Around The County

Details: Written by Kelly Jo Ross - Breese Journal Reporter

Each participant will receive a player pack from Millennium Golf Discs, which consists of one custom event disc, in honor of Swing for Sydney Foundation with the number 15, in reference to the late Sydney Irizarry’s team number, a can coozie, a carabiner, a sticker and one mini marker. Preregistration is required (available online only). The New Baden Jaycees is hosting a three-person disc golf scramble Sunday, Oct. 4 at Silver Lake Park in Highland.
"This one-day three-person scramble will benefit the Swing for Sydney Foundation, to help fund teenage mental health awareness programs and suicide prevention," said Jaycee member Brandon Lowe.
Lowe said that as chairman of the event, he was able to pick the charity of his choice.
He was inspired by a walk that his family members hold every year in honor of his cousin Whitney, however, the annual event, Whitney's Walk for Life, is held in Peoria, and the Jaycees wanted to be able to donate locally.
Lowe's niece suggested the Swing for Sydney Foundation — which brings suicide and mental health awareness to young athletes and students locally.
Swing for Sydney is named after Sydney Irizarry, who took her own life on April 4, 2018. She was a senior at Central Community High School in Breese.
Sydney's father, Andres Irizarry of Albers, was honored that the Jaycees will be donating toward the cause.
Andres Irizarry said that the money from donations goes toward educating students, whether it's bringing in presenters and speakers to schools locally, through the Lifesavers Club, or with Coping 4 Kids, a local service group which addresses life issues to children and teenagers.
"There are too many things that are affecting our kids this day and age," Irizarry said.

Details: Written by Bryan Hunt - Breese Journal Editor

The road to hiring a new health department administrator goes through the state of Illinois, Clinton County Board members learned Monday night.
The Clinton County Health Department currently shares an administrator with the Bond County Health Department.
Sean Eifert is Bond County's full time and Clinton County's interim health department administrator.
His contract with Clinton County was to have run through the end of January 2021.
Bond County's Board of Health in August voted to terminate that contract on Dec. 1, citing a work overload — one administrator trying to manage two health departments, and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A job vacancy notice has been posted at multiple locations, said county board member Brad Knolhoff, with a tentative deadline of Oct. 1 for applications.
Knolhoff heads the county board's health committee and serves on the county board of health.
The goal is to have a candidate chosen by Oct. 15, allow them to give their notice, likely by the first to the middle part of November, and get two to three weeks of work in with Eifert before Eifert's departure.
All applications are being forwarded to the Clinton County Clerk's office.
Eifert's hire filled the void left in the department when former administrator Cheryl Lee left.
The county board of health chooses and approves the new administrator, a move confirmed by state's attorney John Hudspeth.
County board member Larry Johnson asked if the applications and resumes go to the state first, or are they reviewed by the county health board.
Knolhoff said one of the requirements of the position is that the Illinois Department of Public Health has to verify that an applicant meets certain qualifications.
Those requirements relate to a candidate's level of education — do they hold master's degrees with two levels of experience, or a graduate degree with a background, Knolhoff said.
Knolhoff said IDPH verifies that the applicant has the required credentials for the position.
"There could be a situation where we receive a resume, but it may be rejected because that person doesn't meet the requirements that the state has for that health administrator position," he said.
Knolhoff said the hope is they can submit applicants to the state and, in a couple of days, know if the candidate is qualified per state requirements.
Johnson is worried about "how long the state takes to do anything."
He thought a candidate's credentials was something the county board of health could look into as well, to possibly speed up the process.
Knolhoff said if they run into a situation where "the state is really dragging their feet, we may have to do our diligence to find the right person" for the position so there are no issues with their hiring.