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www.newstrib.com | Tuesday, October 8, 2019 | 75 cents
Did Princeton council votes cause the backup in your basement? Pot dispensary, building sale at issue
homeowners reported flooding and backup in their basements. In the Facebook post, Quiram referred to two city council members who voted against new revenue opportunities that could have impacted the city’s ability to carry out more sanitary sewer projects — one of those being when the council turned down
strain on the city council. Council member Ray Mabry publicly challenged Mayor Joel Quiram during Monday’s regular meeting about Facebook comBy Goldie Rapp ments he wrote on his mayor SHAW MEDIA page following votes that afPRINCETON — The heavy fected the city’s sanitary sewer rainfall Princeton endured two system. During heavy rain in late weeks ago seems to have put a September, dozens of Princeton
selling the former recycling building to Promier Products. In another case, city council members voted against a 3% tax on gross sales on marijuana if a dispensary was to locate to Princeton. Both instances target Mabry’s voting record. Mabry asked Quiram to re-
Stopping the spread
move the comment from his Facebook as the part where Quiram conveyed council members turned their backs on new viable businesses did not convey the entire truth. “I think I’ve gotten tagged wrong on this, that you feel I’m not trying to sell that building or See PRINCETON Page A4
Oglesby votes to boost pay for city’s electrical linemen By Tom Collins
NEWSTRIBUNE SENIOR REPORTER
NEWSTRIBUNE PHOTO/BRETT HERRMANN
Dean Colmone takes aim with his bow in rural Spring Valley during the first week of archery deer season. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is looking to get more archers to test their deer for Chronic Wasting Disease. The more deer tested, the better the state can manage the spread of the disease.
State wants more CWD testing from archers By Brett Herrmann
NEWSTRIBUNE REPORTER
It was a wet weekend, and a little warm too. The vegetation was still green and overgrown, limiting how far you could see from a perch 15 feet in the air. But it was deer hunting season. Oct. 1 marked the start of archery season for deer hunting in Illinois. For Dean Colmone, it was a fruitless weekend on his property in rural Spring Valley, but the thrill was still enough to get him up in a tree stand for a chance to fill his freezer with meat and do his part to prevent overpopulation. “When you’re in a tree stand and that deer walks by, your heart is pounding,” he said. “The day I’m in a tree stand and a deer walks by and my heart is not racing is the day I’ll stop deer hunting.”
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The annual hunt helps control the state’s deer population, which also cuts down on the number of deer strikes on local roads and helps control disease among the deer population. And one ongoing battle the state of Illinois is still fighting is stopping the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease. “We’re checking a lot of deer. We’re checking thousands of samples,” said Bob Massey, wildlife disease specialist for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. And the state is looking for more participation from hunters to help limit the spread. CWD BACKGROUND The first deer to test positive for CWD in Illinois occurred in 2002 in Boone County east of Rockford. By the 2006-2007 hunting season, the disease had spread to La Salle County.
been reported and a majority of the infected sections are between Ottawa and Peru on the south side of the Illinois River with a smattering of sections along the Vermilion River and Covel Creek. The highest concentrations of infected areas are in counties near the Wisconsin border. DeKalb, Kane, Kendall, Grundy and Livingston counties all have shown positive tests while Bureau, Putnam, Marshall and Lee counties have not. The spread of the virus has been limited to northern Illinois, with La Salle County being one of the furthest points south showing infection. Massey said the infection rate in Illinois has bumped up slightly in recent WHERE ARE THEY TESTING years but is still far lower comPOSITIVE? The Illinois Department of pared to Wisconsin to the north. “They’re getting infection rates Natural Resources most up-todate map shows several secSee DEER Page A3 tions where CWD deer have Chronic Wasting is a fatal disease that affects the brain and spinal cord in deer, elk and moose. Infected deer are sometimes referred to as “zombie deer” since the symptoms include lack of coordination and a lack of fear of people. Through the 2017-2018 hunting season, 736 deer have tested positive for CWD in Illinois with 27 of those positive tests being from deer killed in La Salle County, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources annual report on CWD. Bureau and Putnam counties have never had a positive test.
Oglesby needs journeyman linemen to keep its lights burning, and that means giving them more money. Monday, the Oglesby City Council placed on file a measure to boost what its pays linemen, from $27 per hour to $32 per hour once the ordinance takes effect (likely at its Oct. 21 meeting) and then to $35 per hour after April 2020. The vote was 5-0. Mayor Dom Rivara has for some time lamented that the city cannot attract experienced help because of a disparity in wages, noting that construction jobs pay $52 per hour while the utilities routinely pay north of $40 per hour. “We’ve got to have the people to do the work to keep your lights on,” he said. Rivara noted the need is doubly urgent because of Green Thumb Industries’ coming $10.5 million expansion, which will in turn boost the demand for city-generated power. The cannabis grower recently announced its plans to expand its Oglesby growing facility and add dozens of new jobs. Besides adding to the city’s tax base, Rivara said he anticipates GTI will boost the city’s electric revenue “significantly.” Separately, the city council placed on file a modification to its public comment rules. Once enacted, the council can halt any speaker after five minutes. “We’re not trying to short anybody,” Rivara said. “It’s fair and it’s a way to control the meeting.” The vote to place the measure on file was 4-1, with commissioner Jim Cullinan voting no. Cullinan said the vote was premature and demands additional study. Also, bid letting begins soon on See OGLESBY Page A2
Book a visit to the Rock? Reservations worked at other parks By Tom Collins
NEWSTRIBUNE SENIOR REPORTER
Will you have to make an appointment to go to Starved Rock? You won’t have to book a visit in 2019, but Springfield may consider it in years to come. Northern Illinois University issued a report following extensive study with Starved Rock Lodge and with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The bottom line is researchers at NIU’s Center for
Governmental Studies dismissed any talk of discouraging visits to Starved Rock. Instead, NIU thinks the lodge and the state should embrace crowd-management measures used in other states. Kerry Novak is complex superintendent for Starved Rock and Matthiessen state parks and one idea that has piqued his curiosity is a booking system. He recently visited Muir Woods, north of San Francisco, and had to book a two-hour window for See ROCK Page A2
PHOTO FOR THE NEWSTRIBUNE/JEN HEREDIA
No, you don’t need an appointment to visit Starved Rock now, but booking times have been discussed as a way to manage crowds. Researchers at Northern Illinois University say there are crowd-management measures that should be considered Here, Hikers climb down a set of stairs behind Staved Rock Lodge during the 10th annual Hike for a Cure.