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WEEKEND WEATHER
By JULIE BOREN Pike Press After months of searching, the John Wood Community College board is finally ready to consider a new location for educational services in Pike County. “It’s taken longer than we thought,” Jim Gay, JWCC board chair, said. Gay and college president Mike Elbe, however, think the wait will be worth it. At a meeting scheduled for
Mike Elbe
JWCC president tonight, Wednesday, April 20, the JWCC trustees will consider a proposed 10-year lease on the JDL building adjacent to the Pittsfield Industrial Park north of town. Most recently, the building has been used by The Crossing church which is in the process of relocating. According to Gay, building owner Steve Brink will be responsible for transforming the facility to meet JWCC’s needs. “He’s going to re-do the
whole inside to our specifications,” Gay said. A decision on the lease option is expected at tonight’s meeting. “We believe this will pass. I don’t know of any opposition to it,” Gay said. If approved by the trustees and the Illinois Community College Board, the lease agreement will pave the way for creation of what will be known as the JWCC Southeast Education Center. The southeastern portion of the JWCC district includes Pike County and portions of Calhoun, Scott, Morgan and Cass counties. The facility will include 9,700 square feet on the main level with an additional 8,700 square feet available for future expansion on the second level. In addition to classrooms and offices, the center will include a space for community special events and training. A cyber café area for public use connected to fiber optic highspeed internet and upgraded laboratory space for certified nursing assistant and pre-requisite nursing courses. “I’m hoping that we can go beyond the normal classroom kind of thing and make it available to the community,” Gay said. Elbe said the JWCC has been researching community
Julie Boren/Pike Press
John Wood Community College board chair Jim Gay, left, listens as college president Mike Elbe describes plans for a new Southeast Education Center to be located in Pittsfield.
needs in the area for the past two years, conducting community forums in five communities representing Pike and Scott counties. Elbe says the move will “redirect dollars” presently being used to operate the learning center in west Pittsfield and will require some additional dollars to fund the new center. “We’re doing this to grow,” Elbe said. “We have to make
some investment in order to grow.” Elbe pointed to the college’s new Mt. Sterling facility which has doubled students and credit hours in the past two years. He predicts similar expansion at the new Southeast Education Center. Plans now call for a move to the new facility in time for fall classes in 2017. “The college is committed to this area and this facility
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is the result of an extensive search,” Gay said. “We want to use our existing resources wisely and invest in future enrollment growth in this area by upgrading the facility in which we deliver enhanced educational programs and services. A working collegecommunity partnership will be key for this facility’s long-term success.” In the last year, the college (See, JWCC, A2)
Schools brace as property tax freeze deadline looms
friday, APRIL 22
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Vol. 174, No. 16
JWCC board considering lease on JDL building
Kessinger wins “We’re doing this Pike Press to grow.” scholarship. See page a6
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could happen
Members of the Pittsfield and Griggsville Fire Departments transport a “victim” from a mock disaster held at Pittsfield High School to the waiting AirEvac. The incident, attended by the student body, staged a two car accident in the parking lot with serious injures and one fatality. Victims were entrapped in their vehicles and precious time was spent as PHS students played the parts of the “victims” in the accident and also the defendant, who was given a field sobriety test and then handcuffed in front of the student section after being “arrested” for drinking and driving. The Pike County Sheriff’s Department, the Pittsfied City Police and Niebur Funeral Home also participated in the event.
By JUSTIN A. COBB Pike Press Area schools are bracing under uncertainty as the deadline for legislative action on a proposed property tax freeze stands eight days away. State Senate Bill 318, if enacted into law, would freeze property tax levies for two years at the total dollar amount levied in the current year, regardless of any change in property values. The state Senate passed SB 318 by a 37-1 vote, with state Sen. Sam McCann, R-Plainfield, among 17 Republicans and one Democrat voting Present. After arriving in the state House, it was given a first reading and referred to the executive committee, but the bill has not progressed since then, with the latest extended final action deadline set for April 28. “I know taxpayers would like to see some type of property tax freeze, but unless it reassures a steady revenue stream to K-12 education, I have strong reservations on whether it’s a good bill,” Dave Roberts, Winchester (See, deadline, A2)
Campbell remembered as journalist, friend STAFF REPORT Campbell Publications
T
he death of James Bruce Campbell April 18 will leave an irreplaceable void in Campbell Publications, the newspaper company he forged and led in West Central Illinois. A third generation journalist, Campbell last year celebrated the 100th anniversary of the first issue of The Calhoun News, started by his grandfather, C.C. Campbell, in 1915. From that newspaper, Bruce Campbell went on to acquire, merge and create newspapers resulting in the six which currently comprise Campbell Publications – Calhoun NewsHerald in Hardin, Greene Prairie Press in Carrollton, Jersey County Journal in Jerseyville, Pike Press in Pittsfield, Scott County Times in Winchester and The Weekly Messenger in Pleasant Hill. Campbell died Monday in St. Louis, Mo. while preparing to return to his home in Florida. He was 72. Julie Boren, Campbell Publications publisher, said Campbell often commented that producing community newspapers was “the best job in the world.” “No one loved community newspaper more than Bruce
Campbell,” Boren said. “He knew every aspect of the business and brought his one-ofa-kind zest for living to every new project he approached.” Campbell had high expectations for all his employees, Boren said, and the result has been numerous regional and state press association awards, including recognition in 1996 from the Illinois Press Association (IPA) naming Pike Press as the best weekly in its circulation category. A resident of St. Louis for many years, Campbell was a member of Central Presbyterian Church in Clayton where he has served as chairman of the Deaconate. “Bruce’s ministry at Central was much appreciated as a long time member and usher and deacon. He was a friendly man and caring servant for the people of Central. He will be missed and we pray for his family in friends in his loss,” said Rev. Dr. Randy Mayfield, Central’s pastor of Missions and Outreach. In a 2003 family history article published by IPA, Campbell credited his mother, Louise, and “her Christian witness to me” as the foundation of his life’s philosophy. “I try to conduct my business based on my Christian beliefs to treat everyone fairly,” he said. One of his favorite quotes expressed how he viewed his life’s work: “The only higher calling than com-
munity journalism is the ministry.” – Bryant Williams. Dennis DeRossett, president and CEO of IPA, recalled Campbell as a man with a passionate commitment to quality community journalism. “He was a frequent caller to IPA – always passing along ideas and seeking new ideas and information, especially on how to use new technology to improve production and content,” DeRossett said. “He continually looked for ways to make his award-winning newspapers even better for the benefit of the readers and advertisers.” Beyond the realm of his newspaper associations, Campbell was known as a kind, compassionate and giving friend. “Bruce was always available to support and encourage all of our children, from their youth into adulthood. Whenever possible he was present at significant events graduations, weddings, award ceremonies, and other achievements,” said Terry Strauch, Hamburg resident and retired Calhoun superintendent of schools. “Bruce was interested in our family and especially in their academic achievements, always inspiring them to pursue their dreams. His influence on our family was profound, and we will all miss his smiling face, sincere interest, and loyal friendship.” Terry’s wife, Robbie,
recalled how Campbell offered support during difficult times. “Bruce shared our family struggles and triumphs, and he was present the day our daughter, Tera, donated her kidney to Terry, and sat in the waiting room with us at Barnes, sharing all of our many emotions,” Robbie Strauch said. “Bruce set high standards for himself, and as we looked at the 1961 Calhoun High Yearbook, we realized that the senior male voted Most Likely to Succeed, did just that. From President of his class to President of Campbell Publications, he never stopped achieving or reaching for that higher goal.” Terry and Robbie’s daughter, Traci Hillen of Hardin, recalled how a shared interest in Tiger athletics at the University of Missouri drew her family closer to Campbell. “It’s hard for my family to have a conversation about Bruce that doesn’t include the Missouri Tigers in it somewhere. He was one of the most generous and positive human beings I have ever met and my family will always feel blessed to have known him and called him a friend,” Hillen said. Many who have known Bruce Campbell – in the five Campbell Publications counties, in his boyhood home of Hardin, in St. Louis and in Florida – would echo Hillen’s
JAMES BRUCE CAMPBELL
comment. “Bruce knew and cared about many people. In living out his Christian faith, he found ways to help others and did it in ways that didn’t draw attention to himself,” Boren said. “Bruce cared about people - his family, our family, his newspaper family, and the families in the many communities where he shared local news. Bruce loved the people he served as a journalist, an editor, a publisher, and an owner, and maintained the humility needed to understand our rural communities,” Terry and Robbie Strauch said. “Bruce will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him.” A complete obituary appears on page B2.