DECATUR — In a move to ease the financial strain on families during the coronavirus pandemic, the Macon County Circuit Court is extending the deadline for 90 days on fines, fees, costs and restitution due dates falling between March 20 and April 20.
The unusual action was announced by Presiding Judge A.G. Webber IV. The extension will cover court-imposed charges and penalties due in traffic, driving under the influence, criminal felony, criminal misdemeanor and juvenile delinquency cases.
“I discussed this with Kevin Greenfield, the chairman of the Macon County Board, and he was very much in agreement with it,” said Webber in a voice message.
“Those individuals who owe payments in these matters will not be penalized or face interest or late charges for failure to remit those payments on the due dates as originally set,” Webber added in a statement.
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Greenfield said the deadline extension is unprecedented, but extraordinary times called for extraordinary measures.
“It’s never happened before that I can remember, but this virus pandemic we’ve got hasn’t happened for a long time, either,” Greenfield added.
“It just made sense to try to give these people, who are already facing a tough time, to try to give them a little bit of a break and hopefully help them get through this time as well.”
THURSDAY UPDATE: What's new with the coronavirus and Central Illinois
TAX FILING DEADLINE EXTENDED
Pritzker on Wednesday announced the state's income tax filing and payment extension would be pushed back three months to accommodate families and businesses struggling during the coronavirus pandemic.
The new deadline is July 15, pushed back from April 15, but the Department of Revenue said residents should still file their returns as quickly as possible.
"The Illinois Department of Revenue is working diligently to get refunds into the hands of every taxpayer that is owed one. To speed refunds, taxpayers can do their part by filing electronically and requesting a direct deposit," said David Harris, director of the Illinois Department of Revenue.
The governor also announced $90 million for three new financial relief programs for small businesses.
The Illinois Small Business Emergency Loan Fund makes $60 million in low-interest loans available. Small businesses — those with fewer than 50 employees and less than $3 million in 2019 revenue — can apply for up to $50,000 in loans repayable over five years.
Illinois delays income tax deadline as virus cases climb
Secondly, the Downstate Small Business Stabilization Program provides $20 million in grants to small businesses in suburban and rural areas across the state. Businesses served by the state Office of Community Development can apply for up to $25,000 in grants.
Finally, the Hospitality Emergency Grant Program makes $14 million in grants available to small hospitality businesses such as bars, restaurants or hotels. Bars and restaurants could be eligible for up to $25,000, and small hotels could be eligible for up to $50,000.
Applications for and more information about the grants and loans will be available by the end of the week at the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity's website and on the state's coronvarius informational page at coronavirus.illinois.gov.
— Belleville News-Democrat
HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS UPDATE
Illinois High School Association Executive Director Craig Anderson released a statement Wednesday afternoon, reiterating the organization's plans to resume spring sports upon the reopening of schools statewide.
"As the IHSA staff and Board of Directors continue to monitor updates from government offices, as well as state and local health departments, we continue to support the possibility of our member schools completing both regular- and post-season spring sport seasons," Anderson said in the statement. "The date schools are allowed to return to session will determine the length of the spring sports season and the potential of an IHSA State Series."
Illinois governor JB Pritzker shutdown schools last Friday through April 8 at the earliest, postponing all spring practices and games. This comes on the heels of the cancellations of all four classes of the boys basketball state finals.
Anderson says the IHSA will be working its Sports Medicine Advisory Committee to determine the need for an adjustment period prior to competition upon the resumption of school, but there hasn't been a set timeline yet.
"We are considering an extension of the spring sports season limitation to provide more participation opportunities for students," Anderson said in the statement. "This may include movement of the post-season timelines and State Series."
As of now, spring postseasons start on May 8 with girls soccer regionals. Baseball and softball begin May 18, while sectionals for girls track & field are May 12, boys track & field will be May 20 and boys lacrosse land on May 22.
— Peoria Journal Star
WATCH: Pritzker announces economic help for residents, businesses; Illinois reports 330 new COVID-19 cases
THE NATIONAL PICTURE
New York authorities mobilized to head off a potential public health disaster in the city Wednesday, with its emergence as the nation's biggest coronavirus hot spot a warning flare — and perhaps a cautionary tale — for the rest of the country as U.S. deaths from the pandemic topped 1,000.
A makeshift morgue was set up outside Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, and the city's police, their ranks dwindling as more fall ill, were told to patrol nearly empty streets to enforce social distancing.
Public health officials hunted down beds and medical equipment and put out a call for more doctors and nurses for fear the number of sick will explode in a matter of weeks, overwhelming hospitals as has happened in Italy and Spain. Spanish lawmakers agreed to extending by two weeks a state of emergency that has allowed the government to maintain a national lockdown.
New York State alone accounted for more than 30,000 cases and close to 300 deaths, most of them in New York City.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, again pleading for help in dealing with the onslaught, attributed the cluster to the city's role as a gateway to international travelers and the sheer density of its population, with 8.6 million people sharing subways, elevators, apartment buildings and offices.
“Our closeness makes us vulnerable,” he said. "But it's true that your greatest weakness is also your greatest strength. And our closeness is what makes us who we are. That is what New York is."
Some public health experts also attributed the city's burgeoning caseload in part to the state's big push to test people.
Troy Tassier, a Fordham University professor who studies economic epidemiology, suggested the increase shows New York would have fared better had it acted sooner to order social distancing.
Nearly 7 million people in the San Francisco area were all but confined to their homes on March 17, and California put all 40 million of its residents under a near-lockdown three days later.
The order to stay at home in New York State did not go into effect until Sunday evening, March 22, and New York City's 1.1 million-student school system was not closed until March 15, well after other districts had shut down.
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Dr. Mark Dworkin, an epidemiology professor at University of Illinois-Chicago, said he hadn’t followed New York’s situation closely enough to say whether he would have done it differently, but he noted that moving quickly is critical -- and sometimes difficult to do at early points, when the public doesn’t sense an imminent threat.
“At first, I think there’s a certain amount of disbelief that goes on," he said. “I think that contributes, to some extent, to the lack of putting the foot on the gas pedal on some of the control measures that we know we need to do."
After New York's first positive test came back on March 1 — in a health care worker who had traveled to Iran and secluded herself upon returning — Mayor Bill de Blasio and Cuomo initially cast the disease as a dangerous threat but one that the city’s muscular hospital system could handle.
The risk to most New Yorkers, they said, was relatively low.
But their message shifted, as it did with many other leaders, who found themselves acting on new information in an uncharted, fast-changing situation.
Tassier said it wasn't too late: "We can still make things better than they would be otherwise.”
— Associated Press
Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid
Tony Reid
Macon County Courts Reporter
