Agenda set for next Sidney village board meeting
The Sidney Village board is set to meet Monday, January 4, at pm.
Village President Jason Arrasmith plans to discuss the purchase of an enclosed bulletin board for the new community building as well as the possibility of building infrastructure to support electrical power for Christmas lights in the future. He will also lead a discussion on the new lights at Witt Park.
Trustees will also discuss future compensation for their work on the village board.
Over a thousand COVID-19 cases in 2020
The Sentinel are closed out the year with a reported total of 1,060 cases in 2020. There were 426 confirmed cases identified in St. Joseph, 324 in Tolono and 105 cases within the Philo zip code of 61864 according to the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District. Meanwhile, 96 residents in Sidney, along with 73 from the Village of Ogden and 36 from Royal have been confirmed by tests since March. Between New Year's Eve on Thursday and today, the CUPHD reports that there were 27 new cases scattered across the six villages. After a rampant spread in late November, the area saw 100 or fewer cases during the month of December.The Sentinel accepts reader comments and opinion pieces
The New York Times has them. The Wall Street Journal and USA Today has them, and we want them, too. Send us your Letter to the Editor or Opinions piece. Do you have an opinion on restaurants being closed, proof that Joe Biden and Democratic Party stole the 2020 elections, or a theory on why white supremacists are attempting to infiltrate alien communities to take control of UFOs? How about a funny, yet interesting anecdote from the last nine months of the pandemic that you would like to share with readers? We'll gladly review your submission. OurSentinel.com is your Sentinel. We are looking to build an environment of thought-provoking conversation with our friends and neighbors. Send us your letters or opinion piece to The Sentinel at editor@oursentinel.com. For more information on submitting your Op-Ed, follow this link. Letters to the Editor will usually be published as Viewpoints. You can find more information to assist your submission here.Send your business, social or community organization's press release or event information to The Sentinel at editor@oursentinel.com.
2021 is here, and will it be just another year?
If it's just another year then that won't be bad at all because too many will not have another year. The opportunity and privilege to have another year is the gift of life. Being alive and living your life is about as good as it gets. Aim for being alive this time next year.
Make some decisions about 2021. Where do you want to be this time in 12 months? Would you like to be ten pounds heavier? Maybe you would like to be ten or twenty pounds lighter?
If you cut back on your portions and get off the couch you can lose a pound a week on average. This is daunting but just think about where you can be the first of March if you start today? Don't start tomorrow. Start right now. Today. This minute. Throw all that junk cake and pie in the trash. This is a tough decision because we hate to say goodbye to all those holiday cookies and candies. Your body will thank you and you will feel so much better very soon.
Decide about financial habits. Millions of Americans carry credit card debt. Minimum payments on $3,000 of credit card debt is like swimming up river. If you have missed a few payments your credit card company may be anxious to hear from you. Ask them if they will consider a settlement payoff. A friend of mine owed $5,000 and his credit card company settled for a $2800 payoff. Your company might or might not but it never hurts to negotiate. You might be able to sell some things in order to erase that back breaking high interest debt.
Make some money in 2021 - if you want to. Most Americans need to make money in 2021. Work on job applications. Peruse the newspaper. Search online. Consider places you have heard about and call them, go see them. Knock on doors of opportunity. You get nowhere if you do not try. You might complete 20 or 30 applications to get one job interview. Complete the application thoroughly. Give them a reason to consider you. Put together a good biographical sketch, resume. Have a friend or two to review and edit because two heads are better than one. Have some good trusted references. Wherever you work do a good job because you want them to say a good word about you. A good word may seal the deal on your next job opportunity.
Jobs sometimes are scarce. Consider your personal knowledge and abilities and what might you do to make a dollar or two? What do you know that others need to know? What can you offer that others need or might want? Can you make something? Can you fix things? How can you help others? Creating your own life and business might be the financial and mental sanity answer for you. If you create your own work and are good at what you do, you will not run out of something to do.
Our decisions determine our destiny. Whatever decision we make we have to put into action. Faith without works is dead. May your life be good, healthy and filled with wonderful love, family and friends in 2021. Let's work together for a good year.
"Not till I get a court order," is what restaurateur Jeff Buckler told The News-Gazette on Friday, December 18, the day after his establishment, Lil Buford's in Tolono had its health permit pulled and was asked to close. "Wars aren’t won in one fight." Now he is a little more than three weeks of finding out if he picked the wrong battle.
