1 Front Volume 140 No. 18
Friday, June 28, 2013
The Tonica News
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Tick ... tick ... tick Lostant school board looks for flooding answers By Ken Schroeder news@tonicanews.com
LOSTANT – In a marathon meeting on June 24 that included an executive session lasting nearly four hours, the Lostant Grade School board discussed basement flooding issues that have plagued
the school for some time. School architect Bob Johnson talked about options that were presented at the last meeting and his current recommendations. “Last month, one thing we talked was a French drain constructed in the courtyard,” Johnson said.
“I came out here with our engineer. We talked about that some more and decided this was not an idea that was worthwhile.” A French drain is a sloped trench filled with gravel and a pipe to divert water away from a building’s foun-
dation. Instead, Johnson presented the board with two different possibilities for alleviating the problem. The first option would be to add a new concrete storm sewer basin on the west side of the school courtyard which would connect with an already existing 8-inch sewer drain.
“There are some problems with that,” Johnson said. “First of all, you’ve got a small pond that has to be eliminated. There’s a wood storage shed that would have to be moved. And the equipment that would be needed to do the work would have to be lifted over the courtyard passageway into the courtyard.”
The alternative plan would run a 3-inch pipe north front the existing sump pump to a storm sewer manhole located just north of the building. This plan would require removal and replacement of a sidewalk west of the building.
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TGS considers storage of emails By Barb Kromphardt bkromphardt@tonicanews.com
TONICA – The Tonica Grade School board took steps at its meeting June 19 to store its email communications. The board held the first reading of a board policy that would call for emails to be archived. Superintendent John Suarez said the district currently has no policy regarding the archiving of emails, and the policy under consideration would determine which emails to save, which do not need to be saved, and how to dispose of emails that don’t need to be saved. “If the district is sued or a Freedom of Information Act request filed, we have to have a policy in place to retain emails,” Suarez said. In 2006, the Supreme Court mandated for the storage of electronic records and the need to implement an email archiving system. The 2006 amendment to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure requires that schools and other public entities be able to produce electronically stored information from staff members, such as email and other digital communications, during the “discovery process” in lawsuits. “This is the law,” Suarez said. “This is something we need to abide by.” The board will vote on the policy following a second reading at its July board meeting.
“We don’t want students submitting any homework with a personal email address. We have to follow the law.” John Suarez
Until then, the board, on a split vote, approved of a system to archive the emails. The board approved the use of Google Vault for the 2013-14 school year, at a cost of $625 per year. Suarez said the system will save emails and have a searchable data base. Suarez said the staff and all students would switch to Google email accounts, or Gmail. Students would use this account instead of any personal accounts. “We don’t want students submitting any homework with a personal email address,” he said. “We have to follow the law.” Some board members questioned approving the Google Vault program before officially adopting the board policy. The motion passed on a 4-2 vote, with board members Brian Marcinkus and Dusty Freeman voting against the measure. Board member Regan Sluder was absent.
Tonica News photo/Ken Schroeder
Learning about fire Lostant librarian Chris Hubbard shows some area children the proper way to build a fire earlier this month. Hubbard also taught the children about fire safety before ending the day with banana boats. Watch the Tonica News for more information about area library summer programs.
IV Alzheimer’s Group takes new direction By Ken Schroeder kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com
PERU – Due to conflicting views of how to serve the needs of the Illinois Valley and its residents, the Illinois Valley Alzheimer’s Group has severed ties with the Peoria Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association and will be providing its services locally. “There were ways we wanted to spend our money. We wanted to
give $2,400 to research, but they wouldn’t allow us to,” said Peg Gonet, support group facilitator. “It’s been kind of a, ‘They need us and our funding, but they won’t help us.’ This has been a problem for us for the last year.” As a result of the break, the funding that the IVAG receives from donations and events will stay in the Illinois Valley to provide assistance for local residents.
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Vol. 140 No. 18 One Section - 8 Pages
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Many of the local volunteers of the IVAG have been working with the organization since 2000. Most started as the planning group of the Illinois Valley Memory Walk, a fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Association. This group planned several additional fundraisers throughout the year, including the Boo Milby Memory Run which more than doubled the income of the Alzheimer’s Association that came from
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the Illinois Valley. “The Memory Walk itself only made about $7,500 the first year I was involved. After Joanne Milby organized the 5K run in honor of her husband, that amount tripled,” said Kelly Klobucher, former Memory Walk coordinator. “This effort was independent for the association, but the Milby family generously donated the entire
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