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Serving Bureau County Since 1847
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
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New $$$ for courthouse security New legislation will allow increase of fees for courthouse security By Goldie Rapp grapp@bcrnews.com
PRINCETON — New legislation signed last week will help local counties ensure their courthouses are up to par on all
safety needs. Currently, there is a $25 court fee that is earmarked for court security, however, the fee hasn’t increased since 2003, according to State Rep. Don Moffitt, the measure’s chief House sponsor. The court security fee is
charged to each party in each civil case or at a judgment against a defendant in a criminal, local, traffic or conservation case. The money must be spent to address the costs of providing court security. The new Senate bill now allows local counties to undertake a comprehensive cost study to determine what, it any increase would be needed to fund manpower, as well as new screen-
ing and scanning technology required to ensure safety. “I’m sad to say that violent incidents in public places across the country have increased in the past decade. Our local county boards need to have options to fund additional manpower and equipment if necessary to ensure the safety of everyone in and out of courthouse,” Moffitt said. Dale Anderson, Bureau Coun-
ty Board chairman, confirmed the county board will be looking into this new opportunity. Anderson said Bureau County Sheriff Jim Reed had mentioned the bill before it was signed into law and was pleased to see it had passed. Anderson said the board will look into what the cost study procedure is to see how they
Courthouse Page 3
The strong arm of the law
Attention is paid to school bus stop arms and how to crack down on fly-by offenders By Eric Engel eengel@bcrnews.com
PRINCETON — If you run a stop sign without repercussion, you might save a few seconds in your travels, but if you obey the stop arm each time you see a school bus, you just might save a life. Princeton Elementary School Superintendent Tim Smith indicated people disregard school bus stop arms far too frequently, and the action affects everyone involved with the situation. “People need to be very attentive and recognize the bus could stop at any point, instead of being aggressive,” said Smith, who feels that most people care about children, so the problem is their lack of concentration while driving. Princeton Police Chief Tom Root said blowing past the stop arm on a bus is a serious offense regardless of how often it occurs. “A driver needs to stop any time they see the arm out. The reason they don’t is they aren’t
Bus safety Page 3
BCR photo/Mike Vaughn
No stick in the mud here The MudCross Challenge, in support of the Perry Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, was Saturday, Aug. 8, at the Sunset Ridge Moto-Cross Track in Walnut. Participants weren’t afraid to get dirty as they made their way through the course. For more photos from the MudCross Challenge, see Page 2.
Grown from a mother’s love Healthy Gardening project ripens into a bountiful harvest for all involved By Dave Cook dcook@bcrnews.com
STANDARD — As she tells the origin story of the Healthy Gardening project, powerful emotions are at work just beneath the surface. They often break
through, much like a seed breaking through the soil toward the sunlight. Barb Dahlbach of Toluca, who has been a master gardener for 20 years with Marshall and Putnam counties, has a deeply personal connection to this project. “I have a young daughter who
married a man with cerebral palsy, and they were having a hard time making it. She wanted, for her birthday, containers, plants, seeds and soil, so she could grow things at the apartment she was living in, so she could feed her daughter healthy food. I figured she couldn’t be the only one who had the same kind of problems. Even though it is a lot cheaper to buy the plants and have a garden, when you don’t have any money,
it’s impossible to do. It gave us the idea to start working on buying plants and seeds and giving them to people who use the food pantries or other people who need help, and to teach them to how to do it,” said Dahlbach. Working with a team of other master gardeners and the University of Illinois Extension office, the Healthy Gardening project has been steadily growing like a vine for the past three years. They give
away tomato and green pepper plants, onion sets, seeds, containers and soil in order to get people the basics of a home garden. And, just as important, they provide help throughout the entire season to ensure the success of those new gardens. “We see, when we’re passing out the items, people who are almost shy, they feel bad about
Gardening Page 4
Year 169 No. 96 One Section - 16 Pages
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