CALHOUN NEWS-HERALD
75¢ PER COPY
INSIDE NEWS
Santa visits Hardin. See page A4
NEWS
Lady Warriors finish second at Southwestern. See page b1
SCHOOL
HARDIN, ILLINOIS 62047
Village fields complaints about water by bOb CROSSEN Calhoun News-Herald The Hardin Village board of trustees heard from an upset resident about the quality of water he receives at his home and his displeasure in the board considering a raise in water bill prices. “I understand you folks want to
“We’ve had a lot of expenditure on identifying the problem. We’ve done a lot of expenditure on trying to get the filters cleaned and we are aware that the lines need some flushing which is part of our upcoming plans for 2014 .”
Matt Haug Board member
Calhoun High’s Student of the Month. See page A6
SPORTS
Brussels improves to 3-3. See page A8
NEWS
What's happening between the rivers. See page A3
ONLINE
calhounnewsherald.com
CALHOUN NEWSHERALD
DECEmbER 4, 2013
raise the water rates. Before you do, I want you to take a look at my filters,” Anderson said. Gary Anderson of Hardin held up a picture showing a filter muddied black after three months of use next to a pristine one which had not been installed. Anderson said raising water rates is unreasonable given the quality of water service to residents of the village. During a meeting Nov. 4, board member Tony Friedel said the village has been denied more than one grant because water bills are not enough to sustain the plant’s current operations. Board member Matt Haug said raising the rates is necessary for the village to move forward with improving the quality of water for Hardin residents. “We’ve had a lot of expenditure on identifying the problem. We’ve done a lot of expenditure on trying to get the
filters cleaned and we are aware that the lines need some flushing which is part of our upcoming plans for 2014,” Haug said. Glenda Anderson said she is tired of the excuses made by the board because it had since 2008 to fix the problem. Mayor Phil Gress said the board has been turned down for two grants since that time, noting sometimes the board does not hear it will not be receiving those grants until six months after the application has been filed. “All we can do is try to put in another grant,” Gress said. “We’ve been a year talking about raising water rates, and we all sat here with the same answer. You hate to raise somebody’s water when it’s like it is.” Gress said despite all the work at the plant where the water is found to be clean, the 60 to 70-year-old water lines need to be replaced to truly fix the problem. Anderson said he had his filters tested by PDC Laboratories, a testing facility in Florissant, Mo. Passing around the results of the test, he said some of the minerals and chemicals in the water filters were found to be far too high for safe drinking water. “Everything is off the scale, arsenic and all,” Anderson said. “That thing right there shows 560 parts per million of manganese. That kind of manganese will kill you. “It’s a dadgum good thing I was filtering it.” He said he has to change his filters out every three months to keep the water clean and to allow it to flow to his house. The Hardin resident said the testing facility was surprised to learn how often he had to change his filter, believing the accumulation would make more sense after six months. “We’re just getting tired of drinking this filthy water” Anderson said, questioning if some health issues for those in the village could be related to the water’s quality. Haug said the board plans to discuss how to address its water rates after a survey of water usage and distribution throughout the village. A company is doing the work free of charge and will report to the board its findings at a later date.
VOLUmE 140 - ISSUE 49
ARE
YOU FOR REAL?
Carmen Ensinger/Calhoun News Herald
Nine-month-old Janie Hagen looks at Santa in wonderment while meeting him for the first time Sunday at the Hardin Christmas Kickoff at the firehouse where Santa came for a visit along with one of his reindeer.
Village approves annual levy, no changes from 2012 by bOb CROSSEN Calhoun News-Herald The Hardin village board of trustees approved its annual levy ordinance, which has not changed from last year, during a regular meeting Dec. 2. The levy requests $26,218, which is the same request made the past two years, and as such the board did not need to have a truth in taxation hearing. According to the ordinance, streets and alleys materials is the fund with the highest levied total of $8,500. Repairs and maintenance along with rent and utilities each have a levied fund of $4,500. Remaining levied funds are for the police department with $2,000, salaries of city officers and employees for which $3,418 was levied, legal and audit expenses of $2,000, and telephone which had a levy of $1,300. A levy is a request for tax funds and does not guarantee the levying body the total sum for which it levies. A taxing body can receive only what the equal-
ized assessed value (EAV) can support. The EAV is the taxable value of property from which a taxing body may draw property tax funds. The board also heard a presentation from Jennifer Russell, community and economic development coordinator for the University of Illinois Extension, about ways in which the Extension hopes to help the community promote growth. She said she worked with a business owner and the board in Winchester to conduct a survey for a new business in town to learn what residents would like, noting Winchester is also working on a tax increment financing district (TIF) to promote future business and property value growth. Jerseyville and Grafton are also working on TIF districts. A TIF district is designed to increase the EAV of an area while also improving infrastructure for the district. In a TIF district any increase in EAV greater than the EAV at the onset of the TIF is returned to the district to be used for infrastructure improvements and busi-
ness incentives. Grafton received one after the Great Flood of ‘93 when its EAV was around $3 million. Since that time, the EAV has increased to more than $18 million and TIF money has been used to fund street, sewer and waterline improvements for the city. Russell said the Extension could help communities in Calhoun County with TIF districts and has a number of other programs available, as well. For more information about the U of I Extension office, visit its website at web. extension.illinois.edu/ccgms. In other business, the board: n Approved the minutes of the previous meeting and the bills. n Thanked Allen and Debbie Johnson for putting together Christmas in the Village where around 100 kids came to visit Santa. n Approved a bid of $5,000 from Terry Churchman for a village-owned property which was previously a car wash.
Commissioner seat contested in next year’s election by bOb CROSSEN Calhoun News-Herald According to filings with the Calhoun County Clerk, there will be only one contested race next November during the general election. The county commissioner seat held by Larry Wieneke is up for election. Wieneke, a Hardin resident, is running on the Republican ticket and will be challenged by Randy Coughlin for the seat next November. Coughlin is a Batchtown resident running on the Democratic ticket. The elected commissioner will serve six years.
Wieneke was elected to the seat in November 2012 after the death of former commissioner chairwoman Wanda Tepen, who had been a member of the commissioners since 2009 when she was appointed to the position vacated by her husband, Vince Tepen, upon his death. She was elected during the 2010 election, and died in July 2012. Patricia Langland will run uncontested for the position of supervisor of assessments for which she was appointed Sept. 5. The county commissioners appointed Langland to the position after removing former supervisor of assessments
SEASON'S
Brandi Kieffer from office March 12, citing a number of failures of duty of office. Kieffer also pleaded guilty to insurance fraud, six counts of official misconduct in her duties of public office and grievous bodily harm in September. Rita Hagen, county clerk, Lisa Roth, county treasurer and Bill Heffington, county sheriff, are running for their respective positions, uncontested. As for precinct committee members, Republicans running for the positions are Wieneke in Hardin precinct, Irvin Graham in Belleview precinct, Charles Casey in Gilead precinct, and Richard
Moyer in Point precinct. Democrats running for precincts are Chris Behrens in Hamburg precinct, Dorwin Looper, Jr. in Crater precinct, Paul T. “Snow” Herkert in Hardin precinct, Keith Klocke in Richwood precinct, Thomas Droege in Carlin precinct and Julia Bimslager in Point precinct. Voters will also decide on the 8th Judicial District circuit court judge in March during the primary election March 18, 2014. Charles H.W. Burch, a Kampsville resident, and Tammy L. Evans, a Hardin resident, are both running for the seat on the Democratic ticket.
The seat for judge is being vacated by Chief Judge of the 8th Judicial District Richard Greenlief. Greenlief announced his retirement in August and upon the end of his term will have served the county for 18 years. The first day to apply for an absentee ballot for the primary election in March is Feb. 6, 2014. The last day to register to vote for the election is Feb. 18, 2014, and the first day for grace period registration and voting begins the next day. During grace period registration, those registering must vote at the time they register.
Democrat challenges Burch for circuit judge seat
SIGHTS AND SOUNDS
• Index • Our Town . . . . . . A8 News . . . . . . . .A4-5 Public Notice . . . b6 Real Estate . . .b4-5 Correspondence A3 Social . . . . . . . . . A6 Sports . . . . . . . . b8 Obituaries in this issue: None
© 2013 Calhoun News-Herald
Bob Crossen/Calhoun News-Herald
Travis Hall lines the roof of his house with Christmas lights Monday afternoon. Hall completed the work while he played Christmas music from his home. The lights of the house flickered in tune to the music when he finished wiring everything together.
C
K
M
by bOb CROSSEN Calhoun News-Herald A Carrollton native whose mother grew up in Calhoun County filed to challenge Charles H.W. Burch for the 8th Judicial District circuit judge seat in Calhoun County. Tammy L. Evans, daughter of Ron Evans and Rosemary (Becker) Evans, will run on the Democratic ticket in the primary election against Charles H.W. Burch, March 18, 2014. The seat is being vacated by Judge Richard Greenlief when he ends his term to enter retirement. Evans said she moved to the county when she heard about the vacancy after Veterans Day. She said she wanted to run not only to offer residents of the county a choice between candidates, but also to serve the county to the best of her ability if elected. “I hope to serve the residents of Calhoun. … I hope to serve them in the most fair and impartial way,” Evans said, noting impartiality is the most important characteristic for a judge to exhibit. She said she made the move to run as circuit judge because it would be a good next step for her legal career. “I know it would be a great
opportunity. I know I’ve got the experience, and I know I have the character,” Evans said. After graduating from Carrollton High School, Evans attended Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville where she received a bachelors degree in political science and English literature. She attended Washington University as a grad student pursuing a masters degree in international affairs but, after being accepted into law school, she shifted her focus to attend Chicago-Kent College of Law. Since that time she has worked in a courtroom every work day for 13 years handling case loads for the office of public guardians in Chicago in addition to clerking with the attorney general and other law offices. Originally, Evans said she worked in the juvenile division of the office where she handled juvenile cases for more than three years, and after a tragic fire destroyed many of the records at the office – and took the lives of some who worked there – Evans said she transitioned to the adult guardianship division for six years. In addition to the adult guardianship case work, Evans said she has (See, burch, A2)