Wright was chosen Thursday afternoon when the six GOP county chairmen in the district met at a Lincoln restaurant to go over the field of candidates one last time.

"After a friendly discussion, we voted, and John Wright was unanimously chosen," said Mary Jane Jones, Mason County GOP chairman. "He has several attributes that are very appealing. He is young, ambitious, knowledgeable and has a good appearance.

"We thought he was right for the job and that he’ll do the district good. He’s deserving of it," she said.

[Jonathan Wright swears in Mayor Beth Davis]

"Jonathan Wright came over to all of us as an excellent candidate and a good person, similar to John Turner in political philosophy," said Tazewell County GOP Chairman Claude Stone. "He will do a good job replacing Mr. Turner." Turner was recently appointed to a seat on the 4th District Appellate Court.

While the state legislature will be the gainer, the city of Lincoln will lose a good attorney, said Juanita Josserand, Lincoln city clerk.

"We’re going to lose a really good Christian person and a person who’s done a great job for us. I think he’ll do an even better job as a state representative," she said.

"In one way it will be a loss, but I know he will work for Lincoln and Logan County, just as John Turner did," she added.

Lincoln Mayor Beth Davis also expressed regret that the city will be losing Wright’s services. "I think he is very qualified, and I wish him all success. I regret that we won’t have him as city attorney any longer, but I realize this is a great opportunity for him.

"He is very thorough and also very congenial to work with. I look forward to working with him in his new capacity as state representative," she added.

Wright was chosen from a field of seven, four from Logan County. Also seeking the seat were John Guzzardo, former mayor of Lincoln; George Davis, retiring Lincoln nursing home supervisor; Dave Hawkinson of Lincoln; and Lois Olson of Elkhart. Others in the running were former LeRoy Mayor Jerry Davis and Tim Sickmeyer of Mason County.

Wright, a native of Carol Stream, a Chicago suburb, told the Lincoln Daily News in a recent interview that after living in Monmouth, where he graduated from Monmouth College, he made a conscious choice to live and work in a smaller community, rather than stay in the city or suburbs.

He received his law degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law, has practiced law in Monmouth and then worked for the attorney general’s office in Springfield. He has lived in Logan County since 1994.

He said if appointed he will run again, even though the upcoming redistricting may change the district’s borders. Turner’s term expires in January of 2003.

Wright is an active member of the Park Meadows Baptist Church in Lincoln and is married to the former Melanie Usherwood of Lincoln. They have three daughters, Kate, age 5, Alison, 3, and Melissa, 1.

As of June 30, Lincoln will no longer have a downtown office store, a handy place where somebody who just ran out of copy paper or ink cartridges can run over and stock up. June 29 is the last day the U.S. Office Products store on the corner of Broadway and Chicago Streets will be open for business.

[Outside shot of U.S. Office Products store, which is closing June 29.]

[Nina Westen of A.G. Edwards and Dennis Schrader of Fricke-Calvert-Schrader Funeral Home chat while being waited on. Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Peters, newcomers to Lincoln, are in the background.]

U.S. Office Products was recently sold to Corporate Express, which does not cater to retail traffic and does not keep retail outlets open.

"This had nothing to do with our location or the amount of business transacted here. It is just a corporate business decision to close all retail stores," said Gail Rawlins, manager of the Lincoln store.

"Corporate Express has every intention to continue to fully serve its commercial accounts," she added. Customers can continue to order supplies indefinitely, either in person while the store is open or by calling the local number, 732-3645, or 1-800-793-0606. Customers may also order by fax or the Internet.

Rawlins said corporate accounts have received a mailing letting them know about the new arrangements. She also said many customers are not happy about the loss of the retail outlet.

"Customers have been calling us, very surprised and very upset at not having a place to walk in and buy office supplies," she said.

The employees, three full-time and one part-time, will have to move on to other jobs, she added.

"We have enjoyed our customers, and serving them in person and talking to them on the phone is something we’re all going to miss. We are all sorry to see the store close, and we know this is going to be a loss for the community as well as for us."

She noted that there has been an office supply store somewhere in Lincoln for 66 years, since 1935.

Nina Westen, with A.G. Edwards, is one commercial customer who is sorry to see the change.

"We’ve been loyal to this store because it is the Lincoln store and they have always been good about meeting national prices. I don’t know that we’ll be as loyal now that they’ve closed the retail outlets."

"Unfortunately, another store around the square is closing," said Dennis Schrader, of Fricke-Calvert-Schrader Funeral Home. "It’s very sad. We’ve bought a lot of things here over the years. If they didn’t have what you wanted when you went in, they’d have it the next day."

Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Peters, who relocated to Lincoln a few months ago, were also sorry to learn they will not have the convenience of an office supply store in their new hometown.

U.S. Office Products bought the store from Lincoln Office in 1996. For a while the name was B.A.T. Office Products, even though the store was owned by U.S. Office Products at the time, Rawlins said. She said the building is now up for sale.

"Based on a conversation with our state senator, the committee on the well will apply for an Illinois FIRST grant to get the entire sum needed for the restoration," he told the Lincoln City Council. Patrick Madigan is the son of state Sen. Robert Madigan.

The well, originally part of the Deskins Tavern property, is across from the Postville Courthouse State Historic Site. Traveling lawyers, including Lincoln, stayed at the tavern while on the 8th Judicial Circuit. They routinely drank from the well.

The well was recently reopened and is part of Logan County’s Looking for Lincoln project. The Looking for Lincoln Committee hopes to restore the well and sell water from it as souvenirs to tourists visiting Lincoln sites in the area. The well will have both an electric pump and a hand-held pump that visitors can use.

Chuck Jolly of Reynolds Drilling Company in Springfield appeared before the council to ask if the city had questions about his proposal to upgrade the well to meet the state code. He noted that there are issues "that might require a variance from the Health Department," but did not elaborate.

The council voted not to finance any participation in the well project, pending the approve of the Illinois FIRST grant. Mayor Beth Davis has agreed to pay the $195 fee for opening the well from the mayor’s budget.

In other business, the city heard a report from treasurer Les Plotner noting that the Lincoln Police Department and Lincoln Fire Department have hired an actuary to study the health of their retirement funds.

Three promotions and one new hire were announced for the Fire Department. Mark Miller has been promoted to assistant chief, Jeff Singleton has been promoted to captain, and Larry Spurling has been promoted to lieutenant. Todd Koehler will be hired as a member of the department as of June 20.

Mayor Davis announced several changes in committee assignments. Steve Fuhrer has been named to the Abraham Lincoln Statue Committee, and Paul Gleason, local historian, and Ron Keller, curator of the museum at Lincoln College, have been added to the city’s Sesquicentennial Celebration Committee.

In a surprise move, the ordinance and zoning committee agreed to approve the plat for the 16 houses facing Sherman Street only if White agrees to pay the full costs of putting in curbs and gutters and upgrading the southeast half of the city street that will serve his development.

When the vote came before the full council, all nine members present supported the committee’s decision. Alderman Glenn Shelton was absent.

"I think at this time it is not feasible for me to develop the 16 lots and upgrade the entire street," White told the council after the vote. "Thank you for your time and consideration." White and his wife, Paula, then left the council chamber with no further discussion.

Before the vote, Mayor Beth Davis tried to mobilize support for White’s latest plan. "I’d like to say that people have tried to start building in Lincoln to make it grow. I am behind this plan, but it is up to the council."

The sticking point for the ordinance committee appeared to be the provision in the city code that a developer must bring a street up to city code before dedicating it to the city, including installing curbs and gutters. While that provision always applies to a road constructed by the developer, there is some question about how it applies to a road already owned by the city.

"Curbs and gutters must be put in for a roadway going into a development," Grant Eaton, sewer plant manager, told the council, "but I don’t know how you would classify this road."

Eaton said the curbs and gutters could be put in now, "but we’d have to do road work and fill in the ditch first." He also said if White puts in part of the street now, "we’re going to have to tear out most of what he does" when it is time to put in sewer connections.

White has maintained that he did not want the city to upgrade Sherman Street until at least half the lots have been sold, so it would not have to be torn up again to put in sewer and utility lines.

City Attorney Jonathan Wright told the aldermen they have the authority to require a developer to upgrade a road if they wish to do so, even if it is a city street and not a new one. He also suggested the council ask for a letter of credit, which would assure that funds provided by the developer were on hand to put in the required improvements.

White had originally proposed that he would develop the 16 lots along Sherman Street, donating one to the Lincoln Community High School’s Technical Education Center for its building trades project, allowing Lincoln Christian College an easement for a water main and dedicating a space for a street in case the land behind the 16 lots was developed. He said he wanted to sell the lots for about $10,000 and allow local builders to put up homes costing $80,000 to $90,000. He asked the city to upgrade Sherman Street, at the city’s expense, some time after sewer and utility hookups were in place, a cost estimated at about $230,000. He also estimated the development would bring in revenue of $90,000 to the city over 10 years’ time.

White came to Monday night’s council meeting with a new proposal, to pay for the curbs and gutters, about $25,000 to $30,000, and install additional fire hydrants. However, Alderman Michael Montcalm, chairman of the ordinance and zoning committee, proposed that White also pay for upgrading the side of the street abutting the property, because curbs and gutters cannot be installed without preliminary work.

Aldermen also expressed concerns about "doing this right," according to the ordinance, so they would not set a precedent that would have to be followed for other developers.

"In our code it’s always been developers who put in curbs and gutters," Alderman Steve Fuhrer said.

"Whatever we do, let’s do it correctly," Alderman Bill Melton added. "I’ve had several phone calls on this." He said that other developers were watching the council’s decision.

"We are walking a fine line," Alderman Patrick Madigan said. "I’d love to be able to do this [allow the development], but we are getting away from the ordinance. What are we going to do down the road for other developers?"

Mayor Davis said after the meeting that she hoped the city could still work with White on the development. She said it might be necessary to change the city ordinance if it is prohibiting development of new homes in the city.

White has had support for his development from Lincoln Community High School officials, School District 27 and local building supply companies. Cindy Olmstead, director of the Lincolnland Technical education Center, appeared at Monday’s meeting to urge approval of the new subdivision. She said the school has difficulty finding lots that students in the building trades program can use and would like to buy at least three lots from White.

The picture-perfect weather — blue skies, a refreshing breeze and the shady courthouse lawn — brought many folks out with their lawn chairs Saturday afternoon to enjoy a varied program of bluegrass and other old-time music. The audience included both young and old, as well as a few family pets. Some people brought their own coolers, but most took advantage of the refreshments being sold across the street, including cold drinks and pork chop sandwiches and dinners.

Keeping the crowd entertained were a number of area music groups: the Sherri Farley Trio, McGee Creek, Marcus and Megan Mullins, Farmer’s Daughter, Long Creek Bluegrass and Rod Nicholson.

People also visited the museum and toured the historic courthouse, one of only two surviving courthouses where Abraham Lincoln practiced law on the 8th Judicial Circuit. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, it is the only one restored and furnished as a operating 1850s courthouse.

A special exhibit of almost 50 quilts, some old and some very new, brought visitors upstairs to see the courtroom and view the quilts. The courtroom still has the original floor, so visitors were standing on the floorboards where Lincoln once stood.

The colorful entrants in the children’s art contest were displayed in store windows around the square.

The event was a benefit for the Mount Pulaski Tourism Committee and Historical Society.

"There were a couple of latecomers we didn’t get a complete background check on," Jones told the Lincoln Daily News. She said she believed the choice would be made on Thursday at an undisclosed time and location. The GOP chairmen of the six counties that are in the 90th District, all or in part, will choose Turner’s successor.

Seven candidates remain in the race to fill Turner’s unexpired term, four of them from Lincoln, one from Elkhart and one from Mason County. Lincoln candidates are Jonathan Wright, currently the city attorney; Dave Hawkinson, director of marketing and public affairs at Corn Belt Energy Corp.; John Guzzardo, mayor of Lincoln for eight years; and George Davis, retiring supervisor of St. Clara’s Manor nursing home.

The other three are Lois Olson of Elkhart, who is employed by the Illinois Department of Financial Institutions; Jerry Davis, former mayor of Leroy; and Tim Sickmeyer of Kilbourne, in Mason County, with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Guzzardo and Davis announced last week that they were seeking the appointment, shortly before the Wednesday deadline.

The candidate chosen will fill out Turner’s term, which expires in January of 2003. Most candidates have said they would run for another term if they were named to fill the seat. Turner resigned to accept a seat on the 4th District Appellate Court.