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Volume 141 No. 41 Friday, December 12, 2014
Single Copy Cost 50¢
Vol. 141 No. 41
One Section - 8 Pages
© The Tonica News
TGS receives state report cardTonica Grade School
outperforms state averages
By Ken [email protected]
TONICA — The Illinois State School Report Cards are out, and Tonica Grade School Superintendent John Suarez can only be pleased with the latest results.
While school averages
have slipped slightly on the Illinois Standards Achieve-ment Test, TGS students still outperform the state aver-age. Statewide, 59 percent of students meet or exceed education standards. For Tonica, the number is 72 percent.
“These are great num-bers. I think the fact we’ve
got great teachers and committed parents contributes a lot to our scores,” Suarez said. “It’s very heartwarm-ing to know we’re preparing these kids for the future in this way.”
The Tonica school administration achieves those scores on a shoestring budget compared to the state average. Instruction-al spending per students
averages $7,094 state-wide, while only $6,115
is spent on Tonica students. Operating
cost per student at TGS is $9,239 compared to a state average of
$12,045.Tonica teachers earn
less on the average, with a typical teacher earning $41,022. The state average is $62,435. However, most of Tonica’s teachers (62.5 percent) have only a bach-
elor’s degree compared to a 41.2 percent state aver-age. Statewide, teachers are more likely to have a mas-ter’s degree (58.2 percent) than Tonica (37.5 percent). Tonica teachers have more years in service than the state average, however. The numbers for 2012 (the most recent numbers) show Illi-nois teachers average 12.9 years experience. Tonica teachers average 16.3 years.
Administrators also get a smaller paycheck at Toni-
ca, with a $92,000 average salary. The average state-wide is 10 percent higher at $101,096.
Tonica students them-selves are a factor, as Tonica has a very low truancy rate. One percent of students at Tonica Grade School have a history of chronic truancy, compared to a 10 percent rate statewide. Daily atten-dance has been two to three percentage points higher than the state average for more than five years.
Tonica village president concerned about dangerous intersectionBy Ken Schroeder
TONICA — For years, it’s been an intersection where most local residents exercise extreme care as they drive through, and with good reason. While no deaths have been reported there, it’s a rare year where there is no accident at the intersection of Route 251 and LaSalle County 54,
also known as North 20th Road.
During the last five years the Illinois Department of Transportation has traffic data available — 2008-2012 — there were a total of 19 accidents at the inter-section. From those acci-dents, six people received non-incapacitating inju-ries and one person was incapacitated. All 19 acci-dents have one thing in common: They all hap-
pened during the daytime. Most of them occurred in dry conditions.
“It’s a dangerous inter-section,” Tonica Village President Kevin Sluder said. “People coming from the east or west some-times just don’t stop. They ignore the speed limits and just breeze on through.”
Sluder has been trying to get IDOT to do more to lower the possibility of accidents at the corner,
but so far hasn’t had much luck.
“I’ve asked for flashing lights, or signage to indi-cate there’s a problem there. Ideally, a four-way stop would be great, but they don’t think the cor-ner warrants it. They don’t want to cause an impedi-ment to drivers on Route 251. ‘There’s not enough accidents there.’ Appar-ently, there has to be a fatality there before some-
thing gets done,” Slud-er said. “So far this year, there’s been six or seven accidents there, with a few people sent to the hospi-tal. I just have to wonder what it’s going to take.”
One of the accidents was a rear-end collision, with another being a sin-gle-vehicle accident. A few have been vehicles strik-ing another as one tries to make a turn. The majority of the accidents — 13 —
have been angle collisions where vehicles traveling on both roads enter the intersection at the same time.
The Springfield office of IDOT did not respond to queries regarding the standards for placing traf-fic control devices, which leaves Sluder asking an important question.
“How dangerous does it have to be before some-thing gets done?”
Tonica News photo/Dixie Schroeder
iPads in the classroomTrinity Wade takes an Accelerated Reader test on an iPad she is using in her second-grade classroom t Tonica Grade School. Wade is a student of Amy Mareta and said she enjoys using the iPad in her class.
Water woes worry Lostant
By Ken [email protected]
LOSTANT — Lostant res-idents will most likely be paying more for their water soon. The village board dis-cussed the issue at length at its Dec. 8 board meeting, and members concur there may be no way around it.
Water and sewer super-visor Dave Mertes first brought up the probable need for an increase earli-er this year, citing the fact the village was not able to prepare for problems under the village’s fiscal condition, just fix problems when they come up. That shortfall was proven in August when the village water system com-pletely shut down. Accord-ing to Mertes, clean-up and repairs of the pump fail-ure cost $30,000 in reserve funds. During the crisis, the village had to borrow water from Tonica until repairs were completed.
Currently, residents are charged a base fee of $10
with a limit of 2,000 gallons. A rate of $7.50 per 1,000 gal-lons takes effect after that amount, something Mertes said usually doesn’t hap-pen.
Lostant is currently run-ning on one well. The board is in the process of com-pleting a new well, but even with grant money, the cash-strapped village will still need to foot 25 percent of the bill.
Village President Fred Hartenbower also noted the water tower is in dire need of painting both inside and out, a task Mertes said would cost in excess of $50,000. He added a new water tower would cost the village half a million dollars.
The board is considering three separate options, and will likely implement at least one of them soon. The base rate may increase, the initial “free” water may be elimi-nated or the rate per $1,000 gallons may be increased.
The matter will likely be added to the agenda of a board meeting in early 2015.
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2 • The Tonica News • Friday, December 12, 2014
SeekingSources
Where in the world is The Tonica News? Are you plan-ning a vacation or holiday trip? Don’t forget to take along a copy of the The Tonica News. Once you get to your desti-nation, have someone snap a photo of you holding the newspaper, and then send the photo to us along with perti-nent information about who is in the photo and where you are. We’ll be happy to share your photo with other Tonica News readers, your friends, family and neighbors. Email your photo and information to [email protected]. You can also drop it by our office in Tonica.
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Published every Friday at Tonica, IL 61370
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ContactPublisherSam [email protected]
EditorTerri [email protected]
Reading dogs make impact at LaSalle Public Library
By Dixie [email protected]
LASALLE – Since 2004, a unique program com-bining two-legged and four-legged friends has been held every month at the LaSalle Public Library. “Tail-Waggers” is a com-bination of trained thera-py dogs, children and the joys of reading.
Youth Librarian Direc-tor Donna Bloomquist of McNabb was the origina-tor of the program at the library.
“What makes Tail-Wag-gers so popular? Dogs. Lots of Americans are attracted to pets and to dogs ... They are the perennial icebreakers — complete strangers smile at each other when one or both have dogs. Kids pick up on this attraction,” Bloomquist said.
The program is simple. Trained, certified thera-py dogs attend a reading session with their trainer. A child picks out a book and then reads to the dog. Dogs are not judgmental. They don’t make fun if a child mispronounces a word. Children who are too young to read can have the dog trainer or a parent read with them as they look at the pictures and share time with the therapy dog.
“A lifelong love of read-ing goes hand in hand with a life of learning. Kids who are confident read-ers not only excel in their school work, but are more willing to investigate new topics and explore the world through reading,” Bloomquist said.
Over the years the library has worked with nine trainer/dog teams. Currently three teams come to the library. Nancy Fryxell brings Ellianna or “Elli,” a Tibetan Terrier, and Vasha, a Skye terrier who recently retired. Pam Booras brings Tillie and Gus, who are both Cava-lier King Charles Spaniels. The third pair includes Theresa Jones and her dog Charlie, a flat coated
retriever. Each dog goes through training, accord-ing to Booras.
“In order for a dog to be registered as a ther-apy dog with Therapy Dogs Inc. ... they have to have basic obedience, be friendly with all ages of humans, be comfort-able working in differ-ent places and different situations,” Booras said. “Therapy Dogs Inc. tests a dog in basic obedience and then has three sep-arate testings in a place therapy dogs are likely to be used in order to assess the dog’s and handler’s abilities.”
“Handler and dog communication is very important,” Jones said. “How a dog is with you and others is key. Charlie is the mellowest dog I’ve ever had.”
It is a rewarding expe-rience for both dogs and handlers, according to Jones.
“They (the children) are all so happy to see the dog. They are so non judging,” Jones said.
Sometimes the dog can help a child connect with the love of reading. Fryxell has one experience which has really stayed with her.
“We started going to a preschool ... We visited a classroom with children with learning disabilities. I didn’t know anything about learning difficul-ties,” Fryxell said.
The teacher told her to take the dog around and let the students pet it. She warned her some kids might not interact with the dog. There was a little boy who was unrespon-sive to them.
“I got to him and picked Elli up as he was in a wheelchair and asked him if he could say dog. Then he said the word dog,” Fryxell said. “I looked up and the teacher had tears rolling down her face. She said to me, ‘He hasn’t ever spoken.’ I said to her, ‘You mean he hasn’t spoken in school?’ ‘No, he doesn’t talk even at home,’ the teacher said.”
Bloomquist summed up the decade-long pro-gram.
“The reading dog teams have touched the lives of many children and adults too. I am confident that Tail-Waggers has pos-itively impacted youth literacy ... at the LaSalle Public Library,” she said.
Tonica News photo/Dixie SchroederThomas Jerrell of LaSalle (right) reads to Charlie, the dog who is part of the Reading Loving Therapy Dogs program. Thomas said his family has been coming to the program for a year.
IVFL elects officers, trustees
Illinois Valley Federa-tion of Labor recently held elections for officers and trustees at its monthly meeting.
Re-elected officers were Dan Mercer, president; Tom Ganiere, vice presi-dent; Steve Conrad, trea-surer, and Jim Lockhart, recording secretary. Steve Turri and Mike Phillips will serve their first term as trustees along with re-elected trustee Terry
Bell. All officers and trust-ees will serve a two-year term.
IVFL represents 88 AFL-CIO affiliated local unions and their 12,500 union members in LaSal-le, Bureau and Putnam counties.
The IVFL Council meets every month, and all union members are invit-ed to participate. Call Dan Mercer for more informa-tion at 815-725-0402.
Tonica Grade School to hold tax levy hearing
TONICA — The Ton-ica Grade School Board of Education will hold a tax levy hearing at 6:45 p.m. Dec. 16 in the media center at Tonica Grade
School. The board will host the hearing even though the 2014 tax levy is under the 5 percent level in which a hearing is required.
Filing period announced for IVCC petitions
OGLESBY — The peri-od for filing nomination petitions for the April 2015 Illinois Valley Com-munity College trustee election is 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Dec. 15-19 and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 22 in the president’s office, Room C-301.
The last day to file an objection to any nom-inating petition for the April 7, 2015, election is
Dec. 30. Anyone wishing to file an objection while the college is closed Dec. 23-30 can set up a time by emailing board sec-retary Jeanne Hayden at [email protected].
District 513 covers all or part of LaSalle, Bureau, Putnam, Mar-shall, Grundy, Living-ston, Lee and DeKalb counties.
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Friday, December 12, 2014 • The Tonica News • 3
Dr. Richard WarrnerROCKFORD — Dr. Richard A. Warrner,
78, of Rockford died Saturday, Nov. 29, 2014, in his home sur-rounded by his family.
He was born July 15, 1936, in LaSalle, the son of the late Wendell and Mary Warrner. He married Miriam Meek on April 4, 1964, in Evanston, Ill.
He graduated from Tonica Community High School and went to Illinois Wesleyan University where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Biology and was elected into Phi Kappa Phi for academic excellence. He went to Northwestern Medical School, graduating in 1962 with a Doctor of Medi-cine, and remained a loyal Wildcats fan for the rest of his life. He served his internship at Cook County Hospital and was chief res-ident in pediatrics in 1965.
In 1965 and 1966, Dr. Warrner was sta-tioned in Fort Ord, Calif., serving as a cap-tain in the Army Medical Corps. He and Miriam moved to Rockford in 1969. He started his pediatric practice at the Chil-dren’s Medical Building on Myott Avenue and remained there until 1985, when he transferred his practice to the Rockford Clinic, where he stayed until his retirement in 2001.
During his long career, he also served as the chair of the pediatrics department at Rockford Memorial Hospital, and as a teacher of pediatrics at the University of Illinois College Of Medicine. From 2001 to 2009, he served as the dismissing physician in the nursery at Rockford Memorial Hos-pital and was honored by the staff for his commitment to mothers and babies.
Dr. Warrner served his community on many boards and committees, including Wesley Willows, the Children’s Develop-ment Center and the Winnebago Coun-ty Health Department. He was a lifelong learner and enjoyed both teaching and taking classes at the Center for Learning in Retirement. He loved to read, travel and support the arts. Most of all, he loved his family and friends.
He is survived by his wife, Miriam; his children, Ruth (Calvin) DeWitt of Law-rence, Kan., and Tim (Theresa) Warrner of Lakewood, Wis.; and his grandchildren, Lindsey, Margaret, Grace, Calvin and Henry.
A service to celebrate his life was held at 11 a.m. Friday, Dec. 5, at Court Street Unit-ed Methodist Church and was followed by a memorial reception at the Rockford Country Club.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made in his name to the Artists Ensemble or to the Rockford Memo-rial Development Foundation to benefit pediatric services.
The family would like to express their thanks to the staff at Hospice Care of Amer-ica, and the deepest gratitude to Maggie and Mary from Wesley Willows Health Center.
Arrangements were completed by the Fitzgerald Funeral Home & Crematory, Mulford Chapel. Express online condo-lences at www.fitzgeraldfh.com. Checks can be made payable to Rockford Memori-al Development Foundation and mailed to 2400 N. Rockton Ave., Rockford, IL 61103. Online gifts are being accepted at www.rockfordhealthsystem.org/make-a-gift.
Obituary
MeetingsDec.15 – Tonica Village Board, 7 p.m., Tonica Village Hall.Dec. 19 – Tonica Grade School Board, 6:45 p.m., Tonica Grade School.
Tonica News photo/Ken Schroeder
TVFD responds to late night callThe Tonica Volunteer Fire Department and the Oglesby Fire Department were called out at 11:38 p.m. Dec. 7 to a motor vehicle accident on Interstate 39 at Mile Marker 51 northbound. Upon arrival, the fire departments found a pickup truck on its top in the middle of the I-39 and a cargo trailer in the center median. TFVD responded with a pumper, rescue truck and ambulance. Oglesby responded with a pumper, rescue truck and ambulance. Two patients were transported to Illinois Valley Community Hospital. One of the two had to be extricated from the pickup truck. Some traffic lanes were closed due to the accident, and traffic control diverted vehicles to the shoulder of the interstate until after the extrication was completed. The state police, along with the Oglesby police, investigated the accident. All fire and rescue units were cleared at the scene by 2 a.m.
4 Perspective
4 • The Tonica News • Friday, December 12, 2014
The Editorial Page
Sam R FisherPublisher
Terri SimonEditor
The Tonica News
The 12 days of bankruptcy
I was determined. This was the year I’d do it.You’ve heard the song “Twelve Days of Christmas”
before, of course. If not, go to the Peru Mall for half an hour. You’ll probably hear the “Twelve Days of Christmas” 12 times.
My wife is a Christmas fan to the Nth degree, while I’m a bit of a humbug (OK, a lot of a humbug.). I took her to the East Peoria Festival of Lights and thought she would explode in holiday rapture.
So I start-ed doing some research to see if I could even begin to match the generosity of the “Twelve Days.”
You gotta be kidding.The first call was to a pet store in Chicago that spe-
cializes in birds. Base price for a partridge: $20. We’re off to a decent start.
Unfortunately, in order to get a pear tree big enough the partridge doesn’t kill it outright from its weight, I’d need to drop $188. This is getting a bit rich already.
Calling the pet store back, it was time to start get-ting into the outrageous. Turtle doves were on sale; two for $125. Three French hens, a mere $181. Not really knowing what a calling bird was, I settled for canaries, which are $125 each. Four ring up to $600.
Saving myself a third call, I skipped ahead to check on prices for geese and swans. Geese are fairly cheap at $60 apiece, or six for $360. Rather than sound like a total pervert, I didn’t ask what they would cost if they were pregnant. Swans were only … waitaminnit … typo? Nope — swans are $1,000 each. At this point, a car would likely be cheaper.
Calling my buddy who owns a jewelry store, it seems I’m not as much of a buddy as I believed. Five gold rings: $750. Crossing another item off the song and a name off my Christmas card list, I soldiered on.
This is where it gets a bit twitchy, since out-and-out buying people is a bit expensive and more than a bit illegal. I’m hoping the song meant hiring people or this list gets expensive in more ways than one. I settle for hiring people, since it’s hopefully a lot cheaper.
Farm help is cheap. Hiring eight farm girls to milk cows long enough to harvest a gallon each came to about $58.
Leaping and dancing people sounds like ballet to me, so I called the Peoria Metropolitan for some quo-tations. Dancers are egotistical and charge heavily to let you watch them prance. Nine ladies performing just once runs $7,553. At least guys aren’t as pricey, dipping into the wallet only $5,348. What a bargain!
Musicians by contrast are cheap. Hiring 11 flautists cost only $2,635. Getting 12 drummers to accompany them is $2,855.
If I only get the base package, my Christmas pres-ent comes to $27,673. Ouch.
Then I remembered my wife is a bit of a completist. So I add it up as if I’m buying every item as many times as it’s mentioned in the song.
The total: $116,273. I called my bank to talk about a loan for that much money. The tellers are probably still laughing.
Sorry, love. Looks like you’ll get that deluxe Kitch-en-aid you wanted after all.
Tonica News Staff Reporter Ken Schroeder can be reached at [email protected].
Ken Schroeder
COMMENTARY
Shirley GingerichTown: Peru.
Family: Three sons and four grand-children, three boys and one girl.
Pets: No.
What is the last song you listened to: I had the Supremes on, “We’ll be Together Again.”
What is the last book you read: I’m reading one right now, “Family Affair.”
What is the last TV show you saw: “Scandal.”
If you were stranded on a desert-ed island, what would be the meal you would eat forever: Olive Garden chicken alfredo.
If you were stranded on a desert-ed island and you could take only one thing with you, what would it be: My cell phone.
If someone handed you a million dollars, what would you do with it: Invest it so I can live off the interest.
What is your favorite area restau-rant(s): Olive Garden, Applebee’s and the Village Cafe.
Would do you like best about your hometown: People. There is also a lot of business there so you can go shopping.
Would you change anything about your hometown: I would be glad if they fixed all the streets. They have bad streets in Peru.
First Person
A blast from the pastIt never fails to amaze me how
we can go years without talking to an old friend, and then just randomly out of the blue, one con-tacts the other, and we jump back into conversation as if time hardly flew by.
Just recently, I got reacquaint-ed with an old friend from high school. It’s been four years since we’ve chatted with one another, but it only took 10 minutes to dive into the old memories we shared way back when.
Looking back eight years ago, we were seniors in high school (I know the older generation readers are snickering at my youth right now, but eight years is a big deal to me).
My old friend is in about 80 percent of the memories I made that year. We had classes togeth-er, sat with one another at lunch, one time skipped class together to watch a movie we wanted to see and spent several hours in my par-ent’s basement just hanging out, playing Mario Cart and laughing at life in general.
Listing those memories today makes we wish I could just jump back to those days as a carefree 18 year old. Little did we know, those definitely were the days.
A couple weeks back, when a message from my old friend popped up on my Facebook account, all those memorable times we spent together came rushing to the forefront. I mes-
saged back immediately, and in the next 10 minutes it was as if we were 18 years old again and in my parent’s basement laughing at the good times.
We joked about our current life situations, gossiped about our fel-low classmates we had in biology class and laughed at our favorite stories and inside jokes.
I reminded him about the time he purchased about 20 McDon-ald’s Happy Meals and how we devoured them back at my par-ents’ home as we cracked jokes about the woman’s expression she made when he ordered at the counter; he laughed at how I used to call him by his first and last name no matter what (inside joke) and we were wiping tears from our eyes when I brought up the time he called our fellow friend and pretended to be the guy she was crushing on at the time. She found out the truth, of course, and we still don’t think she’s over that one even today.
It really felt great to sit back, laugh and reminisce on all those times. I truly believe the laughing we did that night was the kind
people talk about being medicine for pure happiness. Amazing how an old friend can do that for you.
As I grow older, I’m beginning to realize old friends, whom we might not talk to on a daily basis, are just as important as the current friends, who we might see or talk with daily or weekly.
Sometimes it’s just good to have those people in life where you don’t have to retell your history over and over ... They know where you come from, where you used to live, know who your parents are, know which classes you took in high school, who you used to hang out with, where you went to col-lege, what you talked about being when you grew up and so on and so on.
I’m beginning to cherish my old friendships, as I’m realizing they are few and far between. Especially since I moved away from the Mich-igan town I grew up in. In fact, without Facebook, I most likely would be completely out of touch with those old high school friends.
Reconnecting with my friend the other week reminded me that I need to take time to stay in touch and hang onto those old friend-ships. Life tends to get busy and time seems to slip away, but real friends will always be able to pick-up wherever they left off.
Shaw Media Service staff writer Goldie Currie can be reached at [email protected].
Goldie CurrieCOMMENTARY
Letters policy
Letters to the Editor should not be more than 500 words in length. Only one person can sign a Letter to the Editor. The author of the letter must include his/her name, hometown and telephone number. The author’s name and hometown will be published, however, the telephone number is only used to verify the authenticity of the author’s signature and will not be published. Unsigned letters are never read or published. No letter will be published until The Tonica News contacts the author of the letter to verify the signature. The Tonica News reserves the right to edit or refuse any Letter to the Editor.
5 Life
Friday, December 12, 2014 • The Tonica News • 5
Community
Basketball program at halfway markBy LesLie smith
Special to The Tonica News
LOSTANT — Lostant Grade School’s boys’ bas-ketball team is approxi-mately halfway through their season for the year. Mark Nowakowski is the coach again this year. This year the team has 17 play-ers from fourth through
eighth grade.Team members include:
Fourth-graders Lucas Wiesbrock and Mason Krieser; fifth-graders Chase Krieser, Will Daugherty and Corbin Shaver; sixth-grad-ers Devin Forrest, Bailey Rockey, Parker Witzman, Grant Harper, Nicholas Cabal and Hunter Strack; seventh-graders Jacob Wiesbrock and Ethan Phil-
lips; and eighth-graders Alan Bruner, Hunter Witz-man, Dallas Powell and Ethan Shaver.
The boys are having a great time again this year. If you would like to attend a game, you can check the schedule on the Lostant school events calendar or under the activities sec-tion at www.lostantcom-ets.org.
Lostant Library adds young reader booksLOSTANT — Lostant
Community Library has announced the addition of six new books to the shelves for the young and young adult reader.
One of the Top 10 books on the 2005 Amer-ican Library Association Young Adult list, “Looking For Alaska,” the first book written by John Green, has been purchased. His 2008 novel “Paper Towns,” which debuted at No. 5 on the New York Times best-seller list, has also been added. The executive edi-tor of Simon and Schus-ter Publishing stated the popularity of John Green novels is due to “more interest in authentic, gen-uine, relatable characters” which Green provides.
For the young adult read-er who likes to read books that inspired movies, the Lostant Library has “The Giver” by Lois Lowry and “If I Stay” by Gayle For-man, both recent movie releases. “The Giver” is a 1993 novel which received the Newberry Medal for
distinguished contribution to children’s literature. “If I Stay” follows the memo-ries of a 17-year-old coma victim who is aware of her hospital visitors and the experiences she has shared with them.
“Homeroom Diaries” by James Patterson was also added to the library shelves. Patterson is a pop-ular writer of adult books. Since 1976, he has written 95 novels which sold over 300 million copies. He’s had 19 consecutive No. 1 New York Times Best-sellers, including many of the well-known Alex Cross novels. In 2009, he started writing books for young-er readers, in part because his own son Jack was a reluctant reader. Patterson has also created the read-kiddoread website to help parents find good books for their child.
And finally, for all the princess readers, the library has “Frozen, the Essential Guide,” which doesn’t just retell the Dis-ney Frozen movie story
but gives a detailed look at the movie. The Frozen DVD is also available to check out.
Library Time began Sept. 16 and will continue every Tuesday when school is in session. Library Time is led by educator Sue Massey through a grant from the Illinois State Board of Edu-cation and sponsored by Oglesby School District 125 Early Childhood Program. This is a free program for children birth through school age in the Los-tant and the Tonica area. Children will enjoy story time, songs, puppet play, art and receive a snack. There are special events like a Halloween party and outings arranged through the Oglesby school which parents and children may attend, such as zoo visits. Children must be accom-panied by a parent or care-giver. Sessions run from 10 to 10:45 a.m.
For more information, call the library at 815-368-3530. Children may join the program any week.
Dolphins swim to win over OttersBy Dixie schroeDer
PERU – The Illinois Valley Dolphins hosted a home swim meet against Clinton YMCA Otters on Dec. 6. The Dolphins topped the Otters by a final score of 628-138.
Addison Duttlinger, 8, of Oglesby earned a sec-ond-place finish with a state-qualifying time in the 25-meter breaststroke (23.94). Duttlinger also made district qualifying
times with her two first-place finishes in the 100-meter individual medley (1:49.10) and 50-meter freestyle (41.72). Aubrey Duttlinger, 6, took sec-ond place in the 25-meter freestyle (29.37) and a third-place finish in the 25-meter backstroke (31.08). Lauren Kolczaski, 8, swam to a second-place finish in the 25-meter free-style (19.68). This was a district qualifying time. Kolczaski also took third in the 25-meter butter-
fly (27.33). Clara Weitl, 5, earned a third-place finish in the 25-meter freestyle (37.57).
Wenona’s Cody Smith, 13, swam to two first-place finishes in the 200-meter individual medley (2:33.18) and the 100-meter but-terfly (1:14.75). Smith also earned a second-place finish in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:25.62).
The Dolphins travel to DeKalb on Dec. 13 and 14 for the Barbwire Invita-tional.
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999 • Legal Notices999 • Legal Notices999 • Legal Notices999 • Legal Notices
answer to the Petitionin the action or other-wise file your appear-ance therein, in the saidCircuit Court of LaSalleCounty, Room 204, inthe City of Ottawa,Illinois, on or before the16th day of January,2015 a default may beentered against you atany time after that dayand a judgment enteredin accordance with theprayer of said petition.
Dated November 21,2014, Ottawa, Illinois,Andrew Skoog, Clerk.
Bernabei, Balestri &Fiocchi
John Balestri149 Gooding Street
LaSalle, IL 61301Published in the TonicaNews Dec. 5, 12 and 19,2014.
IN THE CIRCUITCOURT OF THETHIRTEENTH
JUDICIAL CIRCUITLASALLE COUNTY,
ILLINOISIN RE THE ESTATE )OF: )DANIEL P. SINETOS, )
Deceased. )Case No. 14 P 74Notice is given to
creditors of the deathof the above nameddecedent. Letters ofOffice were issued toANDREW SINETOS,710 Augusta Drive,
NOTICEThe Tonica Grade
School Board ofEducation will be hold-ing a tax levy hearing onTuesday, December 16,2014 at 6:45 p.m. in theMedia Center at TonicaGrade School.
The Board will hostthe hearing even thoughthe 2014 Tax Levy isunder the 5% increasewhen a levy hearing isrequired.Published in the TonicaNews Dec. 12, 2014.
ADOPTION NOTICECIRCUIT COURT OFLASALLE COUNTY
STATE OF )ILLINOIS )
)SSCOUNTY OF )LASALLE )
ADOPTIONNO. 14-AD-32
In the matter of thePetition for the Adoptionof KILLIAN ISSACOPHIR GARRETT, amale child.
TO ALL WHOM ITMAY CONCERN:
Take notice that aPetition was filed in theCircuit Court of LaSalleCounty, Illinois, forthe adoption of a childnamed KILLIAN ISSACOPHIR GARRETT.
Now, therefore,unless all whom itmay concern file your
North Aurora, IL asIndependent Executorwhose attorney ofrecord is Angel Traub ofA. Traub & Associates,100 West 22nd St., Ste.150, Lombard, IL 60148.Claims against the estatemay be filed in the officeof the LaSalle CountyClerk, Probate Division,119 W. Madison Street,Ottawa, IL 61350 orwith the IndependentExecutor or both, with-in six months of the firstdate of publication ofthis Notice. Any claimnot filed within thatperiod is barred. Copiesof a claim filed with theclerk must be mailedor delivered to theIndependent Executorand to the attorneywithin 10 days after ithas been filed.Published in the TonicaNews Nov. 28, Dec. 5and 12, 2014.
NOTICE OFPROPOSED
PROPERTY TAXINCREASE FOR
LOSTANT CUSD 425A public hearing to
approve a proposedproperty tax levyincrease for LostantCUSD 425, LaSalle,County, Illinois, will beheld on December 22,2014 at 6:00 p.m. at theLostant School in the
Board Room, 315 W.3rd St., Lostant, Illinois61334.
Any person desiringto appear at the pub-lic hearing and presenttestimony to the taxingdistrict may contactSuperintendent SandraMalahy at 815-368-3392 or 315 W. 3rd St.,Lostant, Illinois 61334.Published in the TonicaNews Dec. 12, 2014.
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The Tonica Newsreserves the right to classi-fy correctly, edit, reject orcancel any advertisementat any time in accordancewith its policy. All ads mustbe checked for errors bythe advertiser, on the firstday of publication. We willbe responsible for the firstincorrect insertion, and itsliabilities shall be limited tothe price on one insertion.
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**********THE CLASSIFIEDAdvertising
Department of theTonica News
Does not have the op-portunity to fully inves-tigate the credibility ofeach advertiser appear-ing within thesecolumns. If an offersounds “too good to betrue” it probably is.Proceed with caution ifyou are asked to sendmoney or to give acredit card number.Proceed with caution incalling 900 phone num-bers. All phone num-bers prefixed by”900”are charged to theCALLER. Charges maybe assessed on a “perminute” basis ratherthan a “per call” basis.The Tonica News Clas-sifieds makes every ef-fort to qualify thesecharges for the reader.If you have a concernabout an advertiser,please contact:Better BusinessBureau
330 North WabashChicago, IL 60611312 832-0500
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Put your ad in for FREE
Items $1,000 or lesscan run FREE for 1time. Limit of 5 lines.Up to 3 items with priceand price totaling under$1,000. 1 ad per house-hold per week.No commercial ads,firearms oranimal sales.
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****************PUBLISHER'S NOTICEAll real estate advertis-ing in this newspaper issubject to the FairHousing Act whichmakes it illegal to ad-vertise “any preference,limitation or discrimina-tion based on race, col-or, religion, sex, handi-cap, familial status ornational origin, or an in-tention, to make anysuch preference, limita-tion or discrimination.”Familial status includeschildren under the ageof 18 living with par-ents or legal custodi-ans, pregnant womenand people securingcustody of children un-der 18.This newspaper will notknowingly accept anyadvertising for real es-tate which is in viola-tion of the law. Ourreaders are hereby in-formed that alldwellings advertised inthis newspaper areavailable on an equalopportunity basis.To complain of discrim-ination call, HUD toll-free at 800 669-9777.The toll-free telephonenumber for the hearingimpaired is800 927-9275
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6 • The Tonica News • Friday, December 12, 2014
MenusLostantBreakfast
Dec. 15 – Ham and cheese omelet, hash brown, yogurt, cereal, fruit, juice and white or chocolate milk.
Dec. 16 – Cereal bar, yogurt, cereal, fruit, juice and white or chocolate milk.
Dec. 17 – Banana muf-fin, yogurt, cereal, fruit, juice and white or choco-late milk.
Dec. 18 – Waffle, sau-sage patty, hash brown, yogurt, cereal, fruit, juice and white or chocolate milk.
Dec. 19 – Breakfast pizza, yogurt, cereal, fruit, juice and white or choco-late milk.
LunchDec.15 – Chicken nug-
gets, tater tots, green beans, tropical fruit, milk.
Dec. 16 – Chicken patty on bun, Spanish rice, pineapple, milk.
Dec. 17 – Ham and au gratin potatoes, peas, apri-cots, milk.
Dec. 18 – Tortellini in meat sauce, broccoli, applesauce, garlic bread, milk.
Dec. 19 – Bosco stick, green beans, apricots, milk, marinara sauce.
TonicaBreakfast
Dec. 15 – Oatmeal (with dried fruit, chocolate chips and brown sugar), cereal, granola, yogurt, or toast, fruit, juice and milk.
Dec. 16 – Mini pancakes, cereal, granola, yogurt, or toast, fruit, juice and milk.
Dec. 17 – Scrambled Eggs, cereal, granola, yogurt, or toast, fruit, juice
and milk.Dec. 18 – English
muffins, cereal, granola, yogurt, or toast, fruit, juice and milk.
Dec. 19 – Mini cinna-mon rolls, cereal, granola, yogurt, or toast, fruit, juice and milk.
LunchDec. 15 – Salisbury
steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, fruit, milk, bread and gravy.
Dec. 16 – TGS lunch-able, ham or turkey, cheese, crackers, carrots, fruit, banana bread and milk.
Dec. 17 – Shaped chick-en nuggets, potato rounds, gelatin with Cool Whip, fruit and milk.
Dec. 18 – Cheese bosco sticks, marinara sauce, steamed broccoli, carrots, fruit, grahams and milk.
Dec. 19 – Taco in a bag, taco meat, shredded cheese, refried beans, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, onions, salsa, fruit, sour cream, nacho corn chips, cookie and milk.
PCCCDec. 15 – Baked mac-
aroni and cheese, ham-burger on bun, dessert.
Dec. 16 – Baked chick-en, mashed potatoes and gravy, buttered green beans, roll, dessert.
Dec. 17 – Baked chick-en, mashed potatoes and gravy, buttered green beans, roll, dessert.
Dec. 18 – Christmas party: Ham, scalloped potatoes, glazed carrots, roll, dessert.
Dec. 19 – Ham, scal-loped potatoes, glazed carrots, roll, dessert.
Putnam County/Hall splits triangular meet
Lady Panthers win over Bobcats, Timberwolves
By Dixie [email protected]
STERLING — The Put-nam County/Hall co-op wrestling squad saw action for the first time this sea-son and came away with a split between Amboy High School and Sterling New-man Central Catholic High School on Dec. 2.
In the first meet of the evening, PC/Hall faced Amboy and finished with a tie, 30-30. Luke McCook, who wrestled at 160 pounds, beat Skyelar Zimmerly by pinfall at 2:16 in the first match. Nick Bouxsein, at 170 pounds,
took down Luke Schaur by pinfall at 1:48 in the first match. James Hewitt, at 145 pounds, Eric Cissell, at 220 pounds, and Marco Uribe, in the heavyweight class, all won by forfeit.
PC/Hall had a bigger challenge with Sterling Newman Central Catholic and lost 40-30 in the sec-ond meet. Bouxsein won his second match, defeat-ing Trevor Buser by pinfall at 1:48 in the first match. At 195 pounds, Evan Kiphart defeated Brad Fritts by pinfall at 41 seconds into the first match. Cissell and Uribe both won again by forfeit.
By Dixie [email protected]
GRANVILLE — The Put-nam County Lady Pan-thers scored two victo-ries this week. On Dec. 6, the Panthers took on the Somonauk Lady Bobcats in non conference action and won 54-17.
Leading scorer for the varsity squad was freshman phenom Paige Veronda who scored 20. Allison Voss added 12, and Megan Rehn chipped in 11 points in the winning effort.
PC 60, Midland 16The Lady Panthers took
on Tri County Conference foes, the Midland Lady Tim-berwolves, on Dec. 4. The Panthers played a strong game and won 60-16.
The home team came strong out of the gate with Annie Miller scoring seven of the first quarter 17 points. Veronda came
off the bench and proceed-ed to sink two three-point shots, as well as three out of four foul shots to pace a blistering 24-point second quarter for the Panthers. The halftime score as the teams headed to the locker rooms was 41-7.
In the second half, the Lady Panthers added 11 points. The fourth quarter was the closest in offense for both teams, with Put-nam County outscoring Midland by just two points.
Scoring leader in the game was Veronda, who finished with 15 points. Allison Voss added 13, and Miller had 10 for the Pan-thers.
Indian Creek 47, PC 36In the first contest of the
week for the Lady Panthers, they lost to Indian Creek 47-36 in non conference action. The Panther offense was slow starting in the first quarter with a 16-8 deficit.
Library CornerLostant LibraryLibrary Time is every
Tuesday from 10 to 10:45 a.m. during the school year for those birth through school age. Join the group any week. Conducted by teacher Sue Massey, children will enjoy sto-ries, songs, puppet play, art and have a snack. Children must be accompanied by a parent or caregiver. Library Time is fund-ed by the Illinois State Board of Education and sponsored by the Early Childhood Program at Oglesby Public School District. Participants will
also have the opportuni-ty to join in Oglesby pre-school outings like a zoo visit or evening family program. For more infor-mation, call the library at 815-368-3530.
LaSalle LibraryLearn about original
Medicare and Medicare Supplement insurance plans at 10 a.m. Dec. 17. Learn how to pay for your prescription (Part D) drug plan at 1 p.m. Dec 17. R.S.V.P. to 877-592-3874 to attend either of the above sem-inars. The LaSalle Public Library is located at 305 Marquette St. in LaSalle.
In the second quarter the team came alive, adding 16 points to take a 24-20 halftime lead.
However, the offense went cold again in the
second half, with the Panthers scoring only 12 points to Indian Creek’s 27 to finish the game. Allison Voss led the Panthers with 14 points in the contest.
Tonica News photo/Ken SchroederMegan Rehn (3) tries for the first shot of the game against Somonauk on Dec. 6.
Friday, December 12, 2014 • The Tonica News • 7
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8 • The Tonica News • Friday, December 12, 2014
