Scott County Times
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2019
your
Times NEWS
Trunk or Treat. See page A2 Six new probationary troopers report to District 20. See page A3 WHS Class of 1969 celebrates 50 years. See page A7
Piles of Pumpkins in Winchester. See page A7
SPORTS Triopia edges Lady Cougars in semi-final. See page A6
WEEKEND WEATHER FRIDAY, NOV. 8
38 38 High
Low
SATURDAY, NOV. 9
54 37 High
Low
SUNDAY, NOV. 10
52 24 High
Low
Scott County Times
&KXUFK $ /RFDOV $ 0DUNHWSODFH $ 1HZV $ $ 5HDO (VWDWH $ 6SRUWV $ Š 2019
Scott County Times Obituaries listed in this issue: None
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WINCHESTER, IL 62694
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VOLUME NO. 152 NUMBER 45
Ambulance tax issue still not resolved By CARMEN ENSINGER Scott County Times The proposed ambulance tax levy remains in limbo as the Scott County Commissioners failed to take a vote Monday on an ordinance that would establish a Special Service Area (SSA) that would allow the ambulance to collect taxes from Scott County residents in this SSA. “Our States Attorney, Mike Hill, has drafted an ordinance that forms this SSA but we still have questions on the ordinance,� Chairman Bob Shafer said. “Before we take a final vote on it, we would like to have these questions answered.� The EMS is seeking a tax levied on land owners to pay for the EMS service. Since its inception 30 years ago, the ambulance service has always been funded through donations, fees for calls and fundraisers. The ambulance has been staffed by volunteer labor. Over the past 10 years, the amount of calls has gone up by 50 percent, yet the number of available Emergency Medical Technicians who volunteer their time to run the ambulance has fallen dramatically. In fact, the main reason for asking for the tax levy is because of the
staffing issue. Instead of volunteers, three EMT’s will be hired to staff the ambulance and respond to calls. The proposed tax levy would come in at .0004 percent or $4 per $1,000 assessed valuation. For the owner of a home valued at $50,000, the owner would pay an additional $66.67 per year. A home with a value of $100,000 would pay an additional $1,33.33 and a home valued at $150,000 would see the homeowner paying an additional $200 per year in taxes. Letters of Support to establish the SSA have been received from Winchester, Alsey, Manchester and Glasgow and now it is up to the board to either approve the SSA or reject it. Shafer said if it fails they will be looking at other options. “One of the options we are looking at is perhaps putting it on the ballot and let the voters decide,� Shafer said. “The other option is that it is just dead but I don’t think that is an option that is going to happen.� If the board does approve the SSA, a public hearing people will have the right to sign a petition against the proposed SSA within 60 (See, TAX, A3)
WGS participates in program which offers free digital thermometers Parents simply had to text a By CARMEN ENSINGER number and sign up for the app on Scott County Times their phone to qualify for one of the Winchester Grade School is par- free Bluetooth thermometers which ticipating in program with Kinsa were then sent to the school to be Inc. and Lysol that is providing free distributed. digital Bluetooth thermometers to “This is a better way for the each child whose parents signs up parents to track their child’s illness for the program. because through the app, which Kinsa Inc. is a health technol- is linked to the thermomenter, a ogy company headquartered in record is kept of the temperature, San Francisco whose mission is symptoms, etcetera,� Coon said. to help individuals, “As a school nurse, schools and comit also allows me to munities stop the “It’s just a send out messages spread of infectious to parents to the app illnesses, such as the better way when there is sickflu. To achieve this for us to be ness at the school so mission Kinsa has they will be able to built a communica- able to track monitor their own tion network that children for signs connects more than a sicknesses.� of illness. It’s just a million users with a better way for us to free app, email alerts be able to track sickNurse Krysta along with the first nesses.� Coon device a parent goes The app tracks to when they suspect symptoms and health Winchester Elementary their child might be history and offers School sick – the thermompersonalized guideter. ance, services and Winchester Elementary School information about illnesses that are Nurse Krysta Coon said a staff circulating nearby to help children, member at school alerted her to and adults get better faster. the free technology available to the The first order of thermometers school and parents. was sent in on Oct. 15 and soon “Our office secretary, Darin thereafter 44 thermometers arrived Buehlig, saw this add on a pop up and were distributed to parents. website while he was researching Because of the success of the first something and he forwarded the round, an extension was granted to link to me,� Coon said. “I sent an Oct. 31 where more than 60 more email saying I would be interested were ordered and should be arrivin more information for our school ing soon. so they emailed me and asked to “It’s been a big hit here and I’m set up a conference call. We quali- super excited about it because there fied and then we set out getting the word out to the parents.� (See, THERMOMETERS, A3)
Submitted photo
WHS DRAMA CLUB TO
PRESENT ALICE IN WONDERLAND The Winchester High School Drama Club will present Alice in Wonderland, Saturday Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. Cast members include, front row, left to right, Ariel Davidson, Dalton Large, Samantha Ayala, Peri Andras, Josey Miller, Jackson Ford, Cole Meyer. Back row, Laurel Albers, Madi Fanning, Zoe Evans, Hannah Smith, Keynan Clevenger, Joely Dolen, Bella Llewellyn, Jackson Dahman, Gabe Drake. Samantha Killebrew is the club sponsor.
Carmen Ensinger/Scott County Times
THE HOCUS POCUS
TRIO
The general opinion was the Hocus Pocus booth was the best decorated booth at the Winchester Trunk or Treat held last week. The event was moved to the old bank building due to in climate weather. Three ladies, Julie Peterson, Tracy Woods and Karen Davis dressed as characters from the movie. Renovations will soon begin on the bank building to turn it into the new city hall.
Winchester JH students participate in ‘Deaf Day’ By CARMEN ENSINGER Scott County Times
A
new class in Winchester this year gives eighth grade students the opportunity to learn American Sign Language. The semester long class teaches the students the basics of sign language, including the alphabet and basic words. The class is taught by Christina Stocker, who is also a special education teacher. “They were looking for an elective for the eighth graders to take and when I got hired, during my interview I mentioned that I could also teach sign language,� Stocker said. “They kind of perked up when I said that and here we are.� American Sign Language is also being taught at the high school this year. “Mrs. Little is teaching it at the high school this year so this course is going to be one of those progressive courses,� Stocker said. “We can introduce them to sign at the junior high level and they can then continue with it through high school.� Stocker has 21 students this semester and will teach the course to the other 21 students next semester. “At the start of the year, we learned the basics, like the letters and numbers,� she said. “As they became a little more proficient, we have been going down to the Pre-K once a week to sign with them. We are also working on a Christmas program for the lower grades where we will sign all the songs.� Last week, the students got to experience what life is like being a deaf person during “Deaf Day�. For the entire day, the students wear ear plugs and must communicate using methods other than speech.
“For the entire day they are not allowed to communicate verbally and so they are forced to find some other way to communicate, such as writing it down,� Stocker said. “Ideally, I would love them to use sign language, but, not everyone understands it. This exercise is a way to show them a little bit of tolerance and empathy towards the deaf community since we have a large deaf community being so close to Jacksonville and the School for the Deaf.�
“This exercise is a way to show them a little bit of tolerance and empathy towards the deaf community.�
Christina Stocker special education teacher teaching sign language
The exercise encompassed not only the sign language class, but all of the other classes the students had. “It started at 8 a.m. and didn’t end until the final bell at 3:20 and while they were in other classes they had to rely on their friends and used the white boards a lot,� Stocker said. “At the end of the day, they told me how frustrating it was. They wanted to say something but they couldn’t get it out because they couldn’t say it.� Testing in the class is not your typical test. “For their test, I will sign the words and they will write them down on a piece of paper so it really tests their receptive skills to know what we are talking about,� Stocker said. “I’ve seen them struggle and I see those “aha� moments when they figure out what I’m saying, especially when I’m signing sentences with multiple words. It’s amazing to see when they (See, DEAF DAY, A2)