Illinois
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Listen, learn, and live

In Kentucky, a 16-year-old girl washed her car and then decided to vacuum the inside. The extension cord was frayed and the girl, standing in water, got shocked. Her younger brother saw what was happening and used a dry wooden board to knock the vacuum from his sister's hands. The girl was burned a bit but recovered well, and her brother was unharmed.

In Wisconsin, a young woman whose car struck a utility pole, bringing energized power lines down on her car, knew to jump out of and away from the car without touching it or the surrounding ground. She was uninjured.

A 12-year-old boy found a garbage truck in contact with a live power line and found the driver unconscious. He dialed 911 for help, but when the 911 operator asked the child to touch the driver to see if there was any response, the boy knew those instructions were dangerous, and ignored them. The driver died but the boy was safe.

What these people had in common was their attendance at electrical safety demonstrations sponsored by their electric cooperatives. The brother of the 16-year old girl and the 12-year-old boy both learned that touching someone who is being shocked will simply shock them as well. The young woman whose car was wrecked knew the dangers of touching the car's metal and the ground in the presence of those live electric wires.

When your cooperative holds a safety demonstration, be sure your children attend, and learn from them! It could save your life.

Source: The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association

Heating bill assistance available

Governor George H. Ryan announced that Illinois is receiving an additional $26.6 million in Low Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) funds from the federal government, which will allow the state to help more families pay their heating bills this winter.

The increased federal money means that more than 47,000 new households in the state will be eligible for LIHEAP assistance. In September, Governor Ryan worked with the Illinois Congressional delegation to secure an additional $24.7 million in federal LIHEAP funds, and since then has twice directed the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA) to increase benefit levels. This fall, Ryan supported legislation to raise the eligibility level for LIHEAP from 125 percent of the federal poverty level to 150 percent.

Once the new eligibility guidelines take effect, it's estimated that over 317,000 households will be served by LIHEAP this winter.

Recently, Governor Ryan announced that benefit levels for LIHEAP clients who heat with natural gas were increased by 35 percent from last year. "Now the Governor is working with federal officials and state lawmakers to make sure more households are served by LIHEAP this winter, which is crucial considering the fact that heating prices are heading up as temperatures are dropping," added DCCA Director Pam McDonough, whose agency administers Illinois' LIHEAP program.

Under the higher eligibility levels, a family of one can have a monthly income of no more than $1,044, compared to $870 under the existing guidelines; a two person household no more than $1,406, compared to $1,172; and a family of four an income no greater than $2,130, compared to $1,776. Benefits are provided directly to the household's gas or electric utility or delivered fuel dealer for households that heat with fuel oil or propane.

LIHEAP is operated throughout the state by a network of local agencies that work with utilities, determine eligibility and provide benefits to households. Anyone wishing to apply should contact the local agency in the county where they live. Additional assistance is available by calling the toll-free LIHEAP information line at 1-800-252-8643.

Winter storm information available at www.aiec.org

You can find out if winter weather is going to cause travel problems by going to the Association of Illinois Electric Cooperative's (AIEC) website at www.aiec.org and clicking on the current Illinois winter road conditions. You'll be linked to the Illinois Department of Transportation's road condition site. Weather forecast information is also available as well as road conditions in other states.

The University of Illinois Extension website at http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/winter/index.html also has weather information.

Subjects on the site also include other topics besides current weather conditions. Subjects include: understanding winter storms, weather, getting around in the snow, home, health and safety, and fun in the snow.

For weather conditions you can link to the following: Chicago metro forecast, current weather conditions at O'Hare International Airport and Chicago Midway Airport, Illinois forecasts, Illinois county forecast, all 50 state forecasts, northeast Illinois radar image, U. S. radar images, current U.S. weather warnings, meteorological calculator and weather terms.

6 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING • MARCH 2001

Foreign aid co-op style

Illinois Rural Electric Cooperative lineman Sam Surratt (left) with the new friends he made in the Dominican Republic. "There's a lot these people can learn from us, but we can also learn from them. For instance, how can you have so little and work so hard, and be so happy," said Surratt.

Some have criticized foreign aid as wasteful spending, but the electric cooperatives have practiced a form of aid that really works. It's hands-on, face-to-face giving by employees who bring the gift of light to those who can least afford it.

For example, James Buggar, a lineman at Corn Belt Energy in Bloomington recently went to the Dominican Republic to help restore electric service in December. Buggar and five other linemen from electric cooperatives across the U.S. have volunteered to spend two weeks helping the local utility rebuild and replace infrastructure lost during Hurricane George's 1998 rampage across the island nation.

"I remember seeing the news coverage," said Buggar. "It looked like a monster storm then, but knowing that these folks need our help now, years later, really makes you appreciate how bad it was." Buggar and his fellow lineman helped the local utility rehabilitate primary and secondary power distribution lines.

"Co-op employees who volunteer for this type of service are indeed a special breed," said National Rural Electric Cooperative Association CEO Glenn English. "Electric cooperatives have a proud tradition of helping neighbors in need; whether they're in the next county or the Caribbean makes little difference."

Sam Surratt, an Illinois Rural Electric Cooperative lineman is another example of the face to face foreign aid co-ops practice. Surratt also worked for two weeks in the Dominican Republic.

He put in 10-hour days replacing lost electrical facilities.

"These people are so poor it's hard to believe," said Surratt. "I couldn't believe how bad the system was, but we fixed a lot of it."

NRECA's International Programs were launched in 1962. NRECA has sent more than 500 American electric co-op specialists to 65 nations. NRECA-assisted rural electric projects worldwide provide electric service to more than 38 million people.

Illinois enterprise zones produce jobs

Governor George H. Ryan signed legislation that expands the state's enterprise zone program to allow targeted areas throughout Illinois to continue revitalization and economic development efforts.

House Bill 1991 increases the maximum number of years an enterprise zone may be in effect, from 20 to 30 years.

The first group of eight enterprise zones was designated on July 1, 1983 and would have expired within three years had this legislation not been enacted. There are now 93 enterprise zones statewide.

"Enterprise zones have been useful tools in helping to encourage investment and stimulate areas in need of new economic activity," Ryan said. "Since their establishment, Illinois' enterprise zones have helped to create 190,000 new jobs and assisted 23,000 Illinois companies statewide, and that's why it is important for us to support this program."

An enterprise zone is a specific area designated by the State of Illinois in cooperation with a local government, that allows businesses within the zone to receive various tax credits and exemptions on utilities and building materials, and for job creation and investments made.

"The key component of the enterprise zone program is the partnership that exists with local governments to help spur new business activity in these areas," said Department of Commerce and Community Affairs Director Pam McDonough. "We believe that economic development begins at the local level and the enterprise zone program is a perfect example of that philosophy in action."

Over the last 17 years the enterprise zone program has generated over $17 billion in new investment in Illinois.

8 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING • MARCH 2001