Peoria County is pleased to have recently received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association for the 15th consecutive year.

Talent line-up announcement
Celebrating 23 years as Peoria’s longest running music festival.

It’s time! Great Blues and three entertainment stages! Considered one of the top blues Festivals, the 23rd annual Budweiser Illinois Blues Festival features two days of internationally known blues artists with proceeds going to the Illinois Blues Coalition.

Jay Goldberg, founder of the Illinois Blues Coalition says, “The objective of the Coalition is to promote the art form of blues-related music. The Illinois Blues Coalition will Support Blues Societies, Blues Music Entertainers and Blues Music Education by offering grants and scholarships to help Blues Societies, Blues Music Entertainers and Blues Music Educators to help fund projects which preserve and promote the history and future of blues music.”

A new addition to this year’s festival is the River City Blues Society’s “Road To Memphis” the official competition to send a blues band from Illinois to the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. Peoria has a long tradition and has always been a major influence in blues music. Goldberg says, “It began with the days when the blues masters would travel from Chicago, down the Illinois River to St. Louis, and then on to New Orleans. Peoria was, and still is, the place to stop. Even the blues men & women knew the cliche’, “Will it play in Peoria?”

There will be three entertainment stages, great food featuring BBQ and Cajun cousine, Blues Alley featuring several retail type vendor booths, the “Chris Stevens Illinois Blues Workshops”, and lots of blues music in the air!”

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT THE WEBSITE AT:
www.illinoisbluesfestival.com

WHAT: BUDWEISER ILLINOIS BLUES FESTIVAL
WHEN: FRIDAY & SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 2 & 3, 2011
GATES OPEN FRIDAY AT 6PM. AND ON SATURDAY AT 12 NOON
WHERE: RIVERFRONT PARK • PEORIA, ILLINOIS

TICKETS: ON SALE NOW AT THE PEORIA RIVERFRONT VISITORS CENTER,
CO-OP RECORDS, SHANDIS RECORDS OR ONLINE

TO CHARGE BY PHONE, CALL 1-800-514-ETIX

PURCHASE ONLINE AT ILLINOISBLUESFESTIVAL.COM

ADMISSION: FRIDAY ONE-DAY TICKET IS $15 ADVANCE / $20 AT THE GATE
SATURDAY ONE-DAY TICKET IS $20 ADVANCE / $25 AT THE GATE
$25 2- DAY PASS AVAILABLE IN ADVANCE

OTHER INO: ALL AGES ARE WELCOME • REFRESHMENT WILL BE AVAILABLE • ENCOURAGED TO BRING A LAWN CHAIR

OFFICIAL TALENT LINEUP:
SAVOY BROWN – Featuring Kim Simmonds
DUKE TUMATOE and The Power Trio
TERRANCE SIMIEN and The Zydeco Experience
JOHN PRIMER – JIMMY BURNS – ROBIN CROWE – THE BLUE BAND
STEVE “THE HARP” BLUES BAND – DORAN & THE SOUL MYSTICS
NATHAN MORGAN TRIO – CHRIS STEVENS – BRIAN DENNISON
Additional bands to be added.
SUBJECT TO CHANGE

According to a recently issued case study, Prince Contracting’s use of Domor Equipment’s R-600 base spreader attached to the blade of a CAT D-6T tractor has enabled the contracting company to increase daily road spread to 3,400 tons of base material and 3,200 linear feet of graded and compacted base that passes inspection, an increase over their previous daily average of less than 2,000 linear feet of base using a traditional dump-spreading method. This translates into $1,000 in savings each day for the contractor.

Join author Richard Macdonald as he and his guests unravel the story of the 1945 liberation of the KZ Ebensee, Austria Concentration Camp

His guest panelists include:
• Andrew Sternberg, one of the Holocaust and KZ Ebensee survivors
• Bob Persinger, the fist GI to go through the gates of the concentration camp as a tank commander
• Wanda Nordlie, a surgical nurse in the 139th Evac Hospital.General Patton didn’t want her to go into the concentration camp because she was female.
• Rex Conn, a medical corpsman liberator with the 30th Field Hospital

These real heroes who liberated SS Werhner von Brauns’ V-2 tunnel complex and concentration camp will share personal experiences through narrative and photos
– an oral history of World War II.
“This will be an evening that no one will ever forget. ” — Richard Macdonald
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Wesley Willows Town Center Auditorium
4142 Johns Farm Road
Rockford, IL 61101

**Open to Wesley Willows Residents and the General Public. **
Call 316-1500 to reserve a seat.

The Peoria Park District’s Men’s Stroke Play Championship golf tournament will take place on August 20 at Donovan Golf Course and August 21 at Newman Golf Course.

Cost is $15 plus green fees. Entry deadline is Sunday, August 14. The field is limited to 128 entrants.

Entry forms are available on-line at www.peoriaparks.org/golf and at all PPD courses.

For more info on the Peoria Park District’s tournaments, call Golf Operations at (309) 689-3329.

The Peoria County Board of Health Policy Committee meeting scheduled for today, Tuesday, August 9, 2011 at 5:30 pm has been canceled.

The Certification Form and 2011 Funding Request for CHDO funds have been released.

The City of Peoria, through its Department of Planning and Growth Management, has released the Certification Form and 2011 Funding Request for CHDO funds. A CHDO is a private, nonprofit, community-based service organization that has obtained or intends to obtain staff with the capacity to develop affordable housing for the Peoria community. A CHDO must meet certain requirements pertaining to its 1) legal status, 2) organizational structure and 3) capacity and experience.

The City of Peoria must use 15 percent of its total HOME Investment Partnership Grant allocation for CHDO activities. Based on the City’s projected 2011 allocation, a minimum of $119,465 must be set aside for CHDO activities in 2011.

The City has released the Certification Forms for those interested in becoming a CHDO. Further, Recertification Forms are available for existing CHDOs who would like to recertify its organization. Finally, the 2011 Funding Requests are available for those organizations that complete the certification process and would like to request funding for 2011.

Forms and Funding Requests are available until August 26, 2011. Copies can be obtained from the Department of Planning and Growth Management (PGM) or by contacting Nicole Frederick, Grants Coordinator at 494-8606 or nfrederick@ci.peoria.il.us.

The City of Peoria is requesting public service grant proposals for the investment of FY2012 Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) funds allocated through the City of Peoria’s Human Resources Commission. Please note that the funding process is competitive in nature, and the submission of an application does not guarantee funding. All awards are subject to the availability of funds and allocation from the Peoria City Council.

Proposal projects & activities must target homeless and/or at risk homeless populations within the City of Peoria. These funds will be released in mid YR2012. Non-profit Agencies and Faith Based and Neighborhood Organizations are encouraged to apply.

Applications are now available for pick up in the Department of Planning and Growth Management, 456 Fulton Street, Suite 402, Peoria, Illinois. An application can also be obtained at the City of Peoria website, Department of Planning and Growth Management, at www.ci.peoria.il.us/planningforms. Applications may also be obtained by mail upon request by calling the Department of Planning & Growth Management at 494-8656.

An orientation and training workshop to aid in the completion of the application will be held at the Department of Planning and Growth Management, 456 Fulton Street, Suite 402, on Tuesday, August 23, 2011, at 11:00 a.m. Registration is not required. Attendance does not guarantee funding.

The deadline for receipt of a completed proposal is Monday, September 5, 2011, by 5:00 p.m. at the Department of Planning and Growth Management, 456 Fulton Street, Suite 402. Late, faxed, or incomplete proposals will be ineligible for funding.

The Human Resources Commission (HRC) will hold a Clarification Meeting on Friday, September 16, 2011, to provide applicants an opportunity to present their application and answer questions from the HRC. The HRC will recommend funding levels during their regular monthly meeting on Friday, October 21, 2011. Funding recommendations will be forwarded to the City Council for final approval. All awards are subject to the availability of funds and the allocation of funds by the Peoria City Council. Funds will be released by HUD in YR2012.

High school and college students will present their research at the Summer Research Interns’ Symposium at Bradley University on Friday in the Garrett Center, located at 824 N. Duryea. The Symposium will include formal presentations beginning at 2:00 p.m. followed by poster presentations. A reception will follow.

Presenters include eleven high school students who have participated in the Building Excellent Scientists for Tomorrow (BEST) summer interns program, seven Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) students from Bradley and other universities, and fifteen teachers involved in the Environmental Science Education master’s degree program.

Throughout the summer students in each program work in labs alongside area researchers to gain experience in the full spectrum of the scientific process. They are paired with mentors from OSF St. Francis, the Ag Lab, Caterpillar Inc., Bradley, Wildlife Prairie State Park, Fermi Lab, ISU, Shedd Aquarium, and the Nature Conservancy.

Methodist Medical Center has announced the August, 2011 Employees of the Month. Their peers in the areas of patient care, nursing, and non-nursing support recognize three separate employees.

The three selected were Deann Day, RN of Pekin. She was selected for the category of Nursing and works for the Methodist Medical Group in East Peoria. Also selected was Norma Schauble of Peoria for non-nursing support. She works in Environmental Services. And for the category of Patient Care, Barbara Weber of Edwards, IL was selected. She works in Surgical Pre-op.

All three will be honored at a hospital reception on Wednesday, August 17, 2011.