The Weekly Post
Thursday November 23, 2017 Vol. 5, No. 38 Hot news tip? Want to advertise? Call (309) 741-9790
“We Cover The News of West-Central Illinois With A Passion” Serving the fine communities of Brimfield, Dahinda, Douglas, Duncan, Edwards, Elmore, Elmwood, Farmington, Kickapoo, Laura, Monica, Oak Hill, Princeville, Williamsfield and Yates City
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Grant helps Brimfield Library spread technology By NANCY DAVIS
BRIMFIELD – It is Thursday night, and the Brimfield library is bustling. Youngsters peruse books, listen to music, or use the computers and parents are reading to younger children. One staff member pops corn in the community room preparing for movie night. Youth are gathering for the robotics Lego team. This is not the quiet, sparsely populated building some may envision when they hear “library.” Sidney Sheldon, novelist and producer, wrote, “Libraries store the energy that fuels the imagination. They For The Weekly Post
open up windows to the world and inspire us to explore and achieve, and contribute to improving our quality of life. Libraries change lives for the better.” When Patti Smith, director of the Brimfield Public Library District, took her position in 1993, she envisioned a library that would enrich the community and change it for the better. Her vision included reaching out to children and youth to stimulate their interest not only in the library and reading, but also in the world around them and how they could impact it. To that end, she hired Youth Services Manager Katie
Hahn in 2007. For the past three years, the Brimfield library, as the recipient of grants from Project Next Generation, has been doing that under Hahn’s leadership. The purpose of the grant, administered through the Illinois State Library, is to help students ages 10-18 access technology. The latest grant totaled $19,460. “The first year we did 3D design and printing. Last year we did photography and videography,” said Hahn. “This year we are doing robotics, starting our first Robotics Lego Team, an international competContinued on Page 8
PRINCEVILLE’S BLESSING BOX 28 apply for ‘Take what Brimfield principal job you need, By TERRY TOWERY
BRIMFIELD – Twenty-eight candidates have applied to replace retiring Brimfield Grade School Principal Jeannie Blane, and the district expects to choose one of them within the next month, the school board heard on Wednesday. The application process closed Nov. 7, and Superintendent Robert Richardson told the board he expects to begin interviewing applicants Nov. 20. Richardson said Blane he expects to have a recommendation for the board to act on by its December meeting. Blane will retire at the end of the current school year. She’s been with the district since 1994, when she was hired as fifth- and sixth-grade Continued on Page 2 For The Weekly Post
Brimfield Library has two computer stations with multiple computers, one in the children’s area and one in the adult area. Photo by Nancy Davis
leave what you can’
By BILL KNIGHT
PRINCEVILLE – Local and federal authorities are taking steps to investigate what could be years of alleged extortion at Inside the Seneca • Elmwood C.U.S.D. Foods plant is reducing its tax levy. here, police Page 9. • Farmington OK’s said. fiber-optic expansion. Carlos Page 10. Mota, 56, of • Fewer shots fired Princeville during first firearm faces accudeer season. Page 12. sations by multiple coworkers who claim Mota demanded payments from past seasonal workers if they wanted to return to work at Seneca’s Princeville operations, according to reports. Mota could face state charges For The Weekly Post
By BILL KNIGHT
PRINCEVILLE – The humble wooden Blessing Box on Main Street still has assorted foods and other items behind a clear door that reads, “Take what you need, leave what you can,” but last Friday it lay sprawled on the ground like a one-legged athlete with a pulled hamstring. “Well, that’s a little disappointing,” laughs Randy Stoecker, one of the members of Masonic Lodge 360 that launched the service. “I expect we’ll re-set it in the next few days.” Erected a couple of
Seneca Foods fires worker for alleged extortion
For The Weekly Post
Members of the Masonic Lodge in Princeville erected a Blessing Box in town to provide food and other items for those in need. Photo by Bill Knight.
months ago between the UnityPoint Clinic and Sprinkles, the Blessing Box will be temporarily installed a few feet away from its original location, in front of the construction area, while a
new donut shop is being built. That’s “until a new permanent location is determined after construction is finished,” Stoecker says. “It Continued on Page 2
Continued on Page 7