Pandemic keeps Secretary of State offices closed until next year

The Illinois Secretary of State announced today that offices closed November 17 will now remain closed until week of January 4, according to a news release issued by Jessie White.

"As the health and safety of employees and the public are paramount, we decided to extend the closure of Driver Services facilities until Jan 4, 2021, due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic," White said in the statement. "Unfortunately, face-to-face transactions potentially increase the further spread of the virus, and protecting the health and safety of our residents is my top priority."

Offices around the state have been closed since November 17 in anticipation of a surge in COVID-19 infections.

Locally, the Titon and Rantoul offices will remain open with limited services. The Tilton office, located at 5 Southgate Drive, and the Rantoul office at 421 S. Murray Road will continue to have drive-through license sticker renewals. In addition, the inside office will be open for commercial driver’s license (CDL) applications, and new drivers can also register at the facility.

White has expanded online services for the public, which they can take advantage of by visiting www.cyberdriveillinois.com. Some of these services include:

• Renewing a license plate sticker;
• Renewing a valid driver’s license for qualifying drivers;
• Renewing a valid ID card for those age 22-64 (seniors 65 and older have free, non-expiring IDs);
• Obtaining a driver record abstract;
• Filing Business Services documents, such as incorporations and annual reports; and
• Customers with issues involving administrative hearings may contact adminhearings@ilsos.gov.

White said expiration dates of driver’s licenses and ID cards have been extended until June 1 of next year.

Photo of the Day - December 4, 2020

Lineman Eli Marlow escorted off the field
SJO gives up plus-40 to visiting Cardinals
Head coach Dick Duval, on the left, and Casey Hug (middle) escort injured Eli Marlow off the field before halftime during St. Joseph-Ogden's home game against Stillman Valley on September 5, 2008. Marlow suffered game-ending trauma to his left shoulder. Later, the visiting Cardinals handed the Spartans a sour 44-25 loss. The last time a SJO team allowed an opponent to score over 40 points in the regular season was to Clifton Central in 2002. (Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks)

Local business: The Sentinel wants help your holiday sales

Sentinel Holiday Shopping Guide
Are you a local small business owner looking to increase your holiday sales during this holiday season? Let the Sentinel help. Starting Monday we are creating a local gift guide for shoppers who live in the communities we serve.

Did you know nearly two-thirds of shoppers are looking for curated gift lists online? Yeah, neither did we until we started doing the research on how to create a successful guide for our readers.

The Sentinel Holiday Gift Guide is designed to increase the visibility of your business and products. We want to help as many small businesses that we can ring in some extra sales over the next three weeks. Here's another fact: Gift guides are shown to more than double conversion rates and increase engagement by 76% especially for online retailers.

Like other small business ventures, the pandemic has kicked our virtual news tushy. With over 500 readers a day and plenty of time on our hands, we figure we can lend a helping hand to area small business with lots of free publicity. Sixty-six percent of holiday buyers plan to shop more at locally this holiday season and we want to make it easy for them by shining a light on products and services from area small businesses.

So what is this going to cost to be featured? Nothing. Zilch. Nada. We are looking highlight and share awesome gift ideas to our readers. Hopefully, our guide will keep people buying local and rebuild the local economy.

If you have a product or service you would like featured in the gift guide, simply copy the section below, paste it into a new email message to and advertising@oursentinel.com after you have answered the questions. Owners are welcome to submit as many items as they wish. We will select only one item every seven days to feature.

If you have any questions don't hesitate to email us at advertising@oursentinel.com or call 217.778.2197.

Name of Business:

Contact Name:                                               Contact Phone Number:

Website Address:

Link to featured item on your website:

Description of the product or service:

 

Choose a category:
Category options: • Gifts under $25 • Gifts Women & Girls Will Love • Gifts for Men & Boys • Food • Gifts for Everyone
• Art & Home Decoration • For Newlyweds • Gifts for Students • Stocking Stuffers

Retail Price:                     Sale Price:
(Enter Sale Price if the product/service is being offered at discount)

Please attach a photo of the featured item or service. Make sure it is a sharp, well-exposed image will do your product or service justice. The better the photo the better your odds at attracting buyers. Photo should be no smaller than 400 pixels on the longest side at 96 DPI.

Questions? Email us at advertising@oursentinel.com or peck 217.778.2197. Holiday gift guide features will be processed on a first come, first serve basis until December 23. Featured items will appear on The Sentinel website and shared on our social media platforms.


More Sentinel Stories



Photo Galleries


2025 Illinois Marathon Photo Gallery
A couple of runners found themselves in the wrong race at this year's Illinois Marathon. Over 60 photos from the race that you should see.

Photos: Sentinel/Clark Brooks