Friday, September 15, 2017
Volume 143 No. 41
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PERU
LOSTANT
School will get a new track and a science center/student commons
$100K grant for new water tower sought
St. Bede projects continue BY GOLDIE RAPP news@tonicanews.com PERU — Two major construction projects at St. Bede Academy (SBA) are moving along well. SBA is getting a new track and science center/student commons area. The track project began this past spring. The school is attended by some students who reside in LaSalle, Bureau and Putnam counties. As previously reported, the track was made possible by the family and friends of fallen U.S. Marine Thomas Heitmann, a Mendota native and 2002 SBA graduate. Heitmann died serving his country a year after he began a project to build a track facility at SBA. Through donations and fundraising efforts, family and friends were able to offer a $200,000 lead gift to begin the track project. With Phase 1 completed, family and friends will go on to fund raising for Phase 2, which includes constructing a concession area and storage facility along the track. The science center and student commons area project kicked-off in June following a ground blessing ceremony. Each week since then, Superintendent Ted Struck has met with contractors and architects from StudioGC Architectural Firm of Chicago, Vissering Construction Co. of Streator and JB Contracting of LaSalle to keep up with progress on the project and communicate logistics of what’s going on around the campus. The academy had been preparing for the first day back to school, which was Aug. 16. Struck was recently pleased to report the more invasive steps in the addition were completed, which allows for a smoother transition for administrators, teachers and students moving back into the building. Struck said the project was held up for two weeks during the summer due to unexpected underground water line issues
BY ZACHARY J. PRATT news@tonicanews.com
BCR photos/Goldie Rapp
Fr. Ronald Margherio invited students to read a blessing during the annual spirit week celebration, which took place in conjunction with ceremonial groundbreaking for the science and student commons area held Wednesday, Aug. 23. BELOW: The new science center and student commons area project at St. Bede Academy is coming along well and still on schedule to be finished by April 2018. contractors ran into while digging. The water lines had to be permanently shut off before moving on. Despite the set back, plans show the project is coming along well and is on track to be completed by April. Struck said he’s hoping to take over the new portion of the building by May 1. While construction will be ongoing throughout this next school year, administrators and teachers have decided to look at the building project as a learning opportunity, rather than an imposition on the school.
LOSTANT – The oft-discussed need for a new water tower in Lostant is now seeing some action, as the Lostant Village Board pursues a grant to allow for construction of a new structure. Village President Jack Immel estimated at the board’s Sept. 11 meeting that the village will be looking at $100,000 for the water tower and related work, but he says the issue would have to be dealt with in some manner eventually. “It’s better to spend $100,000 on a new one than to put $100,000 into this old one,” he said. Austin Taylor, a representative for the North Central Illinois Council of Governments, said that those who will decide whether to give the grant to Lostant are “really going to look for that threat to health and safety.” Meeting attendees noted that there are pictures and videos highlighting different issues with the tower, such as a time leaking water formed icicles, and considered asking for any material people might have which might help. The decision to pursue the grant now was made in light of an uncertainty whether the village will be able to qualify later.
See ST. BEDE, Page 3
See GRANT, Page 3
STANDARD
PCCC program aims to protect seniors from health care scams BY DAVE COOK news@tonicanews.com STANDARD — As quickly as they’re detected and defeated — new, more complex scams take their place. Health care is a common target. To help residents avoid these swindles, the Putnam County Community Center in Standard recently held a program teaching how to detect and Vol. 143 No. 41 One Section - 8 Pages
report these types of fraud. Presented on Aug. 17 by Amy Phillips, program coordinator for the Western Illinois Area Agency on Aging (WIAAA) and Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) representative, the event included steps which can be taken to detect health care billing errors, fraud and abuse, as well as ways to protect personal information.
“Protecting your personal information is the best thing you can do to help prevent becoming a victim of any type of fraud, but it’s especially important when it concerns your health care,” Phillips said. She advised treating Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security numbers as they would their credit card information. After reviewing Medicare doc-
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uments for mistakes, shredding those papers once they’re no longer useful is another important step in avoiding being a victim. “Medicare also won’t call or visit to try and sell you anything,” she said. Phillips said the things to look for on medical bills are charges for things you didn’t receive, repetitive billing and charges
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for services not ordered by your health care provider. “If you suspect anything, errors, abuse or fraud, you should report it immediately and call both your provider and your insurance plan. If you’re still suspicious, call your local SMP office,” she advised.
See SCAMS, Page 2
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