It’s never good to be agitated.
(Unless it’s yummy and comes with butter and salt.)

Some recent lovelies from the local police blotter:

from June 9

Macomb police arrested Paul E. S____, 51, 322 E. Wheeler St., about 10:00 p.m. Monday. He was accused of retrieving his compound bow with intentions of shooting a dog that had chased him on his bike. He was charged with attempted cruelty to animals.

and from June 11:

Macomb police arrested John F. K______ [real initials!], Sr., 57, 908 E. Elm St., about 5:40 p.m. Tuesday and charged him with criminal defacement of property. He is accused of spray-painting the words “slow zone” and drawing a chicken on the road.

bawk bawk!

From today’s Macomb Journal

McDonough County on poverty watch list

Macomb, Ill. –

The percentage of people living in poverty in McDonough County is twice as high as surrounding counties, according to an analysis by the Heartland Alliance.

The Heartland Alliance Mid-America Institute on Poverty in Chicago does an annual report based on data about income, education, unemployment and other factors. Heartland publishes a “well-being index” for each county in Illinois.

McDonough, Fulton, Hancock and Schuyler counties all appear on Heartland’s “watch list” based on those statistics and trends.

In 2007, McDonough County’s poverty rate was 23 percent, representing 6,293 people. For 2009, the federal government considers poor a family of four with annual income less than $22,050. A family of four with less than half that income is considered extremely poor.

Suzan Nash, executive director of the Western Illinois Regional Council, said her agency is seeing the effects of escalating poverty in McDonough County.

“We’re seeing persons we haven’t seen in five or six years or who we haven’t seen before,” Nash said.

A year and a half ago, the agency provided food for 18 to 24 families a week. That number is now closer to 18 to 24 families a day, she said.

She had no explanation for the high poverty rate in McDonough compared to neighboring counties, such as Hancock with a poverty rate of 10 percent and Schuyler with 12 percent.

“We have a lot of service sector minimum wage jobs,” Nash said. “When times get tough economically and the costs of everything continues to rise, it becomes more difficult for persons to support a family and make ends meet.”

One of the factors contributing to poverty in McDonough County is the low high school graduation rate, 88 percent, compared to nearby counties. The graduations rates – the percentage of students entering ninth grade, plus transfer, who get diplomas – is 98 percent in Hancock County and 97 percent in Schuyler.

Macomb High School’s graduation rate is 95 percent, according to its school report card on the Illinois Board of Education Web site. Only 74 percent of Bushnell’s freshman class finishes school. West Prairie’s graduation rate is 85 percent.

High school drop-outs earn less than graduates and are far more likely to receive government assistance. Citing 2003 figures, the Center on Education Policy and American Youth Policy Forum reported that dropouts earned an average of $21,447 per year, compared to $32,226 for high school graduates. People with an associate’s degree earned $43,462 per year on average. With a bachelor’s degree, that figure jumps to $63,084.

One bright spot in the McDonough County picture is the low rate of births to teen mothers. In 2006, the rate of births to women between the ages of 15 and 19 was 12 per thousand. That compares to 48 births per thousand in Hancock County and 24 in Schuyler.

See? I told you some people in McDonough County have interesting Dubya-related displays.

(Taken in May 09. As in, five months into the Obama Administration.)

Take the whole Forgotonia Road Trip here.

from Friday’s Western Courier:
(and kudos to those kids, by the way, for reporting this story on the front page– I hadn’t seen it anywhere else in local professional media.)

County ends family service

The McDonough County Health Department will no longer offer Family Planning services as of June 30, 2009.

The program offered contraception education, pap smears, breast exams, STD testing and pregnancy testing to the Macomb community.

The Family Planning program was set up to assist women to understand and take control of their reproductive health through education, counseling and medical services. One of the ultimate goals of the Family Planning program was to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies.

The program will close due to changing program requirements along with increasing costs. In addition, the McDonough County program has seen a reduction in funding and participants. …the rest can be read here.

This is (an apparently un-edited) news release which ran in yesterday’s Macomb Journal

Schuyler County Sheriff Don Shieferdecker is warning all Schuyler County residents of the gypsy movement within the next few weeks. According to a press release from Shieferdecker, the gypsies move from the southern states and head north every spring. The gypsy movement from south to north usually occurs during April and May.

During their travels, the gypsies stop at residences and offer home repair, roof repair, yard cleanup, driveway sealing and house painting, among other services. One of their scams is to offer a work service but actually use inferior products at a high price. Residents who are approached by someone other than a local contractor that was called to perform a service should ask to see a driver’s license, get a license plate number and call the Sheriff’s Department at 217-322-4366.

Another scam involves posing as a distressed driver with car problems. According to the press release, past cases show a person stopping in front of a home. The person raises the hood of their car, pours a jug of water over the engine, and then walks to the door of the home to ask to use the telephone to get help. The home resident looks outside, sees the steaming engine, and lets the person into their home to use the phone. While the resident is helping the person find phone numbers, two or more people enter the home and quietly enter the bedroom, carrying out stolen items in a pillowcase. Schieferdecker asks all residents to use caution before opening the door to strangers. Any resident who feels uncomfortable should not open the door and call the Sheriff’s Department at 217-322-4366 for assistance.

from the Peoria Journal-Star:

LEWISTOWN —Fulton County residents voted on a number of referendums Tuesday.

… highway improvements failed…

… defeated countywide referendum … to pay higher sales taxes to fund building projects for school districts…

…turned down an advisory referendum about funding a curbside solid waste recycling program…

… thank’y very much!

Okay so Hannibal is technically outside “Forgotonia,” but this story from WGEM is so disturbing and funny, I had to post it. From the “Whaaaa?” department:

Multiple arrests made following Hannibal Wing Ding

Posted: Jan 26, 2009 01:44 PM

Updated: Jan 26, 2009 02:47 PM

Wing Ding Arrests

Most Popular Stories more>> Hackers stea local credit card information Pella announces job cuts; asks staff for ‘voluntary reductions’ Economic trickle-down now being felt in Quincy Multiple arrests made following Hannibal Wing Ding Coming Soon: New stores planned in Quincy

Most Watched Videos Hackers steal local credit card information Local soldiers arrive back on America soil A local look at nation layoffs Blagojevich on Today Show Coming Soon: New stores planned for Quincy

…which I love attending now that I’m living in Macomb again, mainly because it reminds me of my childhood (seems we went to this every year when I was a kid.)

For the last two years, I have taken a “kid of my own,” my little sister from BB/BS.

She got a hula hoop this year along with the usual bag of pencils and pens and other freebies. Find out what farming and hula hoops have to do with one another.

Some other things we took in at this year’s farm show, which is one of the largest its kind in the country:

FFA jackets

One. Big. Tire.

(and many friendly folks.)

Will you be going today??

Friends, that pink tractor you see to your right is something I saw at last year’s Ag Mech show.

Wonder if I’ll see anything as good today? Stay tuned for some pix (maybe.)

It’s the largest student-run farm show in the country.

Be there or be square! [um...ok. I know what you're thinking. Fair point.]