Volume 141 No. 22
Friday, May 8, 2015
Single Copy Cost 50¢
Sandy Creek facility beached for now By Ken Schroeder news@tonicanews.com
WENONA — The building of the controversial hog confinement facility has started, with ground being broken in March. However, that’s where work has stalled out with only a silt fence and two large piles of dirt visible from the road to mark the beginning. That start was enough to
start another flurry of problems for the facility and the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA). Local citizens who are opposed to the hog confinement complex formed a group known as Save Our Sandy (SOS). They recently filed a lawsuit naming the IDOA, acting Director of IDOA Philip Nelson, VMC Management Corporation and Sandy Creek Lane LLC as defendants. SOS spokes-
person Leslie Smith said the groundbreaking was done without any local permits and before the land was actually owned by VMC. That does not conform to local regulations, which the IDOA told the company they had to follow. Smith also alleges she contacted the IDOA when the illegal ground-breaking started but received no reply.
Marshall County engineer Pat Sloan confirmed the work began without the proper paperwork. The final complete paperwork was submitted on April 9 with the permit issued April 10. The suit alleges Sandy Creek Lane LLC violated three sections of the Livestock Management Facilities Act (LMFA). The suit charges VMC did not properly follow regulations
on soil and aquifer testing, and failed to design its waste handling facility according to environmental laws. It also contends the facility does not meet the eight sitting criteria of the LMFA. The Sandy Creek Lane LLC hog facility was green-lighted by the Illinois Department of Agriculture on Nov. 1, 2014, over the objection of local residents and the Marshall
County Board. The board had voted 11-1 on May 8, 2014, to recommend against the project, adding they were “adamantly opposed.” Plans were first announced for the facility at the March 13, 2014, meeting of the county board when project director Nicolas Rippel addressed the board with
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TGS looks at buses and autism program New board members sworn in
By Ken Schroeder news@tonicanews.com
TONICA — The Tonica Grade School Board had a special meeting on Saturday, May 2, to formally induct new board members to office. The installation was originally scheduled for the April 22 meeting, but the votes from the April 7 election had not yet been canvassed. Martin Weisbrock and Allan Lefflemann were sworn in. Board member Kim Goodbred agreed to return to the board to fill the open seat on the board. Goodbred will fill a two-year term. The board voted to enter into the exploratory phase of potential contracting of bus services with Illinois Central Bus Co. The exploratory phase will cost the district $2,500 in legal fees. The board is looking for clarification on the bid received from the bus company. The estimate given does not specify what is included in this amount. The school had requested a grand total of what it would cost to run three routes in both the morning and afternoon and restore busing to extracurricular activities. The amount quoted was $107,000. The school’s current cost running its own buses is $123,000. Also to be considered are the three leases the school has with its own buses. Midwest Bus Co. Vol. 141 No. 22 One Section - 8 Pages
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has agreed to release the school from its lease contract at a cost of $1,000 for each bus. This would mean $2,000 as one of the leases will expire at the end of the fiscal year in June. The board also revisited the possible third autism program discussed during the April 22 meeting. There are concerns in terms of available space and teachers to staff the program. In addition, as part of the LEASE special education co-op, the school receives incentive funding to have these programs at TGS. “The demand is out there from other districts to send students here for autism. We have been contacted regularly in the past few weeks about sending students here,” Superintendent John Suarez said. “The problem financially is that the date to declare the need for another autism program is necessary has passed. That means we could possibly not receive any incentive funding for LEASE, and if we start the program without the incentive funding, we will never be eligible to receive funding for the third program.” A meeting was scheduled with LEASE on Tuesday, May 5, to present what autism teacher Mellisa Cassidy presented to the school board to see if the school can still receive funding. The board accepted the resignation of Cassidy as autism teacher with regret. She is taking a new position in the Peru School District.
Tonica News photo/Ken Schroeder
Helping restore nature Alyssa Fleuch (left) from Lostant Grade School helps plant a white pine at Starved Rock State Park on Thursday, April 30, during part of the month-long Earth Day observation. Students from the school’s seventh-grade science class worked with students from Harding Grade School in Earlville on planting trees around the visitors center. District forester Randy Timmons of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources decided this year’s Earth Day project for Starved Rock would be reforestation, “we lost so many trees here last year during the storms, this was our best choice.”
Taking a gamble Let it roll By Ken Schroeder news@tonicanews.com
This is the final story in a three-part series on video gaming in Illinois; how it works, where the money goes and who
can benefit from allowing video gaming in their establishments. With more than $8 billion played in video gaming terminals during 2014, there’s a large number of people trying their luck at the slots. Although there are currently no figures available for the number
of players, the number of terminals in the state has leveled off and is currently hovering at 19,000 for the last six months. In January of 2014, there were 14,426 slots statewide. 2014 was the year video gaming truly took off. Estimated money played for both 2012 and 2013
amounted to $2.6 billion with a state share of $77 million. This year also looks like a busy year for the terminals, with February 2015 setting a record of more than $851 million played at an average of $30.4 million a day.
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