1 Front Volume 140 No. 49
Friday, January 31, 2014
The Tonica News
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Traffic fatalities down in LaSalle County Percentages up nationwide By Ken Schroeder news@tonicanews.com
OTTAWA — Traffic fatalities have increased nationwide during 2012 and 2013, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
While final statistics are not available for 2013, Illinois fatalities increased in 2013 by 2.5 percent when compared to the same time in 2012. Preliminary numbers have Illinois vehicle fatalities at 950 for 2013. The amount is
20 more than through the same period during the previous year. Locally, traffic fatalities are down, said LaSalle County Coroner Jody Bernard. “Our traffic fatalities for 2012 were at one of the lowest levels
we’ve ever seen in our county,” Bernard said. “We had 12 fatalities in 2012. We had 13 fatalities in 2013. Up until 2010, we averaged 25 traffic fatalities a year.” Illinois drunk driving fatalities are up 15 percent from 2011. That’s well above the national average. In 2011 the
number of fatalities was 278. That number climbed in 2012 to 321. Nationwide the number of drunk driving fatalities increased 4.6 percent with 2011 fatalities at 9,865 and 10,322 fatalities in 2012. LaSalle County tallied three drunk driver fatalities during 2012.
Only two were noted in 2013. The Illinois Department of Transportation shows that 10 people have died in fatal crashes last year during the 2013 holiday season on Illinois roads. Of the 10 people, two of the fatalities involved a driver who had been drinking.
Good news, bad news for LGS By Ken Schroeder news@tonicanews.com
LOSTANT – The Lostant Grade School Board had its monthly meeting on Jan. 22, and heard some good news and some bad news concerning the school’s budget. Superintendent Sandra Malahy told the board revenues and expenditures are as projected by the school budget proposed for the year. The school is running right on target for the school year financially. Malahy also said a review of the budget with state accountants showed the budget is as tight as possible, with the only way to cut costs being eliminating positions. While the board would like to cut expenses further, Malahy said that couldn’t be done, since there are already only eight full-time teachers on staff. In other action, the board: • Heard from Malahy regarding recent updates on the Core Curriculum. Malahy said many schools are having difficulty making lesson plans, since the standards for the new program are rolling out very slowly. Teachers do not have enough information yet to totally understand the new curriculum. • Accepted the bid from Grainco for gas usage for
See LGS Page 3 Vol. 140 No. 49 One Section - 8 Pages
Tonica News photo/Dixie Schroeder
Marshall Logue, vice president of the Washington Ill. RC Flyers Club, points to his remote-controlled airplane during a recent meeting at the Lostant Grade School gym.
No shortage of planes at LGS Remote-controlled flyers land in Lostant By Ken Schroeder news@tonicanews.com
LOSTANT — The planes were buzzing on Jan. 13 in Lostant, with dozens taking off and landing over the course of a couple hours. No, Lostant didn’t get an airport recently; it’s just the remote-controlled flyers of the Deer Park RC Club coming back to the Lostant Grade School gymnasium. “We were just looking for a place to fly in the winter, and I went to school here,” Brian
Burcar, event organizer said. “I knew the gym wasn’t busy most nights, and Monday seemed to be the best night.” The pilots have been using Lostant gym for several years, and Burcar said there’s been a resurgence of the hobby throughout the last several years, which is reflected in the people flying their aircraft around the gym. “There’s several different levels of skill,” Burcar said. “These kids here live in Peru, and their dad works at the airport there.
Their father and grandfather both fly models, so they both fly. They’re pretty good pilots. They buy their own planes. They start around $70.” “These kids” are Colin Hartman, 13, and Ryan Hartman, 9, of Peru. A recent addition to the planes flown in the gym is the small helicopters that have been seen of late. They weigh just a few ounces, and many models come with a video camera to tape their flight from a firstperson point of view. Each participant is charged $3 to fly, and the money is donat-
Inside Music Suite 408 will host an exhibit opening on Feb. 7 featuring the work of local artist Carol Crane See Page 7
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ed back to the school. Burcar estimates Lostant Grade School received about $800 from the flyers last year. Pilots from as far away as Peoria come regularly to the gym, and usually there are between 10 and 15 flyers in attendance. The club encourages people to come to the school when the club is flying to learn about the hobby and see if they might be interested in starting themselves. The club holds its fly-ins every Monday from the beginning of November to the end of March unless there’s an activity at the gym.