r/centralillinois

(Read the comments on the original post for more info)

TL;DR

A rural Illinois volunteer fire department is experiencing a staffing crisis after numerous firefighters resigned, saying their concerns were repeatedly dismissed by the Board of Trustees.

According to former firefighters, those concerns included operational readiness, training, safety, and allegations that the Fire Chief made sexually inappropriate comments towards female firefighters and racist remarks towards firefighters of color.

They also say that the Board has continued to support the Fire Chief despite being warned that firefighters intended to resign if their concerns remained unresolved.

Well, I definitely wasn't wrong when I said this town gets sleepy in the summer. This is really my first summer being active around here—I spent the last couple of years pretty busy with things outside of town.

I took June off, and looking ahead through October, there's only one (1) film screening that's been announced so far that I'm not involved with. Given that, I'm going to do things a little differently this time around and include a few events that aren't fully locked in yet. That means you'll see some movies without showtimes and some dates without confirmed titles—for now. Everything should be finalized by next month's post.

First up is the 2nd Annual CineSonic, the Music Film Festival:

https://preview.redd.it/jwsfzwmd8oah1.png?width=2141&format=png&auto=webp&s=076b458a50640c80e76355b1e849bf8d4ebecade

This year, CineSonic is an 8-week screening series, running on Sundays at 2pm at the Savoy 16 + IMAX. Starting on July 12th, and ending on August 30th, the CineSonic Film Festival will be bringing you the best in music-related films. Tickets are $10.

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The schedule is:

July 12 – LIFERS: A Local H Movie
July 19 – Resynator
July 26 – Jack Johnson: SURFILMUSIC
August 2 – The Last Critic
August 9 – Brother Verses Brother
August 16 – Shorts: Music Documentary
August 23 – We Are Fugazi From Washington D.C.
August 30 – RADIOHEART: The Drive & Times Of DJ Kevin Cole

You can find more info about the films, as well as YouTube trailers where available at these links. We are still working on final confirmation about which of these films will have people involved with a Q&A, either in-person or via Zoom.

Next, is Film Fanatic Club. After showing their first movie at The Lit last month, they return this month for a film fittingly based on a book.

Thursday, July 25: American Psycho
📍 The Literary Book Bar - 10:30pm - $8 (for members) $10 - $12 (at the door)

USA 2000 • 102 min (2.39:1) • Rated R
Directed by: Mary Harron
Starring: Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Reese Witherspoon, Chloë Sevigny
Based on the novel by: Bret Easton Ellis

A rare adaptation that sharpens rather than softens its source, American Psycho distills Bret Easton Ellis’s infamous novel into a sleek, darkly funny study of surface, status, and self-invention at the tail end of the Reagan era. Ellis’s fixation on brand names, empty ritual, and interchangeable identities finds a perfect cinematic analogue here, where violence feels less like shock than a logical extension of a culture built on appearance and consumption. The film’s cool, controlled aesthetic—echoing the clinical precision of Stanley Kubrick—turns glassy surfaces and pristine spaces into part of the joke. At the center, Christian Bale makes control itself the punchline, embodying and quietly ridiculing the hyper-managed world Ellis created. Once controversial, now firmly canonized, it plays like a time capsule that somehow feels more relevant with each passing decade.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YnGhW4UEhc

Content Warning: Graphic violence, drug use, adult themes, disturbing content. Viewer discretion advised.

Thursday, July 30: Sorry To Bother You
📍 Savoy 16 + IMAX • 7pm • $10

I feel like what I'm doing with my programming in town is somewhere in between a Film Festival and an arthouse cinema. I often tell people that I don't want to replace Ebertfest, I want to replace The Art Theater.

So, when Art House Convergence announced this year's Art House Theater Day, I knew I wanted to be involved. That they chose Sorry To Bother You, the absurdist comedy from Boots Reilly as their main film, and Boots Reilly as their ambassador this year, I KNEW I need in.

Here's Boots telling you to come out and see Sorry To Bother You:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuR6ldewUMI

https://preview.redd.it/zprhzdvfdoah1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b929aceab91fcb7ac24f8d7120493a4f5eb0ef49

And here's the film trailer, although I have to tell you, nothing can prepare you for the weirdness of this film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XthLQZWIshQ

Friday, September 4, 11 & 18: Savoy Arthouse Repertory Titles

The Chambana Film Society usually only shows newer films, that you can't see at home, but there's been a lot of press about how people are really excited to see older films in a communal setting. I wanted to show some of my favorite older films, but I really wanted to do something special, so I've chosen 3 titles whose directors I know, that will talk to us about their films afterwards. I'm almost ready to announce them, but save the date!

September 24 - 27: Pygmalion

So, Chambana Film Society is presenting FILM at Pygmalion this year! We've been planning this for a while, and it was just announced yesterday. I can't tell you the time and place for this screenings yet, but 6 programs have been announced, three features and three short film programs:

Feature Films:

The Green Mill: A Real Chicago Joint
Slouching Towards Branson
Röckët Stähr’s Death of a Rockstar

Short Film Programs:

Homegrown Shorts (featuring some of the same films we screened at the Lumière)
Jewish-American Shorts (possibly the exact same program we presented at the Lumière)
Animation After Dark (after programming a family-friendly animation showcase for the Lumière, we're excited to present a collection of animated shorts intended for adult audiences)

It looks like features will be on Saturday the 26th, and Shorts will be on Sunday the 27th. Assumedly they will be done by 5 or 6pm, when concerts start.

October 1-5: Doctober Fest

I've been deep in the planning (and watching!) stages for a mini documentary film festival this October. I'm aiming for the first weekend of October and hoping to screen 6–8 feature documentaries over the course of the festival.

I'm still toying with the idea of saving documentary shorts for the final screening of the year. In a way, I'm still reeling from the bleakness of this year's Oscar-nominated documentary shorts—and, honestly, from the bleakness of life in general. So if I do end up programming a shorts collection later this year, it's going to lean in the opposite direction: fun, joyful, and maybe even a little frivolous.

For now, mark your calendars for the first weekend in October. I can't wait to share more soon!

And that's it! We might be filling in some other titles here and there, probably studio films, and they might have some short lead times, so if you are interested, make sure you follow us on Social Media.

You can see our Newsletter Archive, and sign up for our newsletter there, follow us on Facebook, or see our Facebook Events. We also have a somewhat neglected Instagram Page, and an extremely neglected BlueSky Page.

You can find more information about area screenings at the CU Independent Film Calendar and at C-U Blogfidential.

Thanks! And I'll see you next month!

Hi y’all! My name is Makiya and I’m a reporter with Chalkbeat, an education news outlet. I’m specifically in Chalkbeat’s Chicago bureau, and I cover how the state and federal government impacts education in the city and more broadly in Illinois.

Today, we had a major development at the state level with the launch of the Illinois Department of Early Childhood. Before, early childhood services were split between three different state departments. Now, they’re all housed under one roof. I have an explainer I published this morning that gives you an overview of the new agency, as well as a Q&A with the department secretary if you need some context.

I’m curious what folks in the ECE field think of this change? I know some states already have a similar set-up, but I’m curious if any ECE professionals in those states experienced any problems during the agency’s transition process or first few years after being opened to the public? I also just welcome any insight on questions you might have as an expert in this field seeing this change in Illinois. Or if you’re from Illinois, I’d love to get your thoughts on how you’re navigating this!

The executive director Tony Eaton scams donors by telling them dog training costs 30k but in reality most of the training costs them 0. Not to mention he is the angriest person I have ever met. Every time we went to class he did nothing but be pissed off about something. He constantly got into with people in the program. In the last 2 months 13 people walked away. And from what I have learned there are only 4 students left and they are afraid to lose their dog if they leave.

2 board memebers have resigned within a week of each other.

He uses the Down The Leash bank account as his own personal ATM they have gotten over 300k in donations over 3 years and have only little over 100k left and the cost of the training of the dogs barely hit 10k and that was for vet bills and the dogs themselves.

Ask for their true Financials. They dont exist.

Karma is a b though.

This is what it should be-

The program follows a "train the trainer" model rather than training the dogs directly. Instead of the organization taking possession of a dog for months of professional training, handlers attend regular classes with their own dogs and are taught how to train the dog themselves.

During classes, instructors demonstrate training techniques, explain service dog tasks and public access skills, observe handlers working with their dogs, and provide feedback and homework to practice between sessions. The expectation is that the handler completes the majority of the training outside of class through consistent daily practice.

In this model, the success of the service dog depends heavily on the handler's commitment, the quality of the instruction provided, and the amount of time spent reinforcing the training at home. The organization serves primarily as a coach and mentor, while the handler is responsible for carrying out most of the dog's training.

The only real cost to Down The Leash is the Dog and the vet bills which one student who left was served a paper to return her dog even though she completed all the hours and was told to either pay $1200 or return the dog.

So why are you telling people the cost of each dog is 30k they had over 30 students at one point. we all met once a week and received 2 hours of instruction which 1 hour was always a sales pitch to buy crap. Or a rant of how someone made him mad. The costs don't add up to what is being delivered.

He gets a salery of 61k a year which is fine in most non profits but he was getting that when he was working a full time job else where. only committing really 2-10 hours per week not going say he didnt do paper work or other things but 61k for that amount of work is not ok.

People have a right o be paid fairly for their work but people don't have the right to take donated money and pay their personal property taxes.

They appointed a treasure when the president put the treasure on the bank account tony got mad and had the treasure removed from the bank account. I mean the Treasurer really.

My first half of this was a rant but I'm not asking for you all to take my word. Ask people there have been over 15 people that left because of the hostile envoirment. The truth is out there just have to be ready to listen.

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I just moved from the west coast. I live in Peoria, I’m a queer 49F. I am looking for partners in crime, to drink coffee, dance, sing, go to theater shows, play under the moon. I have three wild dogs, who are my only roommates. I need friends, I’m very happy here I just need to meet some leftist queer folk to hang out. Thanks!

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