1 Front
Volume 142 No. 46
Friday, October 21, 2016
Single Copy Cost 50¢
Busy beavers in Tonica Dams becoming a nuisance By Zachary J. Pratt news@tonicanews.com
TONICA — Beavers are acting up in Tonica, building dams which could be considered nuisances. “The beavers are at it again,” village employee Marc Lemrise told the Tonica Village Board at its meeting Monday, Oct. 17.
In other news: • Tonica has set its trick-ortreat time for 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 31. This time frame comes after discussion of the original suggestion of 5 to 7 p.m. “Five’s tough for people,” said trustee Michael Supan. “I know last year there were people complaining about the 5 (o’clock time).” “I’m a fan of the kids running out late because that’s what I did,” Sluder said. However, it was noted the vil-
“We took out another beaver dam today.” Removing the structures is an exercise in futility. “We take it down; they’re going to rebuild it,” Lemrise said. Village President Kevin Sluder said there is a resident who wants to take care of the problem. “He wants to try to trap them because he wants the hides,” Sluder said. “That’s really the only way it’ll be taken care of for good,” Lemrise said.
lage should not set the time to be too late. “My kids go to bed at 8 (p.m.),” said village clerk Heather Sherman. • The cracks at the tennis courts remain a concern for Tonica. “When I did the Googling and the research, all asphalt tennis courts eventually crack,” trustee Monica Kreiser said. The board asked John Felty, a resident attending the meeting, his opinion since he uses the courts.
“Those are big cracks,” Felty said. “The kids throw the stones out there, we just sweep them in the cracks. That’s how big the cracks are.” “That last job that was done on there was done more like highway chips than tennis court chips, and that’s what let it crack the way it did,” Felty added. After looking through records, village treasurer Jessica Bonnell found a file that showed work on the tennis courts had been completed in 2003.
SBDC to close at year’s end
Safety first
IVCC center will soon lose funding By Dave Cook
news@tonicanews.com
Tonica News photo/Dave Cook
Firefighters from Tonica and Leonore departments visited the students of Tonica Grade School on Oct. 12 as part of Fire Prevention Week. Each class was taught about fire safety and familiarized with equipment and procedures. Following the classroom visits, a fire drill was conducted to ensure quick evacuation in the event of a fire.
Sewer mapping nearly complete in Tonica By Zachary J. Pratt news@tonicanews.com
TONICA — Tonica’s sewer mapping process is nearing completion as the village keeps locating utilities. At the village board meeting on Monday, Oct. 17, village employee Marc Lemrise updated the board on the utility locating process. A major purpose of the Vol. 142 No. 46 One Section - 12 Pages
locating process is to facilitate the map which is being put together, and which Lemrise described as being almost done. “The equipment’s a little quirky sometimes, at different times of day,” he said. However, most of the work has now been completed. “We have basically all the water mains done, just some places we have to go back to, either because
we hadn’t found it yet or because the equipment just wasn’t working at that time,” Lemrise said. In the process, the village discovered the location of a water shutoff which has been evading discovery. “We actually found that water shutoff for that abandoned house,” Lemrise said. “It was about two and a half feet down.” As the process nears completion, trustee Bob Folty ques-
tioned whether the map could be imbued with more utility. “Are all the manholes going to be marked down for the sewer system?” Folty asked, considering whether those locations could also be added into the map. While the village does have manhole locations, they are not currently in a format to be added in.
Mapping Page 3A
Close Page 2A
Inside Story The Starved Rock Country Alliance is working to ensure support for area small business owners will remain. Page 2A
Karen Donnelly STATE’S ATTORNEY
© The Tonica News
OGLESBY — For more than 30 years, Illinois Valley Community College (IVCC) and the Illinois Small Business Development Center (SBDC) have assisted the cultivation of new ventures with both credited and non-credited courses, technical help and coordination of services with IVCC and other agencies working to assist in the creation of small businesses. After Dec. 31, entrepreneurs will have to seek assistance elsewhere. In 2015, IVCC supported costs of approximately $50,000 and has since decided to eliminate their financial responsibilities to the SBDC at the end of 2016. The college funded a one-year grant to allow for the transition of the SBDC to another agency to serve as the grantee.
SM-PR2651567-1104
Paid for by Friends of Karen Donnelly. A copy of our report is or will be available at the Illinois State Board of Elections.