50¢ MAY 6, 2020
PITTSFIELD, IL Thank you,
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NEWS Pikeland announces graduation plans. See page A2
Barry announces TIF recipients. See page A2
G-P’s Theis and Gates receive honors. See page A5
Bradshaw and Johnson named state FFA proficiency winners. See page A5
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VOL. 178, NO. 19
Pool work ongoing-but will it open? By BETH ZUMWALT Pike Press Work on the King Park Swimming Pool began last Monday and if repairs go as indicated, the pool should open on time-usually Memorial Day weekend. “They are sandblasting now,” John Hayden,mayor of Pittsfield, said. “If they find any weak spots, they are going to fix those. That could cause a delay. Then they will paint. The paint will require seven days of 70 degree temperatures to cure properly, then we could open.” Hayden said the real problem at this point is the COVID-19 situation, which prohibits gatherings of more than 10 people and maintaining a sixfoot distance from others, as well as a mask, all improbably for a swimming pool. “We are hoping to get the all-clear to open June 1 if not sooner,” Hayden said. “But if we don’t get to open until later, say late June or July, will it even be feasible to open; to buy chemicals and all for just a few weeks?” Hayden said he has been in contact with the Illinois Municipal League looking for guidance on a variety of issues regarding COVID-19 and what David Camphouse/Pike Press can be done and when. “We want to get the pool and the parks back Friday, May 1 two workers sandblast the King Park pool to prepare it to be sealed and repainted in open,” he said. “We want everything to be back anticipation of the summer 2020 swimming season. The company performing the work is RP Coatings of Troy, Ill. to normal.”
Pike pork producers hit hard by packing plant shut-downs By DAVID CAMPHOUSE Pike Press Workers at meat packing plants throughout the Midwest have been hard hit by the COVID19 pandemic — with outbreaks of the disease at the plants resulting in closures throughout the region. The resulting bottleneck in the meat industry has negatively impacted Pike County’s pork producers. According to Pike Pig System’s John McIntire, the economic fall-out of the COVID-19 processing plant shutdowns is unprecedented in most of the current generation of farmers’ memories. “I’ve never seen anything like it in 30 years of doing this,” McIntire said. McIntire, who manages a farrow to weaning operation with about 40,000 sows, has seen economic damage throughout the COVID-19 shutdown but has not resorted to euthanizing hogs to reduce losses. “We’re obviously on a strict delivery schedule,” McIntire said. “We haven’t had to euthanize any animals, but we’ve had to move our schedule.” McIntire added that no farmers want to euthanize animals, and euthanasia comes as a last resort for farmers pushed by financial demands. “We do not want to kill pigs on-farm,” McIntire said. “It’s against the whole grain of what we’re doing.” Brian Bradshaw who has roughly 30,000 sows — mostly within 50 miles of Griggsville — has seen steep drop-offs in weaned pig prices amid the shutdowns. “Weaners are $35-$40 most years, and they’re $0-$5 now,” Bradshaw said. “If they’re not buying pigs, we can’t sell pigs.”
Bradshaw went on to say that one purchaser of their weaner pigs had recently refused shipment, asking Bradshaw to euthanize the pigs on-farm. While McIntire says that euthanasia is a last result among pork producers, the National Pork Board does recommend approved methods of euthanasia — including carbon dioxide gas, blunt force trauma, gun shot, and electrocution. Pittsfield High School agriculture instructor Jody Heavner — who also operates a small cow-calf operation with her husband — says the effects of COVID-19 on many agricultural markets have been faster and more extreme than she expected. “It’s astonishing to see how quickly the supply chain breaks down,” Heavner said. “It’s not just pork, you can see it with potatoes out west, too. Margins are razor thin.” Heavner added that meat production has changed dramatically in the last couple of decades -- pointing to less companies controlling more of the industry and impacting consumers more quickly and severely. “Vertical integration has changed things,” Heavner said. “You have companies like Smithfield and Tyson that own animals all the way through the meat-case.” President Trump has recently ordered meat packing plants to remain open, despite the presence of COVID-19 among workers, to minimize interruptions in the meat supply chain — resulting in the reopening of some plants in the Midwest. McIntire and Bradshaw remain optimistic despite their recent struggles. “Packing plants have started to re-open,” McIntire said. “Demand is really good on the meat side,” Bradshaw added.
Businesses trying to get by until June 1 By BETH ZUMWALT Pike Press COVID-19 has affected many businesses in the area. Pike County businesses are trying to get by until June 1 when they are hopeful they will be able to re-open to normal business practices. Many have shortened their hours, others are closed completely. Some are taking the opportunity to make improvements to their businesses while the shelter-in-place. Courtyard Cafe closed for several weeks following the initial shut down of in-door dining rooms and did maintenance and upgrades but is now open for curbside and pick-up business. “We are down to about 40 percent of what we usually do,” Patti Ruble, co-owner of the business, said. “We are just hoping for enough to cover the bills.” Ruble said people still don’t understand the fact the restaurant is closed. “We had a call the other evening and a person asked if we were open. We told them yes but for curbside pick up only. They said never mind, they would eat at home,” Ruble said. “It’s frustrating.” Casteel Color Wheel paint department has been open all along because paint is part of the construction process and that was deemed an essential business. “I have moved all the children’s merchandise to the mid-
Submitted photo
Cory Jo and Hailey Monroe check out the new children’s section at Casteels. The business has re-arranged the show rooms making the children’s section an area of it’s own in the middle room.
dle room to create a completely separate children’s boutique. This will open up more space in the west room for the ladies boutique and the gift ware,” Debbie Roseberry, an employee at the store, said. Roseberry said Casteel’s paint department has been very busy as more people are staying home, finding lots of projects to do and catching up on jobs they didn’t have time for before, also good weather is allowing for outdoor projects. “ I spoke with the Mayor this morning about my frustration that some businesses deemed essential could sell anything, and we were only selling from the paint department,” Roseberry said. “He told me that yesterday the governor was approached with the same concern and the governors response
was that if you are an essential business you can sell anything within your business.” Casteels could have benefited from that clarification,” Roseberry said. “So all departments are now open. The only door unlocked is the paint store entrance.” Rosemary is hopeful the clarification will allow the store to salvage some spring sales, Mother’s Day sales and other business that was but on hold. Gift certificates have been popular and Roseberry hopes that will continue. Beauty shops are trying to offset some of their losses with curbside delivery of products and gift certificates and other merchandise stores are considering doing website showings of their merchandise with curbside delivery.
Declaration by county and city officials leave PCHD confused BY BETH ZUMWALT Pike Press Both Pike County State’s Attorney Zack Boren and Ptitsfield City Police Chief Michael Starman issued press releasees Monday stating they felt no laws were being broken by businesses that opened. Boren cited common sense as a factor in his decision. “We have responsibilities to each other, and in particular, we have responsililities to the most vulnerable members of our community. We live in a free country. We must use common sense to unite our freedoms and responsibilities.” (See Boren’s entire statement on the ??? as a letter to the editor.) Starman’s comments were similar to Boren’s “When police officers are sworn into duty, we swear to uphold the constitution of the State and the Country. I understand that Chicago and Pittsfield may have vastly different specific needs and dangers,”Starman said. “There is no clear and convincing evidence that any Pittsfield resident is currently being endangered by Covid-19. After consulting with the State’s Attorney , I have decided that until there is clear and convincing evidence that there is a public health crisis in Pittsfield, the Pittsfield Police Department will not be enforcing the recent stay at home order or recently mandated face covering requirements. Please keep in mind that this may change if a public health crisis develops or starts to develop in Pittsfield.” Sheriff David Greenwood echoed the sentiments. “I’ve told my deputies to remind the business owner of the executive order but not to make an arrests or issue a citation. There is no state statute that says they can’t be open. It is not a criminal offense. It’s a health issue.”
“It is not a criminal offense. It’s a health issue”
David Greenwood Pike County Sheriff Starman said this does mean an immediate change to normalcy. “We should still practice social distancing when we can and use a commonsense approach to combating this unprecedented situation. We should still try to maintain a six-foot distance, wash our hands regularly and avoid touching our face when we can,” Starman said. “We encourage those citizens that are considered ‘high risk’ to continue to take precautions and act as necessary to take care of themselves. “ Pike County Health Department Executive Director Anita Andress said the policies by the three departments leave her agency in limbo. “I’m trying to understand where that puts us as a health department as far as the health and safety of our citizens,” Andress said. “All of the issues with the executive order are related to COVID 19.” Boren, Starman and Andress said a business that requires a state license to operate – beauty shop, bar or tavern is controlled by the state. Non-compliance could mean loss of license. “The only license we issue is a food license. And usually if there is a violation we work with that business to fix it, so they can stay open. But if not, we turn to law enforcement, to help us with that. I am hopeful that we can still depend on law enforcement to back us up.” Andrew said law enforcement also should help the health department with quarantines and isolation orders when a risk has been established. “It’s a mandate to follow through on guidelines,” she said. “If we don’t follow the orders and directives of the Illinois Department of Public Health we could lose our certification and our funding,” she said. Andress said she has been in contact with Dr. Ron Johnson, the medical director for the Pike County Health Department, and has also been in contact with the Illinois Department of Public Health to find out what the PCHD next step should be. She has no definite answer at this time. “That will determine our next step and our response,” she said. Pittsfield Mayor John Hayden said the city is in agreement with the two law enforcement agencies and the state’s attorney’s office and were to pass a resolution on the matter at last night’s meeting. Starman posted his press release to the City of Police’s FaceBook page and collected hundreds of comments. Most were supporting his decision.