Du Quoin to be Well-Represented at Obama Inaugural

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ The list of Du Quoin area residents planning to attend the historic January 20th inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama is growing.

Democrat National Committee member John Rednour and wife Wanda will attend the inaugural in front of the U.S. Capitol on that Tuesday as will Du Quoin commissioner Kathy West and husband Royce, members of the Gene Gross family and Perry County Clerk Kevin Kern.

Gross is Perry County Democrat Chairman and Kern is a learned student of government and American political history.

Washington D.C. is planning for an overflow crowd numbering in the millions with plans to run the metro on a 24-hour rush hour schedule.

Hotels are full and four-day inaugural packages are running upwards of $400 to $700 a night.

Ticketing for the inaugural and many of the Obama and DNC-sponsored celebrations before and after the inaugural can run as high as $50,000 for a package.

Planners say the entire mall between the U.S. Capitol and the Lincoln memorial is being used.

The first third of the mall is being dedicated to those who have tickets or access credentials to the event. The remaining two-thirds of the mall is being set aside for visitors who do not have tickets. Police are telling attendees to arrive several hours early and expect a long, cold afternoon. No bags, backpacks or other containers are being allowed for security reasons.

President-elect Barack Obama is adding a "Youth Ball" to the parties planned to celebrate his Jan. 20 inauguration.

The Presidential Inaugural Committee said Tuesday the ball for people aged 18 to 35 would celebrate "the role young Americans can play to serve their communities." Tickets will be available for a reduced price of $75. Most inaugural ball tickets are $150. The committee also announced regional inaugural balls for guests from the Midwest, West, East, South and Mid-Atlantic regions of the country, as well as balls for guests from Obama's home states of Illinois and Hawaii and Vice President-elect Joe Biden's home states of Delaware and Pennsylvania.

The committee says there will be a total of 10 inaugural balls.