City attorney Jonathon Wright presented the report of Michael J. Welsh, consulting structural engineer from Morton, which said the gables could not be braced because mortar between the stones is missing. He said each gable weighs about 15 tons and presents an extreme hazard should it come down.

Building owners Jose and Nancy Pineda have been sent a 15-day notice by the city’s building safety office that the gables must be removed, Wright said. David Mitchell, assistant building safety officer, said the office is awaiting a response from the Pinedas. Mitchell said he did not know what the intent of the owners was.

Wright said the city is aware of the economic hardship on businesses on Kickapoo and Pekin streets, which have many parking places blocked off, but the danger is too great to remove the barricades.

The building, a Lincoln landmark, once served as offices of the Scully Estates, representing land holdings in Illinois of more than 30,000 acres. It has been owned by the Pinedas since 1976 and at the time of the fire housed several businesses on the ground floor, all of which are now closed.

"We also preserve the past through the displays in our museum and of the equipment and planes that were used in virtually every war and conflict beginning with World War I," Burke said.

According to Burke, HIF, now located at the Logan County Airport, began 15 years ago with about 20 members from Springfield that were looking for a location to establish themselves.

"We had looked in other towns around Springfield, and then we came to the Logan County Airport," Burke said.

"What we saw was a World War II barracks that would be perfect for setting up our museum," he added.

The barracks was one of the original buildings used at Camp Ellis, an Army training facility in Fulton County that had also housed prisoners of war. The camp was to be used by the Atomic Energy Commission, a plan that never materialized, and eventually the buildings were either torn down or moved.

After 15 years HIF has grown to about 120 members and has had visitors to its museum from 42 states and 25 countries.

"The museum itself houses many items from all conflicts that we were in engaged in," Burke said.

"Many items we have on display come from World War I," Burke added. "There are times when a veteran dies and the family donates the items to us for display.

"We have items from a local war hero," Burke said. "Of course, those guys never considered themselves heroes."

In addition to the museum displays, HIF has two helicopters and six fixed-wing aircraft that are on display on the airport grounds.

"All of the aircraft are static display, with the exception of two that could be flown," he said.

Burke said that all of the aircraft are on permanent loan to HIF except for one World War II craft owned by the museum.

"Anytime you see military aircraft on display somewhere, they are still owned by the government, but the chances of them taking them back are slim to none," he added.

"One of the craft we have is an A7 Corsair that was used in Desert Storm and was one of the first to bomb Baghdad in the initial hours of the coalition's attack, flying 153 missions," Burke said.

HIF not only maintains the museum and its contents but is also the managing body for airport operations, a contract that was made with the Logan County Board 10 years ago.

"What is also unique about these operations," Burke said, "is that although the airport is owned by the county, no tax money is used. It is self-supporting, using the small amount of funds from farming operations and money made from fuel sales and aircraft maintenance jobs," he added.

Members of HIF come from all areas and are not just pilots. According to Burke, you only have to have an interest to become a member.

"We have one member from Tacoma, Wash., we have never met. He read an article about us in Flight magazine and wanted to support our efforts," Burke said.

"We also have teachers bring their students out for tours. We try to instill in them what happened in the past so that they don't repeat it in the future," he added.

Heritage-In-Flight not only tries to preserve the past, it also promotes the importance of smaller airports such as Logan.

According to Burke, the airport is used not only by pilots and enthusiasts but also by local businesses, the state of Illinois and businessmen from across the country that make refueling stops. A courtesy van is available for those stopping over so that they can conduct their business, check out opportunities, or get something to eat and rest up.

A current airport promotion states, "A mile of highway will get you a mile, a runway will get you anywhere."

This holds true for Logan County. With the efforts of HIF and its members, the past will not be forgotten and the future will be promoted so that we may all benefit from the services local airports provide to businesses and flying enthusiasts.

Heritage-in-Flight, Inc., is listed in the museum section of www.cyberair.com and http://www.aero-web.org/air.htm. You will also find other aviation information there.

Helping people get the outcomes they desire with medicine is what Stacy likes best about his work. What he likes least is dealing with insurance companies, which are getting more and more involved in health care. Increasingly, insurance companies as well as Medicare and Medicaid "tell people what doctor to see, where to get prescriptions, when to get them and what they can get," he said. This involvement can be frustrating for the pharmacist.

Much has stayed the same in the 24 years Stacy has been in practice; his work is still based on "the triangle of patient, doctor and pharmacist," he explained. However, there have also been changes. Other than the medications themselves, the biggest change has been the increase in third-party involvement. In 1977 only 10 to 20 percent of cases had managed care involvement, he said, whereas now 90 percent do.

Another change is that prices have skyrocketed due to manufacturers’ increases. Pharmacy margins are half what they used to be, Stacy said, adding that manufacturers say they need higher profit margins to fund research and development. A new medication can be patented for 17 years from the date of application for the patent; then generics often drive the price down. Stacy said it sometimes takes over 10 years to get a medication on the market, reducing the time the manufacturer has a monopoly.

Stacy is a member of the Illinois Pharmacists Association and the International Association of Compounding Pharmacists. Renewal of his Illinois pharmacist’s license requires 30 hours of continuing education every two years. "The education never ends," said his wife, Cindy, a pharmacy technician in the business. As part of his continuing education, in the next two months Bruce Stacy plans to attend seminars on natural medicine and on compounding natural hormones.

One example of compounding is incorporating ibuprofen in a transdermal gel to rub on the skin for patients who cannot take it in an oral form. Stacy demonstrated the procedure, which includes forcing the mixture of ibuprofen and other ingredients through a small hole multiple times to form a cream that penetrates the skin and carries the active ingredient through the skin.

Medicap stocks a long list of flavors to make medicines more palatable, especially for children. "No matter how effective the medicine, it can only help the child if he’ll take it," Stacy said. The most popular flavors for children are bubblegum, banana, grape and strawberry, but he also offers others including root beer, licorice and chocolate. These can be used to prepare medications in the form of lollipops or popsicles.

[Technicians Cindy Stacy and Diana Eckhardt
prepare a prescription.]

Much of Medicap’s compounding is done for animals. Veterinarians often prescribe medications formulated for humans but in different dosages. Stacy then compounds the medicine in the prescribed dose. He also prepares medications in a variety of dosage forms and flavors, including chicken, beef, liver and fish. For example, he can put medicine for a cat in a tuna-flavored gel that is rubbed on the paw or elsewhere. The cat cleans its skin by licking and ingests the medication, thus avoiding the need for capsules, which may be difficult to administer.

Other compounded medications available at Medicap include procarin, a new treatment for the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, and bio-identical hormones for menopausal women who do not tolerate synthetic hormones. Hospice patients who cannot swallow can be helped with medications in suppository form.

The Medicap mission statement promises that the pharmacist will spend time discussing personal health care needs, serve as a professional pharmacy care specialist, and help improve overall health and well-being. Part of carrying out this mission is exemplified in the question routinely asked by technicians when dispensing prescriptions: "Do you need to talk to the pharmacist?"

In the rare if much joked about case of unclear handwriting on a prescription, a call is placed to the physician to be sure. "We never guess; we make sure it’s right," Stacy said. "If we’re not sure, we call."

Besides Cindy Stacy, other pharmacy technicians employed at Medicap are Diana Eckhardt, Chris Dahms, Sarah Naugle and Meghan Bode. Jackie Verderber is a delivery person.

Medicap Pharmacy is located at 709 Woodlawn Road in Lincoln. Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

[Bruce Stacy, registered pharmacist at Medicap Pharmacy, compounds ibuprofen into a transdermal gel.]

Stacy’s self-defined purpose is people-oriented: "to help people, provide advice and fill a need for them." His personalized service includes reviewing a patient’s profile before filling a prescription. However, this only helps if the customer purchases all medications at one place, he warned. Stacy said he asks what customers are looking for and what health problems they have before recommending an over-the-counter product.

In the past two years Medicap services have been expanded to include compounding, or custom-making, prescriptions. Stacy said compounding will be needed more and more as people become aware of all the services that can be provided.

Special needs served by compounding include making flavored medicines for children, varying dosages for animals, reproducing medications no longer available on the market, producing natural alternatives in hormone replacement therapy and creating alternative forms of medications that the patient can better tolerate. Stacy finds filling these needs a rewarding part of the practice of pharmacy.

Medicap Pharmacy belongs to a Des Moines-based franchise made up of about 175 stores, most of them individually owned. The Medicap franchise manufactures a brand of vitamins and offers equivalents for some over-the-counter medications. In addition, benefits of belonging to a franchise include buying power and ability to negotiate contracts, Stacy said.

Besides filling prescriptions, the store offers over-the-counter medications and medical supplies. Stock ranges from dietetic candies to durable medical goods and greeting cards. Medicap also stocks published guides to nutritional healing, herbs and natural medicine. In the last few years Stacy has been expanding into alternative and herbal medicines. He has trained in the field for a year, earning several natural medicine certificates. "The area is growing," he said, "as people decide to take natural products rather than Rx items that frequently have harsh side effects."

Stacy grew up in Joliet and graduated from North Dakota State University with a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy. What was then a five-year program has since grown to six years, culminating now in a doctor of pharmacy degree. Stacy’s son Zachary is following in his father’s professional footsteps. After earning a master’s degree in chemistry, he is a fourth-year student at St. Louis College of Pharmacy. Another son, Alex, is a senior at Illinois State University.

After 10 years working as a pharmacist for SuperX, first in Peoria, then in Lincoln, Stacy opened Medicap 13 years ago at 501 Woodlawn Road. Ten years later he moved to 709 Woodlawn Road, in the process expanding the store from 800 to 1,500 square feet. The new location is not only newer and brighter but also enabled Stacy to add a patient consulting room and a compounding room. Business has increased since the move as well.

Interest in science and a desire to work with people directly led Stacy to his profession. He said personal qualities needed by a pharmacist are accuracy, strong math and science skills, and being a people person. "People are not usually feeling good when they come here," he said. "They don’t want to buy medicine, but it is something they need." He tries to make the experience as pleasant as possible while he fills the medical need.

(To be continued)

[Wendy Bell, program manager]