There’s nothing better in October than German food
L-P volleyball continues to roll A3
A7
www.newstrib.com | Wednesday, October 9, 2019 | 75 cents
Give your canned goods to food pantries… Plan gels for new jail Bureau County Board OKs $11.9 million contract after tweaking plans
Got any spare cans of food? Give them to brick-and-mortar food pantries like Project Success, where Molly Thrasher sorts through canned goods at the Hall Township Food Pantry in Spring Valley. Large operations like this can help families and people with kitchens prepare healthy meals at home; but a growing number of homeless without kitchens are in need of ready-toeat meals and these are best made available through churches and micro-pantries or help-yourself cabinets.
By Goldie Rapp SHAW MEDIA
PRINCETON — With plans revised and construction of an addition eliminated, Bureau County Board voted unanimously Tuesday to hire a contractor to create a new sheriff’s office and jail in an existing building. When bids for the new law enforcement center on the north side of Princeton came in much higher than expected last month, project plans were tweaked and the venture was rebid. Tuesday, Bob Albrecht, a member of the county board building and grounds committee, reported the lowest bid, from Vissering Construction of Streator, came in at $11.9 million. The cost is slightly more than the county wanted to spend. However, no longer requiring an addition onto the former Bureau County Republican building, the bid still came in much lower than the original bids that ranged from $17 million to $19 million. Following the meeting, Bureau County Sheriff Jim Reed expressed his enthusiasm to move forward with the project. Reed said the idea of a new jail has been discussed for many years and by several boards, but until now has never come to fruition. He said a groundbreaking date will be scheduled — if weather permits, sometime this fall. The reasons for the original bids being so high for this project were discussed last month by Henry Pittner, representative of the architecture firm BKV Group, which is overseeing this project. Those reasons included inflation, increased labor costs and See JAIL Page A3
TONIGHT Clear and mild. Weather A8
INDEX Astrology B4 Business B3 Classified B6 Comics B4 Dining A3
Entertainment A3 Lifestyle A7 Local A3 Lottery A2 Obituaries B5
COMING TOMORROW Established 1851 No. 198 © 2019 est. 1851
TEENS AND STRESS What some parents — and kids — are doing about it
NEWSTRIBUNE PHOTO/ SCOTT ANDERSON
…and not to the help-yourself bins No homes, no kitchens: Ready-to-eat meals are in demand By Tom Collins
NEWSTRIBUNE SENIOR REPORTER
It’s called the “Blessing Box” and you can help yourself. Eloide Pinter fills it with non-perishable foods and then leaves it open to anyone who comes to St. John’s Lutheran Church looking for a bite to eat. But Pinter’s daily inventory revealed a disturbing trend: Readyto-eat foods are snatched up more quickly than canned goods that must be mixed, prepared and cooked. It tells her there’s an increase in homeless people with no kitchens or appliances to prepare food themselves. “The easy, pre-packaged stuff you can just pop in a microwave goes faster than the canned vegetables like peas,” said Pinter, church secretary at St. John’s in Peru. “We have a security camera and we see a variety of people show up. It’s all ages.” Churches, food pantries and those who manage self-help kiosks or “micro-pantries” all agree homelessness is on the rise and those without kitchens are
spurning food donations that require any substantial preparation. And that’s putting something of a strain on the charitable organizations most likely to get walk-ins and unannounced visits by the homeless. Churches and micro-pantries need things like snack packs of cheese and crackers, sealed fruit cups or a microwavable pasta dishes. Boxes of stovetop macaroni and canned goods, on the other hand, will be politely declined. One local priest is trying to get his flock to reserve easy-to-open foods for the parish office and to send the rest to the nearest food pantry. The Very Rev. Paul Carlson runs the La Salle Catholic Parishes and doesn’t need canned vegetables for the parish office he needs ready-to-eat meals for the homeless who knock on his door seeking food donations. “The best things are the light things,” Carlson explained. See FOOD Page A2
NEWSTRIBUNE PHOTO/SCOTT ANDERSON
Planning on donating to a micro-pantry like the one outside St. John’s Lutheran Church in Peru? Make sure it’s something people can open and heat in a microwave. Brick-and-mortar food pantries still need a wide variety of food donations but the help-yourself kiosks attract homeless without kitchens to cook simple meals. Church secretary Eloide Pinter holds up the two most-needed products: Microwavable, single-serve containers or cans with pop-tops.
Utica to act on subdivision road’s drainage issues By Steve Stout
cepted a bid Tuesday on repairs to address the issue. The lowest of two bids — reResponding to drainage and ceived at $6,155 from Wozniak pavement problems on 2856th Concrete Finishing — was apRoad, Utica village trustees ac- proved by the board following a FOR SHAW MEDIA
FREE SKIN CANCER SCREENING
LAST ONE OF THE YEAR!
SATURDAY, OCT 12TH 8AM - 12PM NO APPOINTMENT NEEDED Coffee & donuts provided
detailed explanation of needed road and ditch repairs by Public Works Director Curt Spayer. The board accepted Spayer’s assessment that repairs to the problem would prevent a bigger
problem in the future on that small stretch of street in a quiet north-side neighborhood. “It’s being proactive,” Spayer said. See UTICA Page A2
IF YOU CAN SPOT IT, YOU CAN STOP IT! 2200 MARQUETTE ROAD, PERU • 815.224.7400