[OCT. 30, 2000]  The Central and Lincoln Junior High School buildings have been accepted for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places, according to information sent by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency to the Save Our Schools Citizens’ Committee.

Tracey A. Sculle, Assistant National Register Coordinator in Illinois, reported that both buildings "would make good candidates for listing in the National Register of Historic Places," which is the official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation.

The criterion Sculle references in of support eligibility are the buildings’ contribution to the educational development of the community of Lincoln and the growth of the local school system.

The schools, however, will be demolished if the District 27 tax referendum on the Nov. 7 ballot is successful. That referendum states that these buildings will be bulldozed in order to build two new buildings on the same sites.

The Save Our Schools Citizens’ Committee supports a NO vote on the referendum, asking instead that the district renovate the buildings to state-of-the-art educational facilities as has been successfully accomplished at the Feitshans/Edison School in Springfield and nearly 500 schools in the Chicago Public Schools system since 1996.

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State funds are available for renovation of the schools.

"This national recognition of the value of Central and Lincoln Junior High Schools should make Lincoln residents think very critically about what will be destroyed if the Nov. 7 referendum is approved," said R. James Johnson, a spokesperson for the Save Our Schools group and Professor in Architecture at Lincoln Land Community College. Johnson assisted with the research documentation on both buildings used in the determination of their eligibility.

"Saving the nation’s heritage is a country-wide effort that should be embraced and cherished, " Johnson stated.

[News release from the
 Save Our Schools Citizens' Committee]

Notice of Open Burn Code released
by Fire Department

Open Burning code for the City of Lincoln

BOCA National Fire Prevention Code 1996 Chapter 4 City Code Book Fire Regulations Chapter 3

BOCA

F-403.4.3 OPEN BURNING PROHIBITED: The code official shall prohibit open burning that will be offensive or objectionable due to smoke or odor emissions when atmospheric conditions or local circumstances make such fires hazardous. The code official shall order the extinguishments, by the land owner or the fire department, of any open burning that creates or adds to a hazardous or objectionable situation.

F-403.5 LOCATION OF OPEN BURNING: Shall not be less than 50 feet from any structure.

F-403.7 ATTENDANCE: Any open burning shall be constantly attended until the fire is extinguished. A water supply such as buckets of water or a connected and charged garden hose shall be available for immediate utilization.

CITY CODE BOOK Chapter 3 Fire regulations

5-3-2 FIRE ON PAVEMENTS: Fires are not allowed on blacktop streets, alleys or concrete sidewalks ($25 fine)

5-3-4 BURNING IN THE CITY: E-1 recreational fires shall contact the Lincoln Fire Department and notify them of the date and time of the wiener roast. No garbage shall be burned and burning must be consistent with other laws.

E-2: From October 2 through May 31 between 7:00 A.M . and 5: 00 P.M. residents are allowed to burn landscape waste only. (Leaves, trees, tree trimmings, branches, stumps, brush, weeds, grass, grass and yard trimmings only)

Fines for violations of the following codes are a minimum of $15 issued by fire crews handling complaints and illegal fires.

Persons complaining about fires must sign a complaint with the Fire Department before extinguishments of legal fires is carried out. No fines will be issued to persons burning with in the boundaries of the code. The persons burning will be advised of the signed complaint and asked to extinguish the fire or the Fire Department will extinguish the fire.

[OCT. 27, 2000]  Rumors have been flying around that there was a big drug bust at the Lincoln Community High School yesterday and that even a teacher was arrested. Be assured that this is NOT true. Pat Zurkammer, secretary to the principal, summed up the situation, "They’re rumors; basically that’s it. They’re rumors."

Lincoln Daily News spoke with the city police chief this morning. He explained that the Lincoln Police Department did walk K-9s through the building and the parking lot. Fifteen cars were searched, but no arrests were made.

[Jean Ann Carnley]

[OCT. 26, 2000]  Logan County can now lay claim to having the world's largest political sign.

Middletown farmers Bill and Judi Graff spent all day Wednesday creating a 40-acre "Bush 2000" sign in one of their soybean fields. It took them four hours to flag out the design and three hours to chisel plow. Because of its immense size, it is difficult to make out what the sign says from the road. But the avid Republicans hope that passengers on flights from St. Louis to Chicago and Springfield to Chicago will get the message and vote for George W. Bush on Nov. 7.

[The entire Graff family helps out in the Bush Campaign effort.  From left are Isabella, Zadok, Bill, Judi and Theo Graff.]

Bill Graff and a fellow "Illinois Farmer for Bush," Pete Shynk of Peoria County, crafted the idea for the land-based sign earlier this year. "Four-foot by 5-foot political signs are really hard to come by, and there is a lot of trouble with vandalism of political signs in some areas," says Graff. "By plowing these signs along flight paths, we can reach a lot of voters and don’t have to worry about them being destroyed."

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Pete Shynk completed a 10-acre sign near the Peoria airport last week. Graff thinks that there might be another massive "Bush 2000" sign created somewhere in Texas this week.

The local sign, which is located on the Logan-Menard County Line blacktop southeast of Middletown, has already attracted the attention of many passersby. Mark Hayes was moving a combine today and strained to read what the letters spelled. "Do I have to rent a plane to read it or can I just ask?" joked Hayes as he jumped out of his combine to inquire further.

[It takes a plane ride to fully see this 40-acre political sign.]

The dimensions of the Logan County sign total 1,600 feet by 1,040 feet. Each of the eight letters is about the size of a city block. Bill carved the message in land that has been in his family since 1837.

[Marty Ahrends]

[OCT. 26, 2000]  An educational seminar on the street drug most commonly called ecstasy was conducted Tuesday evening at the Lincoln Recreation Center. The seminar was sponsored by the Logan-Mason County Mental Health Department and the Alcohol, Tobacco and other Drug Task Force of the Health Communities Partnership as a part of their Red Ribbon Week.

J. Randall Webber, the director of training and publications for the Chestnut Health Systems (CHS) in Bloomington, facilitated the seminar. CHS provides behavioral health care in Illinois. Webber, a recovered drug abuser, in his own words said, "I came to tell the truth."

Today’s youth are starting to experiment with drugs at younger ages. The use of ecstasy has increased from 6 percent in 1998 to 8 percent in 1999. Youth believe it is a dangerous drug but use it anyway. He continued, "Young people don’t believe they are going to die." He said his aim was not to tell the group not to use drugs, even though he hoped they would not. Instead he wanted them to be knowledgeable about drugs and to make informed decisions about drug use.

Sixty-six percent of all street drugs are not what users thought they were buying. Street drugs are more often than not "cut" with additives that are sometimes much more dangerous than the drug itself. This is also true of people who buy ecstasy. They don’t know what they’re getting. It could be something that is as benign as flour made to look like an ecstasy pill or it could be rat poison or something worse. You can’t tell what it is by looking at it, and that is part of the problem, Webber told the crowd of participants.

In addition, it is not possible to predict the effects of a drug without first identifying the dosage. Combining drugs greatly increases the risk of physical and psychological problems, and, according to Webber, "It’s an easy way to end up dead." Of the people who die from drug use, 75 percent of the deaths are a result of simultaneously using more than one drug, including alcohol.

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Webber likened drug use to a rubber band. Your brain is like a rubber band. Sometimes you can stretch it and it will come back, but if it is stretched too much it may never come back. "No one takes drugs thinking that they are going to become addicted, and everyone starts the same way just by trying it. You never know when you start how things are going to turn out," he added.

Some side effects of ecstasy use are dilated pupils, dizziness, nausea and excessive sweating due to an increased heart rate. Ecstasy users experience a rush of energy and strong and intense moods. After the intoxicating effects wear off, drowsiness follows. Webber asked, what if it wears off on your way home from a party and you’re behind the wheel of a car?

No one should take street drugs, but there are people who should be sure they never try it: nonadults, people with personal or a family history of mental illness, anyone on medication, people with medical problems or anyone experiencing a crisis or under stress. Drug use magnifies these problems.

Ecstasy, liquid ecstasy and herbal ecstasy are on the streets of central Illinois, and it doesn’t matter whether a drug is organic or synthetic — either can be deadly, Webber concluded.

[Kym Ammons-Scott]

[OCT. 11, 2000]  Beginning Monday, Oct. 16, the Lincoln City Landfill will be open extended hours to allow residents to dispose of leaves and yard waste, according to Donnie Osborne, street superintendent. The landfill will open at 8 a.m. and remain open until 4 p.m. seven days a week, probably until mid-December, he said. Residents may bring in leaves any way they like — in bags, boxes or pickup trucks — but they must take the leaves out of the containers and take the containers back home with them.

[OCT. 10, 2000]  The office of the city clerk in Lincoln will be open for filing petitions for nomination for the Feb. 27, 2001, consolidated primary election, with petitions accepted from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the following dates: Dec. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 18.

Petitions will be accepted for the following city offices:

• Mayor
• City treasurer
• City clerk
• Alderman Ward 1
• Alderman Ward 2
• Alderman Ward 3
• Alderman Ward 4

• Alderman Ward 5

[Juanita Josserand, city clerk]

[OCT. 9, 2000]  Registered voters expecting to be absent from the county on the Nov. 7 election day may vote in person at the Logan County Clerk’s Office, second floor, Courthouse, Room 20, Lincoln, from now until Nov. 6.

Election Authority

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