Month: November 2020

By JOHN A. BALLENTINE For The Weekly Post BRIMFIELD – Brimfield’s school board acted on several items at its Nov. 11 meeting. The board approved 10 policies, ranging from grievance procedures to prohibitions of student harassment. Approved was the purchase of technology through an IDEA grant in the amount of $64,504. Also approved was an insurance proposal for the school district from Unland insurance for a total of $95,199, up from $82,474 last year. Approved was a lawn mowing bid from Steve Cramer – Pain in the Grass lawn service for $18,000, which includes all grounds at the Brimfield School…

By BILL KNIGHT For The Weekly Post ELMWOOD – The Board of Education on Monday formally approved the 2020 tax levy (for the 2021-22 school year), increasing projected funds 1.69 percent. At the same time, the board voted to reduce the overall tax rate, a decision made possible bu increasing Equalized Assessed Valuation (EAV) of homes in the school district. The unanimous vote OK’d slight increases to all categories, from mandated categories Education, Operations & Maintenance, and Transportation to special education and tort immunity. The only declines were slight differences in retirement funds. “The County Assessor has projected that our…

Rambling through central Illinois, pondering flying cars. Work hard and good things will happen has always struck me as a good motto. The longer I live, the more I wonder if it’s true. Still, it has been nice to hear tributes to Reid Larson, who on Dec. 2 will retire after working hard and running Reid’s Mobil in Kickapoo since 1977. In an email, Reid’s customer Charles Bush praised Larson as “a throwback to the previous days of ‘service stations’” and wrote “he might drive you home after dropping off the car for service and return it to your driveway…

NOTE: Charges are merely an accusation. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Police reports • FARMINGTON – According to Farmington Police Chief Chris Darsham, there is a surge in unemployment scams right now. He said, “There are a ton in Farmington and Peoria is getting a bunch, too.” If you receive a letter saying that someone filed for unemployment in your name and you haven’t filled out any forms, contact law enforcement and the unemployment office. • PRINCEVILLE – Dustin E. Weller, 30, of Princeville was charged on Nov. 19 with domestic battery….

By Jeff Lampe Rambling through central Illinois, pondering which sniffle is a symptom and which is not. As a resident of a flyover state dominated by a major metropolis, it’s hard not to have a chip on your shoulder. Reasons are numerous, including the handling of COVID-19. Back in March and April, when the coasts and Chicago were grappling with the pandemic, it was frustrating to be lumped into the same group for requirements and mitigations. The COVID wave was not here then. Yet we were shut down. Well, the wave is here now. And I’m betting we’d be more…

Only Elmwood teams opened basketball practice Monday By JEFF LAMPE Weekly Post Staff Writer High school basketball practice started Monday at some Illinois schools. Sort of. “I guess you could call it that,” said Gregg Meyers, Elmwood girls coach. “It seemed more like a skills camp with no scrimmaging.” Elmwood was the only local school that hit the gym Monday, which was the opening date mandated months ago by the Illinois High School Association – before COVID-19 cases began to soar and led to new sports guidelines. Since then, in addition to delaying the start of games, the Illinois Department…

By John A. Ballentine TOULON – County auditor Ron Hilton presented the proposed budget for the upcoming year to the Stark County Board of Supervisors and reported that the budget is balanced. Hilton briefly went over the highlights of the new budget. Total estimated revenues are $1,583,000 and that is a $23,000 increase over last year. Estimated property tax revenue is $560,000. Expenditures are estimated to be equal to revenue, which explains the balanced budget, with a $36,000 increase over last year. The largest expenditure for the county are salaries at $1,006,000 up approximately $44,000. County engineer Judd Giffin explained…

NOTE: Charges are merely an accusation. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Police reports • ELMWOOD – A Peoria County Sheriff deputy responded to a car fire in the 8500 block of Pulsifer Road on Nov. 5. The vehicle was not occupied. • ELMWOOD – Police Chief Aaron Bean reported for October that the Elmwood Police Department had no arrests, 17 stops, five citations, 16 warnings, 14 reports, one notice to appear issued, no open doors and one ordinance violation. • EDWARDS – Jacinto C. Tolentino of Edwards was arrested on Nov. 4…

Traffic citations & Ordinance violations 11-4-20 – Matthew T. Hooks – Driving 15-20 mph above limit. 11-4-20 – Jerry L. Walton – Driving 15-20 mph above limit. 10-29-20 – David E. Newell – Driving 15-20 mph above limit. 11-4-20 – Noah Allen Bielema – Driving 15-20 mph above limit. 11-4-20 – Kimberly Perkins – Driving 15-20 mph above limit. 10-30-20 – David P. Hicke – Driving 21-25 mph above limit. Felonies & Misdemeanors 10-31-20 – Criminal misdemeanor – Phillip Daniel Adams – Resisting a peace officer. 10-24-20 – Criminal misdemeanor – Rodriguez Demetrio Gobellan – Criminal trespass to land. 10-29-20…

By Jeff Lampe WILLIAMSFIELD – The Mid-County sports cooperative agreement may be expanding. That was the word Monday at the Williamsfield School Board meeting. Currently, ROWVA, Williamsfield and Galva coop together in football. But other sports are a mixed bag of different school combinations. Farquer said athletic directors are working on a framework to be presented to all three school boards in December. “If there is interest to move forward, we should know by then. This gives us one month to collect feedback and to talk to folks,” Farquer said. “For us, the main shift would be from a philosophy…