Jgtc 02052014

Page 1

SportS

ArCoLA, ArtHUr MoVE Up IN rANKINGS, B3

WEdnESdAy 2/5/2014

Serving charleSton, Mattoon & Surrounding areaS ||||| www.jg-tc.coM ||||| $1.00 Today’s weaTher

Snow SmackS area again 25/1

Areas of blowing snow in the morning. See page A4 for the four-day outlook.

LoCaL

y kicks off annual campaign Members of the Y in Mattoon share success stories as fundraiser starts. A3

top thiS! Pet pig sparks family plight

Kevin Kilhoffer, Journal Gazette/ Times-Courier photos

Eastern Illinois University student Cierra Hill of Chicago cleans the snow off her windshield in Charleston on Tuesday.

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — The Kirkmans of Pensacola are facing a deadline in deciding what to do about their pet pot-bellied pig named Buttercup. The pig is in violation of the city of Pensacola’s ordinance banning “livestock” within city limits. They’ve given the family until May to move, get rid of Buttercup or convince the city council to change the ordinance. David Kirkman, his wife Laura and their children, Molly, 9, and Butch, 7, say Buttercup isn’t livestock. They say the 2-year-old pig is a pet they’ve raised since she was 5 weeks old. The Pensacola News Journal reports the code enforcement board cited the family in December after receiving an anonymous tip that they were keeping a pig on their property. The Kirkmans say Buttercup is a pet, just like their pit-box mix, Muck. “We’re not going to eat her and we’re not going to sell her,” said Molly Kirkman. “She doesn’t live on a farm. She sleeps in my room.”

farm

farm bureau conducts annual meeting Local officials help set rules, policies at IAA session. A7

Come baCk Tomorrow

Don’t miss the weekly JG-TC Go! Guide, listing numerous area activities and events

InsIde Today

Advice . . . Classifieds. Comics . . . Horoscopes Local . . . . Lottery . . . Markets . . Obituaries . Opinions . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

eastern, Lake Land close campuses; salt supplies down across region SAMAnTHA bILHARZ, dAvE fOPAy & KAyLEIGH ZySKOWSKI

T

JG-TC Staff Writers

he several inches of snow expected to hit the area by noon today was enough for Eastern Illinois University and Lake Land College — and most of the surrounding school districts — to shut down campuses for the day. On Tuesday, Eastern officials made the decision to close the university for today because of the worsening weather conditions. Also, a press release from Lake Land College said all on- and off-campus classes are canceled and offices are closed.

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. .A8 B5-7 . .B4 . .A4 . . A3 . .A4 . . B3 . . B8 . . A5

A community the size of Glen Ellyn, population 27,000, might use 50 to 100 tons per storm. A bigger community such as Waukesha, Wis., which has about 70,000 residents, could use 300 tons or more. The same storm in Chicago would call for more than 13,000 tons. Demand is so high that salt gets more expensive every day. Communities are trying to decide what do to. They could buy a little more salt now, when it costs twice or three times more than earlier in

ST. LOUIS (AP) — T.J. Rutherford loves to golf, even in the winter. Just not this winter. With single-digit temperatures and sub-zero wind chills becoming the norm from the Midwest to the East Coast, often combined with snow or ice, the 59-year-old and his Illinois golfing buddies are no longer just bundling up. They’re staying inside. “I’m on my third 1,000piece jigsaw puzzle,” said Rutherford, who lives in Carterville, about 100 miles southeast of St. Louis. “I haven’t done that in a long time.” Cabin fever is setting in for countless Americans as bitter cold, heavy snowfall and paralyzing ice storms keep pounding a large swath of the country. School districts across two-thirds of the U.S. are reporting higher than normal numbers of

SALT/A2

cAbIn fEvER/A2

Long winter brings salt shortage, steeper prices dOn bAbWIn Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — As piles of snow grow taller during this seemingly endless winter, the piles of salt for spreading on the nation’s icy, slushy roads are shrinking, forcing communities to ration supplies because there’s not enough salt to go around. Cities have already gone through most of their salt well ahead of the time they traditionally really need it — when the coldest part of winter gives way to temperatures just warm enough to turn snow into

freezing rain and sleet and roads into ribbons of ice. “If we don’t get the salt, at some point people are going to be sliding all over the place like what you saw in Atlanta,” said Julius Hansen, public works director in the Chicago suburb of Glen Ellyn, citing last week’s television images of thousands of motorists getting stranded on ice-covered roads in the South. So far this year, Glen Ellyn’s snow-removal crews have responded to 31 storms. “In an average winter, we have 20,” Hansen said.

Judge convicts man of causing accident dAvE fOPAy

. . . . . . . . .

JIM SALTER

Associated Press

Pedestrians cross Lincoln Avenue in Charleston on Tuesday.

SnOW/A2

Cabin fever sets in amid relentless cold, snow

JG-TC Staff Writer

CHARLESTON — Evidence that a man was heavily intoxicated and driving at speeds close to 100 mph were part of what a judge used Tuesday to convict the man of causing a fatal accident at the Illinois Route 16-Lerna Road intersection. Michael P. Fogarty was found guilty of aggravated driving under the influence, a felony offense, for allegedly causing

the death of a passenger in one of the four vehicles involved in the March 2 accident. The other vehicles were stopped for a traffic light in the Route 16 westbound lanes. Fogarty, 26, of Chicago allegedly hit the rear of a vehicle in which Amy C. Thomas, 40, of Springfield was a passenger. Thomas died from her accident-related injuries the next day at Carle Foundation Hospital, Urbana.

137th Year, number 13

On Tuesday, Fogarty opted for what’s called a stipulated bench trial. At such a trial, prosecuting and defense attorney agree in advance on what evidence will be considered and a judge then uses that to reach a verdict without any testimony taking place. Circuit Judge Mitchell Shick found Fogarty guilty after reviewing the outline of the evidence, which said Fogarty’s blood alcohol content four

Rob Scales added that the traffic light at the intersection was clearly visible and there were indications that the other vehicles had been stopped long enough to show that the light turned red well before Fogarty reached the intersection. Defense attorney Michael Zopf didn’t respond to Scales’ argument that the evidence was enough to convict Fogarty. AccIdEnT/A2

Breaking newS, coMMentarY, MultiMedia and More: www. JG-tC.CoM

EXPERIENCE

2014 BUICK ENCORE

hours after the accident was about 0.15 percent, almost double the minimum for a DUI conviction. There were also witness accounts of seeing Fogarty driving at high rates of speed, the evidence indicated. It also showed that his car’s data recorder registered a speed of 111 mph two seconds before the accident and 92 mph at the time of impact. Assistant State’s Attorney

217-235-5656

BUICK

EXPERIENCE WORRY- FREE LUXURY

2014 BUICK ENCLAVE

234-8863

2014 BUICK LACROSSE


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.