February 28, 2026 Local Stories in and Around St. Joseph, Illinois

Live at SJO school board, Dec. 17, 2024

Now I am here.

They were apparently in closed for a while. #idkwhattheywerediscussing #itsalllegal

They are discussing facility project updates now.


Here’s what I am here for. TIF!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here’s Superintendent Brian Brooks’ take.

Brooks asked for a plan. To see what the village is going to do with it so the board can fully support it.
They gave him a letter discussing residential and commercial development. Brooks is saying they didn’t have a hard copy of plan at that time. #stilldont.

“I think residential development would be very positive for any of our three towns,” Brooks said.

“As far as the percentages go, neither side has signed off yet,” Brooks said. “I think it’s fair.”

Brooks said new commercial he asked for 10 percent, but the village countered with one.

“I think the new residential percentage is very fair,” Brooks said. “25 percent is the most common high.”

Brooks saying the communication this time has been 100 percent better than the last time they attempted the TIF.


Crider is saying public support is split at best. Brian agreeing and saying that having the schools on board would be in the village’s best interest. Brian saying he appreciates the village including the schools in the conversation.

Board members discussing how they feel the new commercial percentage is low and the new residential won’t be enough to pay for new students that could possibly come.

Brooks discussing what money from the TIF could be spent on. “If we add 50 to 75 kids we aren’t looking to expand the building. We may need more teachers.” TIF could basically only be spent on building things, not teachers. They would have to move money around, ect.

Les Hoveln brought up that the district wouldn’t want to have to raise taxes on residents because of the TIF.

Brooks saying they were told by the TIF administrator that no one would develop here without a TIF. Monticello and Mahomet aren’t doing TIFs. I can speak on Monticello #piattcountyjournal.

They don’t do a TIF. They have an amazing economic developer that works with FOR the city and they do a grant program for businesses in their downtown. But Monticello isn’t paying developers to build houses there.

Les Hoveln got drafted to serve on a TIF committee between the taxing districts.

Spanish department update: Three different paths in terms of options. 1. We had a promising interview today. If that works out we would have a Spanish teacher. Option 2. Go virtual online. They are discussing what online would look like.

in Schools
Banner
Related Posts

‘Helping them reach their potential is humbling and rewarding at the same time’

January 26, 2023

January 26, 2023

A performance today will culminate one of the most powerful artistic and personal experiences Justin Lee has had in his...

Kids Say….

April 5, 2019

April 5, 2019

Every week we ask five students from a local school to answer a question on a worksheet. This week the...

St. Joseph Middle School 6th grade high honor roll

June 7, 2023

June 7, 2023

LAST NAME FIRST NAME Barbee Charlene Bewley Reid Blunier Brady Buckley Nora Buhs Ella Chahine Sophia Christians Charlotte Clark Grant...

SJO 2021-2022 1st Quarter Honor Roll

October 29, 2021

October 29, 2021

Freshmen Allinger, OliviaAltenbaumer, JaredBesson, WilliamBirt, EliBirt, MilesBowlin, ChazBrazelton, HoldenButts, LandenChatterton, SarahChristians, PresleeFrerichs, LylaGriebat, JoeGuido, MasonHesterberg, HaleyIdeus, TinleyJohnson, KendrickJohnson, SethKindle, AmilliyaKnap,...

Wentzloff brings Lurch to life in Addams Family

April 3, 2022

April 3, 2022

Lili Wentzloff knows how to portray a character with few words. She is portraying Lurch, the butler of the creepy...

Prairieview-Ogden first quarter 7th and 8th grade honor roll

October 21, 2024

October 21, 2024

Highest Honors (GPA greater than or equal to 3.7) Sydney Abernathy Reagan Blakey Allie Bott Chloe Bressner Ava Buhr Kolbie...

Maxey to step aside, but ‘SJO is a better place’ because of former SRO’s role at school

August 15, 2019

August 15, 2019

Alicia Maxey, like many other high school students, didn’t exactly know what she wanted her future job to entail when...

St. Joseph Middle School 5th grade honor roll

June 7, 2023

June 7, 2023

LAST NAME FIRST NAME Bigelow Avery Carter Avery Cruz Kolton Dalton Kinley Daly Cameron Damler Tenley Downes Alice England Wesley...

Maxey named to SJO Board of Education

June 23, 2020

June 23, 2020

The St. Joseph-Ogden School Board has a new member. The Board of Educated voted to fill a vacant position with...

Longview Bank helps area schools

July 15, 2020

July 15, 2020

Longview Bank is helping local schools. The bank donated $2,500 to eight school districts. Shiloh, Villa Grove, Unity, Heritage, St....

Live at SJO school board, August 22, 2022

August 22, 2022

August 22, 2022

I am here at school board! Greg Smith has volunteered to drive extracurricular. There’s a super long list of personnel...

Emmert expresses himself via artwork

May 1, 2019

May 1, 2019

St. Joseph-Ogden senior Nathan Emmert loves creating art work. “I have always enjoyed making different kinds of art,” he said....

SJO hopeful to keep in-person learning through end of semester

December 9, 2020

December 9, 2020

Six staff members at St. Joseph-Ogden High School are currently in quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19 or being a...

St. Joseph Middle School 7th grade honor rolls

January 19, 2022

January 19, 2022

7th Grade High Honor Roll Ahart, Lillian Albrecht, Samuel Bello, Abigail Benoit, Zachary Burnett, Colin Clark, Elizabeth Crider, Abigail Dahl,...

SJO 4th quarter high honor roll

June 2, 2022

June 2, 2022

Our Honor Rolls are sponsored by Appl Sanitary. FreshmenAllinger, OliviaBeckett, EJBenoit, AudreyBonny, SarahBrown, LandonClampitt, MadisonDavenport, AerolynDietiker, EllaDitchfield, LukeEnnis, JacksonFranzen, SavannaFunk,...

Comments
Leave a Reply