The Weekly Post
Thursday November 16, 2017 Vol. 5, No. 37 Hot news tip? Want to advertise? Call (309) 741-9790
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Salem Township Library helps patrons find answers By NANCY DAVIS
YATES CITY – Libraries are packed with information, in books, DVDs, periodicals and on the internet. Yet the heart of the library is the librarians, who help patrons access that information. Neil Gaiman, author and screenwriter, illustrated this when he said, “Google can bring you back 100,000 answers; a librarian can bring you back the right one.” Two women at the heart of the Salem Township Library are For The Weekly Post
head librarian Denise Hayes, and assistant librarian Joyce Warner. They related a story of when they were able to provide that one right answer. According to Hayes, they are often asked to help find where graves are located. One day they received such a request from a
Yates City ups monthly garbage fee
church in Wisconsin. “They were preparing for their centennial, and were trying to locate all their previous pastors both living and dead,” Hayes said. “They had located the wife of one of their prior pastors buried in our cemetery here, but could not find him.”
THANK YOU VETERANS
By BILL KNIGHT
YATES CITY – The Village Board on Nov. 8 approved raising the garbage rate 30 cents per month, but though the change will be part of Village bills covering gas, garbage and water, it’s a different increase for a different reason. “We’re not raising the ‘water’ rate twice,” Village president Leslie Gavely said. “This is just the contracted annual increase from Gary Maness we’re passing along to residents.” The Board on Oct. 11 voted to increase water rates about 3 percent to help defray anticipated costs to upgrade the water-lift station and meet other rising expenses. The garbage rate will change from $10 to $10.30. Before the regular meeting, Rick Patel from the Quick Stop gas station and consultant Tim Stamate from Accel Entertainment introduced the concept of adding two video gaming machines if the Board would grant a Continued on Page 7
Hayes and her team did some sleuthing with the help of their local township cemetery board. They made a visit to the cemetery, where they noted an unmarked space next to the wife. They discovered the missing pastor died in Iowa, and was buried next to his wife in Yates City, but with no headstone or record. The family had only enough money to get him home, but not to erect a stone. Hayes informed the church in Wisconsin. Upon hearing there was no marker, the congregation
purchased a headstone. Now husband and wife are both resting in marked graves, thanks in part to Hayes and her team searching for the one right answer. The Salem Township Library, located in Yates City, was created in 1878 when the principal of the local school approached the board about building a school and public library, originally housed in the school. In 1923 a new library was built where the Stewart-Peterson ofContinued on Page 2
Farmington school levy held steady By BILL KNIGHT
For The Weekly Post
FARMINGTON – Predicted gains in area property values are helping Farmington Central, whose Board of Education on Monday unanimously approved a tentative 2017 tax levy virtually unchanged from last year. “We’re trying to keep ours as flat as possible,” said school board president Kelly Threw. Noting the new levy will be 5.09, very slightly changed from 2016’s 5.0889, Superintendent Zac Chatterton said county officials from Fulton, Knox and Peoria counties together estimated assessed valuations for property in District 265 will go up $5.4 million. “That means about a 5.6 percent increase,” he told the Board. Farmington property owners’ current tax bill is about 10.88 of Equalized Assessed Valuation, according to Fulton County Clerk Jim Nelson, meaning a $100,000 home pays Continued on Page 12 For The Weekly Post
Farmington honored Veteran’s Day Saturday with celebrations in town and guest speaker Roger Monroe (above right). Photos by Dave Giagnoni.