I was just reading how Heatcraft, one of the few factories left in Danville is closing for good, and that got me thinking about all the companies, factories and retail stores that have left Danville over the last 20 years. If you can think of any that I have left out feel free to post a reply with the name of the business:
General Motors
General Electric
Hyster
Target
JC Penneys
Eagle's
Jewel/Osco
Vorhees Lumber
Zayre's
Heilig-Meyer
Hill's
K's Merchandise
Good Sports
Gerry and Al's
Applebees
Sunbeam bread store
Vips restaurant
Arnholt's bakery
Bob Evans
La Bambas
Rhodes-Burford furniture
Mr. Discount furniture
Carquest
Sam Goody
Olde Town Video
CICI's Pizza
Rex's Electronics(twice)
Ponderosa
Sirloin Stockade
Jimmy Johns
Quiznos
Woodbury's
Spaghetti Shop
Ritzi's
Rocky Rockoco's
Coca Cola bottling
Chuckles factory
Green Chevrolet
Swing n' Spring
This only a few that I can think of off the top of my head, I know there are other factories, restaurants and retail stores I have forgot about. If you remember more please post them just to give people an idea of what Danville has lost over the years.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
One of many problems with D-vegas!
PROJECT: County sees influx of felons
Low-income housing draws parolees to area
BY BRIAN L. HUCHEL
DANVILLE — On any given day, as many as 55,000 men and women are on parole from prisons in Illinois. While most are released to Chicago and Cook County, that trend is shifting.
“We are seeing a lot of locals, and we are seeing an increase in the number of people coming down from the Chicago area as a result of their families moving down here (for low-income housing),” senior parole agent Kelly Harvey said. “ … Now they’re in Vermilion County or Decatur or Bloomington.”
Harvey said the shift is “totally intertwined” with Chicago tearing down its housing projects.
“It all kind of feeds into itself,” he said. “Everything kind of connects.”
And in and around Danville, it connects with a program called the Community Coalition for Reintegration.
The starting point of the coalition is the parole department, whose mission is to assist with the re-entry and re-integration of paroled men, women and juveniles to make them productive citizens.
CCR connects parolees with a variety of programs, the result of which has been a local rate of preventing parolees from committing another crime that dramatically outdistances the state average. Vermilion County notches a rate of as low as 9 percent compared to the state recidivism rate of 54.56 percent.
“It’s a tough population to work with,” Harvey said. “There is a failure rate in this, and it’s a pretty sizeable one. You’re not going to get to everybody.”
Darren S. Cooper, parole supervisor from the Illinois Department of Corrections, agrees.
“The bottom line is with all these services (CCR) provides to get the person, the individual on track and they don’t take advantage of it, it isn’t because the community or anybody hasn’t tried,” hesaid.
“It goes back on the individuals. You can only try so many times. You can only lead them to so many programs.”
When the services and programs do work, Harvey said the savings adds up on several levels.
Parolees and people on probation, he said, are a huge drain on tax dollars. He estimated there are about 300 people incarcerated on any given day in the county and more than 1,700 here on probation.
“Think about how much cost savings could be made if we could keep even a percentage of those people from going back” to prison, he said.
The cost of caring for a state inmate averages about $23,000, Cooper said. The average state prison sentence is just under 2½ years.“When you look at the cost of when Johnny goes bad, that cost skyrockets when Johnny goes bad enough to go to prison,” Harvey said. “Then he comes back, and the thing is a lot of people’s perception is, ‘Well, we just don’t want them back.’
“Well, they’re going to come back,” he added. “They’re from here. They’re born and raised here. They’re convicted here. They’re coming back to this territory, and there’s nothing you can do about that.”
He said people have to look at whether they want to ignore the issue and wait for a parolee to commit another crime or help him find services to stay out of prison.
Who are they?
Cooper said Vermilion County regularly handles between 270 and 300 adult and juvenile parolees.
The majority are one-time local residents returning after being incarcerated on a crime typical for the area.
Because of Vermilion County’s battle with methamphetamine in recent years, such drug charges are the norm among released parolees.
“The general impression when you talk to people about people on parole is everyone’s an axe murderer,” Harvey said.
In actuality, the charges run the gamut from DUIs to drugs. He said drugs result in a number of other crimes they see parolees convicted of, including burglary, trespassing and property damage.
“We’ve always had problems with cocaine and marijuana. They’ve always been the foundation drugs here,” Harvey said.
While the crimes and hometowns of parolees released in Vermilion County vary, most have one thing in common.
Harvey said they’ve lost everything.
They’ve been removed from the community, and many have lost their jobs, their homes and their connections with family and friends.
“You have guys that come out who have no job, have nothing more really than the box of property they’re able to bring with them from corrections,” he said.
“And that’s it.”
He’s come across parolees who have never had jobs, and one, Harvey recalled, who had never had identification.
He went with the parolee to get the ID, and the man showed it off “like an Academy Award.”
Dee Ann Ryan, executive director of Vermilion County’s Mental Health Board and CCR member, praises the local parole officer and all his efforts.
“We are so fortunate. This wouldn’t happen without a parole agent willing to do the work,” she said. “We all work together, but he’s the lead. …
“If there’s a disconnect between law enforcement and the agencies, this isn’t going to work.”
FELONY DEFINED
A crime more serious than a misdemeanor, one usually punishable by a year or more in prison.
Low-income housing draws parolees to area
BY BRIAN L. HUCHEL
DANVILLE — On any given day, as many as 55,000 men and women are on parole from prisons in Illinois. While most are released to Chicago and Cook County, that trend is shifting.
“We are seeing a lot of locals, and we are seeing an increase in the number of people coming down from the Chicago area as a result of their families moving down here (for low-income housing),” senior parole agent Kelly Harvey said. “ … Now they’re in Vermilion County or Decatur or Bloomington.”
Harvey said the shift is “totally intertwined” with Chicago tearing down its housing projects.
“It all kind of feeds into itself,” he said. “Everything kind of connects.”
And in and around Danville, it connects with a program called the Community Coalition for Reintegration.
The starting point of the coalition is the parole department, whose mission is to assist with the re-entry and re-integration of paroled men, women and juveniles to make them productive citizens.
CCR connects parolees with a variety of programs, the result of which has been a local rate of preventing parolees from committing another crime that dramatically outdistances the state average. Vermilion County notches a rate of as low as 9 percent compared to the state recidivism rate of 54.56 percent.
“It’s a tough population to work with,” Harvey said. “There is a failure rate in this, and it’s a pretty sizeable one. You’re not going to get to everybody.”
Darren S. Cooper, parole supervisor from the Illinois Department of Corrections, agrees.
“The bottom line is with all these services (CCR) provides to get the person, the individual on track and they don’t take advantage of it, it isn’t because the community or anybody hasn’t tried,” hesaid.
“It goes back on the individuals. You can only try so many times. You can only lead them to so many programs.”
When the services and programs do work, Harvey said the savings adds up on several levels.
Parolees and people on probation, he said, are a huge drain on tax dollars. He estimated there are about 300 people incarcerated on any given day in the county and more than 1,700 here on probation.
“Think about how much cost savings could be made if we could keep even a percentage of those people from going back” to prison, he said.
The cost of caring for a state inmate averages about $23,000, Cooper said. The average state prison sentence is just under 2½ years.“When you look at the cost of when Johnny goes bad, that cost skyrockets when Johnny goes bad enough to go to prison,” Harvey said. “Then he comes back, and the thing is a lot of people’s perception is, ‘Well, we just don’t want them back.’
“Well, they’re going to come back,” he added. “They’re from here. They’re born and raised here. They’re convicted here. They’re coming back to this territory, and there’s nothing you can do about that.”
He said people have to look at whether they want to ignore the issue and wait for a parolee to commit another crime or help him find services to stay out of prison.
Who are they?
Cooper said Vermilion County regularly handles between 270 and 300 adult and juvenile parolees.
The majority are one-time local residents returning after being incarcerated on a crime typical for the area.
Because of Vermilion County’s battle with methamphetamine in recent years, such drug charges are the norm among released parolees.
“The general impression when you talk to people about people on parole is everyone’s an axe murderer,” Harvey said.
In actuality, the charges run the gamut from DUIs to drugs. He said drugs result in a number of other crimes they see parolees convicted of, including burglary, trespassing and property damage.
“We’ve always had problems with cocaine and marijuana. They’ve always been the foundation drugs here,” Harvey said.
While the crimes and hometowns of parolees released in Vermilion County vary, most have one thing in common.
Harvey said they’ve lost everything.
They’ve been removed from the community, and many have lost their jobs, their homes and their connections with family and friends.
“You have guys that come out who have no job, have nothing more really than the box of property they’re able to bring with them from corrections,” he said.
“And that’s it.”
He’s come across parolees who have never had jobs, and one, Harvey recalled, who had never had identification.
He went with the parolee to get the ID, and the man showed it off “like an Academy Award.”
Dee Ann Ryan, executive director of Vermilion County’s Mental Health Board and CCR member, praises the local parole officer and all his efforts.
“We are so fortunate. This wouldn’t happen without a parole agent willing to do the work,” she said. “We all work together, but he’s the lead. …
“If there’s a disconnect between law enforcement and the agencies, this isn’t going to work.”
FELONY DEFINED
A crime more serious than a misdemeanor, one usually punishable by a year or more in prison.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
A new forum to bitch!
I thought I would start this blog to give all the former Danville residents that escaped to share their views and experiences on the decline of a once prosperous town. I am just getting things started, so if you have anything you would like to add feel free to let me know. I am also looking for a video from CNN about the horrible conditions Danville is in, so if anyone knows a link to it let me know. Please pass this link on to as many people as you can so we can make this successful.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
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