The 2024-2025 Rural Development Grant Program will go live on Tuesday, October 1st.

The purpose of this program is to develop partnerships by providing funding through the county Farm Bureaus for investment in rural development projects being implemented in a community or county that will positively impact Farm Bureau members and other residents. Ideally, these projects have been identified and prioritized as part of a strategic planning process. Successful rural development projects will improve the economic well-being and/or quality of life in their community or county.

Information about the grant program, FAQs and the application form can be found on this JotForm: https://form.jotform.com/WebServ/RuralDevelopmentGrant-2024-2025

There are a few key changes that have been made to the program following last year’s successful pilot.

1)            Increased funding – thanks to the IAA Board’s continued investment in this program, we will award a total of $100,000 this cycle.

2)            Funding for emergency services – up to 20% of the available funding will target projects connected to emergency services.

3)            Set application period – rather than accepting grant applications on a rolling basis, we will have a set time frame from October 1 through December 18, 2024, for applications to be submitted.

4)            Grant awards and funding – all grant applications will be reviewed with recipients selected by January 31, 2025, and funding will be sent to the CFBs in February for distribution to grantees.

EARLY VOTING NOW UNDERWAY

County Clerk Sandy Leitheiser announced that as of Thursday,
September 26 th , 2024 through Monday, November 4 th , 2024, voters can
cast their ballot early for the November 5 th , 2024 General Election.
Early voting will be conducted in the Early Voting Room of the
Montgomery County Clerk’s Office, located at the basement street level
of the Historic Courthouse in Hillsboro during regular office hours of 8
AM to 4 PM during that time period, and includes Saturdays, October
19 th , October 26 th , and November 2 nd , 2024 from 8 AM to noon.
Leitheiser stated that ballots cast during the early voting time period
will not be counted until after the polls close and all Montgomery County
precincts’ returns have been made public. Any voter who requested a
vote by mail ballot and changes their mind to vote in person instead must
first surrender that ballot to the County Clerk’s Office before voting
early. Early voting and vote by mail ballot totals will be included with
Election Day precinct ballot totals reported after polls close on Election
Night.

Leitheiser reports a number of early voters had already shown up in the first half hour.
For more information about early voting, please contact the County
Clerk’s Office at countyclerk@montgomerycountyil.gov or (217) 532-
9530.

 The Illinois Department of Transportation announced the replacement of a culvert on the Nokomis Blacktop just east of East 15th Road in Montgomery County beginning Monday, Sept. 30.

To complete the culvert replacement, only local traffic will be permitted on Nokomis Blacktop between E. 15th Road and Irving Road. A detour utilizing Illinois 127 and Illinois 16 will be posted. The new box culvert will help maintain adequate drainage in the area. Work is expected to be completed by the end of the week.

Motorists are encouraged to follow the posted detour or will need to find an alternate route. Drivers are urged to pay close attention to changed conditions and signs in the work zones, obey the posted speed limits, refrain from using mobile devices and be alert for workers and equipment.

Over the next six years, IDOT is planning to improve more than 3,200 miles of highway and nearly 9 million square feet of bridge deck as part of Rebuild Illinois, which is investing $33.2 billion into all modes of transportation. Accomplishments through Year Five of Rebuild Illinois include approximately $16 billion of improvements statewide on 6,541 miles of highway, 686 bridges and 986 additional safety improvements.

For IDOT District 7 updates, follow us on Twitter at @IDOTDistrict7 or view area construction details on IDOT’s traveler information map on GettingAroundIllinois.com.

On Thursday, September 5, 2024, at approximately 9:21 p.m. the Litchfield Police Department received a report of threatening statements made towards the Litchfield School District by a juvenile student. 

The on-duty Officers of the Litchfield Police Department and the Litchfield Police Department School Resource Officer immediately initiated an investigation and began conducting interviews of witnesses. 

Based upon evidence gathered from reporting witnesses, it was determined that a criminal arrest was warranted. 

At 10:29 p.m., the Litchfield Police Department arrested a 12-year-old juvenile for the offense of Disorderly Conduct in that the juvenile transmitted or caused to be transmitted in any manner a threat of destruction of a school building or school property, or a threat of violence, death, or bodily harm directed against persons at a school, school function, or school event, whether or not school is in session. This offense is a Class 4 Felony. 

With assistance from the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office and the Montgomery County Juvenile Probation Department the juvenile was held in a detention facility until brought before the 4th Judicial Circuit for formal arraignment, 

All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 

Because of the involvement of a juvenile suspect no further updates or information will 

be provided due to the confidential nature of juvenile cases.