The college life — as single parents
A7
www.newstrib.com | Tuesday, November 12, 2019 | 75 cents
A lot of road work is on the way
You can thank Siberia (no, really) for record cold And it’s not even winter yet By the NewsTribune Staff and The Associated Press
NEWSTRIBUNE PHOTO/SCOTT ANDERSON
Contractors work through snowfall on the Route 251 retaining wall project in Peru. Rausch Infrastructure of Des Plaines won the bid for that project, but they don’t handle too much work in the Illinois Valley. The Illinois Department of Transportation projects an estimated of $103.7 million in different projects for La Salle, Bureau and Putnam counties in 2020, which is more than the state has spent in the past two years combined.
Can local contractors handle the demand? By Brett Herrmann
NEWSTRIBUNE REPORTER
The 2020 construction season for Illinois looks to be an ambitious one. The Illinois Department of Transportation’s updated five year plan has about forty different projects lined up for La Salle, Bureau and Putnam counties — valued at an estimated $103.7 million. By contrast, contractors tackled about $72.5 million in local projects over the past two years combined. “I know local contractors are expecting a good year,” said Mike Richetta of Chamlin and Associates, who works in an en-
gineering capacity with multiple area communities. But with more projects on the horizon, are there enough contractors around to handle the work? “If the workload doubles, there could be a problem locally,” Richetta said. Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s Rebuild Illinois program aims to address infrastructure issues with increased spending on projects throughout the state. New revenue from the gas tax increase earlier this year will help fund the increase in projects. The state’s bid qualification process sometimes limits how many contractors can bid on certain work. For example,
when Spring Valley was seeking contractors to repave roads in town earlier this year they had to adjust prequalification limits to allow in more contractors to keep bids competitive. Because the project was using more than 2,000 pounds of asphalt, contractors would have needed to have a certified hot-mix asphalt plant. Only one contractor in the tricounty area has a certified plant. And they also get a lot of the work around here. Advanced Asphalt Co. of Princeton won 20 bids on 42 of the road surface projects for IDOT over the past two years. On seven of those projects, they were the only company to sub-
mit a bid. For local bridge projects, D. Construction of Coal City won nine of the 14 bids in the past two years. Each project had multiple bidders. It’s also not uncommon for local companies to win contracts in their area. Transportation expenses for equipment and materials cost less if the company is close by, allowing them to submit cheaper bids. Advanced Asphalt did not respond to questions on whether they are concerned about the expected increase in projects. But the Illinois Department of Transportation said contractors are not worried about the upcoming workload increase and See IDOT Page A2
Impeachment witness: Ukrainians asked about holdup of aid By Lisa Mascaro and Mary Clare Jalonick ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITERS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The view among the national security officials was unanimous: Military aid to Ukraine should not be stopped. But President Donald Trump’s acting chief of staff thought otherwise. As the aid was being blocked this summer, Ukraine officials began quietly asking the State
TONIGHT Bitterly cold. Weather A8
INDEX Astrology B4 Business B3 Classified B6 Comics B4 Lifestyle A7
Local A3 Lottery A2 Obituaries B5 Sports B1
COMING TOMORROW Established 1851 No. 221 © 2019 est. 1851
BREAKING GROUND The new Bureau County Jail officially gets going
Department about the hold-up. The concern was clear for the young democracy battling an aggressive Russia. “If this were public in Ukraine it would be seen as a reversal of our policy,” said Catherine Croft, the special adviser for Ukraine at State, who fielded the inquiries from the Ukrainians. “This would be a really big deal,” she testified. “It would be a really big deal in Ukraine, and an expression of declining U.S.
support for Ukraine.” Croft’s remarks were among the transcripts released Monday from the House impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. And they begin to chisel away at a key Republican defense of Trump. Allies of the president say Trump did nothing wrong because the Ukrainians never knew the aid was being delayed. Eventually, the White House released its hold and the funds
were sent to the ally. The impeachment inquiry is looking at whether Trump violated his oath of office by holding back the congressionally approved funds while he asked the new Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for a favor— to investigate political rival Joe Biden’s family and the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Transcripts of testimony from closed-door interviews See WITNESS Page A2
Veterans Day is over, but the U.S. flags will fly an extra day in Utica. Are they extending the salute? Not quite. It’s too cold to replace the banners with Christmas décor as workers had hoped. Curt Spayer heads Utica’s maintenance department and today was the supposed to be the day they untangled the Christmas lights, but they’re staying in the boxes until the mercury climbs out of the blue zone. Had he ever seen such a late-fall cold snap? “Not in my time, buddy,” Spayer said. “I’ve seen a little bit of snow on Halloween but that’s about it.” Residents who thought (or hoped) that our white Halloween was a fluke woke today to bitter cold, icy pavement and leftover snow that probably won’t melt until Friday, when the forecast calls for sunshine and a daytime high of 35 degrees. And that’s going to feel downright balmy after today’s frigid temps. Starved Rock Lock and Dam said they recorded an overnight low of 8 degrees and Illinois Valley Regional Airport said the mercury fell to 6 degrees. We’re headed for a high today of just 18 degrees, maybe 20 if we’re lucky. Are those records for Nov. 12? The National Weather Service in Romeoville thinks so. The service only has historic data for Chicago and Rockford, both of which broke their respective all-time marks for this time of year, but one meteorologist said he thinks other annals are being rewritten today. “It’s likely that other areas as well hit records,” meteorologist Kevin Birk said. “I’ve been here in Chicago since 2010 and, no, we’ve not had cold this early since I’ve been here.” Daniel Kasperski can vouch for that. The Oglesby street department superintendent said he can’t remember a year when he was out earlier than this plowing and salting the roads. “We could do without the snow,” he observed, laughing. Winter doesn’t officially start until Dec. 22 but other cities had to dispatch workers to clear snow, slush and ice. Shovels chipped away and spreaders scattered salt near the Peru police station around 8:15 a.m. “It’s freezing, but I’ve got layers on,” said Ashley Kaszynski as she pushed along a salt spreader. The phone at Senica’s Interstate Towing was ringing off the hook this morning, said owner Jeff Senica. “We’ve been quite busy,” Senica said, rattling off a call See COLD Page A2
Lobbying by sitting Illinois lawmakers under scrutiny after attempt to legalize gaming machines By John O’ Connor
AP POLITICAL WRITER
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A federal bribery charge against an Illinois state legislator has led to questions about whether lawmakers should be allowed to lobby other units of government. The federal bribery charge last month against former Rep. Luis Arroyo laid bare the potential ethics tangle. Most states allow lawmakers to lobby outside state government, and Illinois isn’t even the least re-
strictive. Eighteen states, including California, have no restrictions on such lobbying. Arroyo, a Chicago Democrat, is accused of attempting to bribe a senator to support his plan to legalize slotlike “sweepArroyo s t a k e s ” gambling machines. At the time, Arroyo
was registered as a Chicago lobbyist, representing a company that operates the games before the City Council. Such an arrangement can pit loyalties against each other, said David Melton, interim executive director of Reform for Illinois. “There’s an obvious potential for log-rolling in terms of trading favors back and forth — and a dereliction of their exercising good judgment as to what or should or should not be policy — and log-rolling in terms of See LOBBYING Page A2
NEWSTRIBUNE PHOTO/SCOTT ANDERSON
“Baby it’s cold outside.” Eric Bibula, delivery driver for Euclid Beverage, delivers beer to businesses on First Street in La Salle on Tuesday. Single digits were reported across the area this morning.