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Serving Bureau County Since 1847
Saturday, July 12, 2014
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Smile! The city could be watching! Measures being taken at Princeton Recycling Center By Donna Barker dbarker@bcrnews.com
PRINCETON — New signage and updated surveillance equipment can be expected at the Princeton Recycling Center to address the problem of unwanted junk drop-offs.
also on faces of the people to seek out individuals who are not following the rules at the recycling center. In addition to proposing some new signage as well, Clawson also recommended the council consider staffing the recycling center at various times in the next couple months, so residents could have someone to go through their recycling items with them to make sure it is all acceptable.
Those steps are not overly-aggressive but are also not cost-prohibitive, Princeton City Manager Jeff Clawson said at this week’s meeting of the Princeton City Council. The updated technology on the video surveillance cameras would allow for zooming up on license plate numbers and
“We know everyone values the recycling center, but they also have to understand that if we don’t get voluntary compliance, we will have to do something else, which may ultimately include shutting it down during certain hours,” Clawson said. “I think I can speak for the council saying they don’t really want to do that.”
Commissioner Ray Mabry said the city has made some good gains since the council’s last meeting. But still, when he went through the recycling center before Monday’s meeting, there were eight televisions, five computer monitors, six tires, two bags of clothes, a coffeemaker, a lawn fertilizer spreader and garden hoses at the center. In the nearby lawn yard waste pile, there
were tires, a muffler, a bag of concrete mix, and a box of encyclopedias, among other things. The televisions need to be removed from the recycling center and stored elsewhere, so people don’t think it’s an OK drop-off site, Mabry said. If things don’t improve after a couple months of more education and better signage,
Recycling Page 4
100 percent on board County board discusses county administrator position By Donna Barker dbarker@bcrnews.com
PRINCETON — The Bureau County Board needs to be in total agreement before moving ahead with a county administrator search, according to a consultant. At Tuesday’s board meeting, Fees and Salaries Committee Chairman Marshann Entwhistle said the committee met with John Phillips of the Illinois City/ County Management firm, who talked about what the county board needs to have in place before hiring a search firm to actually start the process of finding a suitable applicant for the county administrator position. One of those needed items to have in place, as stated by the consultant, is the county board needs to pass a resolution for the establishment of the county administrator position; it should also describe what exactly would be expected of that person, Entwhistle said. Phillips also stressed the fact the entire county board needs to be on board, 100 percent behind the decision to hire a county administrator, Entwhistle said. This will save the county board from ending up with “egg-on-its-face,” if it changed its mind midstream, the consultant said. No further discussion or action followed Entwhistle’s report on the county administrator position.
Administrator Page 4 Year 168 No. 83 One Section - 16 Pages
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BCR photo/Becky Kramer
Wyanet royalty crowned Wyanet Festival Queen Payton Glafka (center) is pictured with second runner-up Kaylee Towne (left) and first runner-up Stephanie Christian. The annual Wyanet Festival kicked off Thursday evening with the queen contest and other events. It runs through today, Saturday, with plenty of fun and a parade down Main Street. See more Wyanet Festival photos on Page 2.
Offering a ‘Second Helping?’ Project Success develops program to assist summer hunger By Goldie Currie gcurrie@bcrnews.com
SPRING VALLEY — Summer is a challenging time for local food pantries. Patrons who have school-aged children are in greater need, as they struggle to keep their children, who are home from school all day, fed during summer break.
Project Success, which runs the Hall Township Food Pantry, saw and heard these needs and decided to take action this summer with a new program, Second Helpings, to assist those struggling to make ends meet in the summer. The program kicked off in June and allows families with schoolaged children (ages 4-17) to visit the food pantry a second time
during the month. Usually, families are allowed to visit the pantry once every 30 days, but families who qualify get a pass to return two weeks after their monthly visit for a “second helping.” The second pass only applies to food — beauty and household shelf items do not apply. The program ends in August. Jan Martin, Project Success of Eastern Bureau County executive director, was thrilled to announce how well the program has been going and how grateful she is for all community donations that has
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made this opportunity possible. “The morale with the patrons is very high. They are so exited they don’t have to wait that extra week to come back to the pantry. It’s a real stress reliever for them,” she said. Margarita Morales of DePue is one who has taken advantage of the Second Helpings program. With four children at home in the summertime, it’s hard to keep the refrigerator and pantry shelves stocked.
Second Helpings Page 4
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www.simplythefinest.net 140 N. 6th St., Princeton • 815-875-6600 3230 Becker Drive, Peru • 815-224-2200