Win32 Virus Removal

Published: December 30, 2009 08:03 pm      

Blagojevich impeachment, H1N1 flu virus make list of year’s top local stories

By TESA CULLI

tesa.culli@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — A sick state government and new illness are the second and third top stories which affected Jefferson County in 2009.

During the past year, the political climate and resulting cynicism has been influence throughout the state and local area by the now infamous impeachment and removal from office of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

The House voted by 117-1 to impeach Blagojevich, the lone “no” vote coming from the former governor’s sister-in-law. He and his attorneys boycotted the Senate impeachment trial until the final day when he presented a 47 minute statement in which he told Senators they “haven’t proved a crime, and you can’t because it didn’t happen. How can you throw a governor out of office with insufficient and incomplete evidence?”

The impeachment came after U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald announced Blagojevich was being indicted for allegedly trying to sell an appointment to President Obama’s vacant Senate seat in exchange for campaign contributions or a plum job for himself or his wife.

“I’ve got this and it’s (bleeping) golden,” a quote of Blagojevich released from federal wiretaps has now moved into the national lexicon.

The impeachment of Blagojevich and the political maneuvering in Springfield hit home when Kurt Granberg, who was serving as State Representative in the 107th District, decided to resign his position one week before he was to be replaced by John Cavaletto and three days before the House was to vote on the impeachment of Blagojevich, thus avoiding the vote.

Blagojevich appointed Granberg to lead the Illinois Department of Natural Resources one week after the House vote was made, taking the impeachment to the Senate for trial. Granberg’s term was short-lived, with Gov. Pat Quinn firing Granberg days after Blagojevich was impeached.

But the damage had been done financially to the state. With his appointment came a higher salary and additional pension benefits. Granberg was able to collect a higher pension — going from a $73,000 legislative pension to a $113,280 pension for the 21 days he served as director of IDNR.

While the country watched as Illinois residents complained about ailing political ethics, it was another kind of illness that took the headlines a few months later.

The first case of the H1N1 flu virus to be confirmed in Southern Illinois came during May in Franklin County, and school and health officials scrambled to spread the word on how to prevent the spread of the virus.

Everyone has become familiar with the Centers for Disease Control mantra: Follow the 3 C’s — clean and wash hands regularly, cover your cough and contain yourself by staying home if you are sick. The first confirmed case of H1N1 hit Jefferson County in September. According to the Jefferson County Health Department, that person was not critically ill and recovered from the illness.

While Jefferson County residents waited along with the rest of the nation for a vaccine, school students began to get sick. In October, Woodlawn Grade School canceled classes for three days due to the number of sick students showing flu-like symptoms and a temperature of 99 degrees or above. Classes were canceled when the school had 60 students — or 20 percent — of the student population out sick. In addition, all extra-curricular activities were canceled for the remainder of the week.

While Woodlawn was forced to close school due to illness, most schools in the county were dealing with an absentee rate of about 10 percent. At the time, the Jefferson County Health Department was reporting eight confirmed cases of the virus in the county.

Schools weren’t the only one dealing with trying to contain the virus. Both St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Hospital and Crossroads Community Hospital have changed visitation policies due to the H1N1 flu and does not allow visitors under the age of 18 into the hospital to visit patients. Any visitors suffering from flulike symptoms are asked not to visit patients until they have recovered.

The first limited shipment of vaccine was received in Jefferson County the last week of October, and clinics were scheduled with area schools to inoculate the population most at risk for developing complications from the virus — children.