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Saturday, August 22, 2014
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Hennepin looks at I-180 reduction By Goldie Rapp grapp@bcrnews.com
HENNEPIN — The talk of reducing Interstate 180 from a four-lane expressway to a twolane highway has caused concern for many area villages. On Wednesday, Aug. 19, Hennepin Village Board President Kevin Coleman said he has talked with many people about the
interstate, including Congressman Adam Kinzinger and State Rep. Frank Mautino. He said the local politicians were aware of the situation and working on the issue. Coleman said reducing the interstate wouldn’t just impact Putnam County but other surroundings counties, including Peoria, which uses the interstate as a quick route to Chicago. “You’re talking a couple hun-
dred thousand people, if not more,” he said. “And it will affect the Peoria area as well.” Hennepin village engineer Bill Shafer said he had spoken with an Illinois Department of Transportation representative who told him the interstate reduction was in the preliminary stages. He said there’s a lot of maintenance work that needs to be done on the interstate, particularly on the river bridge, and the
government is short on funds and looking at all options. “If they are going to do something as drastic as that, he said there would be public hearings,” Shafer said of the IDOT representative. “The probability of it actually happening are pretty slim. There would be quite a bit of an initial cost to make that conversion.” Shafer said he didn’t think it was something to get too excited
about. Village trustee Quentin Buffington said he also spoke with someone from the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the representative told him the decision wouldn’t happen quickly. “It’s basically just a feeler, and he said any plans would be 10 years out. He said there are projects scheduled for the next
I-180 Page 4
Tentative budget discussed at Hall By Becky Kramer news@bcrnews.com
SPRING VALLEY — This year’s enrollment at Hall High School was addressed at the Hall School Board meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 19. At this point, the high school has 390 total students registered. The largest class will be freshman with 125 students currently registered. Superintendent Mike Struna believes there will be more new students after registration in a few weeks. Struna presented the tentative budget for the upcoming school year. With state revenues remaining flat and local property tax declining, Struna is preparing for the worst case scenario which results in a budget that shows a deficit of $349,074. The major fund to take a hit is the education fund, which is projected to be in the red by $430,138. Struna said there are expenses that just can’t be lowered, such as certified salaries which will increase by 2.5 percent per the teacher contract. The board continues to look for ways to reduce the budget. This year the board elected to not replace one full-time English teacher, two teacher aides and one cafeteria server. Less money will also be spent on out-of-school tuition costs. The district will only have three students attending other schools this year, which is down from 10 students last year. The new building will also save the district money with reduced energy costs and reduced repair and maintenance costs. Struna is also hopeful to see an increase in general state aid. Gov. Bruce Rauner has been proposing an increase in aid.
Hall Page 2 Year 169 No. 101 Two Sections - 24 Pages
© Bureau County Republican
BCR photo/Goldie Rapp
School is back in session It was the first week of school for many students around the county. Kindergarten students in Kylee Gutshall’s class at Douglas Elementary School in Princeton were already busy in the classroom, as they built all kinds of structures with different shaped trinkets in their math labs on Thursday.
From the Ground Up ...
Bureau and Putnam County’s farmers’ market loyalty program By Dave Cook dcook@bcrnews.com
When making a purchase it’s become almost expected to be asked if you belong to or would
like to join a frequent shopper/ loyalty program or if you have a rewards or frequent shopper card. One place you don’t expect it to happen, though, is at a farmers’ market. The Bureau and Putnam
County Health Department has changed that with its new program From the Ground Up. It’s funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farmers’ Market Promotion Program (FMPP). It’s meant to encourage people to support local farmers’ markets, growers and food and to also eat healthy. Participating farmers’ mar-
kets are in Granville, Sheffield, Spring Valley and Walnut. So far the program has been well received. “A lot of people have been coming in with their punch cards. They’re really excited about it because they’re getting T-shirts, bags, cutting boards and getting their names entered
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