Volume 141 No. 20
Friday, April 24, 2015
Single Copy Cost 50¢
Taking a gamble There’s gold in them there slots By Ken Schroeder news@tonicanews.com
Editor’s note: This is the first in a three-part series on video gaming in Illinois; how it works, where the money goes and who can benefit from allowing video gaming in their establishments. From its beginning in July 2009, video gaming in Illinois has been growing steadily. In 2014, state coffers took in almost $165 million from individuals playing the machines. That figure is just the tip of the iceberg compared to overall totals for video gaming terminals (VGTs). The nuts and bolts of Illinois’ video gaming The state allows up to five terminals per establishment, and the number of terminals in the state went up by almost 33 percent during the year.
In January 2014, 14,426 machines were operating in 3,527 establishments. By year’s end, 19,182 terminals filled 4,675 businesses, an average of 4.1 terminals per location. How much money has gone into the terminals statewide? According to the Illinois Gaming Board, more than $8.24 billion was fed into the terminals in 2014, with a payout of more than $7.5 billion — an overall payout rate of 92 percent. Illinois requires a minimum payout rate per machine of 80 percent. The nearly $660 million left over after payouts to VGT players is divided four ways. Using the rounded figure, the VGT profits would be separated by percentage like so: Local municipalities — towns and counties where the VGTs are located — get 5 percent of the total, which statewide amounted to $33 million. The state receives 25 percent
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Keep your mind on the road April is Distracted Driving Awareness month By Ken Schroeder news@tonicanews.com
April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White is reminding drivers to travel safely and avoid distracted driving. “As travel increases with the warming weather, I encourage everyone to put away their cell phones while they are behind the wheel and focus on the task at hand: Driving safely,” said White. “Studies show that distracted driving contributes significantly to otherwise preventable fatal crashes.” “Distracted driving is more than just texting or using your phone,” LaSalle County Chief Deputy Mike Renner said. “Anything Vol. 141 No. 20 One Section - 8 Pages
that takes your vision off the road or causes you to focus on something other than driving is distracted driving.” Technology has increased rapidly in recent years and Renner said that has led to an increase in distracted driving. “We didn’t have cell phones 20 years ago,” Renner said. “Now we have smartphones and MP3 players and these can distract drivers with incoming calls or texts.” According to a study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, texting while driving is six times more dangerous than drunk driving. Texting drivers are also 23 times
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Tonica News photo/Dixie Schroeder
Seeing the world differently Tonica Grade School fourth-grade student Anneliese Bangert likes to take a different look at the world once in a while. Bangert was showing off her climbing skills at recess on one of the first warm days of spring. Tonica Grade School dismisses for the summer on June 2.
Tonica approves force main bid By Ken Schroeder news@tonicanews.com
TONICA — The Tonica Village Board approved an intent to award a bid for the new force main to Opperman Construction at its Monday, April 20, meeting. Opperman’s bid of $318,950 was lower than bids from J.W. Ossola, Caron Construction and G.A. Rich. “The bids are a little bit higher than last time, but there were a couple changes we added on,” Village Engineer Jack
Kusek said. “This will be covered with grant funds, and the project is well within the budget. In fact, in order to 100 percent optimize the cost of the grant, we would still need to come up with more work. We would have to spend another $60,000 to $90,000 to use up all the funds.” The amount has to be approved by the state before it can be awarded. The force main will increase the flow in the lift station and prevent water from the system from overflowing into the
creek due to heavy water volume. The board also discussed ways to bring more business to town, much of which centered on the Village Inn property. Village President Kevin Sluder said he knew there had been an inquiry into the site but the deal has yet to be completed. “We need to do whatever we can to get somebody to come into town, and ideally it’d be great if someone went to the corner,” Sluder said. He said the holding company that owns the
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location has lowered the price of the property, but believed it was still high. Sluder estimated the current asking price as just less than $250,000. There is still some concern about soil contamination at the site. The Environmental Protection Agency has taken soil samples but has not revealed the results. “Our biggest hurdle is everything’s being built five miles away from us,” board member Monica Kreiser said, referring
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