Thursday July 9, 2015 Vol. 3, No. 19
The Weekly Post
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Staff recommends I-74 corridor for Ameren line By BILL KNIGHT
BRIMFIELD – In final briefs submitted June 30 to the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), ICC staff has recommended the proposed Spoon River Transmission Line follow the route Ameren planned to track near Interstate74 if two modifications suggested by two of the dozens of interveners are incorporated. The ICC is expected to decide by Aug. 1 on the Aug. 21, 2014, For The Weekly Post
petition by Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois (ATXI) proposing two routes. The power company preferred its Route A, following Interstate 74 for much of the distance between west Peoria and east Galesburg, but the utility also included Route B, which would head north toward Princeville before turning west to pass Williamsfield before returning to the I-74 area. The new 345 kV electric transmission line is planned from an
expanded Fargo substation on U.S. Route 150 in Kickapoo Township to a new substation on Galesburg’s east side, a distance of about 40 miles. Seven briefs were filed on the final day, including two from Ameren, one from Citizens Against Route B (CARB), and one from a group of Knox and Peoria County citizens known as the “SP Parties.” Two alternatives proposed by Continued on Page 2
Brimfield increases water rates
TROUTMAN RETURNS
Troutman completes 700-mile trek
By TERRY BIBO
PRINCEVILLE – His left heel hurt some. His teeth broke twice. And he went through four pairs of shoes. But otherwise, Dean Troutman is no worse for the wear after a 700-mile trek across Illinois. Troutman, 84, returned home to Princeville Sunday to a hero’s welcome after completing his 75-day walk to raise funds for the park he purchased in 2011 in memory of his late wife, Peggy. Weekly Post Staff Writer
Above, Don Stahl of Princeville poses for a picture with Dean Troutman Sunday upon Troutman’s return to town after a 700-mile walk across Illinois. Troutman was welcomed home by signs of all sorts and crowds in Princeville. Photos by Collin Fairfield.
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Billtown native, author to appear in Farmington By BILL KNIGHT
FARMINGTON – When Randy Sollenberger was growing up in Williamsfield in the 1950s and ’60s, he appreciated the feelings of a small-town community and his close-knit family. Years later he decided to safeguard those family stories for his kids, grandchildren and former friends and neighbors. The results are the 151-page paperback “My Guardian Angel and Beating the Reaper, with Songs and Stories of ForgottoFor The Weekly Post
BRIMFIELD – After a recordwet June, pretty much everyone is sick of water – especially the Brimfield Board of Trustees, which reluctantly set a new high water mark for Sept. 1. That’s when a 3 percent acrossthe-board rate hike takes effect after a 6-0 vote at Monday’s regular meeting. “It’s not a pleasant topic,” said President Dan Fishel. “But at the same time I think it’s our due obligation to be prepared.” Village attorney Rick Johnson suggested a 5 percent increase during budget talks. Trustees were unenthusiastic and tabled the matter at the regular June meeting. The water fund comprises roughly one-third of the village budget and water sales help level the general fund. Water rates have been the same – $17.33 for the first 2,000 gallons and $8.66 per 1,000 gallons for the next 58,000 gallons – since 2011. Meanwhile, expenses have increased, Fishel said. Any major repair could wipe out reserves and the system is already stretched for maintenance. For The Weekly Post
By JEFF LAMPE
nia,” which he’s making available at a book signing at the Farmington Library from 1-3 p.m. Saturday (July 11). “Stories are our history,” Sollenberger says. “You don’t know who you are unless where you know where you came from. We’re losing that, and I want to help Sollenberger preserve that. I want people to know our history and know about For-
gottonia.” Sollenberger graduated from Western Illinois University in 1971, attending the Macomb campus at the same time as Neil Gamm, the man who came up with Forgottonia, a 16-county area between the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers that was so overlooked by state and federal lawmakers Gamm said it should secede. Gamm proclaimed himself Forgottonia’s governor and got considerable notice – if little government investment – for the mostly rural area. Continued on Page 11
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