January

• A second round of hearings conducted by the DeWitt County Zoning Board of Appeals began for the Alta Farms II wind energy project.  The question of whether signatures of absentee landowners was required on contracts was the first bone of contention between some ZBA members and representatives of Enel Energy.

• The Vault teen and community center received a grant from the Illinois Prairie Community Foundation.

• An expert testified about the use of ‘curtailments’ of wind turbines during ZBA wind permit hearings.  The effects of wind energy projects on birds and the Mahomet Aquifer also were debated, as well as potential effects on the operation of neighboring farms.

February

• Testimony was again heard about the potential negative effects of wind towers on weather radar.

• On Feb. 6, the ZBA voted 5-1 to send the special use permit application for the Alta Farms II project to the full county board without a recommendation.  A majority of ZBA members felt the company’s application remained incomplete.

• City of Clinton officials said they expected Clinton to receive about $7,000 a year in tax revenue from the state’s recent law permitting limited marijuana sales for personal recreational use.  Neither the city nor the county approved any measures for local sales of cannabis.

March

• Warner Hospital & Health Services began setting protocols for its handling of patients with coronavirus.  The hospital erected a triage tent outside the facility for screening potential COVID patients.  The county had not yet reported any COVID cases.

• The federal government passed the first, and so far only, COVID stimulus legislation.

• Most local churches began holding virtual services in response to the state social distancing recommendations implemented because of the coronavirus pandemic.

                               • See all of the 2020 summary in the Friday, Jan. 1 print edition of the Clinton Journal, out on Thursday this week, or right now in the Journal E-Edition for subscribers.