Thursday April 6, 2017 Vol. 5, No. 6
The Weekly Post
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Many questions answered in election, some remain By BILL KNIGHT and JEFF LAMPE
Most questions were answered Tuesday while others remain after voters cast ballots in the 2017 consolidated election. Voted down 284-195 was a proposition by the Elmwood Rural Fire Protection District to issue $1.8 million in bonds for construction of a new building for the B.Y.E. Ambulance service. B.Y.E. officer Peggy Gibson was disappointed, saying, “We For The Weekly Post
have not got a plan.” But Gibson said the B.Y.E. board meets again on Monday (April 10) at 7 p.m., when the issue will be back on the agenda. ERFPD President Dave Wagner said, “They need a building. I don’t know what they will do. That was Plan B. We tried to get the (Elmwood Fire Department). They backed out twice.” In other hotly contested elections, Matt Windish defeated Mark Vicary in the race for Rosefield Township Road Commissioner, 229-88.
In the race for Brimfield School District 309 School Board, Brent Graham defeated Phil Molleck 317-303 for an unexpired two-year term. That means top vote getters in the election for four-year terms all earn a spot on the board. They are John Thompson (440 votes), Steve Updyke (397), Dan Heinz (347) and Monte Kenney (307). And in Williamsfield, Tom Kordewick defeated Mary Bush for one geographically determined seat, 314-252. April Bouchez was elected with 404
HIKING THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL
Six-day hike an enjoyable challenge
for unexpired 2-year term Brent R. Graham 317 Phil Molleck 303 Brimfield School District 309 for full 4-year term (4 elected) John M. Thompson 440 Continued on Page 12
Williamsfield school tabbed for pilot project By BILL KNIGHT
WILLIAMSFIELD – Williamsfield last Thursday was one of 10 districts in the state selected to participate in Illinois’ first Competency-Based High School Graduation Requirements Pilot Program, according to the State Superintendent of Education’s office. Inside In such learning ap• Fort Street proaches, educators assess work continues. and advance students based Page 6 on demonstrated mastery of • Brimfield specific skills, abilities and hopes to slow knowledge, instead of just traffic. Page 7 time in the classroom. • Princeville “The Illinois State Board projects set. of Education launched the Page 9 pilot program to spur innovation in the way high schools prepare students for meaningful careers and to support Illinois’ goal of increasing the proportion of adults in Illinois with high-quality degrees and credentials to 60 percent by the year 2025,” said Jackie Matthews of the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). For The Weekly Post
By BILL KNIGHT
ELMWOOD – What some may see as a once-ina-lifetime adventure could turn out to be just the beginning for Jim Grimm, a 68-year-old Elmwood man. Grimm, a retired mining engineer who worked for area coal mines for 18 years, and three companions spent March 24-30 hiking 63 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Georgia. “It felt good to finish,” he says. “It was not a ‘fun’ hike. Not pleasurable.” With 34-year-old son Joe, 55-year-old brother
votes and Charles Ingle (338) and Brian Howard (316) also earned seats. At press time, election authorities from Peoria, Knox and Fulton Counties reported the following unofficial results in key contested races (presented alphabetically by community with winners in bold). In Brimfield and Williamsfield school board races, boards limit membership to geographic areas, so candidates’ vote totals don’t necessarily mean they are seated. Brimfield School District 309
For The Weekly Post
Hiking the Appalachian Trail from March 24-30 were, left to right, Joe Grimm and Jim Grimm from Elmwood, Buck Rolli and Gerry Grimm. The plaque at right was at the start of a trail in Georgia.
Gerry, and 63-year-old brother-in-law Buck Rolli, Grimm drove almost 700 miles from Illinois, parked and had a shuttle service deliver the vehicle to the end point. Starting at the southernmost point of the Ap-
palachian Trail (A.T.), at Spring Mountain in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the group hiked north, averaging about 10 miles a day. Every few miles the trail crosses a road, and sometimes there’s a general Continued on Page 8
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