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Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Ebola hits United States Rawlings: ‘This is scary news’ By Donna Barker Shaw Media Service
PRINCETON — The Bureau/Putnam County Health Department, as well as other health departments around the state and country, are keeping watch on the growing Ebola virus concern in the United States. The Ebola virus has killed more than 3,300 people in West Africa in recent months. This week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) confirmed the first Ebola diagnosis in the United States in a patient in a Texas hospital. Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Director Dr. LaMar Hasbrouck released a statement on Thursday concerning this latest Ebola diagnosis news. “While not easily transmittable, Ebola is a very serious virus. At this time, Ebola does not pose a great health risk to the people of Illinois. The Illinois Department of Public Health continues to work with the CDC, local health departments, hospitals and medical facilities to be vigilant for Ebola,” Hasbrouck said. On Thursday, Bureau/ Putnam County Health Director Diana Rawlings said the news about Ebola is scary, and it is under-
standable that people are concerned since there’s been a case diagnosed in the United States. “But, there is a world of difference between the health care system in the United States and the parts of Africa where Ebola has spread rather quickly,” she said. “The United States has a very strong health system, and the CDC and the IDPH have been beefing up surveillance during the past few months, watching for potential Ebola cases.” Rawlings said the CDC and IDPH are giving guidance to hospitals and medical professionals as to how to be prepared, including evaluating patients and lab specimen submissions, implementing infection control measures and stopping the spread of illness. These are core public health functions of the CDC and IDPH, she said. “Though this is scary news (Ebola diagnosis in United States), it is important to remember Ebola is not spread through the air. It’s only contagious if the infected person has active symptoms and has direct contact with someone. You will not get it by walking through the airport in Texas,” Rawlings said. Again, the local health department is keeping current with the news about Ebola, and right now, there is no reason for alarm in Illinois at this point, Rawlings said. But if anything changes the local health department will contact the local media to keep the public informed, the director said.
PCR photo/Ken Schroeder
New LaSalle County Museum Executive Director Ron Bluemer holds the photo of a young boy who worked in the coal mines during the early 1900s. The photo is part of the Cherry Mine Disaster Museum Exhibit Bluemer was able to get on permanent loan to the museum. “Coal was big in this area, and nothing had as much of an impact in this area as the Cherry Mine,” Bluemer said. He said getting the exhibit to the museum was his first priority in his new position.
Cherry comes to Utica A new home for the Cherry Mine Disaster exhibit By Ken Schroeder
kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com
UTICA — Some people look forward to retirement — a chance to finally relax from the daily work routine and take it easy. Granville’s Ron Bluemer is not one of those people. Recently retired as a history teacher at Illinois Valley Community College and formerly a
teacher at Putnam County High School, Bluemer was offered — and eagerly accepted — a position as executive director at the LaSalle County Museum. His first accomplishment was getting the Cherry Mine Disaster museum exhibit out of storage from Chicago and on permanent loan to the museum. “Peg Rondi of rural Mark, one of the first to graduate from my class
stories of that fateful day in 1909 and the lives of coal miners of that period in general. As part of that, Bluemer has plans for the building recently purchased by the museum, which will house the exhibit. “I’m going to build a coal mine in the basement,” he said. “It’ll look like a mine shaft with parts of the exhibit down here and some actual coal. I’ve got one of the old gas lamp hats they used. We’ll let people go
at Putnam County, saved this from destruction with the understanding if another museum wanted to take it on, she would see they got a portion of it, at least,” Bluemer said. “I talked to her, and she said this was going to be a more-or-less permanent loan. They’ve been looking for a place to house the collection for years. They want us to have it.” Bluemer published a book about the Cherry Mine Disaster in 2007 — one of 13 books he’s written so far — and so has a passion about sharing the
Cherry Page 2
Unemployment continues downward trend in Putnam County By Ken Schroeder
kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com
It’s still good news/bad news for Putnam County in the unemployment picture. While unemployment has dropped from 9.7 percent to 7.8 percent since August 2013, the county is still more than a full percentage point behind the average in the state. Putnam County’s rate is Vol. 147 No. 6 One Section - 20 Pages
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also at a much slower rate than the state average. Statewide, unemployment rates in August fell in every metro for the fifth consecutive month and are at six- and seven-year lows, according to preliminary data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). Rates also fell in all 102 counties for the third consecutive month.
The data, which is not seasonally adjusted, compares August 2014 with August 2013 and does not remove the effects of regular or seasonal patterns. “This is encouraging news — more people working than one year ago and fewer people describing themselves as unemployed,” IDES Director Jay Rowell said. “We now will look to see how the falling unemployment rate trend unfolds as
employers continue to add permanent jobs and we begin to experience seasonal hiring.” “Also, area employers advertised for 5,100 positions in August, and approximately 85 percent sought full-time employment, according to Help Wanted OnLine data compiled by the Conference Board. It is a global, independent business membership and research association,”
Greg Rivara, director of Information Strategies for IDES said. “Employers actually need more workers than the help wanted advertising indicates because some industries, such as construction, typically don’t advertise job openings.” The leisure and hospitality industry recorded job growth in most metropolitan areas with 10 out of 12 areas reporting new jobs.
MACK
The August 2014 not seasonally adjusted statewide rate was 6.7 percent compared to 9.1 percent one year ago. Nationally, the rate was 6.3 percent in August and 7.3 percent one year ago. The rate identifies those who are out of work and looking for work and is not tied to collecting unemployment insurance benefits. Historically, the state unemployment rate is higher than the national rate.
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