Minimum wage up to $11 per hour By JEFF LAMPE Weekly Post Staff Writer Despite COVID-19 restrictions that limited the Illinois General Assembly to four days of meetings last spring, there are new laws of note that take effect on Jan. 1, 2021. • The minimum wage in Illinois increases from $10 to $11 per hour, the third increase in a plan that will boost the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025. • Thanks to House Bills 246/2265, public school students will learn about the roles and contributions of the LGBTQ+ community while middle schoolers will receive a…

By BILL KNIGHT For The Weekly Post ELMWOOD – The Board of Education on Monday reached an agreement with Midwest Transit Equipment, based in Kankakee, to extend the current bus lease to take advantage of changes in operations during the pandemic. “Due to the lack of extended usage of the buses, the ‘normal’ wear and tear has been minimal, and Midwest Transit has offered to extend the lease for one more year at the same cost and terms as the previous contract,” commented Superintendent Chad Wagner. “The administration believes that we can eliminate one of the buses, as we have…

By JEFF LAMPE Weekly Post Staff Writer WILLIAMSFIELD – An all-sports MidCounty sports coop for students from ROWVA, Galva and Williamsfield high schools appears very unlikely. That’s the news out of Monday’s meeting of the Williamsfield School Board, which participated in a ZOOM session with school board members from ROWVA and Galva. Discussion centered on possibly expanding the coop beyond football and cross country, the sports that the three schools currently share. While the ROWVA board voted 7-0 in favor of expanding the coop, the idea met with resistance in Williamsfield and Galva, according to Williamsfield Superintendent Tim Farquer. “My…

NOTE: Charges are merely an accusation. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Canton man leads police on chase into Norris FARMINGTON – A driver, pursued by Canton resident Kyle Shawgo, contacted Farmington police who witnessed Shawgo on Fort Street trying to run the driver off the road, according to a Dec. 11 Farmington police report. When officers attempted to pull both vehicles over, Shawgo led police on a pursuit into Norris, where they terminated the chase. Canton officers later took Shawgo, 26, into custody, charging him with 2 counts of aggravated assault, aggravated…

By JEFF LAMPE For The Weekly Post ELMWOOD – Second-graders in Elmwood Grade School got an unexpected early Christmas present on Monday courtesy of a former Elmwood teacher. The late L.A. “Betty” Lewellyn was a second-grade teacher at Elmwood for 26 years before retiring in 1978. She later passed away in 2009. But earlier this month, one of her daughters, Janet Millspaugh, emailed current Elmwood teacher Vicki Warner inquiring about giving a year-end Christmas gift to students in Lewellyn’s memory. Warner said the idea “brought tears to my eyes.” Lewellyn was Warner’s second-grade teacher and made a definite impression on…

NOTE: Charges are merely an accusation. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Car wreck claims life near Routes 40, 90 EDELSTEIN – A Peoria woman on Dec. 2 was killed in a rollover accident near the intersection of Illinois Routes 40 and 90 near Edelstein, according to Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood. Shannon Sommer-Affeldt, 36, was a backseat passenger in a vehicle involved in a single-vehicle accident about 11 p.m. on Dec. 2. Sommer-Affeldt attended Brimfield High School. She was ejected from the vehicle and died instantly from multiple blunt-force-trauma injuries, Harwood said….

Rambling through central Illinois, thankful there is an NFL cracker to savor in this COVID-19 desert. The last thing The Farmer heard that fateful day in June was to lower his head, because he was getting in a helicopter. Not for a joy ride. Life Flight. Not the helicopter ride you want. Moments earlier, he had been driving his tractor on Illinois Route 78. Winding up in the ditch was not planned. It was devastating. Would he walk again after breaking his pelvis? Would his arm, “degloved” to the elbow recover? Would he regain use of his hand? Would his…

By JOHN A. BALLENTINE For The Weekly Post ELMWOOD – The City of Elmwood will be raising water/sewer, and garbage rates for the upcoming year. This measure was approved by the city council at its Dec. 3 meeting. “This is our annual increase where we typically do a 3 percent increase, which covers the additional costs, such as chemicals [for the water and sewer plants], and the overall rate. Garbage rates went up about 3 percent this year for us,” Mayor Brian Davis said. Davis suggested a 3 percent increase, with the possibility of a lower increase due to impacts…

No COVID bump for gun hunters as deer totals drop By JEFF LAMPE Weekly Post Staff Writer Any thoughts that the COVID19 slowdown was going to spur a big increase in the number of deer shot in Illinois ended during the first shotgun season. Illinois hunters shot a preliminary total of just 47,147 whitetails during the first weekend of shotgun season, Nov. 20-22. That’s well below last year’s total of 50,173 deer and is one of the lowest for the opening weekend in decades. To find a lower first-season total you have to go all the way back to 1990,…

Rambling through central Illinois, pondering people who hide behind excuses. The other day, a nurse called me out of the blue. For the past week, I have been visiting a friend at Methodist Hospital in Peoria. The nurse was informing me that my friend was being tested for COVID-19. “It may be pneumonia, but we’re doing a rapid result test for COVID, so I should be able to call you back in an hour with news,” she said. One hour and 22 minutes later, the nurse called back. Good news. No COVID. No quarantine. No need to skip an issue…