GPP 4.2.14

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GREENE PRAIRIE PRESS APRIL 2, 2014 – Vol. 145, No. 13 – Carrollton, Illinois 62016

INSIDE LOCALS

Northcutt ~ Weitekkamp wedding. See page A3

NEWS

North Greene shaves almost $280,000 off budget By CArmeN eNSiNger Greene Prairie Press North Greene School Board members were faced with making some deep cuts at the March 19 school board meeting to try and reduce a budget that is over half a million dollars in the red next year. In September, the board approved a budget with a projected deficit of $576,571. Action taken at the March meeting has a total savings estimated to be around $287,000. Board members voted not to replace a retiring driver’s education teacher for a savings of around $50,000 and to eliminate a parent educator position, which has an estimated savings of around $43,000. The elimination of the elementary music position saves another

$40,000. Not replacing the guidance counselor secretary is a savings of around $35,000. Replacing retiring teachers in junior high language arts and second grade with first-year teachers would save an estimated $15,000 and $12,000, respectively. An additional $5,000 savings will come from cutting a three-hour cook position. More savings will come from defunding the junior and high school stipend positions, which show an estimated savings of around $69,000. These include: eight class sponsors at the high school (two in each grade); JH/HS band director, which is an extra stipend position only and not the band director’s teaching position; three choral directors – one each at the elementary, junior high

and high schools; FFA; three head teachers – one at each level; literary club at junior high; National Honor Society, play director at the high school; Science Club at the junior high and high schools; Science Fair at the junior high and high schools; one student council sponsor at the junior high and high schools, and the yearbook sponsor. In the area of sports and coaching positions: Athletic Director at the high school (junior high duties went to assistant principal this year); two assistant football coaches; assistant volleyball coach; two assistant boys basketball coaches; assistant girls basketball coach; assistant baseball coach; combine girls track coach and boys track coach into one high school track position; assistant softball coach; poms coach/

sponsor; sixth grade boys basketball coach; sixth grade girls basketball coach; combine seventh and eighth grade boys basketball coaches into one position; combine seventh and eighth grade girls basketball coaches into one position; combine seventh and eighth grade baseball coaches into one position; combine seventh and eighth grade volleyball coaches into one position; combine sixth, seventh and eighth grade boys track coaches into one position; combine sixth, seventh and eighth grade girls track coaches into one position and high school bass fishing coach. Regarding the stipend position cuts, Superintendent Les Stevens said the board has two options as laid out by its attorney. “We can either eliminate the position or continue to have, for instance,

CARROLLTON STUDENTS GO MEDIEVAL AT COMPETITION

a freshman class sponsor and freshman class activities, but bargain to not fund the position and seek volunteers to perform the duties of a class sponsor or have a class sponsor perform duties at a reduced rate,” he said. “How those bargaining discussions, as part of our general agreement bargaining this spring/summer go, cannot be identified right now. My assumption is that the board wishes to continue to have these activities during the 2014-15 school year and have sponsors and coaches in place, either as volunteers or at a reduced rate of compensation for the extra-curricular activities, but a final decision has not been made yet on that issue.” Stevens said additional action will have to be taken by the board in that regard at the April 16 meeting.

Police shut down active meth lab in Roodhouse By CArmeN eNSiNger Greene Prairie Press

St. Patrick’s Day 5K and Shamwalk. See page A9

NEWS

Robert Lyons/Greene Prairie Press

Carrollton's Ben Baumgartner, left, and Jacob Lovel compete at the seventh annual Trebuchet Competition Friday at Lewis and Clark Community College in godfrey . more than 180 students from 12 high schools in illinois and missouri took part in the contest, which features teams firing rubber balls from the medieval catapults into opponents' buckets by utilizing physics and mathematics .

News from the pews. See page A6

Area teams begin WIVC South play. See page B10

ONLINE greeneprairiepress .com

Greene Prairie Press Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A6 Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B9 Local . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . A7 Our Town . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 Public Notice . . . . . . . . . B9 News . . . . . . . . . . . . A4,A9 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . B10

Obituaries in this issue: Culbreth, Damm, milner, sChutz

© 2014 GREENE PRAIRIE PRESS All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Officers from the Greene County Sheriff’s Department along with police officers from Roodhouse and White Hall executed a search warrant on a residence located in the 200 block of West Simmons in Roodhouse on March 31 at approximately 11 p.m. “The search warrant was issued pursuant to a lengthy investigation by the Greene County Sheriff’s Department and the Roodhouse and White Hall police departments into the residence being used for the Unlawful Production of Methamphetamine,” Greene County Sheriff Rob McMillen said. Christine R. Taylor, 20, of Roodhouse, Corey W. Murphy, 35, of Jacksonville along with a minor child belonging to Murphy were found in the residence at the time the search

warrant was executed. “The search revealed what officers believed to be an active methamphetamine lab in the house,” McMillen said. “The Roodhouse Fire Department was summoned to the scene to stand by and the Illinois State Police Methamphetamine Response Team was also called to respond due to the discovery of the meth lab and the related meth production materials and waste products.” The minor child was taken into protective custody and was later placed into protective care by the Department of Children and Family Services. Both Taylor and Murphy were booked into Greene County Jail and held on the preliminary charges of: n Aggravated Manufacturing of Methamphetamine – a Class X felony due to a minor under the age of 18 being present while meth was being produced. (See, meth lab, A2)

Roodhouse back at odds over employee status By CArmeN eNSiNger Greene Prairie Press

SPORTS

75¢

Tempers are flaring back up in Roodhouse after the city council chose not to vote on the hiring of Tim Garner as a full-time employee with benefits after his 90-day probationary period was up. Garner had been with the city for almost 20 years when he was fired for alleged theft of overtime in 2010 under the former administration. At the Dec. 18, 2013 council meeting, Garner was rehired as a worker in the South Shop by a narrow 3-2 vote, despite other applications being received by the city, including one in-house employee. It has been past practice to give precedence to current employees when a position comes open within the city. Garner is the husband of current Alderwoman Terry Garner. She abstained from the vote to hire him in December but aldermen Jim Knox, Ralph Phillips and Barb Alred voted in favor of the hiring, while aldermen Garrett Rogers and Charlie Huffines voted against the measure.

Tim Garner was hired on Dec. 21 with a 90-day probationary period. That period was up and the utility committee spent more than an hour in closed session discussing Garner’s evaluation.

“either he's hired or he's not . i'm tired of these games we are playing here .”

Terry Garner Alderwoman

According to the city ordinance 11-1-4: All employees shall be hired as temporary employees. After successful completion of a 90-day probation period, the temporary employees status may be changed to permanent – if recommended by the department head and with the approval of the city council. While discussion on the evaluation was held in closed session during the utility committee meeting, when the

council announced no action would be taken, Alderwoman Terry Garner demanded to know why it hadn’t come up for a vote. “So is the evaluation done or what – does he still have a job?” Terry Garner asked the council members after the meeting. “So if his evaluation is over then he is a full-time worker, right?” Mayor Tom Martin said Tim Garner is still considered a temporary employee. Terry Garner wanted to know how her husband went from being a full-time employee to a temporary employee. “He was hired full-time on a 90-day probationary period and that evaluation was tonight,” Garner said. “Where do we stand – you can’t go from a 90-day probationary period to a 60-day temporary employee. Either he’s hired or he’s not. I’m tired of these games we are playing here.” Terry Garner accused Mayor Martin of being a hypocrite. “You say one thing to someone’s face and are laughing in somebody else’s face,” she said. (See, roodhouse, A2)

Roodhouse cracks down on delinquent utility customers By CArmeN eNSiNger Greene Prairie Press The Roodhouse City Council met in two special sessions Sunday afternoon and unanimously approved shutting off utility services to customers who do not pay their bill. Prior to the council meeting, the utility committee consisting of Barb Alred, Garrett Rogers and Charlie Huffines convened a special meeting to discuss the proposal, which would be presented at the special council meeting scheduled to follow. “My thoughts on the utility shutoffs are that the city of Roodhouse has bent over backwards over the last six months to try to lessen the burden on the citizens,” Rogers said. “We came into the fall with quite a bit of deficit on the books from our customers but we didn’t

want to run them out of town so we came up with a new utility shutoff ordinance, which we spent a lot of time and work on.” Under the ordinance, whatever the past due debt was, the city would allow the customers to pay it over a 12-month period without any interest added to the past due amount. “The catch was that if they missed one payment after they agreed to the program, they would be shut off,” Rogers said. “Immediately after that the winter hit us and it got pretty cold out so we thought we should do something to help the customers out, so we added a resolution giving them a second option where they could make reference to their last year’s utility bill for that month. That is the amount they would pay (See, UTILITIES, A2)

Carrollton OKs truck purchase for PD By CArmeN eNSiNger Greene Prairie Press Carrollton City Council held a special council meeting prior to its regular workshop on March 26 to handle several items of business, specifically the purchase of a vehicle for the police department. The council gave Police Chief Kenny Kallal the OK to get prices on a new vehicle for the police department at last month’s meeting. Kallal, who was on vacation, was not present at the Wednesday night meeting. Alderman Tom Wilson made a motion to purchase a 2012 F150 4x4 from Morrow Brothers in Greenfield at a cost of $27,575. The truck is a new truck. “It seems this truck is the best deal, pricewise,” Wilson told the council. “In talking with Greenfield, (who recently purchased a truck to add to its squad) it gets the same mileage as a car does over there.” Alderman Joe Harness expressed his views against the purchase of a truck instead of a car. “I’m really not in favor of a truck, but if

that’s what the chief wants,” Harness said. Wilson said he agreed with him at first, but after research changed his mind. “I was a little hesitant at first but then I started seeing them more and more,” Wilson said. “I’ve seen them in Springfield using trucks and I’m not sure the State Police aren’t running a few. Most officers running them like them.” Wilson said all of the equipment out of the Ford Explorer would transfer to the truck, saving around $2,000. “He told me the truck would be on duty around town and he would be driving the Explorer as just a basic squad,” Wilson said. Alderman Wayne Cunningham wanted to know why there were only bids on Ford vehicles. “I would like to see more bids than just from one place,” Cunningham said. “Is there some reason we don’t look at Dodge vehicles anymore?” Alderwoman Sharon Butler commented she had been told the truck would get two (See, carrolltoN, A2)

Carmen Ensinger/Greene Prairie Press

HOW

SWEET IS SHE?

Phyllis Darr of Carrollton is all smiles as a nurse pricks her finger with a needle to draw blood to test Darr's blood sugar during the greene County Health Fair held on march 26 at the KC Hall in Carrollton . C

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