Will County News

Citing changes including a reduced number of incoming priests, an aging population of priests, and costs associated with maintaining historic church buildings, Joliet Bishop announced a "targeted restructuring decision" for parishes in Joliet.  The decision grouped parishes and then determined which buildings would remain as worship sites and which building would close.  For the grouping consisting of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, St. Joseph (in Joliet rather than Rockdale)  St. Bernard, St. Mary Magdalene, and St. Anthony, it was determined: -Our Lady of Mount Carmel will remain in its current structure. -The remaining parishes will be merged into one with two worship sites, St. Mary Magdalene and St. Joseph. -St. Bernard and St. Anthony will close.  A view of St. Joseph Church in downtown Joliet:  https://youtube.com/shorts/6aLZFJvxVDU?si=ESw5nbVcM7Xg_IdT For the grouping consisting of  St. Paul the Apostle, St. Jude, St. Patrick, Sacred Heart and...

  The Will County Emergency Management Agency reported on Jan. 17, 2024 on its Facebook page that the warm water siphon from the Dresden Nuclear Power Plant Cooling Pond has been activated.  The siphon moves warmer water from the cooling pond to the Kankakee River to "reduce risk factors associated with ice jams." The release of warm water from the cooling ponds is regulated by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, since fish are impacted by water temperature.  The Will County Emergency Management Agency also posted on January 17, 2024 that: "The City of Wilmington IL and the Will County Emergency Management Agency are advising residents of potential flash flood conditions due to ongoing ice jams on the Kankakee River. A Flash Flood Watch is in effect until temperatures rise above freezing and the river ice has fully melted. "  

  Gotion, Inc., which recently announced it will open an electric battery manufacturing facility at the old Kmart warehouse location in Manteno, Illinois, will hold two job fairs at Kankakee Community College on January 17 and 18th, 2024.   Go to the College's website here for more info.

 The Joliet City Council passed an ordinance regulating unscheduled intercity bus drop offs at their first Council meeting of 2024.   The ordinance was drafted after buses carrying asylum seekers attempted to drop off passengers at several suburban communities in Will County during the last weeks of December 2023.  The ordinance establishes rules related to drop offs and establishes penalties.  You can read the ordinance and watch Council debate on the ordinance here . 

  Demolition has begun on the old Will County Courthouse:  https://youtube.com/shorts/xBEiN-rRVtA?si=r-BtH4sdIjLyAaIv The new Will County Courthouse opened in late 2020.  Video of the new courthouse under construction:    Despite efforts by preservationists to save the building, the County voted to demolish the old courthouse.   Preservationists argued the building represented one of the best local examples of brutalist architecture, and that a public-private partnership should be utilized to redevelop the courthouse building for new uses. Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant and Joliet Mayor Terry D'Arcy announced in June of 2023 that they were discussing the possibility of developing a government campus on the site of the old courthouse for Will County and City of Joliet government services. 

The Mayor of Manhattan, Illinois has signed an executive order   after a bus carrying migrants from Texas arrived at the Manhattan Metra station on December 21, 2023.  The bus eventually went on to Joliet since there were no more trains to Chicago available in Manhattan at the time the bus arrived.  The Village of Manhattan will discuss this issue at its next Village Board meeting in 2024.  Will County's Emergency Management Agency issued a statement on its efforts to coordinate response to the issue among the municipalities of Will County and the State of Illinois.   The Mayor of Lockport also signed an executive order on Dec. 22, 2023.  Manhattan Executive Order Related to Buses Carrying Migrants From Texas

  Lockport Mayor Steve Streit signed an executive order on December 22, 2023 related to incidents in which unscheduled buses carrying migrants arrived in Lockport.  The order finds that "incidents have occurred in the City of Lockport as well as other suburban communities in which buses have discharged or unloaded passengers within the city without sufficient clothing, resource, food, and other sustaining items without means to obtain shelter;" and that "the unloading of passengers in inclement or severe weather conditions without a coordinated plan poses a significant threat to the health, safety, and welfare of said passengers". The order establishes rules and regulations for the City of Lockport regarding unscheduled intercity buses, including a requirement of "background check information for all proposed passengers (including 3rd party contractors or individuals assisting in the transportation of passengers) over the age of eighteen (18) years."  The...