Community

For residents of Bloomington and Normal, curbside pickup of leaves is now underway. Per directions from both municipalities, leaves should not be raked into the street. In addition to being a possible safety issue, leaves can act as a stormwater pollutant.

Washed into the storm sewer system and eventually into creek, streams, and lakes, the additional nutrients from the massive amounts of leaves breaking down can remove oxygen from the water, suffocating plants and wildlife. Please help us keep our local waters clean - either compost leaves or pile them neatly near the curb for collection. For information on composting, contact the Ecology Action Center at (309) 454-3169 or consult www.ecologyactioncenter.org.

The Ecology Action Center is a not-for-profit walk-in information and environmental education center with a mission to inspire and assist residents of McLean County in creating, strengthening, and preserving a healthy environment.

New exhibits at Merwin and Wakeley Galleries Jan. 10 - Feb. 2
Illinois Wesleyan University’s Merwin and Wakeley Galleries will welcome two new exhibits on Tuesday, Jan. 10 and continue to be on display through Thursday, Feb. 2. Artists Mark Holmes and Paul Krainak will present a collaborative installation in The Merwin Gallery, “Emphatic Objects/Shifting Ground” and Jerry Phillips will present “Dream State” in The Wakeley Gallery.
The galleries are located in the Joyce Eichhorn Ames School of Art Building (6 Ames Plaza West, Bloomington). Regular gallery hours are Monday through Friday from noon to 4 p.m., Tuesday evenings from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
All exhibits are free and open to the public. The opening reception for the exhibitions will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 10 from 5 to 6 p.m. in the galleries. Holmes and Krainak will give a lecture at 4 p.m. in room 218 of the School of Art Building.
Largely composed of carpeting, plywood, metal and plastic, Holmes and Krainak’s work has been described by some as bridging “an associative gulf between van Doesburg and Menards.” According to the artists, the installations reconsider the perceived banality of Midwestern culture and its built environment, maintaining an effacing levity through color and material particularity. Each piece enlists the viewer as a participant in a shifting landscape of overlapping geometries and color.
Born a Palauan American on the Fort Sill Army Base in Oklahoma, Phillips’s work reflects traditional images of Palauan folklore, as well as the ocean. After briefly living in Hawaii and Puerto Rico, he moved to Kentucky, where Phillips never imagined he would have found himself, “an islander, residing in a landlocked place for an extended stay,” the artist said. Searching for the openness of an ocean while surrounded by land, those in the field note that Phillips’s affinity for the sea and the fluidity of water permeate his work.

Capitol Commentary from Sen. Bill Brady
by State Sen.Bill Brady, 44th District

KUDOS/AROUND THE DISTRICT
Kudos to Normal community leaders for initiating an Electric Vehicle Charging Station Grant Program.
Businesses and organizations that have been selected to receive free EV charging stations on their properties are Shoppes at College Hills, Veterans Parkway; Commerce Bank, SE corner of Towanda and E. College; Constitution Trail Center, NE corner of Raab and N. Main; Advocate BroMenn, 1304 Franklin; Holiday Inn Express, 1715 Parkway Plaza; and Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, Uptown Normal.
Under the program guidelines, recipients of the charging stations must make the stations available free of charge for at least five years.
The grant program is supported by funds provided by the United States Department of Energy under its Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program.
GOVERNOR PLANS TO CLOSE FACILITIES
Governor Pat Quinn announced plans January 19 to close a state-run developmental center in Jacksonville and a mental health center in Tinley Park in 2012.
The Governor indicated he also plans to close three other developmental disabilities facilities and possibly additional mental health facilities over the next several years.
The Governor’s announcement is receiving mixed reviews. He is advocating a move from traditional institutional care to community care that he says will improve the residents’ quality of care and save the state almost $20 million.
While many lawmakers support the move toward a community care option, the Governor’s announcement has not been universally embraced. Critics say that many of the residents living at the Jacksonville and Tinley Park facilities require the constant care and oversight that those facilities provide. They also expressed concern over what they view to be a lack of planning to transition the residents out of the facilities into community care providers.
Governor Quinn advocated for closure of the two facilities - and five others - last September. Though lawmakers ultimately approved financing to keep all the facilities running through June 30, 2012, the Quinn Administration had made it clear they would continue to pursue closure of state facilities.
COMPTROLLER: UNPAID BILLS AT $8.5 BILLION
Also during the week, Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka reports that one year after Democrat legislative leaders raised personal income taxes by 67 percent, Illinois has a bill backlog of about $8.5 billion.
The Comptroller’s report is the latest in a long list of negative news about Illinois’ financial management. Earlier this month, one major bond rating agency lowered Illinois’ credit rating to the worst in the nation.
According to the Comptroller, more than $5.15 billion in Fiscal Year 2012 funds were swallowed up by bills accumulated in Fiscal Year 2011. Pushing off of costs from one fiscal year to the next, without reducing spending, will contribute to an expected deficit at the end of the current fiscal year.

News from State Rep. Dan Brady

88^th Legislative District

Cultra’s Capitol Clips

News and Notes from State Sen. Shane Cultra (R-Onarga)

$2 billion backlog in Medicaid bills shows need for reform
On the heels of an Illinois Comptroller report showing a $2 billion dollar backlog in Medicaid bills, State Sen. Shane Cultra (R-Onarga) said the entitlement system must be reformed.
“The Illinois Comptroller just reaffirmed, with her forecast of expenditures, especially with regards to Medicaid, why exactly I joined with other Senate Republicans in opposing the current budget,” Cultra said. “Very little has changed in terms of spending. There is a backlog of bills totaling $8.5 billion, according to the Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka. Quite frankly, yesterday was too late to start having the discussions, let’s dig in and rein in spending.”
Cultra cited his Senate Bill 2500, which would require drug screening for persons seeking Medicaid benefits. The legislation will ask for an initial drug test upon applying for Medicaid and also subsequent random tests for current recipients. The legislation would exempt nursing homes.
“Back in October, when the bill was introduced, I stated that this was a starting point for discussions on Medicaid reform. One-quarter or more of the backlog is overdue payments to doctors, hospitals and other medical providers that are being forced to carry the weight of eight years of Medicaid expansion by the legislative majorities and Governors Pat Quinn and Rod Blagojevich,” Cultra said. “Let the discussions begin, I am in favor of helping those that truly need help, but we must scale back our eligibility standards to ensure the system does not collapse under its own weight.”
Complicating the Medicaid circumstances are decreased revenues from the federal government compounded by increased expenses at the state level. Cultra also reminded constituents that federal regulators slammed the door on reforms passed last year by the General Assembly. A key provision required Medicaid applicants to produce more than a single pay stub to establish income eligibility, an innocuous requirement targeted at preventing fraud. But under the logic of the Obama administration, any new attempt to verify that Medicaid recipients are actually eligible for Medicaid is considered a “new” and forbidden eligibility restriction.
The Comptroller’s report can be found at; www.ioc.state.il.us.

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Upcoming events at the Normal Public Library

Adult Dept: 309-452-1757

Childrens’ Dept: 309-454-4668

www.normal-library.org

BCPA announces 2011-12 season kicks off Sept. 9

The Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts invites you to “Get Closer” to musical legends, rising stars and daring comic improvisers with the jam-packed 2011-12 season.

The season kicks off September 9th with bluegrass master Ricky Skaggs and his band Kentucky Thunder. Skaggs is one of a number of musical legends taking the Main Stage this season including cool songstress Rickie Lee Jones, Motown music men The Four Tops, jazz vocal group The Manhattan Transfer and crooner Pat Boone.

Comic inventiveness “gets closer” to the audience with three distinctive improvisational groups. The manic puppets of Henson Alternative spark up the season with their adult improv show Stuffed and Unstrung. Whose Line is it Anyway ? stars Brad Sherwood and Colin Mochrie mine laughs from audience suggestions in October and Chicago’s iO Theater will improvise a musical, on the spot, with hilarious results, in February.

The BCPA also introduces three intimate shows in a new Cafe BCPA setting. Presented in the ballroom with coffee and dessert service from Kelly Bakery in addition to bar service, Cafe BCPA presents Nellie McKay, Raul Mid—n and Carrie Newcomer in a relaxed, club-like atmosphere.

2011-12 Season tickets are available now and can be purchased online at www.artsblooming.org , or by calling the BCPA Box Office at 309-434-2777; toll-free at 866-686-9541 . Tickets may also be purchased at the BCPA Box Office during their regular 10 am – 5 pm business hours.

2011-2012 BCPA SEASON

2/4/2012 - Ailey II
2/9/2012 - Leon Redbone
2/16/2012 - L.A. Theatre Works, “The Rivalry,” 7pm
2/17/2012 - iO Theater, “Improvised Musical”
2/19/2012 - Clifford the Big Red Dog, 3pm
2/25/2012 - The Klezmatics
3/11/2012 - Celtic Tenors, 3pm
3/15/2012 - Carrie Newcomer – Caf BCPA
4/12/2012 - Joshua Redman/Brad Mehldau Duo
4/14/2012 - Say Goodnight Gracie (George Burns play)
4/21/2012 - The StepCrew
4/27/2012 - An Evening with Pat Boone, 3pm
4/29/2012 - Disney’s Choo-Choo Soul, 1pm & 4pm

Brown Bag Lunch & Learn at McLean County Museum of History
Bring your brown bag lunch the second Thursday of every month for a new topic to explore and discuss.

Thurs. Feb. 9, 2012, 12:10-12:40pm. “Still Reading with Lincoln” presented by Robert Bray, Colwell Professor of English at Illinois Wesleyan University.
These programs are FREE and open to the public.
Sponsored by Margo and Manny Mendoza. The Lunch and Learn series is a collaboration between Illinois Wesleyan University, the McLean County Museum of History, and the Collaborative Solutions Institute.

ISU’s Milner Library hosting Costume Exhibit
Illinois State University’s Milner Library is hosting The Art of Whimsy, Costume Design by Svetlana Golovko on the sixth floor of the library. The exhibit, which features prints of Golovko’s work, will run through March 31 and is from the collection of Steve Gossard, Milner Library curator for the Circus and Allied Arts Collection.
A designer of performance costumes, Golovko’s artwork uses bold bright colors. She came to the United States from Russia with her brother’s trapeze act, the great Flying Cranes. Like the Cranes’ performance, Golovko’s artwork is saturated with lighter than air movement through color and gesture. Her figure studies are whimsical, forceful and often humorous.

Conklin’s trumpets the laughter in Neil Simon’s ‘Come Blow Your Horn’
Conklin’s Barn II Dinner Theatre is thrilled to announce the opening of their 2012 Season of “Comic Capers” with Neil Simon’s first Broadway comedy-the hilarious “Come Blow Your Horn” featuring Bob Lane Jr. and Mary Simon, opening January 12 and playing for seven weeks only on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday brunches through February 26. There will be a special performance for Valentine’s Day on Tuesday, February 14.
“Come Blow Your Horn” is the tale of the Baker brothers, Buddy and Alan, both employees of the family artificial fruit business in New York City. Alan is a fast-living, girl-chasing bachelor who never lets work interfere with pleasure and Buddy is the dutiful son who still lives at home, but longs to break out of his rut. Buddy leaves home and arrives at Alan’s apartment looking for excitement, and, after Alan introduces him to New York nightlife, Buddy soon begins to take over Alan’s liquor cabinet and begins dating his girlfriends! As if this weren’t enough for Alan to cope with, their parents also turn up on Alan’s doorstep, where Alan discovers his mother has left his father! The resulting ride is a hilarious romp as Alan and Buddy struggle to find their true selves and learn some valuable lessons along the way.
The Barn’s powerhouse comedy team of Bob Lane Jr. and director Mary Simon play the Baker parents, with John Johnson as Alan and Fred Heskett as Buddy. April Wyant makes a hilarious turn as the ditzy Peggy, and newcomer Terri Whisenhunt makes her Barn debut as Alan’s on-again-off-again girlfriend Connie.
Set design is by Tom Weber, technical direction is by April Wyant, and publicity is by Pat Gaik. Conklin’s Barn II is known for its delicious buffet which, on evening performances, includes four main entrees featuring the Barn’s renowned prime rib and fried chicken, with two additional entrées. The buffet is complemented with salad, homemade soup and cheese spread, and a choice of four taste-tempting, homemade desserts. Prices for dinner and show are $32.00 on Thursday evenings, $34.00 on Friday evening and Sunday brunch, and $36.00 on Saturday evening, including tax. The special Valentine’s Day performance on Tuesday, February 14 is $40 per person. No advance payment is required. Conklin’s is also BYOB for wine, beer or cocktails. Glasses, ice and ice buckets are provided at no extra charge. For reservations, call the box office at 309-965-2545. For more information, visit the Barn on the internet at www.barn2.com.
Calendar of Events
Neil Simon’s “Come Blow Your Horn” featuring Bob Lane Jr. and Mary Simon from January 12 to February 26, 2012, Thursday, Friday, Saturday evenings and Sunday Brunch. $32.00-$36.00 for full buffet performances. Tuesday February 14 Valentine’s Day performance is $40. Conklin’s Barn II Dinner Theatre, Goodfield, IL. For information and reservations call the box office at 309-965-2545 or visit www.barn2.com.
AUDITIONS for the farce “See How They Run” will take place on January 17 at the Barn at 6:30 PM. The cast features roles for 3 women aged 21 and up and 6 men aged 21 and up. Performance dates are April 12 to May 20. Those auditioning will read from the script, which is available for check out from the box office. For information call the box office 309-965-2545.

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