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Agencies Gear Up to Fight Drug Labs [FEB. 25, 2000] It is as addictive as crack cocaine, cheap and easy to make with mostly legal substances and immensely profitable. It’s methamphetamine, the up-and-coming drug in the Heartland, and it’s being made in portable laboratories in Central Illinois. Because the problem is getting close to home, Lincoln area health and law enforcement agencies have set up two seminars to let the public know about the dangers of the drug and what can be done to stop its manufacture and distribution.
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The first seminar is scheduled for Monday, March 6, at 7:30 a.m. at the Lincoln Park District on Primm Road. The second is Monday, March 13, at 6:30 p.m. at Lincoln Junior High School, 208 Broadway. The seminars are sponsored by the Alcohol, Tobacco and Drug Task Force of the Healthy Communities Partnership (HCP). Dayle Eldredge, coordinator of HCP, said the morning and evening times were set to accommodate the people in the community who are most affected by the problem. This includes farmers whose tanks of anhydrous ammonia can be tapped for one of the ingredients used in the manufacture of meth, business owners who might unknowingly be selling other products used to make meth, and parents, school officials and anyone else interested in a safer and healthier community. Eldredge believes there are two reasons meth labs are moving into the area. One is the availability of anhydrous, a liquid fertilizer most farmers use, and the other is the proximity to Interstate Route 55. Manufacturers can make the drug in the area, then sell it locally and also use I-55 to ship it quickly and easily north to the Chicago area and south to St. Louis. Both Eldredge and Public Information Officer Rich Montcalm of the Lincoln Police Department, emphasize that meth is an extremely dangerous drug. "This is not a recreational drug. Its addiction cycle can be compared to crack cocaine," Eldredge said. "And it is easy to take. It can be snorted, injected, smoked or swallowed." "Like crack, you can get addicted the first time you use it. It’s a very dangerous drug," Montcalm said. "It affects every social class from the richest to the poorest—all across the board." Not only is meth a dangerously addictive drug, he said, the ingredients used in making it are volatile and that meth labs are highly flammable. A meth lab is a fire hazard to any structures near it. Also known as crank, ice, speed, and go, methamphetamine is not only easy to make, it can be made quickly, Montcalm explained. Meth labs may be set up in houses, apartments, barns, abandoned buildings, cars, motel or hotel rooms, even in the backs of semis. The labs can operate for a few days in one spot and then move on. Meth use started on the West Coast and moved east, coming into Illinois from Missouri, where the drug has been a major problem.
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Meth is much cheaper than the equally addictive crack cocaine, and most of the ingredients are easily available. "We don’t see much crack here in Lincoln, but we have seen a little meth. It was being made in a couple of houses here in town," Montcalm said. "We’ve seen an increase recently in the number of labs in Central Illinois. "There is a big market for this drug and the people who manufacture and sell it can make a lot of money. One gram may sell for $80 to $100 and a pound goes for $7,300 to $10,000. The average dose is about 5 milligrams," he stated. Eldredge said the two informational meetings are open to everyone. Master Sergeant Bruce Liebe of the Illinois State Police, presently assigned to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, will be the featured speaker. "We hope teachers will come to one of these meetings so they can recognize when meth is being used, spot suspicious behaviors and call parents’ attention to them. Merchants should be aware what to look for and how best to alert law enforcement agencies. Parents can learn what to look for in the neighborhoods. Farmers can learn what to check on their anhydrous tank and when to alert law enforcement," she said. Short-term effects of methamphetamine use may include euphoria, loss of appetite, insomnia, paranoia, agitation and irritability. Long term effects can be malnutrition, psychosis, depression, memory loss and possible damage to the heart, brain, lungs and liver. "A big majority of our crime in Lincoln is alcohol or drug related," Montcalm said. "If we don’t get these meth labs under control we will see even more crime. Citizens can help us stop them by being educated." Healthy Communities Partnership is an umbrella organization formed in 1997 by the Lincoln Logan Chamber of Commerce Healthcare Committee to address health care problems in the community. The Alcohol, Tobacco and Drug Task Force is one of three such groups functioning under HCP.
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Logan County Safe School Task Force—a plan in action [FEB. 24, 2000] No one wants to think about it. No one wants to talk about it without knocking on wood or whispering a prayer that it will never happen. There is no doubt that the families and students in Littleton, Colo., never expected the horrifying, unthinkable crisis that they found themselves swept into in April of 1999, when two young men murdered and injured fellow students and teachers before killing themselves. We stare at the unwelcome reality that it does happen, and that we must think and talk about it. It’s a very scary "what if."
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At the start of the 1999-2000 school year, Dan Fulscher, director of the Logan County Emergency Services and Disaster Agency (ESDA), received a call from Lincoln High School Superintendent, Fred Plese about initiating some kind of emergency/crisis plan, beyond the school’s own, involving all available agencies in the community. Three meetings and six months later, the result of that call is the "Logan County Safe School Task Force." The main function of the Safe School Task Force is to define and outline the objectives and responsibilities of each emergency response agency that would be involved in a school crisis situation. Some of the local agencies are the obvious ones such as the police, fire and rescue crews and emergency medical services. Others include Logan Mason Mental Health, the Logan County Health Department, Sangamon Valley Red Cross, and Logan County Salvation Army. Each agency serves cooperative and individual functions, from counseling to feeding and sheltering.
[Dan
Fulscher, ESDA Director on the left . On Wednesday, Feb. 23, the newly formed task force held their third meeting at the Logan County Safety Complex. Patrick Keane from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency led a tabletop exercise in which a school shooting scenario was presented. "Shots fired at Lincoln High School," Keane began. The group then walked through the proper chain of response and notifications. It was evident that the two most important keys in that type of crisis setting would be continual situation assessments and communication among the agencies involved. The scenario continued starting with school administrators reaching 9-1-1 emergency services and the Lincoln police quickly responding and appraising the situation. The task force members mentally and verbally simulated the incident. School lockdown. Notify all other local schools to lockdown as well. Police establish an on-site tactical command center.
[Patrick
Keane from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency
presenting a school shooting
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The imagined scenario developed further. They now learn there are four or five students in the gymnasium. The fire department, ambulance service, ESDA and Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital are notified. The media is contacted. ESDA then contacts the Sangamon Valley Red Cross and Logan County Salvation Army to set up a secure shelter facility. Evacuation of the school begins as soon as the area is secured and it is safe to do so. Transportation must be provided to safely remove the students and faculty from the school and transport them to the shelter where the Logan Mason Mental Health and Logan County Health Department workers will tend to physical and emotional needs. There is a need for still another site, away from the school, and the first shelter, where the students may be reunited with their parents. There is much to be considered says Fulscher, "First of all it is a reality that we have to plan for these types of things. Terrorist attacks, bombs, chemicals, or any weaponry, if we fail to plan in these areas, then the plan will definitely fail us." Fulscher added, "In this area (Logan County) we appreciate the police, all of the emergency agencies, Patrick Keane and Fred Plese, for bringing this to light, and helping spearhead the task force so we can be ultimately prepared in case of the actual event." Lincoln Community High School Superintendent, Fred Plese stated, "If there is a crisis at the school, we will have the plan in place." When asked how he personally felt about the Safe School Task Force, Plese replied, "I feel good about the task force but, as an educator I don’t feel good about having to do this. A school shouldn’t have to be a fortress." Keane stated, "What I am pleased with is that Lincoln recognized the potential threat and has prepared to meet that threat. Because of that, they are miles ahead of many other, much larger jurisdictions."
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Fire at Mount Pulaski business [FEB. 23, 2000] "It sounded just like a bomb, followed by a fireball which shot out of the building through a doorway, knocking down a wall," Chief Robert Thomas of the Lincoln Rural Fire Department declared. Firefighters from Atlanta, Beason, Chestnut, Lincoln, rural Lincoln and Mount Pulaski fire departments responded to a report of heavy smoke and some flames at a maintenance building for Mt. Pulaski Products, Skelton Plant. Logan County paramedics also responded and remained on the scene.
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Firefighters were called out at 10:13 a.m. yesterday morning. The Lincoln Rural Fire Department, the first on the scene, worked with State Fire Marshal Jim Oliver, using what is commonly known as a "defensive attack." No one was sent into the building immediately, since no people were believed to be inside. As firefighters surrounded the scene, an explosion followed by a fireball erupted. It is believed that an acetylene tank caused the explosion. Three firefighters, Chris Sprinkel, Chad Letterly and Ron Shawgo were sent to the hospital with minor injuries. All suffered burns and one had a knee injury.
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Decisions were made on the spot as to how to best contain the fire and preserve evidence which will help determine the cause, Thomas explained. The fire marshal will be sifting through and assessing the site -- an "overhaul of the fire" -- this afternoon. The building, tools and maintenance equipment, along with an older water truck were declared a total loss. Total official inventory and dollar amounts have not yet been declared. By fire department estimates there was $85,000 worth of damage. This morning Mt. Pulaski Products had no comment on the issue. |
