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Tuesday, March 8, 2016
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Governor uses a zero to show ag is No. 1 Ag education budget is latest to enter political combine By Dave Cook dcook@bcrnews.com
SPRINGFIELD — Agriculture is at the core of the state. The farms dotting our landscape are homes to families and the children raised there are where the majority of future farmers originate. To help them on their way, 321 schools in the state offer ag education programs according to the Illinois FFA. Gov. Bruce Rauner has proposed eliminating the budget for these programs
despite often speaking of how important agriculture is to Illinois. While talking about job opportunities in agriculture to more than 200 high school students at the Farm Progress Show in Decatur last September, Rauner was quoted by Bloomington’s Pantagraph as saying, “Agriculture is the backbone of the Illinois economy and the No. 1 engine for our prosperity in the future. I’m all in to help farmers any way I can.”
The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) recommends a budget of $3 million for the proposed budget’s agriculture education line item. It’s currently at $1.8 million, and Rauner proposes lowering it to zero even though agriculture creates up to a quarter of the state’s employment opportunities. Princeton High School Ag teacher, Dan Foes said, “I think it’s a ridiculous proposal. Illinois has been one of the leading states in agriculture for many years and will be for many more. I truly believe that agriculture is the backbone of our
state.” Students and educators from across the state recently addressed this issue while visiting Springfield as part of the annual Illinois Agriculture Legislative Day. Students from the Putnam County FFA were able to spend time with State Sen. Sue Rezin and discuss the importance of agriculture in our local school districts. Putnam County School Board member Laurie Glenn said, “I think it was a very beneficial experience for our students. They were able to meet and talk to Sen. Rezin on a very casual basis. I think this
will help them in the future to be able to feel like they can voice their opinions on issues. They also got to hear how some of the decisions are made. The farmers of tomorrow are going to have to be much better communicators than my generation. They will need to do a better job of telling agriculture’s story to the public.” Putnam County High School freshman and FFA member Michael Schrowang said, “When talking with Sue Rezin we discussed many topics. We talked about what is happening to the ag funding and what she is doing to
contribute help. I think events like this are important because it gives students the chance to talk to their state representatives about what we have been doing for our community and the leadership skills we’ve gained. Cutting funding to ag programs will make getting supplies very difficult and making any improvements almost impossible.” Rezin said, “I think the FFA is incredibly important, not only to the ag community, but more importantly to develop leaders in our state and within our
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Two-wheeled weather will soon arrive
BCR photo/Goldie Rapp
Darius Miller Park in Princeton currently sits empty, but plans for a new park design are in full swing. A design team is working to tweak a plan that fits the size of the park, adds beauty to its surroundings and blends in with the architecture of the buildings on the north side of the city.
A walk in the park ... Committee works to revamp Princeton’s Darius Miller Park By Goldie Rapp grapp@bcrnews.com
BCR photo/Dave Cook
Motorcyclists visiting the Bureau County Fairgrounds this weekend browsed the offerings at the Walneck’s Motorcycle Swap Meet in preparation for the warmer weather every rider is anticipating. Vendors had displays of clothing, accessories, memorabilia, parts, projects and complete motorcycles. This classic BMW with side car was for sale and drew the gaze of many as they passed.
Blue ribbons — a symbol to embrace Youth Service Bureau fights to stop child abuse By E ric E ngel eengel@bcrnews.com
Through efforts of the Youth Service Bureau (YSB) of Illinois Valley out of Ottawa, April will be declared Child Abuse Prevention Month by community leaders throughout the area. The YSB has developed proclamations to be read and signed in prominent cities throughout Northern Illinois to promote child abuse prevention under an even finer lens than normal. These efforts are aimed at giving a voice to children who have lost theirs
because of an abusive situation, and to promote a bright future for these youth who oftentimes come to expect to be treated poorly. According to a YSB press release, more than 100,000 cases of child abuse were reported in Illinois in 2014, with it being noted those numbers only reflect reported cases. By bringing this subject further into the forefront of discussion, the YSB is hoping to accomplish better community recognition and engagement on every possible level. The YSB will be distributing baskets of blue ribbon pins — which symbolize child abuse prevention — to area businesses, and they encourage everyone to wear them and share them with their
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PRINCETON — Although Darius Miller Park continues to sit empty, redesign plans for the space are in full swing. Since September, the park planning committee has been holding meetings a couple times each month to discuss a new face for the park. The committee is led by Laurie Bonucci and Cliff Cartwright; Cartwright is the owner of Bryant Nurseries in Princeton. During the first meetings, committee members got a chance to talk about the history of the park and come up with a mission of what their job for Darius Miller would entail. Once the mission was set, ideas on what to do with the park were jotted down and discussed further. Bonucci said ideas
ranged from big and bold to more simple changes. There was a lot of talk about incorporating a train theme in the space to help tie in the nearby train depot. In November, the park planning committee formed a subcommittee, which was tasked with taking the design ideas discussed and putting them on paper. The design team is made up of Cartwright, Dave Hornbaker, Sally Zearing and Eric Sanders. The team of four brought their first design to the full park planning committee in January, where Bonucci said members had the chance to talk about what they felt should be included and not included in the design. The design team was sent back to the drawing board and is now working on its next design.
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