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CALHOUN NEWS-HERALD

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INSIDE SOCIAL

Aiden celebrates 4th birthday. See page A3

NEWS

Relay for Life holds Survivors’ Brunch. See page B2

SCHOOL

Childers earns degree. See page C2

SPORTS

Thunder win USSSA World Series Qualifier. See page C6

NEWS

What's happening between the rivers. See page A4

ONLINE

calhounnewsherald.com

CALHOUN NEWSHERALD • Index • Obituaries . . . . . A5 Our Town . . . . . . B3 News . . . . . . B1,B2 Public Notice . . . D1 Real Estate . . .D2-3 Correspondence A4 social . . . . . . . . . A3 Sports . . . . . . . . C6 Obituaries in this issue: Mergherio, Holland

©2014 CALHOUN NEWS-HERALD

All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

HArDIn, ILLInoIs 62047

june 18, 2014

VoLuMe 141 - Issue 25

Art Under the Trees a hit for visitors, vendors By BoB Crossen Calhoun News-Herald In its first summer festival, the Calhoun Art Guild’s Art Under the Trees drew a steady crowd at Stone Bridge Valley under clear skies Saturday after a week of rain. Lines of tents filled the lawn at Stone Bridge Valley with more than 20 artists showcasing their work while others offered demonstrations for how they paint, weave or carve. Within the first two hours of opening, at least 50 people attended the event. Laura Blair, Blair Lair Studios, said for a first-year event, she was proud to see how many people turned out to enjoy the weather, art and food. “It’s a beautiful day and the first year is always the hardest and we’ve got a good crowd out here,” Blair said. “Usually you might take home a little disappointment as a vendor [for a first year event] because people have got to get excitement going about it, but it’s been steady all day.” Blair said she had never been to Calhoun County for any showing of the art made in her studio, adding the organization of the event was very smooth. She said her booth – decorated with stone and glass work, handmade clothing and ceramics – showcases the work of multiple people who work at Blair Lair Studios located in Alton. “We’re several people who work together under the name of Blair Lair Studios. We all bring different talents,” Blair said. Just a few booths away from Blair’s was a multimedia artist who said he tailors his works to fit the clientele at the shows he attends. Mark H. Walters built rustic wood frames around his series of landscapes and wildlife paintings and drawings spanning his booth at the event June 14. “I like painting everything,” Walters said. “I like doing portraits. Just a little bit of everything.” On the table laid canes and other pieces carved out of wood, as well. Walters said he has been painting for more years than he can remember, but it wasn’t until recently that he began to sell his work. The art cluttered his home, which was the motivating factor in beginning the sale of his work. “I never had any lessons or anything,” Walters said. “Old Settlers Day last year was the first time I ever even let anybody see anything, so this is like my maiden voyage, too.” For a first-year event, he said Art Under the Trees was home to friendly visitors and vendors who were interested in his artwork and techniques. “I think it’s something that could catch on real quick,” Walters said, noting the shift in the economy also made

EDUCATION

General state aid level remains stagnant By BoB Crossen Calhoun News-Herald School officials in the area have mixed feelings about the stagnant nature of general state aid funding to public school districts throughout Illinois.

never see 100 percent funding again. “We will continue to look at different ways to where we can be fiscally responsible,” Sievers said. “Even though you’re getting prorated at a percent that you feel it is good for your school district, we still are going to have to monitor and look at

“We will continue to look at different ways to  where we can be fiscally responsible.”

Kate Sievers Calhoun Community Unit School District 40 Superintendent General state aid (GSA) has been prorated the past five years, meaning the state keeps a certain percentage of the funding that it owes to public school districts in Illinois. That proration has remained at 89 percent for the past three years. Calhoun Community Unit School District 40 Superintendent Kate Sievers said she is happy to see funding remain at the same level as last year, but still worries districts will

areas where we can still cut back or do better on.” The superintendent said the district’s finance committee is constantly looking for ways to improve the school’s budget, noting it has been reviewing insurance policies to find savings. With proration at the same level as last year, the district has another year to find ways to improve its financial outlook, she added. (See, State aid, A2)

State FFA degree awarded to Calhoun High student

Bob Crossen/Calhoun News-Herald

Linda Miller concentrates on crafting a watercolor piece during Art Under the  Trees at Stone Bridge Valley June 14. The first outdoor festival sponsored by  the Calhoun Art Guild hosted a number of artistic demonstrations along with  displays of local artists' work. Miller will host a gallery show at Stone Bridge  Valley in September. More photos can be seen on page C1.

him take steps toward selling his work. Attendees of the event were also happy with the diversity of the work displayed at the event and were entertained in talking to the artists and representatives at the booths. August Bland of Hardin said he liked the Calhoun County Historical Society booth because of the knowledge the members of the society have of the county. “He’s got knowledge, I’m telling you,” August said. “Every time I talk to him, I don’t want to leave.” Janice Bland said she and August came to support their family mem-

bers who participate in the Calhoun Art Guild and stayed for the additional talent on display. Art Under the Trees is only the first outdoor festival held at Stone Bridge Valley in Michael. Organizers said they want to make the event an annual experience to draw people to Calhoun County and promote local artists. For more information on Stone Bridge Valley, visit stonebridgevalley. com. To learn more about the artwork of Walters, visit markhwalters.com, and to contact Blair about her studio’s work, email mrsblairsartlar@gmail.com or visit facebook.com/mrsblairsartlair.

County revisits radio connectivity issues

By BoB Crossen Calhoun News-Herald Seeking to squash connectivity and sound issues with the radio system used by emergency services in the county, a representative of B-K Electric explained the problem to the commissioners. During a meeting June 16 in Hardin, Jim Eatock, B-K Electric representative, explained the problems faced by the county sheriff’s office, county highway department and ambulance services throughout the county. B-K Electric was instrumental in updating the county’s radio system.

“Calhoun County is what  I like to refer to, as far as  radio coverage, is the tin  shed from hell.”

Jim Eatock B-K Electric representative The Federal Communications Commission required all radio frequencies be made more narrow to allow for more frequencies to be issued in January 2013. Because the bands are more narrow, the waves do not reach as far and can be disrupted much easier than the wider bands. Eatock said to counteract the problem, Calhoun County upgraded its repeater in Hardin and synced it to the radio repeaters located in Batchtown for the southern part of the county and Kampsville for the northern areas. Calhoun County Sheriff Bill Heffington said said during a meeting earlier this month that using the northern and southern towers can be "flakey." Eatock said the transmission problems in Calhoun County could stem from the environment around the towers. “Calhoun County is what I like to refer to, as

By BoB Crossen Calhoun News-Herald A student from Calhoun High School was awarded his degree from the state for his work since his freshman year raising cattle. Connor Carmody, FFA section president who will be a senior at CHS next school year, said the degree is the second highest an FFA member can achieve, noting only the American Degree is higher. He said the award makes him feel accomplished. “Not many people get to get it,” Carmody said. “A small percentage get it and you wear a different pin on your jacket from most people, so it’s obvious that you have it. Whenever you have it, you can run for higher offices than you could without it.” With the State Degree, Carmody said he was named section president in the last month of the school year. The work keeps him busy, he said, but the continuous flow of work is something he enjoys. “I’m excited for it. It’ll be a good year,” Carmody said. “I go to meetings every month or two. I’m considered a minor state officer.” With the title, he said he’ll visit the FFA chapters within his section to learn about what the different

chapters are working on and create connections with those people alongside the state officers for FFA. Achieving the milestone requires continued work on a project for at least two years with detailed record keeping to prove the student’s worth for the degree. Carmody said he didn’t expect keeping his books up-to-date would be such strenuous work. “You have to keep a record book on some kind of project you’ve been doing throughout high school,” Carmody said. “Your record book goes through about two or three different levels of judging to be accepted.” He said the degree requires recording details from the size of his cattle to the materials needed to fix a fence, how much it costs and where the materials were purchased. Carmody has been raising cattle since his freshman year and, according to the National FFA Organization website, had to earn and productively invest $1,000 into the business along with 300 hours of work outside the classroom. Additionally, he had to demonstrate leadership in 10 parliamentary law procedures, give a six-minute speech, and serve as an officer or (See, ffa, A2)

Courthouse takes step toward construction By BoB Crossen Calhoun News-Herald The Calhoun County Commissioners approved to begin cleaning out the old grade school in Hardin to prepare it for the next phase of the construction project. In late May the commissioners toured the potential courthouse to see the damages it had incurred since it was gutted many years prior. Paint chipped off the walls in some sections while floorboards buckled in others. Mold was visible in the

far as radio coverage, is the tin shed from hell,” Eatock said. “Hills, valleys, shadows … radio waves do not like rocks and trees, which you guys seem to have a few of.” Because there are many rolling hills with valleys and a lot of forested areas throughout the county, sometimes the radio waves will have dead spots where contact cannot be made. Heffington said the sheriff’s office often uses its cellphones in those areas to combat the issue. The sheriff said when trying to use the repeaters in the north and the south, sometimes only one side of the transmission will go through to the other, meaning he can hear the dispatcher talking but the sheriff’s office cannot hear him, or vice versa. However, when he uses the Hardin repeater in those areas, communication is much more clear. Eatock said the problem could also be a matter of calibration which had not been done since it was originally installed. “I will get back down here this week … and I will go through audio alignment,” Eatock said while troubleshooting with Heffington at the meeting. The B-K Electric representative said he would check the service of the towers throughout the county and run a voice alignment to see if any problems would be fixed. One solution mentioned at the previous meeting was resetting the routers on the towers to resyncronize all the repeaters when the system shuts down. Normally, somebody from the sheriff’s office would contact Eatock to reset the system remotely. Commissioner Chairman Doug Wilschetz asked Eatock if he could train some employees of the sheriff's department to reset the connection if it fails. Eatock said he would work with the department and teach them how to do so through the web application. The commissioners also discussed insurance options for county employees for the coming year. Renewing with its current provider, United Health Care, would see an increase of approximately 32 percent in expense to the county. (See, county, A2)

basement as well as a myriad of old supplies including rolls of paper, metal and other items. Chairman Doug Wilschetz said County Engineer Barry Webster would help clear the rest of building, which had been discussed by the chairman, Webster and the Owner’s Representative Bernie Loft in early May. “There was a whole checklist of items the architect sent to Bernie [and] to Barry [like] the items to be moved, the tests that they need to take of the foundation and different things that

Pride of the pool

needed to be done,” Wilschetz said, noting Loft estimated the cost to be around $20,000 for the labor. The chairman said Webster may hire part-time employees to help with clearing the structure, adding commissioners Phil Robeen and Larry Wieneke, finance committee members, keep the work in mind while working on the county budget. The workers will also be tasked with completing a list of other items to prepare the building for construction, including (See, courthouSe, A2)

Bob Crossen/Calhoun News-Herald

Bryan Ruebling pumps his fist in the air as he jumps off the diving board at Lions Club Pool  in Hardin Monday afternoon. The pool has been open since June 9 and has been conducting  swimming lessons throughout the week. The next free swim day is Friday, June 20, sponsored by the Bank of Kampsville C

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