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Melton, the city council's lone
Democrat and the senior member of the council, will not be running
for his Ward 4 seat because he is moving out of his home on East
Burlington Street in Ward 4, almost assuring Republican Orville
"Buzz" Busby, 220 Peoria St., of a seat on the council next May.
Busby previously served as alderman of Ward 4 for about 10 years.
Melton, a 21-year veteran, was
appointed in 1981 after the death of his father, Dale, who served a
quarter of a century on the council. As chairman of the sewage
treatment plant and wastewater and drainage committee, Melton has
spent the last several years working with wastewater plant personnel
implementing a $9.8 million upgrade of the sewage treatment plant.
Melton said he is stepping down because
he because he and his wife are building a home in rural Logan
County, not because he no longer has a desire to serve the public.
He did not rule out a later run for a seat on the Logan County
Board.
When filing for the primary closed
Monday at 5 p.m., all other council members whose terms expire in
2003 learned they would face challenges for their seats.
In Ward 1, Patrick Madigan, 110 Park
Place, who is completing his first term, will face Anthony "T.J."
Swarts, 704 N. Monroe, in the primary. Madigan, son of former state
Sen. Robert Madigan, chairs the police committee. Jim Griffin, a
former Logan County Board member, took out petitions to run in Ward
1 but did not file.
In Ward 2, incumbent Steve Fuhrer, 1203
Eighth St., is facing former council member Stephan A. Mesner, 205
Third St., in the Republican primary. Fuhrer, who was chairman of
the finance committee and now chairs the ordinance and zoning
committee, is completing his first four-year term. Mesner chose to
run for mayor in the 2001 election instead of running for his Ward 2
seat but lost to Beth Davis, the present mayor.
Fuhrer has pushed hard to pass the 0.5
percent sales tax increase and has also supported the Economic
Development Council's plan for the north-side industrial/commercial
park.
[to top of second column
in this article]
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The winner of the Ward 2 primary race
will face competition in the April 1 general election from Leo
Logan, 628 Seventh St., who filed as a Democrat. Logan is the
brother of County Board member Dick Logan and has also served on the
Lincoln Community High School board.
In Ward 3, George M. Mitchell of 427
Wyatt Ave., an eight-year veteran, is being challenged in the
primary by Jonette "Jonie" Tibbs, 1650 Pulaski St. Mitchell chairs
the sidewalks, forestry and lighting committee and is serving as
mayor pro tem for Davis.
In Ward 5, newly appointed Martha
"Marty" Neitzel, 525 Southgate, will face a challenge from Derrick
Crane, 540 Maywood Drive, in February. Neitzel was appointed to fill
the vacancy left by the sudden death of Alderman Joseph Stone and is
chair of the sanitation committee. Although Neitzel has not served
previously, her husband, Arthur, was a council member for Ward 3 for
many years.
A lottery will be held at City Hall at
9 a.m. Dec. 24 to determine which of two candidates will be first on
the ballot for the Ward 3 seat. Both Mitchell and Tibbs were at City
Hall at 9 a.m. on Dec. 9, the first day to file. In other races,
incumbents filed first and will be at the top of the ballot.
According to a spokesperson for the
Logan County clerk's office, Feb. 18 is the last date for a
Republican to file an intent to run as a write-in candidate in the
primary, and Dec. 26 is the last day for a Democrat to file against
another Democrat to force a Democratic primary. City Clerk Juanita Josserand said no Democratic primary has been held for an aldermanic
post for at least 30 years.
City council
members whose terms do not expire until 2005 are Benny Huskins, Ward
1; Verl Prather, Ward 2; Dave Armbrust, Ward 3; Glenn Shelton, Ward
4; and Michael Montcalm, Ward 5.
[Joan Crabb]
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"As of today, there's no snow
anywhere in Illinois," he said Thursday.
"The National Weather Service
is predicting a chance of precipitation for Illinois on Christmas
Eve. Right now, it looks like only northern Illinois may see snow,
and the rest of the state will be warm enough that any precipitation
will fall as rain."
So far, snowfall has been only
1-10 inches in northern Illinois, 1-8 inches from an early December
storm in southern Illinois and less than an inch in central
Illinois.
Snowfall this winter has been
greatest at Midway Airport at Chicago, with 10.5 inches, and at
Mount Vernon in southern Illinois, with 10 inches.
[to top of second column in
this article] |
Average winter snowfall in
Illinois ranges from 28 to 40 inches in northern Illinois, 20 to 28
inches in central Illinois and 12 to 20 inches in southern Illinois.
The largest average snowfall usually occurs in the Chicago area in
fall and early winter as cold air blows over relatively warm waters
of Lake Michigan and boosts storm energy.
According to 1971-2000 snow
depth data, chances of having at least an inch on the ground on Dec.
25 are poorest for southern Illinois, at 10-30 percent; better for
central Illinois, at 30-40 percent; and best for northern Illinois,
at 40-60 percent.
"To
be virtually guaranteed a white Christmas, you'll need to travel to
Minnesota, northern Wisconsin or upper Michigan. They have snow,"
the climatologist said.
[Illinois
State Water Survey press
release] |
|
The episode that aired Thursday had LCC students and faculty
gathered around sets all over campus. Everyone was watching with
anticipation as Lincoln Christian College senior roommates Lindsay
Heston, Nicole Donacker and Emily Hargrave made their appearance on
the show.
Everyone knew Heston became a contestant, but before the show aired
no one knew how she did. "I just decided I didn’t want to tell
anyone before the show ran," she said.
In the administrative office the staff
all huddled around the TV. We were guessing with her, said Patty
Drake.
It was during the "It’s in the bag"
portion of the show that Heston made her biggest advances. In that
game the contestant must place the various items in the right-priced
bags. "We thought she lost on several of the difficult items," Drake
said, "but it turned out she was right on all of them."
Heston and her roommates all watched
from their apartment. The phone rang off the hook during every
commercial. "Someone would call and say, 'You did great,’ I’d thank
them and then say, 'I have to go, there’s another call waiting.’"
The whole thing seemed surreal at the
time, Heston said. "I was definitely excited. I kept thinking, what
are the chances that we’d get tickets, sit in the front row, get to
speak to Bob Barker, be chosen as a contestant and win? What are
chances of all that happening?"
[to top of second column in
this article]
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[Photo by Bob Frank]
Hargrave gave Barker a card from
Cracker Barrel where she works. It was signed by all the employees.
Heston was the big winner. She won
$16,000 cash and a chest valued at over $700. "It turned out to be
the perfect trip," she said
The whole thing began as a joke. "We
always said we’ll either go to Macy’s or get on 'The Price is
Right,’" Heston said. So, she took the initiative to write for
tickets. "I didn’t tell anyone else that I had sent in for them
until the tickets actually arrived in mid-September."
The girls flew to Los Angeles, where
the show was taped on Nov 4.
Heston is a
second-generation LCC student from Maryville, Ill. Both her father
and mother, Patrick and Connie (Combes) Heston, are LCC alums. Her
goal is to become an actress. She is looking at two schools of
acting, one in L.A. and one in N.Y.
[Jan
Youngquist]
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Other businesses participating are
Serendipity Stitches and Custom Frame Shop, Beans and Such, Three
Roses Floral, Kathleen's Hallmark, MKS Jewelers, That Place/Merle
Norman, Blue Dog Inn, Action Rental, Lincoln Printers and McEntire's
Appliance & TV.
At in-house drawings on Thursday, Mary
Kay Young of Lincoln won a $50 gift certificate for framing at
Serendipity Stitches and Custom Framing, and Ron Craig of Lincoln
won a dinner for two provided by The Blue Dog Inn.
The
Santa Shopping Spree was a new holiday promotion organized by
Main Street Lincoln to replace the former Ho Ho Dough program, which
was discontinued by the Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce and
Main Street.
This drawing
took place at the Main Street office. The winner was not required to
be present to win.
[News
release] |
 |
[DEC. 20, 2002]