Two separate incidents at the Southern Illinois Equestrian Center in Marion have robbed six horses of their tails and possibly well-being. The first incident happened Jan. 2 and the second incident happened Jan. 7. Jeff Jenkins, the center‘s owner, said shortening horses’ tails can negatively affect their health, especially in the summer season, when flies and other parasites bother them. “This is so wrong,” Jenkins said. “We didn’t know what to do.” Jenkins said he suspects people cut the tails to get an extra buck. People can sell the tails for as much as $80 each in places such as hair salons where horse hair is often used for high-end hair extensions, he said. According to the website Horse Tails R Us, an online horse tail retailer, a tail can go for $125 to use as an extension for show horses. “It has a horrible effect on the horses,” Jenkins said. “It takes a month for one inch to grow back so it’s going to take a couple of years for them to get their tails back.” According to news station KOAA, horse tail thievery is nothing new. The trend started in Wyoming but has also been an issue in Colorado stables. However, Jenkins said he was surprised to see the trend move to the Midwest. “This problem has to be stopped,” Jenkins said. Michelle Cornman, who keeps her horses at the center, said she hopes the person or persons responsible are caught quickly. Please see HORSES | 2
LAURA ROBERTS | DAILY EGYPTIAN
Jeff Jenkins looks at the tail of a horse Friday at Southern Illinois Equestrian Center. Jenkins said six horses’ tails were cut off at the center Jan. 2 by an unknown intruder. He expressed concern for the horses’ health because the animals use their tails to swat flies that can carry diseases.
The City Council unanimously voted to enter a 100-percent renewable energy plan Wednesday night in an electrical aggregation meeting aimed to lower resident’s electricity costs. The two-year plan was 2-percent more costly than Collinsville-based provider Homefield Energy’s base quote, which uses a state-mandated minimum 9-percent renewable energy. Despite this, residents will still see a 22-percent drop in their
electric usage rates once they take effect in March. Renewable energy is defined as any naturally occurring, theoretically inexhaustible energy source not derived from fossil or nuclear fuel. Select Energy LLC, the company that represented the group of cities in the energy aggregation process, told city manager Kevin Baity Homefield’s acceptable renewable energy sources include solar, wind, photovoltaic, landfill gas, biomass, hydroelectric and bio-diesel sources.
A media representative was unreachable regarding Homefield Energy’s exact uses of renewable energy by press time. Councilman Chris Wissmann said the renewable energy plan is a cheap way to greatly impact the environment. “I don’t see a moral or financial reason to go other than the 100-percent option,” he said. Councilman Lance Jack said it would be irresponsible for the council not to choose the 100-percent renewable energy plan. “Given the price difference, it
clearly would make no sense for us to do anything other than to go with 100-percent renewable,” he said. City residents who receive electricity through Ameren will automatically be added to the new program unless they choose to opt out and select a third-party electric supplier, Baity said, and customers from any other electric company can switch to the new, renewable energy plan once their contract expires without penalty. Residential and small business rates will be 44 cents per kilowatthour, which is a unit of energy
equal to the work performed by 1,000 watts operating for one hour. If the council chose Homefield’s 9-percent renewable energy base quote the rate would have been 43 cents per kilowatt-hour. The contract is projected to save about $275,000 a month for the nine communities involved with Homefield Energy which includes Marion, Chester, Elkville, Tamaroa, West Frankfort and unincorporated Perry County, Baity said.
Gun control became a national hot topic after recent affairs such as the ones in Aurora, Colo., Newtown, Conn., and, most recently Bakersfield, Calif. The university took steps to oppose firearms on campus by joining more than 355 colleges and universities in the Campaign to Keep Guns off Campus. Students and officials expressed concern about what concealed carry would mean for campus safety.
Andy Pelosi, the campaign’s founder and executive director, said the group’s goal is to educate the public about the move to keep concealed handguns off college campuses. Though universities can sign a petition to support anti-gun movements, Pelosi said they can do even more. “We’d love for (colleges and universities) to be more involved, whether it’s contacting their state officials ... getting their faculty involved, contact their elected official, getting law enforcement ...
to oppose guns on campus,” he said. “So (there’s) definitely more (to do) than signing a petition.” Todd Sigler, Department of Public Safety director, said preparations and training for any potential incident remain an ongoing effort. “We ... are getting ready to conduct some training on this issue later this spring, probably in March,” he said. Sigler said DPS is prepared to handle a campus shooting and would have the Carbondale Police department as well as state trooper support if a crisis occurs. He said
there have been few firearm-related incidents on campus, and the department deals with B.B. gunrelated incidents more often. “I have always been in a position that we need to be very cautious about anything that would affect the campus environment,” Sigler said. “I don’t favor concealed carry for campuses, but I understand there may be exceptions put in place. It all really comes down to what the final legislation is going to look like.” Evan Swiech, a sophomore from Bloomington studying cinema and photography, said he thinks DPS
provides a safe environment for the campus. Swiech said he would be more concerned if a shooting happened closer to the area. He said he thinks the university is prepared for any potential event by using the emergency text alert system. “Because there hasn’t been any (shooting) here and the (last semester) bomb threat was well handled, I feel pretty safe,” he said. Pelosi said his organization opposes concealed carry for multiple reasons.
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