Thursday March 10, 2016 Vol. 4, No. 2
The Weekly Post
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“We Cover The News of West-Central Illinois With A Passion” Serving the fine communities of Brimfield, Dahinda, Duncan, Edwards, Elmwood, Farmington, Kickapoo, Laura, Monica, Oak Hill, Princeville, Williamsfield and Yates City
Democrats have choice in judge race By BILL KNIGHT
Among the handful of competitive contests in the upcoming March 15 election is a Democratic ballot showdown between two experienced Peoria lawyers vying for the seat vacated by Peoria County Circuit Judge Michael Brandt, who retired in December of 2014. Hoos Either Jodi Hoos or Sonni Williams will go on to face Associate Judge Tim Cusack of Peoria in the November election. Cusack is unopposed in the Republican primary. Hoos – a 41-year-old Williams ex-prosecutor who was appointed to the bench in December
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Pure syrup flowing at Cramer farm
For The Weekly Post
Continued on Page 2
Christian center in old library? By BILL KNIGHT
FARMINGTON – The City Council on Monday accepted the only sealed bid received in the City’s sale of the 109-yearold Carnegie library building on Fort Street. Paul Meister of Hanna City offered $40,000, the minimum amount set, based on a $50,000 appraised value. Meister is out of town, so the closing will take place upon his return, said City Administrator Rollen Wright. “When he gets back, we’ll sit down and do the signatures [on the real estate For The Weekly Post
Continued on Page 8
By JEFF LAMPE
CRAMER – One cold night a few years ago, Mike Staley and his wife Kim watched a television show about making maple syrup. “We can do that,” Mike recalls saying, though at the time he did not know it would be a life-changing comment. A few weeks later, Kim gave him a “syrup-making” starter kit as a Christmas present. The Staleys’ lives have not been the same since, particularly in the winter when the process of converting tree sap into sweet syrup is at its busiest. That’s when they make use of the tangle of blue tubes criss-crossing their timber. The blue tubes running from Weekly Post Staff Writer
Two jars of pure maple syrup bottled at Cramer Creek Farm in Peoria County sit on a table while sap from a maple cooks in the “final pan” on a stove behind and is converted into syrup. At left, Mike Staley discusses the sap collection process. Photos by Jeff Lampe.
maple to maple are a modern way to bring sap into collection jugs. “Things have changed since the days of buckets hanging from maple trees,” Mike Staley said. “Now we use tubing and vacuums to create negative pres-
sure on the line and to make the sap flow faster.” The tubes apparently do not bother deer or other animals, but can become popular with squirrels if they learn Continued on Page 10
Princeville named top 25 Illinois high school By BILL KNIGHT
PRINCEVILLE – A national firm that ranks the best U.S. schools has named Princeville High School as the 22nd best public high school in Illinois. Out of 612 high schools, Princeville is ranked No. 22, according to SchoolDigger.com, an independent ranking service that noted Princeville enrollment of 237 has a 20.3 percentFor The Weekly Post
age of students from low-income households but enjoys a studentteacher ratio of 13.1 and achieved an Average Standard Score academically of 94.94. “Each school is ranked by calculating an Average Standard Score across grades,” explained SchoolDigger’s Pete Claar, the software developer who founded what’s become a leading K-12 school website 10 years ago. “The Continued on Page 2
School Rankings School
Grade School Rank
Brimfield Elmwood Farmington Princeville Williamsfield
530 487 871 445 548
H.S. Rank
District Rank
89 123 278 22 70
118 117 505 64 277
NOTE: Rankings are out of 2,051 Illinois grade schools, 612 high schools, 783 school districts.