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Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Summer brings more needs for Princeton food pantry By Donna Barker dbarker@bcrnews.com
PRINCETON — The summer months may be months of fun for lots of families, but they can also be months of additional challenges for parents, including having enough food to feed their children. On Monday, Bureau County Food Pantry director Vanessa Hoffeditz said there are definitely more needs for food and supplies during the summer months at the food pantry because children are home and not getting their meals through their schools. Approximately 27 percent of the people served by the local food pantry are children under the age of 17 years, she said. The Bureau County Food Pantry, which is located at 1019 N. Main St. in Princeton, needs “everything” for its shelves, Hoffeditz said. Items especially needed right now are things like cereal, macaroni and cheese, hamburger or tuna helper, spaghetti noodles, fruits and vegetables, she said. Of course, financial donations are always appreciated because the food pantry can buy items from its food bank supplier, where every dollar received will buy $10 worth of food, Hoffeditz said. The local food pantry is definitely seeing more people this summer than it did in the spring, Hoffeditz said. In May, the local food pantry served 148 houses, representing 363 individuals. The numbers for June, especially for individuals, is expected to increase as larger households are coming into the pantry for help. Also, there are some new people coming for help and a lot of them have children, Hoffeditz said.
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Locals upset with farm bill failure By Barb Kromphardt bkromphardt@bcrnews.com
Disagreement over cuts to the nation’s food stamp program resulted in Congress’ failure to pass the latest farm bill. On Thursday, the House of Representatives defeated the farm bill by a margin of 234-195. The SNAP program, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which includes the nation’s food stamp program, was the apparent culprit.
Many Democrats voted against the bill because it cut an estimated $2 billion each year from the program, while many of the Republicans voting no wanted to see bigger cuts. In addition to the stamps, the program included provisions streamlining conservation programs, expanding the federally subsidized crop insurance program to $93 billion over the next 10 years and slashing subsidy payments — including the elimination of the $5 billion a year in direct payments to
farmers. Steve Cowser, who raises hogs near Bradford, said the crop insurance provisions in the farm bill are very important to agriculture. “It helps in managing risk for both farm operators and lenders,” he said. Cowser said that over the last 10 years, crop insurance has been a profit maker for the government and added net money to the U.S. treasury.
See Farm bill Page 4
BCR photo/Goldie Currie
Bring on summer! Princeton’s Main Street was full of shoppers Friday evening for Princeton Chamber of Commerce’s Summer Solstice event. Shoppers spent the evening wine tasting, enjoying snacks and taking advantage of special deals provided by several participating businesses. Pictured is Paige Harrison (far left) with her mother Deb Harrison and grandma Shirley Schmidt with Le Soleil owner Robyn Washer as they stop to check out summer jewelry and sun dresses.
Pony Express coming to town By Donna Barker dbarker@bcrnews.com
PRINCETON — Three Bureau County communities are helping the community of Earlville celebrate its 150th birthday by opening their streets to Pony Express riders. On Thursday morning, Earlville will begin a Pony Express re-enactment at 10 a.m. in front of the Princeton Post Office, as part of Earlville’s birthday
celebration which begins Thursday and runs through Sunday. Princeton Mayor Keith Cain will be on hand Thursday morning to greet the eight Pony Express riders before they head out for Earlville. Princeton is happy to be part of the Pony Express kick-off to Earlville’s birthday celebration, Cain said. Area residents are welcomed to attend the Pony Express ceremony, which is expected to last about 15 minutes.
As part of the brief ceremony, Princeton Post Master Shannon Mattingly will give the Pony Express riders a symbolic mail bag for them to take on their journey. Thursday’s ceremony should be a great way for people to enjoy learning about history and seeing first hand how mail was delivered more than 100 years ago, she said. On Friday, Princeton Tourism/Marketing Director Joni Hunt said she hopes for a
See Pony Express Page 4
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