By JOHN A. BALLENTINE For The Prairie News TOULON – The Stark County board approved a resolution Tuesday evening at their monthly meeting concerning a potential grant for Green Gables of Bradford. The resolution states: “Stark County board agrees to submit this application for community development block grant funds and enter into any and all contractual obligations on behalf of this organization.” The board will be the authorized official in applying for a grant. There is no cost to the county, which “would be the grant recipient” according to board member Tom Howes. Green Gables is asking for $1 million so…

By CAROL TOWNSEND For The Prairie News GALVA – Galva Chamber of Commerce President Stacy Hanks presented Dave McClintic the Citizen of the Year award Saturday night at the Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting and dinner buffet held at Mary’s Family Dining. McClintic was one of several Galva residents honored at the annual event. McClintic was nominated by his daughter Tarol Suddeth. Dave and his wife Nancy came to Galva in 1973 with their four children from Jonesville, Mich. He had traveled with a group looking for a town to build a new Bob Evans plant. He met with several…

By JEFF LAMPE For The Weekly Post Two years of students and teachers wearing masks came to an abrupt end this week at some Illinois schools, but not all. A ruling by Toulon native and Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene DeWitte Grischow last Friday at 5 p.m. prompted the change. In response to a request from attorney Tom DeVore of Greenville, Grischow issued a temporary restraining order on Gov. JB Pritzker’s executive orders requiring masking and quarantining for Illinois schools. DeVore filed two lawsuits, one on behalf of parents against 146 districts and another by school employees against 21 districts. Grischow’s…

NOTE: Charges are merely an accusation. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Farmington police looking into theft reports FARMINGTON – A black female and a white male were seen stealing items from the Circle K on East Fort Street in Farmington on Jan. 30 at two separate times, according to a Farmington police report. At around 4:30 p.m., store video showed the male sticking a 750 ml bottle of Jose Cuervo in his pants and the female putting 750 ml bottles of Crown Royal and Absolut Vodka in her coat. The couple left…

NOTE: Charges are merely an accusation. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Traffic citations & Ordinance violations 2-1 – Richard R. King – Driving 15-20 mph above limit. 2-4 – Payton Petty – Driving 15-20 mph above limit. 1-29 – Latricia S. Runles – Driving on a suspended license, operating an uninsured vehicle, canceled/revoked/suspended registration and front light violation. Incidents & Accidents Stark County 1-31 – Steven E. Reiff, of Toulon, reported the theft of the catalytic converters found missing from his motor home. The incident remains under investigation. 2-2 – Paul L….

By JOHN A. BALLENTINE For The Prairie News TOULON – Dollar General is officially coming to Toulon. The Stark County board approved an amendment to a purchase and sale contract between the county and Dollar General at a special meeting on Jan. 26. The amendment specifies exactly how a temporary construction entrance is to be constructed. The new Dollar General store is to be located just north of the existing County Highway building and be accessed to and from State Route 91. The temporary entrance will be located at the northwest corner of the county property to provide egress from…

While pumping gas one day last year, grumbling at how fast the numbers move on the pump, Elmwood carpet wizard Joe Merrick stopped to ask a question that runs through my mind every few weeks. “When someone dies, how do you decide who to write about?” Those aren’t his exact words, but that was the sense of it. Who rates more than an obituary? Who indeed? As a young journalist, I vaguely recall explanations of which people were deemed so newsworthy that their deaths deserved consideration for the front page. Presidents. Top local politicians or captains of industry. Beloved athletes…

Nips Elmwood with late rally, 46-43 By JEFF LAMPE For The Weekly Post BRIMFIELD – The seniors stepped up just in time for Brimfield Monday night. A Senior Night game that the Lady Indians looked to have won in the third quarter suddenly started slipping away down the stretch. After leading by 12 points late in the third, the state’s No. 2 ranked Class 1A girls basketball somehow trailed young upstart Elmwood, 41-38, with 2:30 left. Defensive-minded Elmwood (20-5, 5-1 Prairieland Conference) had the lead and the momentum … right up until senior Ella Lune rebounded a teammate’s missed free throw…

By JEFF LAMPE For The Weekly Post In an otherwise rough week for the Elmwood boys basketball team, senior Andrew Marincic provided a bright spot by topping 1,000 points for his career in last Friday’s 50-38 loss to Illini Bluffs. “It’s awfully impressive to get to 1,000 points with the fact you played one-third the games as a junior,” Coach Josh Fugitt said after Marincic led Elmwood with 21 points. Fugitt said the Trojans (12-10) competed much better against Illini Bluffs than in last Tuesday’s 66-45 loss to Peoria Christian. “Turnovers and offensive rebounds did us in against Peoria Christian, but…

By JEFF LAMPE For The Weekly Post This spring will bring at least three bridge replacement projects to the Peoria County portion of The Weekly Post circulation area. One of the projects is already underway, another has been limited to one lane for the past few months and another has yet to break ground. The largest and most costly project involves the Illinois Route 8 bridge near Edwards, which carries the road over the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks. That bridge was closed in the summer of 2018 after an inspection found that a concrete pier had deteriorated. The pier was…