from St. Joseph, thinks there are several reasons why the number of cases is shrinking. She narrowed it down to three.

"It comes down to people taking it seriously and caring about their community," Santiago said. "Knowing this is short term and having modern technology also helps."

Mike Tankersley, from St. Joseph, said he is not really sure why our region is doing better.

"I think maybe we’re just being a bit more careful recently given the dire warnings of what the winter months might bring."

Meanwhile, Abby Schopp, owner of For Love of Hair, people are doing what it takes to spend the holidays with loved ones. She believes surge came before Thanksgiving.

"My personal opinion is because we had our surge right after Halloween when it started getting cooler," she said. She noted that many people were very cautious or still in quarantine for Thanksgiving and most of her clients we being incredibly safe and practicing as many COVID friendly habits as they possibly could. "We had such a huge amount of canceled and rescheduled appointments in the beginning of November and shortly after Thanksgiving.

"We have also had many people push their December appointments back to January in an attempt to isolate so they can safely see their families for Christmas celebrations. People really are trying their best and I optimistically hope that's why we didn't have a Thanksgiving surge."


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