Still Waters,  the em space,  Where They Stand,  By the Numbers,

How We Stack Up,  What's Up With That?

By Lynn Spellman

[MAY 21, 2001]  On Wednesday, May 9, I had the pleasure of a whirlwind tour of Springfield sites with Janet Huckabee, first lady of Arkansas. A fun time, it was also a lesson in how effectively a title can open doors.

Huckabee was the featured speaker at the annual meeting of the Illinois Manufactured Housing Association. Since last August, when she chose a triple-wide house made by Champion Homes of Indiana as a temporary residence during restoration of the Arkansas governor’s mansion, she has become an enthusiastic spokesperson for the industry.

After Huckabee’s luncheon speech, association chairman Roger Huddleston assigned Lucy Anderson and Dianne DeRosa, both of Springfield, and I the delightful task of taking her "wherever she wants to go." We were a party of six in the DeRosas’ Lincoln. Dick DeRosa, Dianne and Lucy sat in the front, and in the back were Janet Huckabee, I and Dustin, whom we were told to introduce as "an Arkansas state trooper."

Our first stop was the statehouse. Dianne had some trouble unfastening her seat belt, and Huckabee ran around the car calling, "I can help." Inside, IMHA Executive Director Chris Kratzer guided us through the rotunda, the Senate legislative chamber and a meeting room with a hearing in session. We met Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield, in his office. Then an aide to Gov. George Ryan escorted us to the governor’s office. Though Ryan was in Chicago, as we admired the richly decorated office we were joined by former Gov. James Thompson, who stepped out from a meeting to chat with us.

As we exited the governor’s outer office, Huckabee noticed an arm cover had fallen off the chair by the door and stooped to replace it. We then hurried to our car and drove to the Lincoln Home, with Lucy on her cell phone making arrangements. "The first lady of Arkansas is in town," she said. "She’ll be at your facility in five minutes and would like a tour." Meanwhile, the high-energy Huckabee was on her own cell phone, checking on the status of a $2 million grant application. It turned out she had received only $1 million. "That’s pretty good," she said, "except that I know who got the other million."

Classes of grade-school children waiting for tours watched as we immediately entered the Lincoln Home. Our guide was especially skillful at presenting the house from Mary Todd Lincoln’s point of view, and Janet Huckabee was liberal with her thanks, as she had been at the governor’s office. Our tour continued to the Dean House, where we examined models of the Lincoln house in its various stages of expansion.

[to top of second column in this commentary]

Then it was on to the Old State Capitol. In the car I learned that both Gov. Mike Huckabee and his wife had grown up in Hope, Ark., and knew Terry and Mickey Becherer, formerly of Lincoln.

Again we were met by an excellent guide who led us between school classes. We moved quickly through the offices and legislative chambers but not so quickly as to miss learning the origin of the term "red tape." In Lincoln’s day legal documents were folded and placed in file drawers about 4 inches square on the end. When a drawer was full, the documents were tied together in bundles using flat red fabric tape because it did not cut as string did. So a person looking for a specific document often had to go through a lot of red tape.

After thanking our guide we considered a quick pass through Oak Ridge Cemetery to see Lincoln’s tomb, but it was 4 p.m. and the first lady had to be ready by 5:15 to hostess a reception at the Illinois executive mansion. Even she, with her ability to pack a great deal into a few minutes, acknowledged that there wasn’t time. We had made our tour in about two hours, evidence of how much you can accomplish when all the doors are open.

Janet Huckabee, first lady of Arkansas, has the energy level to take advantage of the opportunities available to her. At 8 p.m. she planned to drive to St. Louis, fly to Little Rock, sleep briefly and be ready to fly to Texarkana, Ark., for a full schedule of appointments the next day.

[Lynn Spellman]

By Mike Fak

[JUNE 19, 2001]  I’m sorry but I just can’t get all in a lather over the Logan County Board’s recent discussion about giving themselves a pay raise. For obvious reasons, those who are against an increase throw out the number that the raise from $35 per meeting to $50 per workshop and $75 per board meeting is a 63 percent increase in pay. Big deal. If I give the old dog three bones instead of one, I just gave him a 300 percent increase in snacks, but all I have done is given old Fido a couple more bones.

To assume in this day and age that any right-thinking adult should spend time and effort in preparation for a meeting, field input from constituents (not always complimentary), and then shoot craps on another evening in their lives for $35 just doesn’t make any sense.

The argument that the board members should be doing this as a public service for the good of the community and not for remuneration also doesn’t make any sense to me. The board is not a charity staffed by volunteers. The board is a $10 million-a-year business in charge of remitting services to the taxpayers they are elected to represent. Yet, a pay increase that could bring a board member’s annual pay up to $4,000 is seen as extravagant?

Without criticizing any member of our current board, perhaps the fact that hours of research are done and evenings are spent in meetings for a pay scale that doesn’t reach minimum wage is why voters have so few selections on election night. Are not the current members of the board already doing community service by spending as much time as they already do for a couple of bucks?

A great deal has been made of Logan County being one of the last to come out of the dark ages and move to districting. Perhaps it is also time to change a pay system that went into effect three decades ago.

[to top of second column in this commentary]

It is valid to request new pay scales be tabled until after a district map has been determined by the board. It is also a good idea, agreed to by many board members, that committee numbers be reduced. This, in effect, would mean fewer members receiving a little more pay without the overall expense to the taxpayer going up.

Board members need to first concentrate on new districting rules. All members have recently received three proposals from the districting committee to consider. In one proposal, a county of 12 "one person" districts is offered. In another, three districts represented by five members each is subject to approval. In the third offering, a system of five districts with three board members each can be authorized. There is an opportunity for a decision to be made on one of these plans at the June 21 meeting.

Once the new makeup of representation is determined, it will be the course of the board to see how many committees can be cut down to still effective but more manageable numbers.

And then, let the board give themselves a decent pay hike.

[Mike Fak]

Reply (not for publication) to Mike Fak:

mfldn@lincolndailynews.com

Reply as a letter to the editor:

ldneditor@lincolndailynews.com 

By Mike Fak

[JUNE 16, 2001]  This isn’t the first time this has happened to me. To be honest, I hope it is not the last. Before we get into what I am talking about, let me set the stage for you.

I spent last Wednesday morning having coffee with a group of friends at the Oasis. For want of a better nom de plume, the group calls itself the "think tank."

Occasionally, as my job allows, I stop in and visit with this group. A little bit of talking, a little bit of listening and way too much coffee always are part and parcel of the meeting’s activities.

This Wednesday, they had asked me to lead the topic and, never one to be at a loss for words, I was happy to comply.

That’s where the circumstances I previously mentioned took over.

I asked the group to help me write an article.

The topic is unimportant to this story. What is important is that they proudly gave their opinions on my question. Within moments, however, they began to digress from the issue. Just as quickly as one person made a left turn from the issue, another gave a varied opinion on the first statement that already had no bearing on our topic.

Yes, there I was again, asking a question and listening to people start to answer it until they realized they had a forum to digress — a forum to tell others how they thought about something, regardless of whether the question before them was being answered.

I am not admonishing people for their opinions. In fact this all-too-common occurrence reinforces my belief in the most precious freedom we have in this country, the freedom of speech.

[to top of second column in this commentary]

Every week on the show Jim Ash and I host on Channel 15, we ask questions of our viewers. Every week, someone calls with a totally different topic, and the show ends up heading in that direction. This doesn’t mean people are evading a question. What it means is that all of us as individuals, through our thought processes, have developed ideas, feelings and beliefs that we find an inherent need to share with the rest of us. It is never a bad situation. In fact, it is everything that is good about our country.

As I sat there in the group, realizing that my question had been deferred for other topics, all I could do was smile. I pictured the Norman Rockwell picture hanging in my rear foyer. The picture shows a man standing before a group of his peers and talking about how he feels. The name of the painting is "Freedom of Speech." I enjoy looking at that marvelous picture from time to time. But not as much as I enjoy seeing the freedom in action as I did this past Wednesday.

No, I didn’t get my answers. And no, I didn’t get the information I needed for the article. Yet, somehow I feel a little better today than I did the day before.

[Mike Fak]

Reply (not for publication) to Mike Fak:

mfldn@lincolndailynews.com

Reply as a letter to the editor:

ldneditor@lincolndailynews.com 

By Mike Fak

[JUNE 14, 2001]  Someone needs to ask this question. So, what the heck, I will.

With the city of Lincoln facing a $10 million price tag on upgrading our sewer system for the next half century, why is it that we have been left out in the cold in regard to Illinois FIRST funds?

There. I asked the question, and the roof above my desk hasn’t fallen in on me. I feel the question is a valid one and deserves not only to be asked but answered as well.

The city of Lincoln’s need for financial help to rebuild an archaic sewer system seems to fall appropriately under the governor’s own definition of what Illinois FIRST’s stated objectives are. They seem more than valid when one notes FIRST funds of $50,000 going to the Cook County Guatemalan Chamber of Commerce. Asking for monies for sewers seems appropriate when one sees $1 million being sent to the DuPage County Board for architectural and design fees on their county building. That must be one heck of a building, don’t you think?

I could give you literally hundreds of instances of FIRST money going up north that don’t seem to fit any specific category of infrastructure, save the fact they are going to the districts of the statehouse’s heavy hitters. I could give you hundreds of examples of financial largesse that seem to fit only the category of pork barrels for friends of the governor, but hey, this piece is supposed to be about the sewers in Lincoln, so allow me to get back on track.

Throughout the Illinois FIRST website, an individual will find hundreds of grants for sewer and water upgrades buried among others to obscure enterprises that in my opinion are by no stretch of the imagination "dire needs."

I know all of you hate term papers, so, to make this short, I will list just a few of the more monumental expenditures given to communities having the same sewer problems as Lincoln.

[to top of second column in this commentary]

• Arlington Heights — $1 million for sewer upgrade
• Warrenville — $500,000 for sewer work
• Downers Grove — $500,000 for sewers
• Wheaton — $2.5 million for new sewers
• Evanston — $8 million for sewer upgrade
• Bridgeview — $2.5 million for additional sewers

• MWRDGC — $35.5 million for new sewer system.

I have pages more, but that should be enough.

Yes, I know you are already asking what the MWRDGC is all about. I had to go into another website to find out the initials stand for Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. Illinois FIRST didn’t explain it any better than the abbreviation. You would think that an entity that receives nearly $40 million for sewers would deserve at least a moment’s time and effort to have its name completely typed out on the website. Perhaps with so many grants going to so many communities, organizations and just plain oinkers in the state, it seems someone just didn’t find it important to explain this receptor of funds to mere mortals such as we.

Another question you might have is, "Have we asked for Illinois FIRST assistance?" I have reliable information that we have. The question raised then must be, "Why have we been turned down?" Which leads to another question: "Are we reapplying or asking why we are being turned down?" I believe the taxpayers of Lincoln deserve at least to be told why we are footing this bill on our own.

There are too many questions. To date there have been no answers forthcoming from anyone in the know. Even if the answers are not what we want to hear, I believe the people of Lincoln deserve to be informed. We deserve to have our tax money go down our drain, not someone else’s.

[Mike Fak]

Reply (not for publication) to Mike Fak:

mfldn@lincolndailynews.com

Reply as a letter to the editor:

ldneditor@lincolndailynews.com 

Welcome to the em space, a staff writer's commentary section with observations about life experiences in Logan County and beyond. Enjoy your visit.

- Mary Krallmann

Two takes are better than one

Once before, I saw a production of "You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown." One plus one now adds up to three for me, because this time around I read the material from a prompt book first and then watched a local performance.

The earlier production I saw wasn’t in Lincoln 30 years back, but it was too long ago to remember the specifics of what happened on stage. I rode a friend’s bicycle to an auditorium across town and probably got in free on a student ID or because my summer job was on the campus. The experience stayed with me as an enjoyable highlight from a hot summer with no other entertainment like that. Firemen’s water fights weren’t exactly in the same category.

Since I’ve also followed Peanuts comic strips with some degree of faithfulness, exchanged Peanuts greeting cards and played cards with a deck that features Snoopy atop his doghouse, I looked forward to seeing another take on Charlie Brown’s world.

It was fun to read the actual script for the recent production and to laugh at the humorous lines my ears would naturally miss. I also got in on all the philosophical observations tucked into the manuscript, plus the chance to imagine in advance how the cast would handle each vignette.

At the performance, I discovered that it took me a while to get used to real people portraying what I’ve learned to know on paper. The characters on stage reminded me of the ones I see in drawings, but I had to adjust for differences and be open to new interpretations. Also, with a special receiver for hearing assistance, I had a lot of sound to deal with that night, while reading a script or a comic strip is relatively quiet.

I watched for a stagehand I knew, tried to determine if a later addition to the cast had learned his role as well as the rest did, and noticed that one way the cast members held their hands and arms made a pattern suggesting the typical zigzag on Charlie Brown’s shirt. I observed a brief game of catch with no dropped balls and was glad it wasn’t up to me to keep the record perfect. Likewise, I hoped that Snoopy wouldn’t fall off his doghouse or his teammates’ laps and that his energy would last as long as he needed it. I liked the musical notes on Schroeder’s shirt, the big orange bats and especially the kite-flying episode, which left almost everything to the imagination.

To my surprise, one section that didn’t interest me in reading did capture my attention the next night with old film clips and a bright red scarf. It was also agreeable when a subplot that looked complicated in print sorted itself out better on stage amid the familiar sounds of "Home on the Range."

The concluding "Happiness" song appeared to cover most of the bases with a general definition and appealing examples of what happiness is, but afterward my subconscious evidently went searching and found another connection. The unexpected link in my mental archives was to a catchy tune from a television special in which children sang, "Happiness is..."  Their version was:

Hap-pi-ness is

To know the Savior

Liv-ing a life

With-in his favor...

Hap-pi-ness is the Lord.

The night after I saw the stage performance and again two nights later, the melody from the unrelated television show played an endless reprise in my mind as I watched fireflies and enjoyed the peacefulness of quiet June evenings. As Charlie Brown said, it’s nice to be alone sometimes.

Come to think of it, his eating peanut butter sandwiches by himself wasn’t such a bad idea either, considering how they can stick to the roof of your mouth. You can always learn something from Peanuts, whether it’s about peanuts or not.

[Mary Krallmann] 

Where They Stand

Where They Stand is a commentary section that poses a question about a specific issue in the community. Informed individuals present their position with facts, opinions or insights on the issue. The following commentaries have been printed, unedited, in their entirety, as they were received. If you have further comment on the issue, please send an e-mail message, complete with your name, address and telephone number to ldneditor@lincolndailynews.com.

District vs. at large

April 3 ballot proposition:  "Shall Logan County be divided into districts equal in population for the purpose of electing County Board members to serve on the Logan County Board commencing in the year 2002?"

YES!

In January of this year, citizens throughout Logan County circulated petitions to place this issue on the ballot. That effort was successful with more than 10% of registered voters signing within a two-week period (2569 total/2000 needed). The referendum has been certified by the Logan County Clerk and will be on the April 3^rd ballot throughout the county. The citizens were successful and will be able to voice their opinion on this matter for the first time in 30 years!

Illinois law states that every ten years each county in Illinois with a township form of government shall determine whether board members shall be elected "at large" from the county or by county board "districts".

A "YES" vote on this issue will indicate that residents of Logan County want to have their County Board members representing all areas of the county. Each district must be divided equally in population and will guarantee that all areas are represented! The present "at large" system allows for all 13 County Board members to be elected from one area, while the remainder of the county could end up with no one. In fact, the east side of our county (from Mt. Pulaski to Atlanta) does not have representation at the present time! All of the counties surrounding Logan are in districts. Menard recently changed from "at large" to "districts" with an overwhelming vote. The greater majority of counties in Illinois are in districts and have been for several years. We are not the only county with this issue on the ballot. Bureau County recently passed a referendum to go to single member districts. Champaign County has a similar question, as does Adams County.

Remember that this question asks how the make-up of the County Board should be for the next ten years. Under a district system the voter is more likely to know the person they are voting for. This is your opportunity to voice your opinion and let your county governing body know how you feel. If the referendum produces a result in FAVOR of district representation, then measures will be introduced on the floor of the Logan County Board to accomplish that goal.

—Rodney J. White

(Rodney White is a member of the Logan County Board.)

NO!

It’s rather interesting and enlightening to note the places of residence of people appointed to the Logan County Board to fill terms of members who have died, moved away, or resigned.

Mr. Robert "Bud" Behrends was appointed to the Logan County Board March 18, 1975, to finish out the term of Robert E. Downing, and Lloyd Hellman was appointed November 15, 1994, to finish out Robert "Bud" Behrends term on the board. Mr. Behrends grew up in the Hartsburg area, and spent most of his life in Lincoln, and Mr. Hellman, who replaced "Bud" has spent most of his life in the rural Emden area. Mr. Downing was a rural Beason farmer.

The emphasis on appointments was the type of person needed to effectively function on the board; not where they resided. A Beason resident (Mr. Downing) was replaced by a Hartsburg/Lincoln resident (Mr. Behrends), who was replaced by Mr. Hellman, an Emden resident.

The above appointments don’t look like "district" representation. It looks like desire on the part of the replacements and their ability to effectively function on the Logan County Board.

Mark H. Werth resigned from the board December 31, 1988. L. Buckles was appointed to replace Mr. Werth, February 20, 1989. Both were from rural areas -- Mr. Werth, rural area north of Mt. Pulaski, and Mr. Buckles, rural area south of Mt. Pulaski.

Mr. Earl Madigan, who lived southeast of Lincoln, was replaced by Dwight Zimmerman, who farmed for years just east of San Jose and later lived in Lincoln. That certainly wasn’t a "district" appointment. That was an appointment based on the desire of the person to serve and his ability to serve.

Mr. Edward L. Spellman, resigned from the board March 18, 1976, and Mr. Don Smith was appointed to take his place. both came from Lincoln, Both were successful business people and served well on the board.

Mr. Robert Welch died in office November 18, 1998. He was a resident of rural Beason. Mr. Roger Bock of rural Williamsville was appointed to replace him. Again, not a "district" appointment, but one based on desire and ability.

To my knowledge, no proponent of the district plan for electing members of the Logan County Board has ever submitted a plan, so my question is: If the at large system of electing county board members is not flawed, why fix it?

If the system is working well and the members are getting the work of county government done, why change?

Will a district election plan, which apparently is only floating around in the minds of a few people and has not been committed to paper, better serve all the people of all the county?? I think not!!!

—Dick Hurley

(Dick Hurley is a former member of the Logan County Board.)

By the Numbers

Local figures are as follows:

Logan County = $44,078.23

(Counties receive an allocation on the basis of motor vehicle registration fees, with the exception of Cook County, which has a percentage allocation set by law.)

Townships and road districts = $90,973.85

(Townships and road districts are allocated an amount computed on the basis of mileage in their jurisdiction.)

City of Lincoln = $38,003.84

(Cities receive an allocation based on population.)

[Source: Economic Development report]

Alexis Asher

Alexis Asher

Lincoln High School history

1859

Lincoln School District

5

School buildings in 1859

1

"Grammar school" in 1859

1

High school teacher, Mr. January, in 1859

1870-71

Central School opened

1898

High school building started

1900

High school dedicated, Jan. 5

$20,000

Cost of new high school

1920

Election authorized community high school District #404

1958

Dedication of new Lincoln Community High School, 1000 Primm Road, in auditorium, on Nov. 9

Alexis Asher

How We Stack Up

Racial makeup of selected Illinois counties

What's Up With That?

        
[Road construction is taking place up and down Woodlawn Road.]

Back to top

News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Obituaries

Community | Perspectives | Law & Courts | Leisure Time | Spiritual Life | Health & Fitness | Letters to the Editor