Will County News

By Mary Baskerville Carriage Stone Communications JOLIET—The gathering at Sacred Heart Church on the Friday morning after Thanksgiving was equal parts fellowship and solidarity.   Practicing chants, the group gathered, held hands and joined in a prayer asking for a blessing on workers and to show support for Wal-Mart workers struggling with what the organizers say is less than a living wage, before going to Jefferson Street to march in front of the store’s entrance drive. Sue Myers of Frankfort marched in the bitterly cold wind because she wanted to show support for the workers, who deserve to paid a living wage, she said. “I feel Wal-Mart is unfair,” Pam Leddy, of Joliet, said as she stood to the entrance of Wal-Mart off Jefferson Street: “It’s a very high price to a community for their prices.” Will County Board District 5 member Reed Bible  said he was standing in “support of the Wal-Mart workers” for better wages and benefits. Will County Board District 4 memb

Jesse Jackson Jr. has formally resigned his House Seat.  Jackson was re-elected to the Illinois Second Congressional District in the November 2012 election. In his resignation letter, Jackson described his work for the 2nd District throughout his time in Congress.  In his letter Jackson says a Peotone airport will employ 300,000 people.  The letter goes on to say " sitting on the Governor’s desk 400,000,000 proposal for an airport that will cost the taxpayers nothing and only awaits the Governor’s commitment to build it." Read the entire resignation letter here. More on the Peotone Airport .

Will County is at the heart of both the nation's freight distribution system and recent action by workers to change how WalMart treats workers at its warehouses and retail stores.  Will County--where all 6 Class A Railroads meet--is home to the nation's largest inland port---two intermodals where trains bring freight from the coast for transfer to truck and distribution to a big-box store near year.  If you live in Will County you have probably seen the long intermodal trains carrying containers headed into the intermodals in Joliet and Elwood. In September 2012, workers at the massive WalMart warehouse in Elwood, Illinois went on strike for unfair labor practices.  The workers---employed through the staffing agency Roadlink to work at the WalMart warehouse which is run by Schneider Logistics---presented management with a petition about workers' concerns about wage theft, unsafe conditions, and discrimination.  Workers were told they to leave the building, and then went o

To view all Will County election results, go here . Results will start to post after polls close at 7:00 p.m. and will continue to update throughout the night as more votes are counted.

Voters in the Manhattan-Elwood Public Library District once again voted on a referendum for the Manhattan-Elwood Public Library.  Voters were asked whether the library should purchase the HomeStar Bank Building on Gougar and Sweedler Road to use for a new library. To view the library referendum results from the November 6,  2012 election, go here  and scroll down to the bottom. Results will begin to be posted after the polls close at 7:00 p.m. and will continue to be tabulated throughout the night.

Opponents of the Peotone Airport and the Illiana Expressway met to protest plans for the Illiana Expressway, calling it "Illiana Neosprawl".  In October 2012, the Illiana Planning Team announced corridor "B3" and a "No Build" option would continue forward for further study.  The B3 corridor travels from near Lowell, Indiana to Wilmington, Illinois and passes through a mapped "South Suburban Airport".    The protest took place outside State Senator Toi Hutchinson's office in Olympia Fields.  Hutchinson introduced legislation allowing for quick take eminent domain for a public-private Illiana Expressway. Protest Against the Peotone Airport and the Illiana Expressway Symerton landowner whose farm would be affected by the Illiana B3 Anthony Rayson of STAND then gave a statement condemning the proposed Illiana as an engine of sprawl in Southern and Eastern Will County: