Bret Austin
QUINCY — Adams County EMS Director John Simon has spoken to the Adams County Board numerous times over the past year detailing the difficulty he is having keeping paramedics and EMT’s on hand due to the lack of competitive salaries. The Adams County Board took a step toward attempting to rectify that problem by unanimously…
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Club Muddy CLUB MUDDY POD: Bret Austin and unblocking Brittany Play Episode Pause Episode Mute/Unmute Episode Rewind 10 Seconds 1x Fast Forward 30 seconds 00:00 / 01:19:41 Subscribe Share RSS Feed Share Link Embed Download file | Play in new window | Duration: 01:19:41 | Recorded on September 5, 2023Bobby talks about his first Quincy…
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Bobby talks about his first Quincy Target experience, then Brittany and Ashley talk to Bret Austin about fantasy football, unblocking on Facebook, mea culpas and attempting to find common ground.
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QUINCY — A special meeting of the Adams County Board with only one item on the agenda — a discussion about a recent report on mold in the courthouse — lasted 14 minutes Wednesday night. Most of those in attendance left with more questions than answers, especially concerning a video meeting with a county committee…
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QUINCY — Five people who have participated in the city’s downtown rental rehabilitation program thanked aldermen during Monday night’s Quincy City Council meeting. Funds from the city’s Tax Increment Finance program are set aside as a financial incentive to the owner(s) of existing buildings in the downtown TIF Districts for the renovation of market-rate residential…
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QUINCY — The Adams County Board followed the recommendation of the Transportation, Building and Technology Committee on Tuesday and approved a bid of $56,000 from Safestart Environmental of Chicago to test for mold and other contaminants throughout the Adams County Courthouse. About 15 people — most of them attorneys, judges and employees at the courthouse…
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QUINCY — Not long after last Thursday’s fatal shooting involving deputies with the Adams County Sheriff’s office had concluded, Adams County Sheriff Tony Grootens said he asked for the videos taken from the cars of deputies who responded to the area of Fifth and West Radio Road. He wasn’t pleased with the answer he received.…
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Muddy River News MRN THIS WEEK PODCAST: Bret Austin Play Episode Pause Episode Mute/Unmute Episode Rewind 10 Seconds 1x Fast Forward 30 seconds 00:00 / 00:25:10 Subscribe Share Stitcher RSS Feed Share Link Embed Download file | Play in new window | Duration: 00:25:10 | Recorded on January 2, 2023Subscribe: StitcherThe businessman and chairman of…
Read Full Article The businessman and chairman of the Adams County Board’s finance committee discusses the county’s housing situation and how he hopes the Great River Economic Development Foundation, Quincy and Adams County can all work together to ensure there is enough quality housing to go around.
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QUINCY — The Illinois Attorney General’s office has received the recordings of the closed sessions of the Adams County Board and Finance Committee meetings for May and acknowledged the board’s actions during those meetings were “improper”. In a statement e-mailed from the AG’s communications office Thursday afternoon: “We are pleased that Adams County has acknowledged…
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Members of the Adams County Board discussed their political futures behind closed doors during a closed session of their May 10 meeting. Bret Austin, Adams County Board vice chairman and Finance Committee chairman, assured his fellow board members these discussions would remain private, despite the fact they were being recorded. These board members must be…
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PUBLISHER’S NOTE: The Adams County Board’s Finance Committee went into closed session May 9 to discuss giving themselves raises and lay out a political strategy to deal with potential fallout from voters who might not approve of the action. These actions are not permitted under the Illinois Open Meetings Act. “The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of…
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PUBLISHER’S NOTE: The Adams County Board’s Finance Committee went into closed session May 9 to discuss giving themselves raises and lay out a political strategy to deal with potential fallout from voters who might not approve of the action. These actions are not permitted under the Illinois Open Meetings Act. “The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of…
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QUINCY — On July 22, the 25th anniversary of Blues in the District, officials with The District recognized and thanked the four founders responsible for bringing this free music concert series to Quincy — Karol Ehmen, Fran Cook, Bret Austin and Sandy Austin. This group had a vision for family-friendly free public concerts. With the…
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QUINCY — The Adams County Board is reviewing more requests for projects to utilize funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Adams County has received $12.7 million in ARPA funding from the federal government. Finance Committee Chairman Bret Austin said the county has spent roughly $6.5 million has another nearly $4.8 million in pending…
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QUINCY — The Adams County Board approved to spend about $258,000 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds on new election equipment Tuesday night. The current machines are 18 years old. Finance Committee Chairman Bret Austin said the 45 touchscreen DS-200 machines are an improvement to the technology of the voting system. “I think we have…
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QUINCY — Agencies who haven’t turned in an application to receive American Rescue Plan Act funds from Adams County still have a chance to do so. Bret Austin, chairman of the executive committee, said during Tuesday night’s meeting of the Adams County Board that emails were sent to 138 non-profit agencies in Quincy asking if…
Read Full Article QUINCY — The Adams County Board unanimously passed its fiscal year 2022 budget Tuesday night that absorbs increases in personnel and employee health insurance. It is a nearly $1.8 million increase over the FY2021 budget. The $61.5 million spending plan calls for four new corrections employees to accommodate the new jail and an additional $600,000…
Read Full Article As Adams County prepares its 2022 budget, the Adams County Board received a little bit of sticker shock on one important item at Tuesday night’s meeting. Finance Committee Chair Bret Austin informed the Board that the County’s employee health insurance plan was looking at a 32 percent increase. “There are not a lot of options…
Read Full Article Bret Austin is confident the funding already received — and what is yet to come — will prove to be a major assistance to Adams County in its efforts to combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the health and economic impacts tied to the present situation. “I’m optimistic about the process,” said Austin, who serves…
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QUINCY — The idea made complete sense. Gov. JB Pritzker’s executive action has protected from eviction any Illinois residents who can’t pay rent because of the pandemic since March 2020. Nearly 18 months later, local landlords are ready for the eviction moratorium to expire. “A lot of politicians on the state and federal level are…
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QUINCY — One of the projects to be paid for with money Adams County has received from the American Rescue Plan Act is one step from approval. Another project, however, ran into a roadblock during Tuesday night’s Adams County Board meeting. The County Board voted to approve a resolution to upgrade the county’s network and…
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QUINCY — The executive committee of the Adams County Board can move forward with three projects that will be paid for with money the county has received from the American Rescue Plan Act. Bret Austin, finance chairman for the Adams County Board, said in Monday night’s executive committee meeting that representatives from Bellwether LLC in…
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