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Serving Bureau County Since 1847
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
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Winter health, road fitness Fogle: ‘Get back on the horse’ By Donna Barker dbarker@bcrnews.com
PRINCETON — This year’s winter snow conditions, which seem to be never-ending, have brought challenges not only to Bureau County area drivers but also to the general fitness of area residents.
Benjamin Fogle, a health educator with the Bureau/Putnam County Health Department, said everyone is subject to the impact of the weather, but the snow days especially make it difficult at times for people to get around safely and to get the physical activity they need.
“It’s difficult to maintain a healthy balance during these times,” Fogle said using a healthy lifestyle and icy road analogy to stress his point. “The health department wants to remind people that real balance is an ongoing process. Envision maneuvering icy roads. At any one point you may be outside the lines or off the road a
little, but you continuously make the course corrections required to stay on route to your destination.” Both the Center for Disease Control and the American College of Sports Medicine recommend adults get 150 minutes or two and onehalf hours of moderate intensity physical activity per week, Fogle said.
For children and young people under the age of 18, the recommendation is at least 60 minutes of physical activities per day. However, the snow sends most everyone’s regular physical activities indoors, which is limiting for both adults and children. Children may find their healthy physical activities are often too
large and rambunctious for the house, and they may become inactive at various times, even days at a time, he said. His recommendation is to “get back on the horse” and take a walk, visit the gym, jump-start efforts and remember that every choice matters, Fogle said.
See Health Page 2
Oh, deer! IDNR looks to maintain or increase deer population By Donna Barker dbarker@bcrnews.com
PRINCETON — Bureau County deer hunters, as well as those in 40 other Illinois counties, could see a decrease in the number of deer hunting permits granted for the 2014-15 year by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). IDNR Director Marc Miller said the possible decrease in the number of granted deer permits would reflect a revision of deer population objectives for the state. That revision follows a two-year review of Illinois deer management efforts, taking into account such factors as automobile/ car crashes and hunting statistics, he said. “The IDNR manages deer by county and state population goals, and as a result of our two-year review, we’re making changes for many counties. In these counties our strategy is shifting from deer herd reduction to maintaining or increasing deer populations,” Miller said. Natural resource biologists have determined deer population goals can now be increased in those affected counties, while still keeping the overall numbers at levels which will reduce conflicts between deer and people, such as automobile/deer accidents and farm crop damages, Miller said.
See Deer Page 2
BCR photo/Daniel Acker
And the winners are ... Prairie Arts Council secretary and 2014 Gala Chair Sue Garvin (left) shares a laugh with artist O.V. “Verne” Shaffer (center), recipient of the fifth annual PAC Lifetime Achievement in the Arts Award, and Julia McCutchan, retired PAC board member and recipient of a special Patron of the Arts award, during the PAC Gala at a Hundred Acres Orchard in Princeton. About 125 people attended the annual event, “An Evening of Dance,” which also featured a silent auction and music by Ivory Plus.
St. Patrick’s is on its own Sheffield parish separates from Sacred Heart By Goldie Currie gcurrie@bcrnews.com
SHEFFIELD — On Feb. 5, St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Sheffield became unlinked from Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Annawan and is now a stand-alone parish. The Rev. Mark Miller will now serve St. Patrick’s full time and has moved into the rectory in Sheffield.
For the most part, this comes as a relief for parishioners, as it will avoid the possible decision of merging with Sacred Heart. But with a small parish made up of only about 145 families, it comes as an unusual decision from the bishop. “It’s unusual for one small parish to pay for all the expenses, and because there are now fewer priests,” explained Miller. “But the level of participation and Sunday giving enables this parish to operate and pay for all it bills on its own.” In the last couple years there’s been fear the bishop would decide to merge Sacred Heart and St. Patrick’s. Miller explained
with that option, the parishes would become one and have two separate sites. “Instead of two separate parishes linked together, there was going to be one parish with a new name with St. Patrick’s still on this building,” he said. “It would have been disheartening for the people a little bit, but it would have required the people here to be supporting another church 10 miles away.” Not only is the Sunday giving less in Annawan, but there are also more bills with the larger church, according to Miller. The merge could have potentially left Sheffield
See Parish Page 4
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