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Serving Bureau County Since 1847
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Tower projects, roof repairs County board tackles projects B y Donna Barker dbarker@bcrnews.com
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General Assembly overrides Quinn Concealed carry passes the House, Senate By Goldie Currie gcurrie@bcrnews.com
Editor’s note: This is the first story in a two-part series on concealed carry. PRINCETON – On Tuesday, Illinois became the last state in the nation to allow a gun owner to carry concealed weapons, after the Illinois General Assembly voted to override Gov. Pat Quinn’s amendatory veto of House Bill 183. The Senate vote was 41 yeas to 17
nays with local Senators Darin LaHood and Sue Rezin voting in favor of the override. The House vote was 77 yeas to 31 nays, with local Representatives David Leitch, Frank Mautino and Don Moffitt all voting in favor of the override. In a statement on the concealed carry override, Quinn expressed his disappointment. “Yet, despite my objections, members of the General Assembly surrendered to the National Rifle Association in the waning days of session and passed a
flawed bill that allows people to carry guns in establishments that serves alcohol and allows people to carry unlimited guns and high-capacity ammunition magazine,” he said. After Quinn took amendatory veto on the bill last week, he released revisions to what he called a “flawed bill that jeopardized public safety. “We will keep fighting for these critical provisions that will save lives and establish a better, more responsible concealed carry law in Illinois,” he said on
See Concealed carry Page 4
PRINCETON — The Bureau County Board is moving forward with a plan to upgrade the grounding grid system for the communication tower at the county jail, with the hopes to eliminate any future lightning strikes. At Tuesday’s board meeting, Buildings and Grounds Committee Chairman Kristi Warren updated the county board on the recent field study completed at the jail tower by E & S Grounding Solutions of California. The study was “very thorough and eye-opening,” Warren said. The study has included testing of the grounding grid at the tower and writing an interpretation of the test results, with the final component to be the development of a work plan to correct the issues at the tower, Warren said. The E & S Grounding consultant has presented two plans for the board to consider, a short-term emergency plan and a long-term plan. The consultant’s recommendation was to go with the short-term plan, Warren said. The long-term plan would be much more involved and expensive. To put so much money into grounding and securing the jail tower, the county board would want to make sure the jail and communication equipment stay at its present site, the consultant said. Warren agreed, saying taking the unknown future in consideration, the shortterm plan seems to be the better choice.
Reducing PE at BV School board considers PE waiver By Goldie Currie gcurrie@bcrnews.com
See Projects Page 4 Year 167 No. 83
BCR photo/Becky Kramer
Pretty in puddles
Two Sections - 28 Pages
Annie Thompson (left) and her sister, Audrey Thompson of Princeton, took advantage of Tuesday morning’s rain to test out their boots and have some wet, watery fun. According to the WQAD News 8 forecast, those Tuesday puddles are going to be rare for the next week, where predictions show temperatures in the mid-80s to 90s with plenty of sun. 98213 00012 1 7 © Bureau County Republican
MANLIUS – At a public hearing on Monday, some Bureau Valley teachers spoke out against the school board’s possible decision to seek a waiver that would allow variations in how physical education is currently taught in the elementary schools. Physical education is required to be taught 20 minutes a day, five days a week. With an approved waiver by the state, classes could be reduced to 20 minutes a day, three days a week. At the hearing, Superintendent Dennis Thompson gave examples of how the waiver could potentially allow a change in the instruction model for physical education by having physical education teachers incorporate core curriculum concepts into the class. Also, it could allow for a reduction in staff members since the instruction would be cut down by three-fifths. Also, with the waiver, the district would be able to hire an elementary teacher that could teach physical education and also be qualified to assist teachers in other instruction on the two days that physical education wouldn’t be required.
See BV Page 4
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