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Quinn: State employees should stay home Wednesday - Tollway: Motorists should stay home

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Illinois

[Bumped up for visibility.]

* Tuesday, 10:58 pm - Gov. Pat Quinn has ordered all state workers who aren’t serving in “continuity” functions to stay home from work tomorrow. From a press release…

SPRINGFIELD – February 1, 2011. Due to the severe winter storm and extremely hazardous conditions across Illinois, Governor Pat Quinn, in consultation with the Illinois State Police (ISP), Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) and the Illinois Department of Central Management Services (CMS), has implemented the State’s Continuity of Operations/Continuity of Government Plans (COOP/COG). The inter-agency COOP/COG plans will ensure continued delivery of essential state services during severe winter weather conditions.

Based on National Weather Service warnings and hazardous travel conditions, state government employees – except those serving in continuity of government functions – are instructed to stay home on Wednesday, Feb. 2. Regular state operations will resume on Thursday, Feb. 3.

“We have been monitoring weather conditions, and working with a number of agencies statewide to coordinate preparations for the effects of this storm. Across Illinois, essential services will continue without interruption,” said Governor Quinn. “To protect the safety of our employees and the people they serve, we are directing state employees whose duties are not critical to continuity of essential state services to avoid traveling to work Wednesday.”

COOP/COG ensures that employees responsible for continuity of operations observe the hours needed to guarantee continued delivery and availability of essential public health and safety state services, including: Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs (IDVA) Veterans’ Homes, Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS) central health centers and centers for the developmentally disabled, Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) youth centers, Illinois Department of Corrections (DOC) correctional institutions, as well as IDOT, ISP and IEMA.

Information on continued essential state services and service locations for the public, as well as situation updates for state employees, will be available online at www.Ready.Illinois.gov starting on Wednesday. Employees without Internet access may call 866-848-2125 (Springfield) and 866-848-2135 (Chicago) for this information.

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) cautions motorists against venturing out unless travel is absolutely necessary. The agency is fully-staffed and equipped to plow and salt roadways as necessary, but the department urges motorists to use extreme caution for the duration of the storm. Motorists can acquire up-to-date roadway conditions information at www.gettingaroundillinois.com or at www.travelmidwest.com.

On Monday, Governor Quinn activated the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) in Springfield to coordinate the state’s response to the storm. Representatives from nearly a dozen state agencies are staffing the SEOC 24 hours a day throughout the duration of the storm. Governor Quinn also issued a disaster declaration for the entire state in advance of the heavy snow, ice and blizzard conditions expected over the next few days, and today activated more than 500 Illinois National Guard troops to help ensure traveler safety on interstate highways.

Other state assistance includes:

• Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Conservation Police are using all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles and four-wheel drive trucks to assist Illinois State Police, perform welfare checks and help motorists and others throughout the storm event.

• The American Red Cross has opened 28 shelters around the state and has nearly two dozen additional shelters on standby. The State of Illinois has also opened a number of shelters (in conjunction with the Red Cross) and warming centers across the City of Chicago and counties across Illinois. More information about shelters and warming centers can be found at: www.Ready.Illinois.gov.

• Supplying generators to local units of governments as requested.
More information about Winter Storm Preparedness is available from www.Ready.Illinois.gov.

* And from the Tollway…

“Travel on the Illinois Tollway is not recommended [Wednesday] morning, “Lafleur said. “We are urging our customers to stay home unless it’s an extreme emergency.

* An appropriate end to the evening. Bob will play us out…

It’s doom alone that counts

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Feb 2, 11 @ 1:00 am

Comments

Did it really take until 11:00pm to make this decision? Inability to make simple decisions could be one of the reasons this State is so messed up. This was a no brainer before 5pm. On the bright side, at least he came up with the right answer.

Comment by Annoyed Tuesday, Feb 1, 11 @ 11:31 pm
My bet is they waited until after the TV news shows ended.

IOW, that tax hike isn’t producing a lot of goodwill for state government.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Feb 1, 11 @ 11:32 pm
Gotta love the nonprofit world. We shut down at noon today and through tomorrow.

Comment by Obamarama Tuesday, Feb 1, 11 @ 11:42 pm
It’s the right call, but 5 p.m. would have been too early. My guess is nobody was going to bust a hump to get in anyway.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Feb 1, 11 @ 11:53 pm
Good call but they ought to update the www.ready.illinois.gov web site to say so too.

Comment by LINK Wednesday, Feb 2, 11 @ 12:01 am
If I was still working at my old job, I’d probably have to go in. Retirement is wonderful in this kind of weather …

Comment by Retired Non-Union Guy Wednesday, Feb 2, 11 @ 12:07 am
The Ready Illinois site has been updated for a while. Refresh your browser.

Comment by Fed Up State Employee Wednesday, Feb 2, 11 @ 12:08 am
What’s sad is I work for Healthcare and Family Services…we received an e-mail at 3 saying all offices could go home EXCEPT FOR COOK COUNTY. In the meantime, I read on the Sun-times website that all 138 DMV facilities state-wide were instructed to close at 3… Also, employees were instructed to stay tuned to Ready.Illinois.gov for updates, but I have read this information about closings everywhere BUT there.

Comment by FlyGemini Wednesday, Feb 2, 11 @ 12:18 am
I checked that website. I hope that the Governor did not an issue a ‘Declaraton’, as that site says.

Comment by aaronsinger Wednesday, Feb 2, 11 @ 1:18 am
This one’s pretty much lived up to the hype. A good foot-and-a-half on the ground in the western burbs.

But the wind was the killer. There are bare patches on the side of my house, but six foot drifts by my garage. Power lines help up, thank goodness.

Just watching footage of LSD. About 60 cars still abandoned on the drive, but nobody hurt, apparently.

I’m going to wait for a little more light, than grab the shovel.

Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Feb 2, 11 @ 7:11 am
Does that include us down ib Carbondale? We have one half inch of snow. Sorry for the rest of you. We even got in rounds of golf Saturday and Sunday.

Comment by Siuprof Wednesday, Feb 2, 11 @ 7:44 am
The state is so disorganized — CMS email re: closing at 1:47 AM today, 3 consecutive days of memorandums from CMS regarding the use of personal time for inclement weather and now a 10:58PM announcement last night from the governor. Sheesh.
I hope he sent a press release to the Chicago stations.

Comment by Budlong Woods Wednesday, Feb 2, 11 @ 8:34 am
That municipal offices throughout the suburbs are open, with few exceptions, is absurd in light of the near total shutdown of most of the state.

You need the road crews and the public safety personnel. You don’t need accounts payable today.

Anyplace that’s open is this morning is showing pretty much no regard for safety.

Comment by Elmhurst Wednesday, Feb 2, 11 @ 8:35 am
I wouldn’t have known about State employees being told to stay home without checking this site. I went back to both Chicago papers and looked for anything related to that. The Trib has an extensive closing list with no visible mention of PQ’s statement. The Sun-Times indicates SoS Drivers’ License offices being closed (not mentioned on the Trib site) but nothing about PQ’s statement. I must not be looking in the right place.

Out here in south-central DuPage it is hard to tell how much snow is actually on the ground. Heavy drifting has left a 5′ drift on my driveway. Thankfully I have DuPage Dan, Jr to help out with the shoveling.

I hope all are safe and warm. I almost didn’t get home last nite when my trusty 4 wheel drive pick-up broke down in Oakbrook. The clutch linkage fell apart on me. Got a tow truck out just in the nick of time - before the whole sky fell on us.

Comment by dupage dan Wednesday, Feb 2, 11 @ 9:24 am
“declaraton” is actually the name of the state’s secret transformer that, on most days, takes the shape of Quinn’s briefcase. But when summoned it quickly converts into a top level strategic planner and/or snow remover.

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Wednesday, Feb 2, 11 @ 10:15 am
I wonder if the state office building in Marion is closed. There’s no snow down here.

Comment by Deep South Wednesday, Feb 2, 11 @ 10:51 am
DeepSouth and SIUProf,

Reading your comments, I can’t imagine how the belief that southern Illinois isn’t embraced by the rest of the state ever came to be.

Please, please, I want to hear more about your golf game as the rest of the state shovels out.

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Wednesday, Feb 2, 11 @ 11:55 am
SilentShane does an interview!
The guy who had the fewest floor speeches in the history of the GA does a media interview and doesn’t do to well…”Cultra also addressed the issue of jobs.

On Thursday the Illinois Department of employment Security announced the unemployment rate dropped in the Peoria metro area in December. That continued a trend of declining jobless numbers through 2010.

December unemployment rates fell in every Illinois county for the first time since 1974, according to the state…..Cultra said he was unaware of that news. He said he found that hard to believe and that the governor needs to do much more to promote business growth, especially after signing into law a massive tax hike that will negatively impact business. ….We need to streamline government regulation,” Cultra said….

Cultra said he hopes the current situation forces the governor to action.

“We need to create a job-friendly environment. We need tort reform. We need workman’s compensation reform … We’re doing everything wrong. When we are hurting people’s pocketbooks we are doing something wrong.”

Maybe SilentShane could intro a bill to create worker right free zone…it bar unions,work comp, the ability to sue sloppy docs and shoddy plant owners and, of course, civil unions.

He recently put out a state financed e-newsletter that whacks a Cook County patronage scam. He forgot to tell his readers how he “rewarded” a loyal coat holder with an appointment to the GA for a Day.
Gotta love em.,

Comment by CircullarFiringSquad Wednesday, Feb 2, 11 @ 12:02 pm
On a lighter note, Rich, love the Dylan clip. Rolling Thunder-era…one of his best

Comment by Officer McNulty Wednesday, Feb 2, 11 @ 12:49 pm
Michelle Flaherty;

Was not trying to rub it in. But we trade the weather for great places to eat out.

Comment by siuprof Wednesday, Feb 2, 11 @ 2:21 pm
From what I see from comments on other sites I am sure the indecision to have state workers stay home was due to the backlash of state worker haters that will not be happy about it. AND according to other sites bloggers they were right. One blogger says if they aren’t essential why do they have jobs. That’s a very broad comment for such a gray area. That’s why I love this site most users here actually THINK! I am sure some people went in just to prove they are essential due to this.I hope they made it safely.

Comment by Anon Wednesday, Feb 2, 11 @ 2:24 pm
SIUProf, I’ll take the Mississippi Flyway and Quattros any day of the week.

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Wednesday, Feb 2, 11 @ 4:12 pm