Sunday, February 3, 2019

First Step to Another Solar Farm


Another potential solar farm near Homer passed the first step towards eventual approval this week. The proposed solar farm this time is much smaller than that 1,600 acre behemoth approved at the last regular County Board meeting. From Friday's News-Gazette:
Champaign County zoning board OKs plan for solar farm near Homer
...
Representatives from Atlanta-based SolAmerica Energy LLC appeared before the Champaign County Zoning Board of Appeals on Thursday night to seek a special-use permit for a 2-megawatt solar farm, to be called the Champaign Sinclair Farm.

After a two-hour discussion, the board voted 4-0 to recommend approval of the permit, which advances the proposal to the county's Environment and Land Use Committee.

The proposed facility would be built on a 75.33-acre tract of land owned by Phyllis Jane Sinclair east of the village of Homer, west of the Vermilion County line and north of the sewage treatment plant.

Solar panels would take up 14.6 acres of that property and would generate enough energy for between 200 and 300 homes...

If the Champaign Sinclair Farm is ultimately approved by the county board and is selected in the Illinois Power Agency's lottery for contracts for renewable energy credits, Peters said construction would begin in May or June of this year.
Full article here.

Measle Update: New Case

[UPDATE: WCIA had further information on possible exposure times and locations on their on-line article on the second case here. The additional information on a couple bus routes caught my eye:
January 28, 2019, 9:00 AM - Noon, MTD #22 Bus

January 28, 2019, 2:30 – 5:30 PM, MTD #22 Bus]
In addition to a previous case (more information and possible points of contact list here) a second case of the measles has been identified in the area with more possible points of contact. If you suspect you may have symptoms, they emphasize limiting your exposure to others due to the highly contagious nature of the illness. From today's News-Gazette:
Second case of measles confirmed in Champaign-Urbana
The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District is reporting a second local case of measles, with both of the infected people connected to the University of Illinois.

But there's no reason to believe they know each other since the virus lingers in the air for two hours after the infectious person has left, said health district Administrator Julie Pryde...

Possible sites of measles exposure

URBANA — Public health officials have released possible measles exposure sites for the second person confirmed to be infected:
➜ Jan. 18: 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at McKinley Health Center, University of Illinois.
➜ Jan. 27 to 31: Maywood Apartment Building, 51 E. John St., C.
➜ Jan. 28: 9:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. at UI School of Social Work.
➜ Jan. 29: 3 to 6 p.m. at UI School of Social Work.
➜ Jan. 31: 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Carle Foundation Hospital Emergency Department.
More at the full article here. Additional information on the measles from the Illinois Department of Public Health here. WCCU looked into information on the number of area people who may be at risk due to a lack of vaccinations and found it to be very small: Most, not all local students vaccinated for measles.

Previous testing had been negative for new infections and it was hoped that the outbreak could be declared over on February 9th. In an article earlier this week the News-Gazette had some additional information for people experiencing measles symptoms:
The hotline can be reached at 217-902-6000, and it's available from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Carle patients can check on their measles vaccination history through the hotline and through the MyCarle system, she said.

Carle also has staff members posted at the doors of its clinic locations handing out facial masks to patients walking in with symptoms of contagious illness, according to Mullin.

Christie Clinic is encouraging people to call their doctors' offices first if they are experiencing a rash and fever or suspect they have measles, according to clinic spokeswoman Jenna Koss.
Full article here. More information on the measles, including symptoms, from IDPH here.