TON-05-06-2016

1 Front Volume 142 No. 22

Friday, May 6, 2016

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State funding fiasco threatens schools

By Zachary J. Pratt news@tonicanews.com

LOSTANT — Issues with state funding are causing schools to make tough decisions as their own funds run low, and many will not have enough money to make it through the next school year.

At the Lostant School Board meeting Wednesday, April 27, the issue of state aid was addressed.

“It’s not about anything extra,” Lostant Board President Mike Phillips said regarding the state’s inability to provide the funding

required. “It’s just giving us what we’re supposed to get in the first place.”

Lack of budget If a budget is not passed, the possibility remains that schools will not receive money.

Superintendent Sandra Malahy said this means some schools, especially those reliant on state aid, will not have enough money to make it through a whole school year.

“There is no money, so you can’t make payroll,” she said. “You have to shut down.”

Lostant is in a better posi-

tion than many districts.

“Our budget is 80 percent local funding,” Phillips said, noting some schools are not as fortunate.

Already, schools are having to prepare for financial shortcomings.

“We have schools in LaSalle County borrowing money this year to make payroll for the end of the year,” Malahy said. “This year.

“There’s a lot of hard decisions right now of making sure you’re using your money to the fullest and still providing a good education for the students,”

Malahy said.

Regarding funding legislation, Phillips said, “The question is whether or not they’ll blink for K-12 because that’s the one bill that affects people the most.”

Freezing the tax The property tax freeze bill still looms on the horizon, sitting in the Senate after passing through the House.

“It sounds fantastic, but I think what people don’t understand,” Phillips said, “if this bill passes, the revenue we get this year from property tax is the same as we get every other year into the future,

as if there’s no such thing as inflation.”

The board worries this would cause further monetary issues at a time when funding is already a problem.

Corporate and personal property tax Another issue the school faces, along with other municipalities, is corporate personal property replacement tax.

“Someone,” Malahy said, “miscalculated the formula, and according to someone, all municipalities were overpaid.”

She said it is anticipat-

ed Lostant was overpaid $6,297.52, which would cause a significant dent in the school’s budget.

Board member Quillard Skinner suggested a solution: “Just tell them they don’t have a budget,” he said. “Can’t pay them.”

“I was just going to tell them they already owe us,” Phillips responded.

In other discussion, the school is “still doing a good job of staying right under budget,” Malahy said, though she noted that a high tuition bill that needed to be paid would soon affect that.

Trouble ahead?

Lostant School prepares for possible new disciplinary legislation

By Zachary J. Pratt news@tonicanews.com

LOSTANT — New legislation is currently in the works which would change how schools are allowed to handle disciplinary measures, and Lostant is preparing for it.

School attorney Walt Zukowski attended the Lostant School Board meeting Wednesday, April 27, to talk about Senate Bill 100.

“This bill fundamentally changes the way discipline is administered regarding children in school,” he said. “The law is focusing on out-of-school and expulsion.”

Zukowski said while Lostant is not known for the issues which the bill is meant to address, other schools have had issues regarding taking students out of school.

“They do have it in Chicago,” Zukowski said, adding what happens in Chicago can have a large impact on how the legislature impacts the state as a whole.

Legislation Page 2A

Parents show up in support of teacher Lostant School Board hears feedback on staff decision Tonica News photo/Dave Cook

IVCC Sci-Fest provides hands-on science thrills IVCC chemistry professor Matthew Johll and the students of the Chem Club held their annual Sci-Fest in the college gymnasium on Friday, April 29. Families in attendance took part in dozens of hands-on demonstrations of various scientific principles and exhibitions including fire tornadoes, fossils, body parts, astronomy, chemicals, sound being transmitted through flames, 55-gallon barrels crushed by the atmosphere and the finale of Johll having a cement block smashed on his chest while lying on a bed of nails. These events thrilled the crowd and helped the club attempt to set a new attendance record of more than 600 visitors.

Vol. 142 No. 22 Two Sections - 24 Pages

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By Zachary J. Pratt news@tonicanews.com

LOSTANT — Recently the school in Lostant has undergone a recommended reduction of teaching staff, and members of the community have voiced their displeasure; but the board is legally allowed to say little in defense of its decision.

After teacher Marjorie Archdale was dropped from a full-time position to one more part-time, community members sat in on the Wednesday, April 27, Lostant

Teacher Page 2A

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2 Local

2A • The Tonica News • Friday, May 6, 2016

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You can also drop it by our office in Tonica.

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Legislation From Page 1A Zukowski works with a myriad of districts, and Lostant’s case cannot be held as the normal standard.

“Where you may expel a student maybe once every several years, we deal with that maybe once a month,” he said.

“The fundamental premise of the law is that students will remain in school,” Zukowski said, with the idea that any time the student is forced to be away from school must be shown to be necessary for the well-being of individuals or the learning environment.

What it means One of the first items Zukowski noted was a change in procedure regarding zero tolerance policies, mainly that they might no longer be allowed.

“It prohibits zero tolerance policies,” Zukowski said, “which I found interesting because it was the General Assembly which told you about 10 years ago that you had to have zero tolerance policies.”

Beyond this, how the school goes about disciplining students will have to change.

“For suspensions of three days or less,” Zukowski said, “You have to prove that it’s a threat to the safety of someone or disrupts the school environment.

“If it’s going to be longer,” he said, “you also have to prove the interventions you put in place.”

Furthermore, Zukowski indicated anything longer than four days would require the school to “identify support services while the student is outside of school.”

All of this means documentation will be key.

“Definitely more documentation,” Zukowski said. Where the primary idea is to keep the student in school if possible, Zukowski said documentation is “the second thrust of this legislation.”

He said it is important to document everything relating to interventions and discipline because “someone — who’s not identified yet — could ask for documentation.” The idea is to be able to prove that whatever the school has done was necessary and well-conducted.

“There’s been a lot of research that’s shown lately that students — minority students — are more likely to have disciplinary measures taken against them than white students,” board President Mike Phillips said.

Questions of discipline With out-of-school disciplinary action becoming more difficult, schools will have to adapt.

“This is one of the outcomes I expect to see a lot going forward,” Zukowski said, “more in-school suspension.”

In-school suspension, however, could be difficult for Lostant.

“I would hesitate to put volunteers in an in-school suspension room,” Superintendent Sandra Malahy said.

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“We would have to pull a paraprofessional from her duties to take care of that.”

There are also other options Zukowski brought up, including transfer to alternative schools, which he sees as a route more schools will take.

Lostant has had experience in this issue.

“I don’t think we’ve ever expelled anybody, but we have gotten to the point of an expulsion hearing,” Phillips said, which he noted led to alternative school once the parents saw their options.

In this case, the threat of expulsion had been a major cause in the family’s decision, and Phillips voiced his unease that the legislation might take away that leverage.

“My concern is if this makes it harder to expel,” Phillips said, “it also makes it difficult to convince people the alternative school is the way to go.”

In case the school does come to a situation where suspension or expulsion is required, some changes will have to be enacted to ensure the school is safe from litigation.

“It’s my belief that you have a custom in practice that you let the teachers try to deal with the issue and perhaps not have to involve the administration,” Zukowski said.

With this law, the school might have to involve administration more if it wants to administer discipline.

“You have to ask, ‘What did the faculty do to try to avoid the situation?’”

Zukowski said.

Some examples Zukowski provided regarding potential interventions teachers might use before escalating to more severe forms like expulsion include items such as time outs, warnings and conferences, which he said he often sees are already in use.

Other examples included a parent contract separate from a student contract, a letter of apology or the loss of various student privileges.

A disruptive situation There is concern this situation could further disrupt the teachers’ abilities to actually teach.

“The very unfortunate thing with this bill is that the majority of the time it’s not that you have students coming in with knives, weapons,” Malahy said.

Instead, she indicated Lostant has more of an issue with students being disruptive, even continuously.

The bill would make it more difficult for teachers to deal with the disruptive student and handle the class at the same time.

“You’re taking more time away from the kids who do what they’re supposed to do to take care of the few who don’t,” Malahy said.

In closing, Zukowski observed what comes next regarding Senate Bill 100 will be interesting to watch.

“I’m sure there will be some schools that will not be prepared, and I’m sure there will be many years of litigation to flesh this out,” he said. “It will be interesting to see what happens.”

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Teacher From Page 1A School Board meeting to show their support for her.

“A lot of us are here for the same reason,” said resident Tracy Daugherty. “I just wanted to show my support, and that’s why most of us are here.”

“I’m very concerned that the administration has based the cut on something other than ability to teach,” said Tracy Ritko. “I believe parents are entitled to answers.”

Shauna Breckenridge gave her account of Archdale’s teaching style and why it is important to the children.

“I have had the opportunity to see Mrs. Archdale in the classroom in action, and the kids love her,” Breckenridge said.

“They are hands-on,” she continued, noting Archdale does not merely tell children they messed up and to fix their mistakes. “She guides them to figure it out.”

Breckenridge said Archdale is the kind of teacher who should be kept on as full time. “We need good teachers that are excited to teach,” she said.

Daugherty agreed with the sentiment. “I do know that she has done a lot for the science program, K-8,” she said.

While Archdale is still teaching, Daugherty thinks the situation is still unfortunate.

“I understand that, no, she’s not dismissed and, no, she’s not fired,” she said. “But in my opinion it’s as if she was.”

Another community member, Charles Estelle, noted “letting her slip through your fingers, I think you’ll be making a big mistake in the long run.”

Lostant Board President Mike Phillips addressed the concerns but was unable to say much regarding the situation.

“Board members are prohibited by law from disclosing closed session discussions,” he said. “We have some severe restrictions on what we can and cannot share.”

Nevertheless, he explained the decision was not made lightly.

“The board was in closed session for almost two hours last week,” he said.

The thoughts of the community, he said, are important to the board, but sometimes difficult decisions need to be made.

“We understand, as a board, the feelings and opinions of the parents in this community,” Phillips said.

“I can assure you that we were aware of those feelings and opinions at the meeting last week, and those feelings and opinions were respected.”

Phillips noted he wishes he could explain a bit more, and that the lack of ability to do so makes the situation more difficult than it might otherwise be.

“One of the most frustrating aspects when it comes to deciding matters of personnel is that we cannot explain what we discussed,” he said.

He thanked the community members for their willingness to attend the meeting and speak what was on their minds.

Correction In a story about the financial woes at Tonica Grade School in the April 29 edition of the Tonica news, Kevin Schiffbauer, who spoke to the board during its meeting on Wednesday, April 20, was misquoted on the school’s financial situation in 2006. The quote should have read, “The school back in 2006, I’m thinking,” Schiffbauer said, “I think this school was in the black, almost $800,000.” The Tonica News regrets the error.

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Friday, May 6, 2016 • The Tonica News • 3A

Good Local Food Tour is May 12 Plant, grow, share what you know Getting fresh food to market in North Central Illinois is not a lot different from Wisconsin. So why not learn from each other? Gateway Services and From the Ground Up are co-sponsoring two vans of people from Bureau, Putnam and LaSalle counties for one full and entertaining day of stimulating discussions, problem solving and ideas. Here’s a fun, delicious way to be inspired.

The tour departs from the Princeton Amtrak Depot at 7:30 a.m. or Rural King at 1350 38th St. in Peru at 8 a.m.

Thursday, May 12. The cost is $25 for the entire day and includes round-trip transportation, $10 coupon for brunch and products at Bushel & Peck’s, educational materials and access to follow-up.

Throughout the day, you will meet CSA leaders, farmers’ market managers, organizers of co-op groceries, commercial food kitchens and incubators, artisanal food producers and food entrepreneurs. You’ll see innovative community gardens and organic farms and get tips on financing and distribution for food-related businesses.

You’ll also eat great food. Brunch is included in the tour.

Sign up and bring a friend. Limited spaces are available. First come, first served.

Register today at http://goo.gl/forms/ F48u99MVFB. First come, first served.

Tour stops: • Bushel & Peck’s Market, Cafe, Commercial Kitchen in downtown Beloit.

“We make and market artisan, agricultural goods for those who seek high-quality, environmentally sound, handcrafted products. Our preservation kitchen, store and restaurant supports a local economy and connects consumers directly to farmers, craftsmen and women. Each food product we provide shares the story of its artisans, neighbors, tradespeople and friends.

Bushel & Peck’s and our affiliated producers are experts in their fields who believe in the future of a hand-crafted economy.” For information, see http:// www.bushelandpecks.com/.

• Yahara River Grocery Cooperative.

Started in 2008, this downtown Stoughton cooperative struggled in its first years but has grown to more than 1,000 members and an important role in the local food system. It’s a downtown gathering place as well as grocery; an excellent example of what can be done in a rural community by committed local residents. From Fair Trade coffee and bulk products to fresh produce and ready-to-eat meals, this little store offers a remarkable selection of unique

goods and services.

• FairShare Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Coalition. One of the oldest CSA organizations in the country, for over 20 years FairShare (formerly Madison Area CSA Coalition, MACSAC) has been linking people who care about what they eat to local farmers who grow top-quality food for their local communities. FairShare’s USDA Farmers Market Promotion Program project, Expanding CSA Markets: Increasing Consumer Demand Through CSA Networks and Targeted Marketing, funded in 2016, is now producing four marketing toolkits on farm to business (workplace CSAs), CSA Outreach fundraising and promotions, and health insurance rebates. For information see www.csacoalition.org/.

• Troy Gardens/Community GroundWorks. Community Groundworks runs a CSA, community gardens and farms, a five-acre research farm, farm stand, a statewide school gardening education network, kids’ gardens, workshops and home garden consulting. It also created a co-housing community and research farm. We will learn about public/private partners and co-sponsorships, land trusts;, school and community relationships. For information see http://www.communitygroundworks. org/.

• Food Enterprise & Economic Development. (FEED) Kitchens. This non-profit facility has five commercial kitchens, with specialized equipment for baking, produce preparation and processing, deli prep and meat processing. Available for rent by the hour so food businesses and individuals seeking to sell food to the public can have a legal place to prepare their food.

Also available is a training kitchen for non-profit groups and cooking teachers to use to teach food service and preparation skills. The training kitchen can be used by anyone who wishes to do personal cooking or baking on a larger scale, such as holiday baking with friends, canning and preserving produce, or making meals in bulk.

• Willy Street Co-op. Founded in 1974, Willy Street is now one of the nation’s largest grocery co-ops, with 32,000 owners and two stores. It specializes in natural, organic and local foods, and addresses the needs of its members through owner-only sales, reduced prices for classes and many other owner benefits including individual nutrition consultations, a full schedule of educational and community events, a monthly newspaper and outreach services. For information see https://www. willystreet.coop.

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Illinois State Police Patrols will be part of making prom and graduation season safe for all LASALLE — Troopers from the Illinois State Police District 17 will be doing their part to make this a safe prom and graduation season for everyone by conducting directed patrols with aggressive enforcement of the fatal four (DUI, speeding, seat belts and distracted driving).

District 17 Commander Jon Dively said, “Our goal is to modify teen driving behaviors which include distractions, carelessness, fatigue and inexperience. These behaviors, when combined with drugs or alcohol can be lethal.”

According to the Illinois State Police, on prom and graduation nights six out of 10 high school students feel pres-

LaSalle County Sheriff Accident

At 6:41 p.m. April 23, LaSalle County deputies handled a three-vehicle accident at the intersection of Route 251 near North 20th Road in Eden Township. Dulce Karen Diaz Barajas, 21, of Bloomington was westbound on North 20th Road when she failed to stop at the stop sign before entering the intersection, according to a press release from the sheriff’s department. Barajas struck the driver’s rear side of a southbound vehicle on Route 251 which was

Dr. Rhonda Marty-Anderson

driven by Collin J. Brust, 21, of Streator.

Brust skidded out of control and into the northbound lane. Brust’s vehicle was then struck by the vehicle of Angela M. Liss, 34, of Dalzell, who was northbound. Brust and Liss were taken to Illinois Valley Community Hospital by Oglesby Ambulance and Barajas and her passenger, Alexandra Bucio, 45, of Bloomington were taken to IVCH by Tonica Ambulance. Barajas was cited for disobeying a traffic control device and given an individual bond.

Tonica Volunteer Fire Department At 5:19 p.m. Saturday, April 23, the Tonica Volunteer Fire Department (TVFD) was called out for a multiple vehicle accident at North 20th Road and Route 251. On arrival, emergency personnel found three vehicles which had been involved in the accident and that there were six victims. Tonica responded with a rescue pumper, rescue truck and an ambulance. Oglesby Ambulance was called for two mutual aid ambulances. Three patients were transported to IVCH with non-life threatening injuries. Three additional patients were evaluated by medical personnel at the scene and refused treatment. The LaSalle County Police investigated the accident. Tonica Command cleared the scene at 6:45 p.m..

At 12:24 p.m. Sunday, April 24, the TVFD was called out for a motorcycle and pick-up truck accident in the area of 824 North 2401st Road. On arrival, emergency personnel found two vehicles were involved in the accident and that there were three

victims. Tonica responded with a rescue pumper, rescue truck and an ambulance. Oglesby Ambulance was called for an intercept medic, and Utica Ambulance was called for a mutual aid ambulance. Two patients were transported to IVCH and one additional person was evaluated at the scene and refused treatment.

The accident was investigated by the LaSalle County Police, and Tonica Command cleared the scene at 1:45 p.m.

At 2:10 p.m. Sunday, April 24, the TVFD was called out for a two-vehicle accident at the intersection of North 20th Road and Route 251. On arrival, emergency personnel found 10 victims involved with the accident.

Emergency personnel provided traffic control while EMS personnel evaluated the victims. After all involved had been evaluated at the scene and refused transport, they were released.

The accident was investigated by the state police, and Tonica Command cleared the scene in about an hour.

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sure to drink and or use drugs. More than eight in 10 teens say students who drink or use drugs at prom will likely get behind the wheel and drive.

Car crashes kill more teens during the weekends of prom and graduation season than any other time of year.

In addition to the directed patrols, seat belt enforcement zones will also be conducted.

“The goal of these concentrated efforts is voluntary compliance. We ask all of you to please help us ensure memories of this year’s proms and graduations are positive ones. Don’t use alcohol or drugs, buckle up and stay alive, focus on the drive,” Dively said.

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4 Perspective

4A • The Tonica News • Friday, May 6, 2016

The Editorial Page The Tonica News Sam R Fisher

Terri Simon

Publisher

Editor

To Mom, with love I’ve thought about this column for quite some time now. Historically — for the last 20 years — I always focus my Saturday column Terri before Mother’s Day on my own Simon mother. I’ve told COMMENTARY tales of our past, our present, our future. I’ve joked about fun things we’ve done together as adults, and I’ve apologized for being a rebellious teenager from the past. I’ve done it all out of love and appreciation for the kind of mother I was blessed to have — one who gave up a lot to raise this oftentimes green-eyed monster.

But this year is different. Life has a way of changing in the blink of an eye — like it did for Mom and me this year, and the battle in my head and my heart rages on how to write this annual column, essentially a tribute to my mom, Judy.

I thought about changing gears and writing something completely different, but my conscience wouldn’t allow it. No. Life has changed, but the important things haven’t. Bear with me, friends. This is probably the toughest column I’ve ever written.

Oct. 1, 2015, was like most every other day. Like always, I called my mom at about 8:30 p.m. — a task I oftentimes dreaded a bit, especially if there was a TV show on I really wanted to watch. When she answered that night, I found she was all fussed up about another school shooting in Oregon. We talked about it for a while, and then I told her to turn the channel on her TV; I’d let her know of any new developments. The rest of the conversation was like the chats we had most every night — she talked about her day; I talked about mine. We laughed. We did all the things we normally do. We ended our conversation with our daily “I love you” and hung up the phone.

At 5:45 a.m. the next morning, my telephone rang, and I didn’t recognize the person on the other end of the phone. It took me a while to figure out it was my mom; she needed help. Without violating her privacy, the next three weeks were spent at OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria, where the head doctor of neurology gave me a bleak and grim diagnosis.

My head was swimming as life and death decisions had to be made. My mom couldn’t make those decisions; it was up to me. I don’t mind telling you I wanted to run ... anywhere, nowhere, everywhere. Split-second decisions. Life and death decisions. It was my worst nightmare unfolding every minute of every day during her three-week stay. Even as an adult who makes a ton of decisions every day, all I wanted was to ask my mom what to do ... but that was out of the question.

It’s been a little over seven months since that awful day in October, and I’m happy to report my mom has surpassed all the doctors’ expectations.

While she still has a journey ahead of her, I’m confident she will continue to do well, and I’ll be right there by her side cheering her on every day. I’m so proud of her; words can’t adequately express those feelings.

I’ve learned a lot in these past seven months — not just about the unbelievable fight inside my mom (her strength is nothing short of admirable), but also about myself, the astonishing people I’ve met along the way, and about life in general. While I wouldn’t wish the situation on any mother/daughter/family, I have to believe what I always believe — everything happens for a reason. While life doesn’t always seem fair, the lessons we learn have to account for something.

So on Sunday, Mom and I will do what we always do on Mother’s Day. We’ll be together; we’ll eat; we’ll talk; we’ll laugh. Quietly, I’ll look upward and offer my thanks for my mom’s presence in my life. I’ll make a promise to never, ever complain about that 8:30 p.m. telephone call ever again; and I’ll wait for the day when I can hear my mom’s voice on the other end of that phone.

Happy Mother’s Day to my mom, Judy Dyke, and to all women just like her who make the world a better place for those who know and love them.

Tonica News Editor Terri Simon can be reached at tsimon@tonicanews.com.

Hastert got what he deserved

Another flawed Illinois politician, this time Republican Dennis Hastert, has gotten what he deserved — prison time for his felonious actions.

Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s multiple teenage victims did not deserve the sexual abuse he inflicted upon them as a Yorkville High School wrestling coach four decades ago.

He betrayed the trust of his wrestlers, students, school and community. Through his actions, he caused lifelong psychological anguish to his victims.

Details of Hastert’s hideous crimes, which were long unknown to the general public, became even more apparent during his sentencing hearing Wednesday in Chicago.

Hastert deserves all the punishment that has come his way.

The 74-year-old Republican deserves the 15-month sentence in prison handed down by U.S. Judge Thomas M. Durkin for violating a banking law as he sought to pay someone $3.5 million to keep the sex abuse a secret.

He deserves the stern lecture by Judge Durkin, who called Hastert a “serial child molester.”

He deserves the $250,000 fine he must pay to a crime victims fund.

He deserves to serve two years of supervised release after prison.

He deserves to undergo sex offender treatment.

He deserves the anger, disdain and disgust directed his way by victims, their families, their friends, the community, and the state and nation at large.

He deserves the revocation of degrees and honors that various institutions bestowed upon the Dennis Hastert they thought they knew.

That Hastert rose so high in the halls of power points to a tragic flaw somewhere in our system of politics and govern-

ment.

Here you have a man who used a position of public trust (teacher and wrestling coach from 1965 to 1981) to commit multiple acts of depravity.

Then what happened? Hastert was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1981 and, six years later, embarked on a 20-year career in the U.S. House. For eight of those years, he served as speaker – the No. 3 position of power in the U.S. government!

Hastert became a familiar political figure around here, especially when he represented a large portion of the Sauk Valley.

His reputation was such that an editorial from our sister newspaper, Sauk Valley Media, from 2006 led off with the sentence, “In all of American politics today, it is hard to think of anyone more honest, upright and decent than Denny Hastert.”

Boy, were we wrong!

All during his political career, he kept a secret that, if exposed, would have brought everything to a screeching halt.

Hastert’s betrayal of the public trust places him on a long list of Illinois politicians who did the same. Four of them were governors. One of them – Rod Blagojevich – is still in prison.

Hastert thus becomes, as The Associated Press put it, “one of the highest-ranking politicians in American history to be sentenced to prison.”

Ill and confined to a wheelchair, Hastert will have a lot of time for soul-searching while in prison.

Illinoisans should also reflect on how it is that they repeatedly put their trust in flawed leaders.

The Tonica News

Things are finally getting back to Norman ... I mean normal Greg Wallace COMMENTARY For those of you who follow this silly little newspaper column, you might recall that I recently had to bury Fireball, the old family dog. He just happened to pass away on the same day that I celebrated my 50th birthday.

That was on Feb. 10, and I vehemently declared I was completely out of the world of dog ownership. I didn’t want anything more to do with it. I was absolutely, undoubtedly, done with dogs.

Exactly 64 days later, we travelled to Cordova, Ill., and picked up Norman, a little black and white puppy. (That’s 448 in dog days. Which in human days, is close to a year and a half. And if you round up from that, I almost made it two full years.) He sat on my daughter’s lap on the way home and with every pathetic little whimper he made, I cussed myself out for being weak and possibly soft-hearted.

Allow me to describe Norman to you.

His mother is a smart and beautiful Chocolate Lab that goes by the name “Majestic.” The father is a Siberian Husky who lives a couple of houses up the street, and I’m guessing that his name is “That Darn Neighbor Dog Who Needs A Much Stronger Chain.” In doing a vast amount of research for this column, I read on the Internet somewhere the gestation period for dogs is in the area of 58-68 days. That means Norman’s parents “got together” sometime during the holiday season. I like to think the moment of conception occurred on an unseasonably balmy, late-December day with a chorus of “Afternoon Delight” by the Starland Vocal Band playing softly in the background.

As for the name Norman, that was my daughter’s idea. She had list after list of possible names up for consideration. I kept trying to sneak in Chicago Cub-related names like Rizzo, Schwarber and Ernie. She kind of liked Schwarber but I pointed out I might look like an idiot calling out “Here Schwarber!” if he ever got lost. I’ve seen “Homeward Bound” enough times to know that can happen.

Nope, she liked the name Norman.

Now I’d like to tell you she gave him that moniker because of someone in our family’s lineage. Or that maybe she likes the famous American illustrator Norman Rockwell. Or that she’s a big fan of the prestigious author Norman Mailer. Or maybe even after Norman Fell who played the part of Mr. Roper on “Three’s Company.” Alas, none of those are true.

The dog got his name from actor Norman Reedus who plays the scuzzy, redneck guy on “The Walking Dead.”

I have never had a puppy before, so this is kind of a whole new deal for me.

I didn’t realize how sharp their little teeth are. Neither did the power cord to my daughter’s iPad. Or my daughter’s T-shirt. Or any of my sweatshirts, socks, pants, underwear, shoes, etc. Or the cats. Or the dandelions. Or the grass. Or the atmosphere in general. Biting and chewing are his hobbies I guess.

“No” is the main word used around the dog. When he chews on stuff, we say “no.” When he nips at your fingers, we say “no.” When he jumps uncontrollably, we say “no.” When he gets under your feet and trips you, we say “no.” When he whines at 3:30 in the morning, I pretend to be sound asleep and my wife mumbles “no.” As she creatively pointed out, “Norman” is just “No!” With an -rman on the end.

I was worried about how my wife would handle the whole situation. She has admittedly never been much of a dog person during her lifetime. It has something to do with when she was a kid and a neighbor’s slobbery, huge Saint Bernard named Bruno that traumatized her against canines. I figured out of all of us, she would experience the roughest period of adjustment.

She was put to the test last Sunday night when in the excitement of his new surroundings, Norman decided to stop in the middle of the living room and leave us a little present. I looked at

my wife with trepidation as she raced to the kitchen to get the paper towels and the Resolve carpet cleaner. “Uh-oh Norman. You’re going to get it now,” I remembered thinking to myself.

When she returned, she cheerily picked up the “deposit,” spritzed some stuff on the floor and happily said something to the effect of, “Oh Norman, you silly little puppy! We’re going to have to work on your bathroom habits.”

I looked over at Chubby the cat, and we blinked at each other in wide-eyed astonishment. Neither one us could get away with that. In fact, not that long ago, I left a sock on the floor by the bed, and she wanted me court-martialed and dishonorably-discharged from our marriage vows. I can only imagine the extent of her disgruntlement if I were to leave anything even close to what that dog left lying on the floor. Norman must hold some sort of magical powers.

For a guy who vowed to never own a dog just over two short months ago, I sure do like having Norman around.

He keeps me company; he listens to me jabber all day long; and he takes me out in the yard when I need a little exercise.

And as an added plus, when I experience those rare occurrences of odoriferous flatulence after a particularly spicy chili night, I’ve got somebody to blame it on. Good boy, Norman, good boy!

You can contact Wallace at gregwallaceink7@gmail.com. You can follow him on his blog at http://gregwallaceink. blogspot.com.

5 Life

Friday, May 6, 2016 • The Tonica News • 5A

Community Births Announced DeVries Matthew and Lynn (Prostko) DeVries of Tonica are the parents of a daughter born April 28 at Illinois Valley Community Hospital in Peru.

Quilters guild will meet on May 11 HENRY — The Marshall Putnam Quilters Guild will meet Wednesday, May 11, at the Henry United Presbyterian Church, 511 Wirt St. in Henry. This will be the last meeting for the 2015-16 year.

The meeting will begin at noon with a potluck. At 1 p.m., there will be a brief business meeting and the introduction of the new board. After that they will have the “Spool Parade,” a showing of the challenge

quilts some of the members have made. The program for the afternoon is “Repurposing Old Quilts”

by Ida Boyle-Bruch and Terry Kaveney. The meeting will end with a show and tell.

Dues, which are $15 per year, will be collected. The group meets September through May with all-day workshops only in January and February. New members are always welcome.

Lostant Elementary School to participate in annual TECH demonstration SPRINGFIELD — The 25th annual TECH 2016 Students for the Information Age event will be Tuesday, May 10, at the Illinois State Capitol Building in Springfield. More than 100 schools will be represented from throughout the state of Illinois.

At the event, students will show the public and elected members of the Illinois State Senate and House of Representatives how technology is being used in the classroom to increase student engagement and improve achievement.

Student demonstrations may be viewed in the Capitol Building Rotunda.

Taking part in the demonstrations locally, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., are students from Lostant Elementary School who will be sharing their presentation titled “Transforming Small and Rural Education.”

The purpose of TECH 2016 is to raise awareness of the critical role technology plays in preparing students to succeed in today’s

world, and to show the need for increased funding for classroom technology.

Students will demonstrate for lawmakers and the public the creative ways technology is being used to enhance and accelerate student achievement in Illinois schools today.

According to TECH 2016 Co-Chair Deb Balayti, entering the job force without a strong foundation in information-age technology is not an option for today’s high school and college graduates. Understanding computers and related tools is a requirement, even for entry-level jobs, and computer literacy is essential for further education and advancement in almost every academic sphere. From the elementary to the high school level, technology expands the walls of the traditional classroom, bringing in people and events from all over the globe. Technology captures and holds the attention of this generation of learners far better than textbooks alone.

Blood drive in Tonica TONICA — The American Red Cross has announced a blood drive will be from 2 to 6 p.m. Monday, May 9, at the United Methodist Church, 423 Wauponis St., Tonica.

To make an appointment, or for more information, download the American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org or call 800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767).

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IVCC student academic awards banquet held OGLESBY — Illinois Valley Community College recently held the 49th annual student academic awards banquet in the gym.

Among the 266 students honored were Thomas J. McCormack Scholars Austin Burnette of Mendota, Matthew Cole of Streator, Mario Cortes of Mendota, Brenna Faletti of Spring Valley, Trevor Finnan of Utica, Christa Moore of Ottawa, Remigio Nanez of Mendota, Stefan Nelson of Princeton, Cody O’Brien of Lostant, Kaitlin Raineri of Peru, Keegan Samolinski of LaSalle, Travis Sauers of Streator, Victoria Schaefer of Princeton and Riley Schuhler of Mendota.

McCormack Scholars maintained a minimum 3.75 grade point average in at least 14 semester hours over three consecutive semesters.

Burnette and Raineri were also honored for being nominated as IVCC’s Phi Theta Kappa All-Illinois Academic Team, part of the larger All-USA Academic Team. Nominations are based on outstanding academic performance and service to the college and community.

Keynote speakers were nursing instructor Pat Pence, winner of the 2016 Stephen Charry Award for Teaching Excellence, and Honors Program students Finnan and Raineri. Mark Grzybowski, associate vice

president for student services, gave the introduction and President Jerry Corcoran gave the welcome.

Area students recognized for earning GPAs of 3.75 or higher in 12 or more hours for three consecutive semesters were: Lostant — Rebecca Arnold and Cody O’Brien.

Tonica — Cory Lauer.

Area students achieving GPAs of 3.25 or higher in 12 or more hours for two consecutive semesters were: Lostant — Chelsea Berg, Megan Fitzgerald, Sabrina Smith and Matthew Swan.

Tonica — Stephen Ebener and Amanda Heinz.

Sarah Wiesbrock

Lucas Wiesbrock

Jacob Wiesbrock

Lostant School’s March Students of the Month LOSTANT — Lostant School has announced it Students of the Month for March.

Each month, the teachers at Lostant School will choose one student from kindergarten from second, third through fifth, and sixth through eighth as the student of the month. The Student of the Month recognition is based on a student displaying the following characteristics: academic achievement; school

mitment to helping others; and no discipline incidents or notices for the month.

The Students of the

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6 Life/Classifieds

6A • The Tonica News • Friday, May 6, 2016

Menus and Activities potato, fruit, milk.

Lostant Grade School mashed May 13 — Taco in a bag (taco

IVSO will present season finale Concert on Saturday OGLESBY — Conductor Lucia Matos will return to the stage of the Illinois Valley Cultural Centre in Oglesby at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 7, to conduct the Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra in its season finale.

The program will include works by Felix Mendelssohn and Jean Sibelius.

The featured soloist will be highly acclaimed violinist Kam-Lung Cheng, performing Mendelssohn’s “Violin Concerto in E Minor, op. 64,” considered by many to be the greatest of all violin concertos.

Felix Mendelssohn was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the Romantic period. He is regarded by many critics as one of the most gifted composers the world has ever known. His works have been heard by many and include the very familiar “Wedding March” from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which has escorted many brides down the aisle.

Cheng was born in China to a very musical family. He began violin study at the age of 7 with his father, a violin professor at the Central Conservatory of Music in China.

In later years he emigrated to Hong Kong, where he made his first television appearance. Christian Ferras, who was in the audience, was so impressed with Cheng’s performance he invited him to study under his tutelage. In 1980 Cheng obtained a scholarship to study at the University of Freiburg in Germany with Wolfgang Marschner and Florin Paul. After receiving his diploma, Yehudi Menuhin invited him to attend the International Menuhin Music Academy in Gstaad, Switzerland. In 1987 he received his solo and chamber music diploma from Utrecht Conservatory. From 1987 to 2004, Cheng served as concertmaster in several European orchestras. In 2007 he was appointed concertmaster of

Breakfast May 9 — Scrambled eggs, hash browns and sausage, yogurt, cereal, fruit and juice.

May 10 — Doughnut, yogurt, cereal, fruit and juice.

May 11 — French toast and syrup, yogurt, cereal, fruit and juice.

May 12 — Danish, yogurt, cereal, fruit and juice.

May 13 — Pancakes and syrup, yogurt, cereal, fruit and juice.

Kam-Lung Cheng the Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra and since then has been serving as guest concertmaster for several major orchestras in China, including Tianjin and Sichuan.

The music of Jean Sibelius, a Finnish composer, will also be performed by the orchestra. Sibelius was a violinist of the late Romantic and early-modern periods and is widely recognized as Finland’s greatest composer. His compositions were mainly inspired by his homeland’s history and folklore. The IVSO will be performing “Andante Festivo” and the “Symphony No. 1 in E Minor, op. 39,” by Jean Sibelius.

Admission to the concert is by season subscription or individual ticket, available at the door or online at ivso.org. Tickets are $15 for adult, $5 for students K-college with ID. This program is sponsored by The Blouke and Marianne Carus Foundation, Illinois Cement Company, Maze Lumber, and season sponsor Central Radio Group. The Cultural Centre is handicapped accessible.

Lostant announces spring clean-up days LOSTANT — The village of Lostant has scheduled its clean-up days for Friday, May 6, through Sunday, May 8. Curbside metal pick-up will be Saturday, May 6.

The following is a list of items not accepted in the roll-offs at any time, clean-ups included: construction debris, building materials, appliances, tires, batteries, any liquids (including oils, fertilizers, chemicals or hazardous waste), wet paint, yard

waste and any electronic items (including televisions, monitors, printers, computers, tablets, keyboards, fax machines, VCRs, portable digital music players, DVD players, video game consoles, small scale servers, scanners, mice, digital converter boxes, cable receiver boxes, satellite receivers and DVRs. For more information, call Illinois Valley Waste Services at 815-875-2293.

Lunch May 9 — Bosco stick and marinara sauce, peas and carrots, applesauce, milk.

May 10 — Tenderloin on bun, french fries, peaches, milk.

May 11 — Grilled cheese, tomato soup, pears, milk.

May 12 — Sausage pizza, green beans, oranges, milk.

May 13 — No lunch.

Tonica Grade School Breakfast May 9 — Breakfast pizza or cereal, toast, granola, yogurt, fruit, juice, milk.

May 10 — Muffin or cereal, toast, granola, yogurt, fruit, juice, milk.

May 11 — Scrambled eggs or cereal, toast, granola, yogurt, fruit, juice, milk.

May 12 — Toaster pastry, smoothie or cereal, toast, granola, yogurt, fruit, juice, milk.

May 13 — Powder sugar or chocolate doughnuts or cereal, toast, granola, yogurt, fruit, juice, milk.

Lunch May 9 — Cheese bosco stick, marinara sauce, fruit, steamed broccoli, carrots, cookie, milk.

May 10 — Spaghetti, spaghetti sauce with meat, green beans, fruit, bread stick, cookie, milk.

May 11 — TGS lunchable (ham or turkey), cheese, crackers, lettuce with salad dressing, fruit, banana bread, milk.

May 12 — Chicken nuggets,

meat, shredded cheese, refried beans, shredded lettuce), fruit, nacho corn chips, milk.

Putnam County Community Center May 9 — Ham and cheese wrap with lettuce and tomato, green beans, banana pudding with banana slices.

May 10 — Salad bar.

May 11 — Baked pork chop, scalloped potatoes, corn, fruit cocktail, rolls.

May 12 — Beef and noodles, salad with toppings, rolls, apricots, dessert.

May 13 — Fish filet on bun with tartar sauce, pickled beets, pea salad, mixed fruit.

Bread, butter, fruit juice and 2% milk are available with meals.

For reservations, call 800-757-4579 24 hours in advance of the day’s meal. The menu is subject to change.

Meals are available to senior citizens 60 plus at no cost, but donations are appreciated. The meal program is partly funded by donations, so they have a suggested donation of $5 per meal. Lunch is served at 11:30 a.m.

Bridges Senior Center ​ ay 9 — 9 a.m., Tai Chi; 12:45 M p.m., Bingo; 1:30 p.m., open cards.

May 10 — 9 a.m., Forever Fit; 1-3 p.m., Alzheimer’s Association Savvy Caregiver.

May 11 — 9 a.m., Forever Fit. May 12 — 9 a.m., Tai Chi; 12:45 p.m., Bingo; 1:30 p.m., open cards.

May 13 — 9 a.m., Forever Fit; 10 a.m., Family Caregiver support; 1 p.m., open Wii bowling.

The Bridges Senior Center is a congregate meal site. Meals, provided by Voluntary Action Center, are served from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday for a suggested donation of $3.50.

A 24-hour advance reservation is required. For more information, call 815-431-8034.

––––––––––––––––––––– Classifieds –––––––––––––––––––– General Terms and Policies The Tonica News reserves the right to classify correctly, edit, reject or cancel any advertisement at any time in accordance with its policy. All ads must be checked for errors by the advertiser, on the first day of publication. We will be responsible for the first incorrect insertion, and its liabilities shall be limited to the price on one insertion.

CLASSIFIED LINE AD & LEGAL DEADLINES: • Friday Paper deadline Friday before by 3pm We Accept Call 815-875-4461 classified@bcrnews.com

See It Right Here!

The Tonica News Classifieds 815-875-4461

- 200 Employment 232 • Business Opportunities ********** THE CLASSIFIED Advertising Department of the Tonica News Does not have the opportunity to fully investigate the credibility of each advertiser appearing within these columns. If an offer sounds “too good to be true” it probably is.

Proceed with caution if you are asked to send money or to give a credit card number.

Proceed with caution in calling 900 phone numbers. All phone numbers prefixed by”900” are charged to the CALLER. Charges may be assessed on a “per minute” basis rather than a “per call” basis.

The Tonica News Classifieds makes every effort to qualify these charges for the reader.

If you have a concern about an advertiser, please contact: Better Business Bureau 330 North Wabash Chicago, IL 60611 312 832-0500

NEED MORE INCOME? Check out each issue of the classified. You might find opportunities to earn that extra income!

450 • Under $1000

450 • Under $1000

460 • Garage Sales

7- 4'x6' sliding windows; thermopane; white vinyl clad; good condition; $100 each or best offer.

Call 815-646-6665

Scotts 1000 Broadcast Spreader, excellent, $20; Lawn Boy Sens A Speed mower, paid $375, asking $225. Call 815-875-1596

TONICA TOWNWIDE GARAGE SALES

Full set of ladies Northwestern graphite golf clubs. Very good condition. Right hand. $80.

Call 815-879-0970

Scotts drop style fertilize spreader, $15; maple dining table and 4 chairs $300.

Call 815-875-4077

Large cozy coupe, $20; pressure canner, $15; like new baby tender stroller, $25.

Call 815-646-4741

Wood shaker TV cabinets-mission style, excellent condition, lighted with shelf $500.

815-437-2326

Mercury 6hp gas boat motor/4 stroke engine with gas tank. Runs good $900. Call 815-878-5851

451 • Free

Schwinn men's sidewinder mountain bike, completely rebuilt with all new gears, brakes & tires. $110. 815-663-1360 ************ HAVE SOMETHING TO SELL? Put your ad in for FREE Items $1,000 or less can run FREE for 1 time. Limit of 5 lines.

Up to 3 items with price and price totaling under $1,000. 1 ad per household per week.

No commercial ads, firearms or animal sales.

E-mail information to: classified@ bcrnews.com (include your name, address & phone number) No Phone Calls!

FIREWOOD, bring heavy duty chain saw to cut to smaller size.

Call 815-875-6053

460 • Garage Sales DEPUE 509 East Street.

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, May 5, 6 , 7; 9am5pm. HUGE SALE. Bring small bills. Toys, glassware, antiques, books, CDs, DVDs, VHS, sport & Pokeman cards.

Comics, post cards, Star Wars, tools, char-grill MCNABB TOWN-WIDE GARAGE SALES (Including rural sites) Saturday, May 7; 8am – 3pm Church Mothers Day Bake Sale at Fire Hall.

Maps. Restrooms

Friday, May 6, Saturday, May 7: 8am-??

Maps available at houses PRINCETON 24 South Plum Street. Friday, Saturday, May 6, 7; 8am-4pm.

MULTI-FAMILY SALE. Loveseat, stove, lawn mower, projector, recliner, Peavey mixer, Plus size clothes- men & women, misc. items PRINCETON 249 North Linn. Friday & Saturday, May 6 & 7; 8am-3pm.

Jr girl's clothes, shoes, cloth picture screen 5' tall, golf bag, straw bales for garden, misc. items PRINCETON 721 Linwood Drive. Saturday, May 7th; 8am to 2pm.

MULTI-FAMILY SALE Home goods, port-a-crib, boy's clothes- newborn to 2T, girl's- newborn to 6X PRINCETON Someone's in the Kitchen (1619 North Main).

Saturday, May 7, 9am-12pm.

Kitchen & Bath Bargain Sale!

Odds & ends, overstock PRINCETON 110 South Chestnut Street. Friday, May 6, 8am-2pm; Saturday, May 7, 8am to 12pm.

Sixty Year collection of stuff. Lots and lots of stuff. Cheap Cheap Cheap!

- 700 Real Estate For Sale 767 • Mobile Home Sales **************** PUBLISHER'S NOTICE All real estate advertising in this newspaper is subject to the Fair Housing Act which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin, or an intention, to make any such preference, limitation or discrimination.”

Familial status includes children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal custodians, pregnant women and people securing custody of children under 18.

This newspaper will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. Our readers are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis.

To complain of discrimination call, HUD tollfree at 800 669-9777.

The toll-free telephone number for the hearing impaired is 800 927-9275

999 • Legal Notices

999 • Legal Notices

CIRCUIT COURT OF THE THIRTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT LASALLE COUNTY, ILLINOIS ESTATE OF ) AGNES A. TURCZYN ) DECEASED ) No. 2016-P-74 CLAIM NOTICE Notice is given of the death of AGNES A. TURCZYN. Letters of office were issued on April 7, 2016 to KATHY KNAFELC, 312 Pershing Road, LaSalle, IL 61301 as Executor whose attorney is JOHN BALESTRI, 149 Gooding Street, LaSalle, IL 61301.

Claims against the estate may be filed in the office of the clerk of court, LaSalle County Courthouse, Ottawa, Illinois 61350, or with the representative, or both, within 6 months from the date of issuance of letters and any claim not filed within that period is barred.

Copies of a claim filed with the clerk must be mailed or delivered to the representative and to the attorney within

10 days after it has been filed.

Dated this 18th day of April, 2016.

John Balestri Attorney For Petitioner 149 Gooding Street LaSalle IL 61301 Phone: 815-223-6600 Published in the Tonica News Apr. 29, May 6 and 13, 2016.

STATE OF ILLINOIS, CIRCUIT COURT LASALLE COUNTY Notice Of Filing A Request For Name Change (Adult) Request of: ) Norah Wallis Orteza ) 2016-MR-123 There will be a court hearing on my request to change my name from: Norah Wallis Orteza to the new name of: Norah Wallis Toraason.

The court hearing will be held: on June 16, 2016 at 9:45 a.m. at 119 West Madison Street, Ottawa, LaSalle County, in Courtroom #300. /s/Norah W. Orteza Norah Wallis Orteza Published in the Tonica News Apr. 29, May 6 and 13, 2016.

Friday, May 6, 2016 • The Tonica News • 7A 999 • Legal Notices

999 • Legal Notices

999 • Legal Notices

999 • Legal Notices

999 • Legal Notices

999 • Legal Notices

ADOPTION NOTICE STATE OF ) ILLINOIS ) ) ss COUNTY OF ) LASALLE ) In the Matter of the Petition for the Adoption of MICHAEL JERMAINE KEFFER, a Minor No. 2016-AD-3 TO: MICHAEL JOHNSON and ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: TAKE NOTICE that a Petition was filed with the Circuit Court of

LaSalle County, Illinois, for the adoption of a child named MICHAEL JERMAINE KEFFER. NOW, THEREFORE, unless you, MICHAEL JOHNSON and ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, file your answer to the Petition in the action or otherwise file your appearance therein, in the said office of the Circuit Court of LaSalle County, in the City of Ottawa, Illinois, on or before the 31st day of May, 2016, a default may be

entered against you at any time after that day and a judgment entered in accordance with the prayer of said Petition.

NOTICE OF RIGHTS: You, MICHAEL JOHNSON, have the right to be present, to be heard, to present evidence material to the proceedings, to crossexamine witnesses, to examine pertinent court files and records and also the right to be represented by counsel.

At the request of any party financially unable

to employ counsel, the Court shall appoint the public defender or such other counsel as they case may require.

JIM OLSON, Circuit Clerk Gary L. Gearhart #0927864 GEARHART LAW OFFICE 951 Fifth Street LaSalle,IL 61301 Phone: (815) 223-8009 Published in the Tonica News May 6, 13 and 20, 2016.

IN THE THIRTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT OF ILLINOIS IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF LASALLE COUNTY Estate of ) SIGMUND DZIEWIONTKOSKI, ) Deceased. ) No. 2016-P-57 NOTICE TO CLAIMANTS NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN of the death of SIGMUND DZIEWIONTKOSKI. Letters of office as Independent Executor were issued on March 29, 2016 to MARK ALAN DZIEWIONTKOSKI, 1514 N. 1329th Road, P.O. Box 330, Streator, Illinois 61364 and whose attorney is M.G. GULO & ASSOCIATES, LTD., 123 S. Monroe Street, Streator, Illinois 61364.

The estate will be administered without Court supervision, unless under Section 5/28-4 of the Probate Act (Ill. Compiled Stat. 1992, Ch. 755, Par. 5/28-4) any interested person terminates indepen-

dent administration at any time by mailing or delivering a petition to terminate to the Clerk.

Claims against the estate may be filed in the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court, 119 W. Madison Street, Ottawa, Illinois 61350, on or before October 28, 2016, or if mailing or delivery of notice from the representative is required by Section 5/183 of the Probate Act of 1975, the date stated in that notice. Any claim not filed within that period is barred. Copies of any claim filed with the Clerk must be mailed or delivered to the estate representative and to the attorney within 10 days after it has been filed with the Clerk.

Dated this 22nd day of April, 2016.

Jim Olson, Clerk of the Circuit Court 13th Judicial Circuit, LaSalle County, Illinois Published in the Tonica News Apr. 22, 29 and May 6, 2016.

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2

2B • Spring 2016

Heroin in the Illinois Valley

“Every day I wake up I know I need drugs, but the only thing I can think is ... am I going to get enough drugs today to kill myself?

Am I going to be able to die because I am so miserable?

I don’t want to be alive anymore because I know I don’t want to use drugs, but I don’t know how to stop. That’s how deep it gets.”

Breaking the chains

Former addict finds a better life only after countless overdoses

By Eric Engel Shaw Media Service

A Bureau County man in his 30s was a heroin addict for a decade. Out of respect for his family, he will be known as “John.” This is his story.

John said he never really felt normal, and although he was raised by two great parents, he always behaved like a kid who just didn’t fit in.

He can’t recall a time in his life when he was ever truly happy or at peace, and like so many agitated youth who defer to simply surviving, he began searching for outlets to his anger in the shadows of the sun.

“I started hanging out with misfit and unique people who were rebellious in my early teens, and that’s when I was introduced to my first drink of alcohol and to smoking marijuana,” John said, claiming he felt more alive and accepted while intoxicated than during any days of his confusing adolescence.

What started as drinking with friends on the weekends turned into multiple citations and driving under the influence tickets, as well as severe concern from his parents about their son’s social and psychological well-being.

“My parents thought I might have a substance abuse problem, but I didn’t see it that way,” John said. “I was just having fun, and thought it was pretty normal.”

John dropped out of high school because he was skipping more classes than he attended, and felt no agenda to follow authority. “Doing what he wanted” mostly included getting drunk and using drugs, including marijuana, prescription pills like Oxycontin and essentially anything that camouflaged his lackluster reality.

“At one point someone who had never met me personally came up to me and said, ‘I’ve heard you’ll do any drug put in front of your face.’

That was my reputation,” he said, adding he now sees clearly the red flags that flapped like bloody threads on the side of that desolate trail.

The fateful evening

came when John was introduced to heroin. He was worried about shooting up ever since studying D.A.R.E. in grade school, but overstepping boundaries had grown routine as a regular stride in his life ... so he did not fear the potential plummet of the oncoming stumble.

“I go ahead and use for the first time and spent the entire night throwing up. I couldn’t speak straight or keep my eyes open, and when I woke the next morning, I thought it was the best thing ever,” John said, having tasted a flavor never to find his tongue again.

“I wanted it; I craved it, and over the next few years, I actively sought out heroin,” he said, stating a two and one-half hour drive for a Chicago score eventually became a daily chore.

“I was always hiding, living a double life. In the smack dab middle of my active addiction, my only reality was getting high, and at some point, that front goes away,” said John, who began a vicious cycle of lying to family and stealing from friends, anything to still the unavoidable illness of withdrawals. “I started doing things I never would have dreamed I’d do.”

Felony possession charges led to jail time; 30 days here, 60 days there, and although John testified of the sheer distaste for the serpent’s fire, it would be but mere hours outside the cell before the venom coursed his veins again.

“Nothing I would tell myself would help. As soon as I was around it, the gears got turning in my brain, and I’d be right back in.”

John overdosed — as in a “revived from certain death at the hospital” overdose. He admitted he can’t remember how many times he has overdosed in his life, but the number exceeds double digits. Drugs found in his pocket landed him in the Illinois Department of Corrections, and he was behind bars when his son was born.

“I vowed to never use heroin again — that I just want to be a good father and family member, and

I really believe all this is possible. Within three days of being on parole, I shoot up and overdose,” John recalled painfully, stating that was the basement where he finally found numbers for treatment centers.

Denial runs deep in addiction, John said. It’s virtually impossible for an addict to see reality because their denial is so deep. The only way to keep the needle buried as the engine rages like a volcano is to dismiss any witness of the flames.

John was locked up for 11 months and vowed he’d never touch that filthy drug again, yet it took him three days to be buried in dirt.

“When I’m in my active addiction, the parts of my brain that make all rational decisions are virtually turned off, and all I can do is feed my addiction,” he said. “A big part in the beginning of my recovery was finding out I don’t have a moral deficiency, I have a brain disease.”

John found an in-patient treatment center.

He was not a worthless person, simply a drug

John Page 3B

Shaw Media photos/Eric Engel

3

Spring 2016 • 3B

Heroin in the Illinois Valley

A D.A.R.E.-ing approach Police officer teaches children the dangers of drugs and harmful behavior

By Eric Engel Shaw Media Service

Define the problem. Assess what your choices are.

Respond by making a choice. Evaluate that decision to see if you think it’s a good one or not. Dare to exist as if life is a gift to be handled with the utmost care.

Rob Jensen has been the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) officer in Princeton for the past 18 years. Throughout that time, he has witnessed the D.A.R.E. program’s constant evolution, because drug abuse and violent behavior stand like weeds cloaked in a robe of thorns and must be ripped at their roots.

Jensen said current D.A.R.E. curriculum is called “Keeping it Real,” and although it certainly still covers information on the harmful effects of drug use, it is now more focused on how to make good decisions in a step-by-step process. Define, assess, respond and evaluate. Where will you be if you choose rebellious behavior? Suspended from school? Sitting in jail? In the hospital? Even worse?

“Every drug addiction could be traced back to one single moment in time where a bad decision was made to try that drug,” Jensen said, a firm believer in the notion of consideration before the jump instead of leaping blindly without defining any possible consequence. “’Keeping it Real’ is more of a forward-thinking approach.”

Jensen said when he first started teaching D.A.R.E., the lesson plan was centered around advising against tobacco, alcohol and marijuana, considered the three gateway drugs for junior high and high school kids.

Like a small town that develops into a flourishing city, the D.A.R.E. program has expanded to add general safety techniques, conflict resolution, quality communication and violence prevention to drug prevention.

“We teach kindergartners through fourth-graders everything from avoiding strangers, following directions, staying out of the medicine cabinet, and watching for dangerous things around the house, to calling 911 and obeying traffic signs,” Jensen said, comment-

Does the D.A.R.E. program really work? ing they still teach about the dangers of drugs but wait until the fifth grade level and beyond to further intensify the lesson plan, as to avoid souring adolescent innocence.

Jensen said fifth-graders are taught how to deal with stress properly instead of bottling it negativity or turning to drugs. Peer pressure is lessened to a good degree through the curriculum as well. By the time students get to seventh and eighth grade, they are essentially offered refresher courses of all they’ve learned in their D.A.R.E. history and advised on how to handle and avoid violence and conflict, as their independence at that stage of life affects their surroundings more than

ever before.

Does D.A.R.E. really work?

Jensen said he’s heard that question multiple times, adding people on a national level tend to lean toward the opinion the program doesn’t work, but residents of Bureau County have always been in his corner concerning the education he provides.

“The unfortunate problem is it’s hard to gauge the program’s effectiveness because the only statistics you can look at are the ones that don’t succeed, as they end up in the system,” Jensen said. “You don’t hear from the ones that do succeed.”

Jensen emphasized D.A.R.E. is not a stand alone program but designed to work along with parents, schools and communities. Responsibility should be taken accordingly instead of passing the buck on to Jensen and others who try to hand out the necessary information and hope students take the initiative to follow through.

When it comes to heroin, Jensen said all officers are aware of its rising prevalence, and they take as much of an active approach as they can, including enforcement action.

“Our department always keeps searching and making arrests. Heroin doesn’t stand out necessarily because all drugs are bad, but you keep your wits about you and work through it all.”

Although Jensen doesn’t openly explain the harsh reality of heroin or methamphetamine to a 10-yearold child, he always answers any question asked, in the classroom or outside of it. He said you never know who will hear and receive an accurate message, and a healthy discussion makes little impact if confined.

“The goal is still to help people, even the ones who are on drugs,” Jensen said, adding action has to be taken against those who break the law, but not with the intention of harming another human being, even if they have deteriorated their surroundings.

“It’s difficult to see them go through things when mistakes are made, but you still try to treat people with respect.”

“The goal is still to help people, even the ones who are on drugs.” D.A.R.E. Officer Rob Jensen John From Page 2B

addict. He had believed in his demise — that addiction was his only vice — until his closest friend came around the bend in the mirror with arms outstretched like wings of hope. There is always a choice, and it’s not stopping the inferno as it burns down the house, but whether you choose to rebuild.

“In the treatment center I’m introduced to the 12-step program, and this is where I learn even more; not about addiction, but about recovery,” John said, surrounded by people who abused and lamented as he had, and fought for their very lives like he wanted to. “I hear people talking about things they did, the way they felt that day or felt while using, and I know I’m in the right place.”

John stated that which

is brutally obvious — it’s hard to understand an addict if you haven’t experienced an addiction. Toward the end of his addiction he was lying, cheating, stealing and homeless; a bad son, a poor father and a constant criminal, and yet every breath was spent chasing the dragon that continually flies further away.

“For anybody’s who’s the type of addict I am, it may not be to that point yet, but it’s progressive, and it only gets worse,” he said, demanding addicts amputate their source of poison, for mothers dressed in black have yet to find the clock turned back.

John said there is no shame in searching for help; that 12-step is a “we” program full of loving souls who delight when the sun breaks through those shadows in the night. John has

been off heroin for more than two years, minus a single relapse. It is said relapse is part of recovery. Judgment is not.

“When I had a double life, I lived separate from my addiction. Then it was all my life consisted of, and I lived in my addiction. When I was miserable and hated myself and the things I was doing, I lived against my addiction, and it sucked the life out of me. Today, I live with my addiction. I can acknowledge it will always be a part of me, and learn more about myself and my emotions ... how to be a better person living a better life.

You have the key. Open the gates, and let the horse run free.

“I built a prison for a decade, and today I have freedom from it,” he concluded.

“If I can help even one person, then this is all worth it.”

Shaw Media photo/Eric Engel

“When I had a double life, I lived separate from my addiction. Then it was all my life consisted of, and I lived in my addiction. When I was miserable and hated myself and the things I was doing, I lived against my addiction, and it sucked the life out of me. Today, I live with my addiction.

I can acknowledge it will always be a part of me, and learn more about myself and my emotions ... how to be a better person living a better life.”

WE SUPPORT the fight against heroin in the ILLINOIS VALLEY. TOGETHER we make a difference!

SM-PR2650716-0428

Granville Police Department, Kevin Moore, Chief Village of Granville, Douglas Gimbal, Village Pres.

Trustees & Employees

4

4B • Spring 2016

Heroin in the Illinois Valley

Shaw Media photo/Eric Engel

‘Enough is enough’ Area ER nurse has seen the lies in heroin; shoots users with brutal truth B y Eric Engel Shaw Media Service

Editor’s note: The source in this story asked to remain anonymous to protect her privacy. While Shaw Media knows her name, she will be referred to as Jane throughout the story.

An emergency room registered nurse, in her last semester of nursing school, was training for her future profession at a local hospital. The calm tranquility of a medical clinic tending a slow shift was ruptured by a bag of bones under the comatose characteristics of a heroin overdose. Jane prepared herself to save someone’s life.

The breathless body was likely dropped at the emergency room door by a friend who was “going to go park the car.” The nurses rarely see the friend again.

Jane remained calm, as any medical professional must for the sake of the weak and wounded. The heart continues beating during a heroin overdose, but the lungs seem to drag their feet.

Most overdose victims are not breathing, so Jane waited. As the overdose victim landed on the trauma room bed, his head flopped back, and she saw a face she recognized. Her heart dropped to the floor as she thought, “I know this person.”

That was the first time Jane encountered a heroin overdose; for an emergency room registered

nurse in the area, it’s seemingly never the last.

Jane shared her emotional experience as an ER nurse because each time heroin tries to take a life, she is tasked with giving it back.

“I’ve seen a lot of overdoses come in, and only a few have woke up cooperative and thank us for what we did,” Jane said.

“Most times they’re mad we took away their high.”

Jane explained heroin blocks the receptors in the body that regulate breathing, so an overdose victim is given Narcan — also known as Naloxone — an opiate antagonist used for partial or complete opiate overdose.

When given the opiate reversal, an individual usually wakes up within 30 seconds, as Narcan instantly removes all opiates from the body and its systems.

Imagine a bear with its leg caught in a trap, swatting razor sharp claws with snarling ferocity even as you attempt to free it ...

“They wake up, their high is gone, and they don’t know where they are,” she said, indicating many are incredibly cranky and swearing en route to the closest exit.

“We can’t hold people against their will, so if they want to go, they can go.”

Jane said an overdose victim who is saved from sure death can simply walk out the door back to their addiction with no legal ramifications or family members being

notified. Legislation is in the works which will allow Narcan to be sold over the counter with a doctor’s prescription, which makes Jane’s skin crawl.

“It almost seems like they’re encouraging people to take heroin until they overdose because you’ll have Narcan in your medicine cabinet just in case you need to stumble over there and use it,” she said, adding heroin addicts have no problem pricking themselves with the medicine cabinet savior.

Overdoses come in spurts, Jane said. Months would pass by without one, and then two or three in one week would be tossed onto the cement in front of the ER door. Heroin not only decreases your drive to breath, but it kills pain receptors, so graduating from a lower to a higher dosage or quality will ultimately cause problems for a user.

“It almost seemed like you could tell when a bad batch came out of Chicago or the manufacturer,” Jane said. “Heroin is a mix of all kinds of junk the body can’t handle, so if they put too much of one thing in, you’re sitting there, and then you’re gone.”

Jane will never touch heroin, but she is no fool as to why users continue once they make their first mistake. A heroin high eliminates pain and makes the body feel good, but only on a surface level.

“I’ve heard people who have used in the past and successfully make it through rehab can’t drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes or even drink caffeine because any of these addictive substances will make you relapse and go back to it.”

Jane knows what heroin does to a person on a personal level as well.

A family member was hooked on heroin and burned all bridges. She said supporting someone’s habit with lodging, money or transportation — anything besides love — will only do further damage. Her family member went to rehab, but only by choice, as medical employees have no legal ability to force rehab upon anyone.

“You can tell people to get clean and take them to rehab, but until they say, ‘You’re right, it’s time to quit,’ they’re just going to go use again,” Jane said. “They have to want to stop.”

Research indicates it takes 28 days to break a habit, and heroin addicts aren’t known for holding a steady job with health insurance, so rehabilitation likely seems like an uphill climb in both directions to many users.

“There needs to be more resources available,” Jane said, indicating many people call the hospital looking to be admitted to rehab, and when told to find a treatment center they have no idea where to direct their first step. “There are a couple places in Peoria,

“You read about it in the morning paper and see it in the news, yet people continue to take that first shot. You think you’re not going to get hooked, but you do, so it amazes me why people even start to begin with.” some in the Quad Cities and maybe Bloomington, but that’s an hour away.”

Jane must console screaming family members who dread a death notice in the hospital waiting room. She has seen track marks so severe people are literally carrying around dead limbs on their body. She has seen children crying in the backseat as their father is wheeled into the hospital on a stretcher.

“It is heartbreaking to see this happen, but at the same time you know it’s going to,” she said, adding nothing is more maddening than repeat customers who get their Narcan and are on their way. “You read about it in the morning paper and see it in the news, yet people continue to take that first shot. You think

you’re not going to get hooked, but you do, so it amazes me why people even start to begin with.”

After five years as an RN in the emergency room, Jane has no time for judgment.

She would ask users to be truthful about what they’ve taken as a way to help them help themselves.

Don’t ever experiment with heroin, she encouraged, but if you do, you have to deal with it.

“Enough is enough.

Let’s grow up and get over this. There are resources out there, and I’ve given you rehab centers, names of doctors, methadone clinics … look into it!” she pleaded.

“I can’t make you want to do that. You have to take that step to get clean and change your life.”

5

Spring 2016 • 5B

Heroin in the Illinois Valley

Shaw Media photo/Eric Engel

A stranger in his own skin Princeton native speaks of bravery in throwing away the needle

By Eric Engel Shaw Media Service

Zach Mortensen lost his truth when he found the needle. He lost the relationships with those closest to him, his self respect and the ability to inspire other people to succeed.

He said once a person becomes an addict, they are a stranger in their own skin because they’ve lost the world they know and love.

Mortensen grew up in Princeton, and he rode the rickety and ruptured rails of methamphetamine into the early stages of his adult life while down in Florida. To distance himself from that proverbial speeding bullet, he moved to Missouri to live with his father and began working at a factory. He said it was there the painted lady known as heroin quickly kissed his skin and crawled within.

Mortensen would go to work to make money to buy drugs. Rather than providing a solution to the problems already in his life, heroin provided a further retreat into the clutches of isolation. It asked for his attention like flood waters ask the buildings to bow.

“Heroin made me destroy myself and everything around me,” Mortensen said, as he recalled shoving real emotions out the door if ever they attempted to veer closer than the choking chemicals. “I made it my girlfriend, my mom, my relationships — whatever I wanted it to be at the

time.”

Mortensen sold Oxycontin to fund his fix, and pawned off personal possessions like his bicycle for money, cashing in pennies to afford a single “button” of heroin. He said his family was dirt poor, so “you can’t steal what they don’t have,” but he would stumble through the streets in search of every crutch he could muster only to be splintered by the broken posts in his hand.

The man became a machine. Score some smack. Get high. Enjoy it for five minutes, and then start worrying about when and where your next fix will be found. Get sick from the withdrawn tick that bites worse than the most furious flu. Become the demon to find the means. Score some smack.

Get high.

“Withdrawals are beyond painful. They feel like needles running through your blood — like razor blades cutting the inside of your skin,” said Mortensen, who would live off banana Popsicles and milk for a month straight, literally throwing up from the smell of a burger. “Your body tells you it needs food, but you say nope, and when you do eat, you get sick because you can’t physically go to the bathroom.”

Mortensen dropped from 200 pounds to 135 pounds and told his coworkers he was on a diet and had gotten into Pilates, as lies directed toward yourself quickly filter through to every-

one else. The polite and respectful administrator of peace was nowhere to be found, replaced by a critic of all loyalties, a statistic waiting to be checked off the sheet that wears only invisible ink.

Mortensen acquired multiple felonies and more than 40 misdemeanor charges in his life, so getting busted with six pounds of marijuana and multiple pharmaceuticals was nothing more than another punchline to him. He strolled into court wearing shorts and whistling a carefree tune ... and was told promptly to take 50 years in the slammer much more seriously, as that’s what approached him with overwhelming haste.

“I just took it as a joke and thought they were going to slap me on the wrist like any other time,” Mortensen said, adding he’d calm his worries by going home and getting high, as was the case associated with the before and after of most every action.

“A lot of people I talk to now say they hoped I would have confronted my issue, but if I wouldn’t have gotten busted and been in that courtroom I probably never would have gotten to that point.”

Mortensen realized he had no fulfillment in his career; he never saw a smile glancing back from the mirror, and the depth of the hole he had dug for himself halted all progress.

Old-timers in rehab shot him straight — “Do you want to be like me when

you’re 50? Getting drunk, doing drugs, altercations with your family, destroying your possessions, living to die?”

“Respect is the one thing you have as a human, so if I’m not respecting myself, why would anyone else respect me,” Mortensen said, stating the people who put the medicine in his hand and put a microscope over his routines was what finally dethroned his stare down with a double-barrel needle.

It’s been seven and onehalf years since Mortensen last danced with the dragon of heroin, and eight years since he wrestled the ravenous bear of methamphetamine ... yet he still struggles on a daily basis.

That putrid juice is incapable of eliminating nature’s responsibilities, though, for love is now his drug of choice.

“Every day I pick my son up from day care, and when I look at him, it makes my heart ache to even think about not being here for him,” Mortensen said. “He’s one of the main reasons I’m alive, and if he saw the way I used to live, it would break my heart.”

Mortensen said it takes

many steady hands to fix a broken mirror, and a thousand cycles around the clock for self-induced wounds to heal. He never expects forgiveness, yet constantly asks for it, for he knows trust is not taken, but given.

He said he often crosses paths with individuals he used to sell drugs to, and the remorse he feels for such actions overwhelms him at times.

“They made their choices, but I influenced those choices, and you can’t take that away for the rest of your life,” Mortensen said, fully aware he’s opened many doors that should have stayed closed. “Once you’re sober, you think about the damage you’ve done, and it kills you inside.”

Mortensen decided to reveal his true identity to help tell his tale, because he feels he owes it to his fellow man to save them from the horrors he’s encountered.

He has felt much shame in his life, and he has embarrassed his family, his friends and himself, but love, acceptance and understanding are binds in the rope that hangs to

the bottom of even the deepest holes.

Mortensen speaks from experience when he said people want to recover but have no means to, and even if it’s your granddaughter, your son, your mother — even if it’s you — we have to pry the evil mask from our faces and stop lying to ourselves and each other.

“We need to put it on every sign and every billboard in town, so when people drive through they think about how many children and families are being hurt by heroin,” he said. “When we have small town people overdosing, getting eaten up by the big world, we have to open our eyes.”

Mortensen said with a straight face for anyone to call him if they need a ride to rehab or a hand to hold while they stand on shaking legs in the face of change. This is a subject people are afraid to talk about, but when all you see in the mirror is an empty pane of glass, you have nothing left to lose.

“We have two choices.

We continue letting each other die, or we die trying to stop this disease.”

City of Spring Valley We Support the fights against Heroin

Walt Marini, Mayor SM-PR6395606-0428

215 North Greenwood Street, SPRING VALLEY, ILLINOIS 61362 City Hall • (815) 664-4221 Fax • (815) 664-2114 e-mail: svclerk@comcast.net • http://www.spring-valley.il.us

6

6B • Spring 2016

Heroin in the Illinois Valley

Plugging the leaks Bureau County State’s Attorney explains how hard it is to fight heroin

By Eric Engel Shaw Media Service

Imagine you’re trying to stop a leak in the boat. You plug it, patch it and plaster away in an effort to seal the hole entirely. But then another leak ... and another ... and suddenly the vessel resembles a slice of Swiss cheese.

You move like the wind to eradicate the liquid invasion, flooding your efforts toward the waves spewing aboard. The single enslaved wave rages violently around its dungeon, inviting the entire crew on a journey they won’t survive.

Shipmates stumble overboard, never to find their feet again, as the ocean laughs like a hurricane ... yet no good captain will ever abandon their ship until the ocean has eaten it whole, and 20,000 leagues thereafter.

Bureau County State’s Attorney Geno Caffarini never heard of heroin cases as a prosecutor in the early 1990s. Cocaine was the drug of choice, with a few prosecutions taking place each week in the area. Everybody knew you had to jab a needle into your arm to shoot up heroin, and only a rare few attempted to scale that rocky cliff. No one dared become a slave to smack — as it’s known on the street.

Not anymore.

“Heroin is relatively cheap — $10 a hit – and apparently you get this high you will never experience again,” Caffarini said, noting he hardly ever sees cocaine cases anymore, but heroin charges seep into the courtroom regularly.

“Heroin can be snorted, smoked or shot, so it’s gotten to the point where it’s easy to ingest, and you’re addicted from the get go.”

Even if a user snorts or smokes heroin, they will eventually have to inject it on the blind trail back toward that first high.

Comparing it to a deadly tornado, you look just to get a glimpse, but when you turn to run you can’t, as the funnel has found you. Young or old, rich or poor, clean or filthy; heroin does not differentiate.

“Prosecuting heroin is hard if you don’t have the local, state and national government behind you,” Caffarini admitted, stating every county in Illinois, and likely the country, has a heroin problem. “You definitely have to stop the use, as supply and demand is basically the law of economics.”

If people want the drug, dealers are going to get it to them. If people need the drug, they are going to find the dealers. Caffarini said people don’t understand what addiction is. They think they’ll take a one-time dip in the waters to cool off, so to speak, but end up sucked under the pool of churning lava.

“In my years of prosecuting, there are rare cases when someone stops using heroin,” he said, adding he knows more people who have died from an overdose than addicts who have gotten clean. “Cook County is no longer prosecuting Class 4 felonies for possession of controlled substances but instead referring them to treatment because we want people off the drug.

The first line of defense is getting them clean.”

Treatment is expensive. In-patient treatment costs thousands of dollars. Some don’t have insurance, and no one can be held in a treatment center against their will. Illinois is short on funds in many categories, the least of which is money toward heroin rehabilitation.

Caffarini would rather see his own father, brother or son sit in prison if they fail treatment rather than play Russian roulette with the needle’s venom, but it appears as if such actions only prolongs some user’s lives.

Three years in prison is often followed by three days of freedom before the saw reinserts its blade and grinds away.

“There are three things that can happen – you get treatment and get off the drug; you go to jail; or you go to the grave,” Caffarini said, having yet to find a 20-year heroin junkie, as every dope calendar eventually flips the final page. “We have to put a face on a heroin overdose, to know this person was once a successful person full of dreams.”

Peer pressure and a lack of understanding lead to heroin use.

We all think we’re mentally and physically stronger than a stigma, but as Caffarini knows all too well, that is a fallacy with heroin.

Give a young user or first-time offender probation, a few months in jail to clean the canals.

Fine them, and if they reach their paw into the honey jar again, send them to the Department of Corrections. For years, if need be.

“People need to be shaken up, and it’s hit-

Shaw Media photo/Eric Engel

Bureau County State’s Attorney Geno Caffarini

“We used to think all users came from dysfunctional families, but people from good families make the decision themselves, and then they are addicted to drugs. Heroin isn’t just here in the Illinois Valley and the state of Illinois, but the whole nation.”

Bureau County State’s Attorney Geno Caffarini ting home because now most every person knows someone who’s died of a heroin overdose,” he said.

The state’s attorney said people drive to Chicago, score some heroin and drag the poison back to their stomping grounds.

The law enforcement community is not dull as to who’s contaminating the waters, but you need probable cause to afford broken door frames and ultimately arrests.

“People who get in trouble want to work with the task force to avoid conviction,” Caffarini said, noting it’s great when the snakes are hissing at each other. “We break the ties any way we can.”

Caffarini said the

badge understands the law and its limitations, and yet men and women who carry a badge have families, emotions and community pride, and they see the same landscape stained by heroin as the rest of us. If the protectors of justice are not given the support they need to keep people safe, who will control the chaos?

“Users don’t think logically, so we need self-awareness and programs that make people aware,” he said, adding he’s witnessed too many tragedies where a family member seemingly signs a death sentence by posting bail for a user. “When you see people you know dying because of drugs, it becomes real.”

The minute you take heroin, you’re addicted, yet Caffarini understands why junkies don’t shout their affairs from the rooftops.

He knows people keep alcoholism, abuse and addiction swept under the rug, out of society’s view, because a heroin addiction is embarrassing to a scoundrel or a scholar.

“I would like to see more grants from the government if there’s money, and laws where you go to treatment and have to stay there,” Caffarini said, as everyone’s time is wasted if a user won’t admit they have a problem. “We have to stop the demand for it and make it personal so people understand.”

Step 1 is admitting we, and not they, have a problem.

Fix the leaks. Talk about heroin out loud, and don’t blink when it gets hard to deal with.

Go to an autopsy of an overdose victim.

Leave your brother in jail.

As Caffarini said, sending them into a cell is better than tossing them into the ground.

“We used to think all users came from dysfunctional families, but people from good families make the decision themselves, and then they are addicted to drugs,” he concluded.

“Heroin isn’t just here in the Illinois Valley and the state of Illinois, but the whole nation.”

7

Spring 2016 • 7B

Heroin in the Illinois Valley

Heroin IS AMERICA’S #1

SERIAL KILLER

Heroin Leaves-

• Families Devastated • Parents Grieving • Children Orphaned

10,500 deaths in the United States in 2014 692 deaths in the State of Illinois in 2015* 8 Deaths in Bureau County in 2015

DON’T BE ITS NEXT VICTIM! WORKING TOGETHER TO KEEP HEROIN OFF OUR STREETS AND AWAY FROM OUR FAMILIES: Bureau County State’s Attorney Geno Caffarini Burearu County Sheriff James Reed • Princeton Police Chief Tom Root Spring Valley Police Chief Kevin Sangston Bureau County Coroner Janice Wamhoff CPASA- Community Partners Against Substance Abuse

If you suspect drug activity in your community contact your local police department or Bureau County Crime Stoppers at 800-939-6929 Ad paid for by the Bureau County State’s Attorney’s Drug Asset Forfeiture Account SM-PR8127691-0428

*provisional data provided by the IDPH

8

8B • Spring 2016

Heroin in the Illinois Valley

Shaw Media photo/Eric Engel

Each purple ribbon on each cross represents someone who was loved by their family and friends — and taken from them by the unforgiving clutches of substance abuse.

Always forgiven, never forgotten Two women share the pain and what they gained in losing their son and brother to heroin

By Eric Engel Shaw Media Service

There is purpose in death. That purpose has never been to enrage us, but to engage us with the understanding that when a loved one passes we are awakened from our state of endless expectation to begin existence anew. Through every swing of the reaper’s blade we see more clearly the life within ourselves, for as the poet Khalil Gibran scribed, “Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.”

Justin “Buddy” Pratt was a jester in the flesh, a man made for center stage. When he was young, he learned the length of the greatest fishing stories, and roasted the rubber off one set of go-kart tires after another on his way down victory lane. Nature was the sound of his middle name, and the fire inside spoke like lightning, flashing glimpses of unadulterated radiance to the corners of the room.

Alas, some fires burn so warm they scorch the very borders intended to keep them calm. Buddy never connected with his academics and dropped out of high school at 16, with test results later confirming he had a learning disability. He would tell you what you wanted to hear, yet rarely share what he needed to say.

“He struggled with drugs for a decade, and it wasn’t always heroin,” said Buddy’s mother, Lori Brown, mentioning cocaine, pills and marijuana were but different faces in a deck of playing cards for her son, and like any gambler, he was all in on every hand. “In his eyes he ‘never had a problem.’ Someone was always doing worse than he was, and you want to believe your child.”

Buddy’s older sister, Amber Pratt, said her brother would twist the truth and then believe his own lies as long as she’d allow them to survive. Amber would find Buddy sleeping on a couch in her garage or in the backseat of his car at the hospital she worked at, as if close enough to be just out of reach.

“His mind, I think, played fast in his head, and he couldn’t keep up with it,” Amber said. “The addiction really took him for a ride.”

Buddy was always in trouble with the law, and yet never seemed to sit behind bars for very long. Brown said she must admit her son was a rat, spelling out every name but his own to officers who arrested him.

She said she was always nervous to visit Buddy’s apartment because of the shady nature of the game he played.

Amber said her brother would avoid much of the affection directed toward him, pulling away on purpose from those who knew him best. She said sadly there were moments when it was easier to ignore Bud’s addiction, avoiding the pain caused by his

Photo contributed

Justin “Buddy” Pratt, the inspiration for Buddy’s Purpose, put a face to the disease of addiction on billboards across Central Illinois. rejection of her affection.

Brown said her son’s drug problems were obviously embarrassing, but he “could ask for $20 and go home with $30.” He’d slide on that mask with the printed grin, and make his way back into their lives with momentary smiles. As hard as it may have been to accept, Brown considered whether her son had a mental illness. When she offered the idea of rehab to him, he would tuck back into his shell and yell, “I don’t want to be different!”

“You don’t want to be different, but you’re doing illegal drugs, and your name’s in the paper. You are different — the stigma’s already there,” Brown said.

Buddy’s life consisted of endless drama, the trauma wrenched from a twisted grasp on sanity, and acquaintances who knew nothing of commitment.

When Bud walked away from a car crash that took the life of one of his last true friends on the planet, he finally slipped into the gravity of his addiction, as a string can only sacrifice so many strands before it must give way to the weight.

Buddy Page 9B

“My stomach started burning, and I said, ‘This is it. Either something bad happened; someone got hurt; or he’s gone.’ This kid came walking out of the house and just shook his head, and I screamed and fell to my knees. When I went in, Amber’s dad was holding our son.”

Lori Brown, whose son died of a heroin overdose

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Heroin in the Illinois Valley

Spring 2016 • 9B

Buddy From Page 8B “His addiction took who he was from us way before he passed away.”

Brown woke up early to head into work. Amber was vacationing in Colorado, and when Brown stepped out of the shower, she had missed calls from her mother and her job.

She called her husband and her employer, and the many words she heard seemed to repeat only one sentence to her.

Go to your son.

“My stomach started burning, and I said, ‘This is it. Either something bad happened; someone got hurt; or he’s gone,’” Brown said, arriving to a circus of police sirens and the darkest day she’ll ever know. “This kid came walking out of the house and just shook his head, and I screamed and fell to my knees. When I went in, Amber’s dad was holding our son.”

On Nov. 11, 2011, Justin “Buddy” Pratt was drug from this earth by the noose that hangs like a shadow off the black horse of heroin.

The Purpose

Heroin does not just ruin the experience of the user. It stretches fast as shrapnel, exploding all notions once trusted. When heroin becomes the only thing that survives, the branches are violently ripped from the tree, that even as the trunk continues to stand it will never again produce its sweetest fruit.

Lori Brown stood back up. She called her daughter, wept into her husband, and went to her mother. From the great depth of flood waters she saw a light, shining so very bright, through the darkened distance.

“I looked at my Mom and said, ‘I will talk about this. People need to know what’s going on,’” said Brown, sifting through the ashes of disaster to find her voice. “I was quiet for so long when Bud was fighting.”

People can change. Recovery is possible. A man can break the needle, but he must travel to the eye of the storm to find reform. When the mountain seems impossible to conquer, look down at your feet and witness the single step swinging.

If that first shaking step seems impossible to land, look up at the mountain and find it standing strong as stone.

Brown waged her battle against the addiction instead of the swimmers amidst the hurricane.

“I did not want to feel alone. He was my son. I carried him as my child,” Brown said, finding people around every curve of her new journey robbed of their greatest riches. She said at first she was timid to broadcast harm reduction, but kept finding answers to questions she’d never asked.

Do you want any other person to feel this fire burn? Do you want to watch another child die? Will you do what you must to save their lives? Do you hope to smile again?

“We want people to research this disease and educate themselves on addiction,” Brown said. “It’s not that I’m stronger than the next person. I have just chosen to find a purpose in the tragedy that has come into our lives.”

Lori, Amber and the army against addiction began “Buddy’s Purpose,” a nonprofit organization aimed to “end the silence for those loved, lost and still struggling with substance abuse.” The emancipators began a mission to solidify the future by speaking at overdose awareness campaigns, providing free overdose prevention kits equipped with the anti-opiate medication Naloxone, and offering a shoulder that carries the greatest weight imaginable.

“Nobody wants to tell this story because it’s not a fun story,” Brown shared, as the only thing that saves us from drowning is the plunging arms of those who care. “Our mission continues to evolve and change, as things are now important that once weren’t.”

Brown said her family is encouraged to feel shame and embarrassment from some bystanders, as if she failed as a mother, and Amber as a sister, to teach Bud the proper tools in life.

“How was I a bad mom? I raised them the same way, and they had a lot of the same friends,” Brown said, citing Amber is a generously patient and loyal nurturer of her community — a loving mother, a homeowner and a nurse — while Buddy was a heroin addict. “There are all kinds of addictions. We all have our own vices, and you have to accept that individuals make their own choices.”

Brown openly approaches the loneliest souls, as “it’s a fog you walk through for a long time,” and encouragement makes her want to keep going. People may tiptoe around the emotions linked to such a loss, but she invites them to walk beside her, as her tears wander the trail of recollection with a person she will always love.

“If I had a few moments with my son, I’d ask him for forgiveness that I wasn’t more understanding; that I didn’t push harder, and I would tell him how much I love and miss him,” Brown said, with Amber adding she isn’t angry at her brother anymore, as the forest is defined by the distinction of every tree.

“The day he was born I didn’t want Mom to bring him home, but as much as I wanted you to stay at the hospital, I didn’t want you to leave when you did,” Amber said. “We still love him and wanted him to see his future and experience more.”

Life is short. Do not stand in the cold waiting for the sun to shine. Search out your warmth.

“I lied in bed listening to the rain this morning, and told my husband I didn’t want to do it, but then the dog licked my face and I thought, ‘Get out of bed, Lori. You’re alive and you can make a difference,” Brown said.

Whether seeking help or providing it through “Buddy’s Purpose,” contact Lori Brown at 815-993-6294, buddyspurpose@yahoo.com, or visit www.buddyspurpose.org.

Shaw Media photo/Eric Engel

Lori Brown, founder of “Buddy’s Purpose,” speaks at an awareness walk in Ottawa in 2015. After her son, Justin “Buddy” Pratt, died from a heroin overdose in 2011, Brown has raised her voice against substance abuse so no parent will have to experience what she has.

Every balloon in the crowd of an awareness walk in Ottawa is held high for someone who was defeated by substance abuse. Heroin can reach any family in any setting, and only by admitting that and coming together will the population be able to gain victory in their battle against substance abuse.

Shaw Media photo/Eric Engel

Crowd members at an awareness walk in Ottawa do not let the memories of their loved ones float away, but rather assist the pain in their hearts by supporting each other, forgiving the victims of substance abuse and fighting the vicious disease.

Shaw Media photo/Eric Engel

Shaw Media photo/Eric Engel

Lori Brown (center, white shorts) and her daughter, Amber Pratt (right center, purple headband) honor their family member, Justin “Buddy” Pratt, by opening their hearts to the crowd at an awareness walk in Ottawa, where so many individuals have lost a loved one to substance abuse.

10

10B • Spring 2016

Heroin in the Illinois Valley

Junk collectors

Local police fight the heroin battle from all angles

By Eric Engel Shaw Media Service

Addiction is extremely embarrassing and keeps many truths concealed. It forces a facade to be placed in front of the faces of family members, a veil draped over the eyes of friends. That embarrassment and shame often gives way to absolute avoidance, and tails tucked into their run as if searching for the edge of the earth.

There is a moment no officer has the option to run from — a place they cannot avoid. He sucks in his breath and puts one foot in front of the next. Standing on the doorstep, he composes, and then knocks. A face that looks so similar to one he’s recently studied answers the call, and in an instant, the emotions seem to fall from this stranger’s face into the center of their heart. The officer remembers his first day, and pictures his last. These are his words ...

“I’m very sorry, ma’am.

Your child has died of a heroin overdose.”

Imagine, if you can, a truth more embarrassing to share.

Kevin Sangston has been chief of police in Spring Valley since 2009, and honored the shield since 1989.

He said heroin hides in the shadows at times and strikes like a lion at others, but its devastating force is evident within every exchange.

“Heroin has had a profound effect on this community. There have been times in the past we’ve had multiple overdoses in one month, then it wanes off for a while, and now it’s back with a vengeance,” Sangston said, adding it also fuels so many different property crimes like theft, burglary, identify theft and forgery — its very existence a constant driving force of chaos.

“Addicts have to continually feed the monster, so they have to find financial ways to do that,” he said, as new users self-prescribe to the prevalence and popularity of the cheap drug that often begins in the bottom of an opiate prescription bottle. “They ruin themselves and their family financially, and once all those revenue sources are shut off, they look for criminal avenues to locate those funds.”

Tim Trevier, a lieutenant for the Bureau County Sheriff’s Department, said heroin is a black plague. He was once a member of the Illinois State Police Drug Task Force, so he’s fought the war from the inside out, and said heroin is now cheaper than it’s ever been. It’s all about money for the dealers; many of which don’t use the drugs they sell, so they can dish out two or three bags to an addict at $25 a pop.

“We must stop the problem at it’s source — stop the distributors — because once a person is hooked, it’s

a long, dark road to travel,” Trevier said.

Bureau County Sheriff Jim Reed said there are a few heavy dealers in the area, and limiting the supply from Chicago will only increase the supply from other avenues.

“We have to make a substantial effort to stop it at the border because the poppy (used to produce opium) is grown in Afghanistan and comes into the United States, creating a national epidemic,” Reed said, citing water will leak into a house through every crevice it can find.

Trevier pointed out our prison systems are overflowing, and although a person has a hard time getting their hands on drugs while behind bars, many of them jump right back into the fire when they get out, which is one of the main reasons an overdose takes place. A break from heroin creates a lowered tolerance for the drug, and a five ounce glass cannot hold 10 ounces of water.

“It’s a crap shoot taking anything; not just heroin, but meth, crack and cocaine because you don’t know what it’s laced with or if a bad batch has come into town,” said Trevier, who along with his area colleagues is looking into a drug court program, which would stipulate court-ordered rehabilitation.

The problem all three men face, along with every other agent of enforcement in the Land of Lincoln, is there are a limited number of treatment centers in the area.

Area addicts looking for a treatment facility have to travel to Peoria, the Quad Cities or Chicago to find it, and even then, they might be turned away at the door.

“There’s such a backlog, and for those people who want to get help, it’s not always readily available, which just makes the situation worse,” Sangston said, claiming it’s going to take an overhaul of the entire health care system to right the ship, so to speak.

Reed said the federal government needs to stand behind the small towns to get in front of the problem because those enlisted within civility are doing everything they can to find solution, but all the weight shouldn’t rest on the shoulders of law enforcement agencies.

Sangston said this is not the first time heroin has robbed the human race blind, and to raise your voice after hearing of each overdose, instead of before, does as much good as watering flowers in the dead of winter.

“It’s devastating to the community and to future generations, so there has to be education in the schools and in the families,” Sangston said, adding a web of long-term support for an

Shaw Media photo/Eric Engel

Princeton Police Chief Tom Root plays an instrumental role in the battle against the heroin epidemic — as do all members of the law enforcement community. Chief Root does not want to arrest his way out of the problem, but encourage people to make choices that will benefit and fulfill their lives. addict and their family is the only savior available. “It’s so huge that unless there’s real change on a federal and state level concerning the amount of resources dedicated to stopping this issue, it’s not going to change.”

Trevier has been frustrated for years over the lack of soldiers sent to fight this war. The conversation shouldn’t be centered on money or means, but on mankind.

“We live in a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ society, where people say they are too good for the problem, but this is a drug and a disease that will eventually affect your family, and by then it will be too late,” Trevier said.

Sangston said it makes an officer sick to stand on a doorstep with such a burden on their tongue, for as humiliating as it is for a person to admit they’re a heroin junkie, it pales to looking into the eyes of a father for the first time without his son.

“We can’t give up, and we’re not going to give up because we’re talking about people’s lives,” Sangston said, urging every addict to seek help and every critic to provide it. “Whatever embarrassment there is, it’s nothing compared to talking to a parent who just Shaw Media photo/Eric Engel lost a child to an overdose Worldly influences can pressure curious teenagers to try many different substances, but and telling those parents law enforcement agents on every level plead with individuals to steer clear of poor habits, their child is dead.” as the consequences can be devastating — and sometimes deadly.

11

Spring 2016 • 11B

Heroin in the Illinois Valley

‘The single greatest threat ...’

Peru Chief of Police holds nothing back in his fight against heroin

By Eric Engel Shaw Media Service

Peru Chief of Police Doug Bernabei has been fighting crime and violence on the streets of the United States for 35 years.

He witnessed the crack cocaine explosion in the 1990s while an officer down in Florida, and yet he has never seen any drug flood the streets of cities small and large alike as heroin has in the last number of years.

“You or I could throw on a sweatshirt and go buy heroin on the south side of Chicago right now,” Bernabei said, noting many factors play into the disruption of social sobriety, including peer pressure, experimentation and the affordability of dangerous drugs compared to year’s past — let alone the filthy economic gain drug dealers rely so heavily upon.

Bernabei spoke about Peru being an area epicenter of culture — with the mall, Illinois Valley Community College, and quality restaurants and attractions galore — making it a breeding

SM-PR890150-0428

ground for area dealers.

“If you deal drugs in this area, you’re going to set up shop here,” he said, noting a multitude of individuals locate to the city each day for work or play, and a disease will search for a setting where it can blossom the quickest.

Bernabei said he saw how viciously heroin abuse was attacking the city and area he is responsible to protect, and didn’t know how to tackle the beast, so to speak, but knew he needed to start somewhere.

He brought the community together at LaSalle-Peru Township High School in November, filling the stage with medical and law enforcement professionals, clergy members, State’s Attorneys … and those who had experienced heroin themselves through use or the death of a loved one.

“If people knew how many were using heroin and who was using it, they’d be shocked,” he said, having gained velocity from the initial forums and discussions to continue adding to the

Tri-County area’s fight against a powder that offers permanent rest.

Bernabei unleashed the Peru Police Department Special Investigations Unit (PPD SIU) on dealers in the area, and like a canine trained for combat, the unit has been busy targeting heroin and cocaine distribution in the Illinois Valley.

The only way to eliminate the swarming sting of drug use in the area is to start attacking the hives themselves.

On April 20, Bernabei stated proudly the PPD SIU had made their 12th arrest relating to the delivery of heroin and cocaine since Jan. 27.

The police chief said he has a number of officers on his force who are allowed to pause their progress on a task unrelated to drug prevention if they get wind of sinister activity involving heroin or cocaine.

Undercover operations have been vital in pinpointing the true adversaries to community advancement, not to mention removing their ability to degrade the landscape.

Shaw Media photo/Eric Engel

Peru Police Chief Doug Bernabei Bernabei said they are not part of the TRIDENT drug task force, but are looking into forming their own branch of justice — a force dedicated to the Peru area whose purpose is to eradicate, or at the very least, diminish drug use and distribution. He said the specifics of the Peru task force are still in the works, but he should have more information by summer as to the fruition of such an entity.

Bernabei is a father himself, and his heart aches from the damage heroin creates in his community. He knows a drug can clutch a user and drag them to unspoken places, regardless of what setting and social standing that user knew before their addiction.

He constantly studies the most effective means of treatment and rehabilitation for addicts, so they may get back to contrib-

uting — first to their own well-being, and secondly to the betterment of everyone else.

Bernabei will charge against heroin with an iron fist, for his experience in life foretells the destruction that can take place if able individuals do nothing to grab the wheel and right the ship.

“Heroin is the single greatest threat to public safety we’ve ever seen in the Illinois Valley.”

12

12B • Spring 2016

Heroin in the Illinois Valley

Teamwork ... or tragedy CPASA enlists every caring citizen to fight heroin

By Eric Engel Shaw Media Service

You disgust me.

You animal, you parasite ... you’re everything that’s wrong with society. You chose this life, and you deserve what’s coming your way. Are you ignorant, or just stupid? I’d never dream of touching that filth and neither would my kids because I actually raised them the right way. This town doesn’t have a problem.

You’re the problem, you worthless junkie!

Wait, what? No, stop. Just wait a minute! What are you talking about? That can’t be. He would never do that; she’s not that type of person. You’re wrong! My child is not an addict ... Oh no. Oh please God, no!

My baby, not my baby! That’s my only son! That’s my mother. That’s my neighbor. That’s my friend. That person on the coroner’s table, that’s ...

That’s me.

Key players of Community Partners Against Substance Abuse (CPASA), a Princeton-based organization aimed at eradicating drug abuse, spoke about the local effects of the heroin epidemic.

Princeton Police Chief Tom Root said heroin is now the No. 1 drug of choice in Bureau County, and it is always accessible to users. Root said heroin comes in waves, flowing into town from Rockford, Peoria, the Quad Cities and Chicago like a flash flood. Having gained volume and velocity for half a decade now, those waves come crashing down on anyone in its path..

“The cost of heroin has decreased so much that it’s available to anyone for $5 to $10 a bag,” Root said, adding heroin has devastating addictive qualities similar to methamphetamine or crack cocaine and sinks it’s claws to the bone from the first encounter onward.

“It always seemed like it was somewhere else, but now it’s anybody and everybody doing heroin.”

Bureau County Coroner Janice Wamhoff’s records indicate there have been at least eight heroin overdose deaths in Bureau County since the beginning of 2015, not to mention overdose survivors. Dawn Conerton, director of CPASA, said individuals don’t always know what they’re taking, thinking heroin might be cocaine or “something to get high,” so addicts begin their journey unprepared for the initial step.

Root said they’ve seen a huge increase in the number of heroin arrests and individuals in possession of heroin for the last half decade, and users are now scarred with more than just track marks.

“Heroin can be utilized by snorting, smoking or injecting, so the problem is we associate heroin users with shooting up, but that’s just not the case anymore,” Root said, stating young adults go to a party, see a line of powder on the table, and jump in blindly without consideration of a substance’s ferocity. “We’re seeing it younger, and it’s mind boggling; 16 and 17 year olds are using and dealing, so by the time they’re 18 or 19, Janice (the coroner) is their last contact.”

Root said an addict’s ability to reason logically becomes atrophied because the craving for a fix is so high they are willing to sever ties with everyone and everything that once mattered.

“People who don’t use don’t understand addiction,” Root said. “An addict gets tunnel vision and can only see that next fix.”

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has stated heroin is on a greater rise nationwide than at any other point in history, and Wamhoff said many users start out because they have low self-esteem issues.

“A lot of these kids are tormented, and that’s when they start experimenting,” Wamhoff said. “The child looks for something to make themselves feel better and fit in with the crowd.”

We have a mental picture of an addict slouched over against the cold brick wall in an alleyway, drooling and senseless, yet no one looks at the football team huddled up in discussion over the evening’s drug menu. Heroin does not differentiate between gender, race, age or ability — it only moves like an airborne infection.

“When Mom and Dad look at that picture they think, ‘That can’t be happening here,’ but it covers all levels,” Root explained, stating no one sees the choir member in the tennis outfit being a junkie, but only the dark path travelers stumbling out of broken homes. “That’s not who addicts are anymore.”

Root said law enforcement agents hear those statements every day of the year from residents too proud to admit there is a heroin problem among us. Princeton is clean. Tiskilwa doesn’t dance with the devil.

Spring Valley would never stoop so low. Walnut is better than that. It is always another at fault.

Shaw Media photo/Eric Engel

CPASA members battle the entire spectrum of substance abuse in an attempt to promote a healthier culture, both physically and mentally.

Shaw Media photo/Eric Engel

Shaw Media photo/Eric Engel

Naloxone can save the life of someone who has overdosed on heroin, and many area officers are looking into having it available in their squad cars.

Heroin is so powerful in shutting down proper body function that the lungs become negligent in their function, and the addiction is so powerful it causes addicts to return to a substance that causes them to literally stop breathing.

CPASA Page 13B

13

Spring 2016 • 13B

Heroin in the Illinois Valley

Searching for a ‘Safe Passage’ Lee County has sent nearly 50 addicts to rehab in six months

By Eric Engel Shaw Media Service

In a time of war, an army can lay waste to their opposition.

They can slay their opponent one blow at a time, destroying the enemy invading their landscape for the betterment of every soldier. They can claim to have taken the battle, and yet the war rages onward.

What if the only way to truly win the war was through an elimination of violence — an alliance between all sides involved? Could a man lay down his weapon, while trusting his nemesis to do the same? Could they join together as one with their eyes on a unified humanity? Lee County enforcers fighting the global heroin epidemic intend to find out.

John Simonton has been a police officer for 34 years, 27 of which was with the Illinois State Police. The Lee County Sheriff said heroin has always been around since he began his career in law enforcement, but in much the same way a small flame eventually turns into a furious inferno if given the means, heroin now wrecks lives at an epidemic proportion.

Simonton said the unfortunate overdose deaths of five individuals in the county, three in the city of Dixon alone, prompted his police force to look at things differently in early 2015. The death of one addict wasn’t curtailing the abuse of heroin by other addicts, so he searched for a solution.

Simonton said heroin may be even more severe on the coasts of the U.S. than in the heartland, and he heard of a program that originated in Gloucester, Mass. — called Gloucester’s Angel program and led by Police Chief Leonard Campanello — that was unlike anything officers had tried before.

Simonton knew the same approach would work in the land he loved and protected. He knew area addicts needed a Safe Passage away from their addiction.

“Campanello would ask addicts to come into the police department, bring in their drugs and paraphernalia without worrying about being charged, and the officers would help the addicts get treatment,” Simonton said, speaking of the Angel program that parallels the Safe Passage initiative area departments are teaming up to promote in Central Illinois.

“It’s something that hadn’t crossed my mind before.”

Simonton got together with the health department, hospitals and local agencies — those who knew more about the effects of heroin on the body and the treatment of it compared to enforcement of it. These were people who wanted to get something done through effort and initiative, and yet

CPASA From Page 12B

When do addicts seek recovery? They don’t.

“Some might get to the point where they ask for help, but experience tells us otherwise,” said former Circuit Judge Terry Madsen.

Conerton said each revelation depends on the person and the support they receive, while Root added it’s easier to fall back into the darkness than it is to face the consequences of their actions.

“This is not going to enslave me, I can get through this,” Root said, speaking as every addict without an addiction. “I’m not addicted, but I gotta head to Chicago and get my next fix.”

Let’s be real

There is light beyond even the darkest nights.

Unreasonable resources, active access, a stubborn society, personal pain — these excuses serve no purpose. They are stones blocking the road to redemption.

CPASA members spoke about the need for more therapeutic resources, and for the entire community to awaken to the reality that surrounds them — not full of hatred, but rather fueled by hope.

“We need to get to where we have more mental

health counseling available before the addiction takes hold,” Root said, with Madsen adding socio-economic decisions dictate whether our eyes and wallets open wide enough for the truth.

“Substance prevention is the first line of defense against all substances and addiction,” Madsen said, hopeful no child will ever begin the end game.

“CPASA is a coalition campaign, and kids say the people with the most impact on them is their parents.”

Madsen said an addiction death of a young person will raise questions of responsibility, and yet even loving, caring and attentive parents have buried children beneath the needle.

The chain of encouragement and tough love must remain intact, Root added, because heroin disguises itself as a soulmate awaiting your open arms, only to rob you blind of all that promotes life.

“Talking to a family is heartbreaking, but a lot of these families are in such denial,” Wamhoff said, having witnessed parents who attempt to plead their child back to life. “From when the child is 10 until they’re out of your house, you should have control over that child.”

“Be your child’s parent, not their friend,” Conerton added.

Drug dealers don’t care who they are killing. They are deaf to the cries of the

the biggest hurdle was finding treatment centers willing to take an abundance of individuals with few means and even less money.

“They have to get paid or their business won’t run,” Simonton said, speaking of rehabilitation facilities. “They get their reimbursement through the state, and they are largely underfunded.”

Simonton said plainly once an addict chooses recovery, there is a small window of willpower before their quicksand addiction sucks them back down. Many have no insurance, no real friends fighting for their benefit, and a minimal perception of security outside their habits. Most every person on earth who hits rock bottom needs assistance and generosity to rise from the vice that claims them.

“Another hard part is the police department is doing this program, and we are usually arresting them for doing drugs, so we had to develop that trust early on,” Simonton said, adding former addict Tim Ryan, founder of A Man in Recovery, provided great examples of how to interact with addicts when they came in. “It’s a big step for them to walk across the threshold of the Sheriff’s Department and say, ‘I’m an addict; I need help.’”

The Lee County Sheriff’s Department developed partnerships with every person and establishment they could, and open arms held the notion together. The Safe Passage program started Sept. 1, 2015, and to date close to 50 addicts have been checked into treatment.

“The biggest cultural hurdle is we must look at this as a disease. Once we look at it like this, the availability and the money for treatment centers will develop,” he said, adding it costs taxpayers a lot more money to put people in jail than in treatment.

Simonton said the future of the program can only expand, with deputies and officers in every area town buying in with incredible commitment — connecting every soldier attempting to halt heroin’s ruthless regime.

“We want to give them a place to go and help them find gainful employment because so many of them are good, smart, talented individuals,” Simonton said. “When I see them on the street someday, I won’t be putting them in handcuffs … I’ll be shaking their hand.”

Safe Harbor Anna Sacco-Miller, Lee County State’s Attorney, expanded upon the Safe Passage initiative by speaking about Safe Harbor, a grassroots establishment where former addicts and family members of addicts try to provide support outside of innocents slaughtered by their greed, but Madsen reminded everyone there’s a difference between hearsay and evidence when it comes to Root and his troops hunting down the enemy.

“After prevention there’s law enforcement, criminal intervention, and over the years the burden’s fallen on law enforcement to deal with these issues, which doesn’t make any sense,” Madsen said.

All Root can do is provide resources to help addicts because the jails are overflowing.

“Police officers are not clinical psychologists, but people are still blaming us,” Root said, adding police can’t monitor everyone’s kids, even as they care for them greatly. “We’re in a small community, so we get to know everybody.

The kids, the parents — it affects us personally.”

CPASA members agree that treatment facilities are far past due in this area, and CPASA is constantly climbing the ladder toward greater continuity and organization on a county, state and national level.

“We’re not winning the war on drugs, no matter what anyone says, and if you say we are a drug-free community, you are lying,” Root exclaimed, stating nobody under the sun has a drug-free community.

“It takes a partnership of people with a belief in the

movement who are willing to donate their time, but the first thing we have to recognize is we have an addiction issue.”

Whether through a drug court or rehab program, giving users an extended period — and possibly a lifetime — without heroin relapse is vital to the success of this humanitarian mission. Addiction is not a crime but a disease.

“Law enforcement, parents and neighbors all need to support each other and perform their specific roles effectively,” Madsen said, with Conerton adding she’ll never lose faith in the

the criminal justice system.

She also brought up PRISM — Psychiatric Research Interview for Substance and Mental Disorders — which is a multi-disciplinary group with members of the health department, law enforcement, State’s Attorney’s office, faith-based organizations, treatment centers and members of the general public fighting the issues of addiction.

“These focus on all harmful drugs,” Sacco-Miller said, noting many addicts have been the victim of traumatic events and use drugs to ease the pain. “Our goal is to reform, educate and prevent while providing treatment for addiction and mental health.”

Sacco-Miller said alcohol is dangerous and can result in death, but because it’s legal we don’t focus on it as much, so educating the public on heroin abuse requires patience and persistence.

“We must keep in mind addicts are a difficult population to deal with because they have such high needs, and we expect them to address the problem on our time line rather than theirs.”

An addict uses heroin so they don’t feel sick — even as the drug originates their ailment — and as many addictions begin with prescription drugs, Sacco-Miller spoke of keeping the prescription bottles from overflowing.

“There’s a push from public health agencies to limit what physicians can legally prescribe,” she said, adding online access to drug shopping must be limited as well. “We want it where the physicians only prescribe short-term, and make the patients come back and tell them if they are in still in pain because we don’t want pain or addiction.”

She said drug court involves the prosecutor, the defense and the judge all being on the same page, and even as law enforcement is extremely aggressive against the dealers who prey on the weak, the addicts need to be nudged back into the workforce after coming home to their families.

Sacco-Miller encourages everyone to recognize heroin can affect all classes and pockets of society by putting information on the front burner. If we take the shame away from it, anyone fighting addiction — whether using drugs or not — will take a step forward.

“We need to look in the mirror so we stop blaming others for the problems we don’t deal with,” Sacco-Miller said, stating all administrators of change must make time to come together as one huge web of fortitude to dismantle the chaos of addiction. “This is a completely different model, and all factors involved are part of one team.” good nature of each human being, regardless the tragedy of their experience.

“No one is going to say, ‘I want to be a heroin addict today,’” she said, urging parents to seek greater understanding on the entire subject. “Talk to your child because no one wants this to happen to themselves.”

“This is not a blame game.

We all need to do better because this problem is not going away,” Root added, speaking of a goal that will eventually combine the forces of LaSalle, Putnam and Bureau counties in rehabilitating our future.

“The one thing we can’t do is believe this is too big, or we are already defeated.”

Madsen left the envelope open, for all to add to the cause. We won’t save the world. We will just save ours.

“There aren’t thousands of heroin addicts here, but every single death from a heroin overdose is unacceptable,” he said. “CPASA members from all walks and professions of life are trying so hard to get them back on the right track because drugs, alcohol, suicide, depression, violence, anger, crime … it’s all intertwined.”

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Heroin in the Illinois Valley

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Spring 2016 • 15B

Heroin in the Illinois Valley

The sponsors on this page support the fight to prevent more addictions and deaths due to heroin in the surrounding counties.

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16B • Spring 2016

Heroin in the Illinois Valley

If this was your child’s room, could you… recognize the signs of substance abuse or depression?

CPASA presents

HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT Join us for: • Free interactive live display • Discussion about local trends • Learn signs of substance abuse and depression that could be found in your child’s room

For information about bringing Hidden in Plain Sight or any of CPASA’s substance abuse programs in your community contact CPASA at 815-872-5091 or info@cpasa.org

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