Single Copy Cost 50¢ Volume 147 No. 27
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Wednesday, March 4, 2015
What happened to the minimum wage hike? Here we go again By Ken Schroeder
kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com
Just more than a year ago, the topic of the day was an increase in the Illinois minimum wage. On Feb. 5, 2014, HB 4733 was introduced to the Illinois House of Representatives. It would raise the state’s minimum wage throughout the course of the next
five years to $11 an hour from the current $8.25 an hour. The measure appeared in a non-binding vote on the November 2014 ballot where Illinois voters were in favor of the proposal at a 2-1 ratio. Yet, a year after the introduction of the bill, it has yet to be passed, and is essentially back at Square 1. According to the status page at the Illinois General Assembly website for HB 4733, the mini-
mum wage hike was approved by the House of Representatives on April 1 by an 89 to 24 vote. From there, it went to the Senate on April 2 for its first reading — a bill is read in each house three times before it is passed or dropped — then went to the assignments committee. The bill was passed between the assignments and the executive committees for the next two months a total of six times before disappearing. The bill resurfaced
once on July 1 before disappearing again until Nov. 18, when it was passed to the Committee on State Government and Veterans Affairs. The bill received its second reading on Nov. 19, more than seven months after it was introduced to the Senate. Two weeks and a few amendments later, HB 4733 was passed by the Senate on Dec. 4, 2014, with a vote of 39 to 18. However, just because both
houses passed it does not make the bill a law. By Illinois law, the bill goes back to its originating body — in this case, the House of Representatives — for a chance to review the amendments tacked on by the other voting body. If the House doesn’t like the amendments, changes are made, and it goes back to the Senate and so on and so forth until both houses agree, and it
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More land for Dixon Refuge By Ken Schroeder
kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com
HENNEPIN — The borders of the Dixon Waterfowl Refuge are inching their way south on Route 26. The Wetlands Initiative recently acquired 417 acres of land along the southeastern border to add to the refuge. The purchase brings the refuge’s total area to more than 3,000, and was closed on Dec. 17, 2014. The land was previously owned by Vulcan Lands, Inc., which had leasing more than half of the area for farming. TWI purchased the land for $1.575 million, well below the appraised value of $2.164 million. The purchase was made possible by grants from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, the Grand Victoria Foundation and the Oberweiler Foundation, as well as a bridge loan from The Conservation Fund. Only 283 acres will be added to the refuge. The remaining 134 acres will be sold to help pay off the bridge loan and begin restoration on the new refuge land. Sale of the 134 acres will be subject to a permanent conservation easement that will prohibit mining and multiple home development.
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PCR photo/Ken Schroeder
Corraling their lessons Putnam County Primary School kindergarteners wait their turn while Yesenia Avila throws a hoop in order to rope a cow during the school’s annual Kinder Rodeo event. The event is the end of a cross-curriculum project that teaches students about the west and skills they learn in school that cowboys use.
Putnam County School Board talks teacher retirement By Dixie Schroeder
dschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com
GRANVILLE — A special meeting of the Putnam County School Board was held Monday, Feb. 23. The special meeting replaced the regular monthly meeting on Monday, Feb. 16 where the board did not have a quorum. The board learned the state of Illinois is still behind on its Vol. 147 No. 27 One Section - 16 Pages
© The Putnam County Record
funding to the district. Currently the state owes the early childhood fund $55,176 and the special education fund $96,683. The transportation fund is still owed $98,607 and the lunch fund $173 for a total of $250,639. Also, the board accepted the retirement of Putnam County High School guidance counselor Steve Johnson and science teacher Dave Myers. The retirements will be at the end of the
2018-19 school year. Putnam County School Superintendent Jay McCracken said the board will extend an early retirement option to Putnam County teachers for a while. “The board has been very kind and decided to allow anyone who is seeking to retire within the law of this CBA (collective bargaining agreement) until March 1 ... we want to get the memo out to the entire staff so
that they know ... We are going to give them this window period to get that into us,” he said. “In the last contract we had, they had to retire at the earliest possible time to receive the district incentive which is currently 4 or 5 percent. If they do not do this within the earliest possible time, then they would not be able to receive that.” Summer school for the 2014-15 school year has been
approved for the month of June at the high school. The annual jump start program, held the two weeks before school starts for the 2015-16 school year, was also approved. District media director Annette Davis gave her annual presentation at the informal Feb. 16 meeting. This presentation is given to coincide with a grant the Putnam County School District receives each year.