1 Front Volume 140 No. 22
Friday, July 26, 2013
The Tonica News
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‘We’re going to get hit hard’ By Barb Kromphardt bkromphardt@tonicanews.com
TONICA – The new Affordable Care Act could cost the Tonica School District money. That was the message delivered by Mary Jo Boland of Boland Insurance at the July 17 board meeting. Boland Insurance is the district’s insurance carrier through Humana.
Boland said she was there to offer the district the opportunity to renew its health insurance in advance of the normal one-year anniversary date. Boland said currently insurers can vary insurance rates depending on age, geography, sex, health and trends. With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), insurers
will only be able to vary rates depending on age and geography. Currently insurers can charge up to six times more for people in the highest risk category, but that will drop to only three times more after the Affordable Care Act takes effect. The Act will require everyone to have health insurance, or they will pay a $955 penalty the
first year, and it will increase after that. Boland said most of the Act doesn’t apply to the district because it has fewer than 50 employees. Boland said at the current time, the estimated renewal charge for the district is estimated to increase between 43 and 53 percent in 2014. However, the district can consider renewing on Dec. 1 at an estimated increase
of 13 to 23 percent. She also said the district had to request the opportunity to consider renewing no later than July 31. Making the request didn’t obligate the district to renewing, however. “We’re just looking at changing the renewal date to save the district money,” Superintendent John Suarez said. “If we do nothing, we’re going to
get hit hard.” The board authorized Suarez to give Boland permission to look into beginning an open enrollment to help lessen the impact for insurance. In other business, the board: • Heard from Village President Kevin Sluder. Sluder said the village will continue to use the
See Board Meeting Page 2
Lostant resident is published author By Dixie Schroeder news@tonicanews.com
LOSTANT – Randy Railey has worn many ‘hats’ in his life. Father. Army officer. State policeman. Chief of police for Wenona and Lostant. LaSalle County Sheriff’s deputy. Railey can add one more hat he has worn in the last four years: Author. Railey writes crime fiction stories. To date he has two published, one on the shelf and he has also branched into writing college textbooks. “I’ve got a couple more in the works,” he said. Railey has done a lot of research on the internet to decide how to publish his books. His first book is “Daddy Six Actual” and it was published through Strategic Book Publishing and Rights Company out of Houston, Texas. His next book, “Paper Cut,” was just published under the banner of Publish America in Boston, Mass. Railey has a lot of mixed emotions as to which publishing venue is right for his work. “I’m still trying to find the best way I like,” he said. “I used a regular publisher on the first one I did. The second one is kind of neutral between regular and the self publishing bit and a regular publisher.” Both of his published books are what he calls fictional crime novels. Railey admits that “Daddy Six Actual” had been in his head for
quite some time before he actually put it down on paper. The book has a combination setting as Railey explained. “This is a combination of a military law enforcement setting and the Illinois Valley area,” he said. “When I wrote ‘Daddy Six Actual’ I designed it to be more accurate than the Hollywood style version. There is a lot more educational accuracy as I call it.” The second book that is just out, “Paper Cut” is what Railey calls pure fiction. The way he published this book is a cross between a traditional publishing house and self publishing. In both books, Railey said he asked friends and co-workers to read the book, not necessarily for corrective purposes but for content. He wanted real and honest opinions to make sure that his books would be enjoyed by readers. He mentioned that he gave a copy of “Paper Cut” to a dispatcher at the LaSalle County Sheriff’s offices before his vacation and asked her to read it. Knowing her to be a more blunt individual he figured he would get an honest answer from her on content. When he got back from his vacation, she came and yelled at him, telling him the book was so good, she didn’t want to stop reading it and missed a family reunion.
See Railey Page 4
Tonica News photo/Ken Schroeder
Classic cars at the Cruise-In Several antique and custom cars and trucks lined the street during the Lostant Summer Festival Cruise-In on July 21. See more photos from Lostant’s festival on Page 7.
FedEx and UPS at the post office? Tonica Post Office offers new service By Elin Arnold news@tonicanews.com
TONICA — The Tonica Post Office is now delivering more than just the mail. Parcel lockers have been installed on the bottom row of the east and south walls in the back
section of the mailboxes, and Postmaster Kathy Newhalfen said customers started reaping the benefits of having them the third week in June. The new service allows for the pickup of parcel deliveries that are sent through the postal
Inside
Vol. 140 No. 22 One Section - 8 Pages
© The Tonica News
service, Fed Ex or UPS when the main window is closed. The postal service still delivers to all addresses; but UPS and FedEx don’t do this anymore, so some of their packages are now left at the main post office. The postmaster used to keep all parcel deliveries behind the window
Tractors on Tour
Truck and tractor pull
See Page 3
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and put a notice in customer’s mailboxes for a pick up. The customer would have to come to the post office when the window was open. This would delay deliveries to many customers who were unable to get there during those times. Now,
See New Service Page 2