[MAY 9, 2001]  Lincoln police and firefighters responded to an alarm sent out at 2:15 p.m. Tuesday afternoon at Friendship Manor, 925 Primm Road.

Officers arriving first tried to enter a room on the fourth floor and were unable to do so due to the heat and thick, dark brown smoke that came rolling out when they opened the door.

Firefighters arrived virtually on the heels of the officers and went in to extinguish the flames. As firefighters subdued the fire, Sgt. Thomas Roland and Officer Timothy Butterfield went door-to-door and floor-to-floor alerting residents. Off-duty officers Charles Gunning and Robert Rawlins also joined Roland and Butterfield in the evacuation efforts.

Areas of the building had heavy smoke filling the hallways, creating anxiety and stress for residents trying to navigate their way out. With the elevator out of use, they were forced to take the stairs. A number of residents were assisted and carried out by the policemen and firefighters.

The fire apparently began in the living room of an apartment occupied by 87-year-old Ray Money. He was found in the living room and did not survive.

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Logan County Paramedics and ESDA also responded to the incident. They were on hand as mutual aid assistance ready to treat residents or emergency personal as needed. They assisted two patients who were having breathing difficulties probably related to smoke inhalation.

ESDA manned the MC13 (mobile command center), organizing and ready to assist with other duties as deemed necessary.

Lincoln Fire Inspector Jim Davis and Lincoln Detective John Bunner were at the scene again this morning and will continue investigation into the cause of the fire.

[Jan Youngquist]

[Ray Money obituary]

[MAY 9, 2001]  The lack of a manager for the Logan County Airport was the main topic of discussion at the county board’s Airport and Farm Committee meeting Monday night.

Initially, the committee planned to again advertise for bids for a fixed-base operator on a one-year contract, with a possible extension to a five-year contract, and would place notices in area newspapers as well as aeronautic trade publications for greater exposure.

Sam Evans, a former airport manager, told the committee that he would operate the airport on a monthly basis, taking care of mowing and pumping of fuel for $600 per month and the use of the mechanics hanger.

In light of this arrangement, which would give the committee more time to develop specific contract language, committee members asked Roger Bock, chairman, to delay putting the bids in this month and to meet with Tim Huyett, state’s attorney, to determine Evans’ status as a county employee or contractual employee and also to determine contract wording when bids are advertised.

The committee plans to meet in a special session at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 10, at the courthouse prior to a general working session scheduled for 7 p.m.

Committee members also learned from Rod White that there is a possibility the 3.75 acres of farm ground at the airport may qualify for a program from the federal government that would pay $175 to $200 an acre for 15 years to restore the ground to its original condition.

"The soil has to test out to a certain grade and any changes to the ground such as tile installation has to be restored in order to qualify," White said.

Without checking the area, it wasn’t certain if any changes had been made, but White didn’t feel that this was a problem.

The program is provided by the Farm Services Administration, formerly the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Act (ASCA), and is managed by the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP).

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If the acreage is accepted into the program, the payback will be nearly twice the amount as when the ground was cash rented for farming.

Past plans to build a golf course on county property again surfaced when Bock asked the committee how they wanted to proceed now that the information they requested on various feasibility studies has been received.

"We appropriated $9,000 to make a study, and we need to proceed," Bock said.

Board member Doug Dutz had a copy of the study Mount Pulaski made when they were exploring the possibility of a community golf course. The measure later failed voter approval in a referendum.

"Even though it was made in 1992," Dutz said, "it gives us some of the same guidelines we’ll have to follow if it’s decided that we explore this possibility."

Dutz said that one of the areas to consider is the management of a golf course if one would be built.

"We have to decide if the county would take over immediate management of the course," he said, "or lease it to a management firm for operation for a specified time, before we decide to manage it or continue a lease arrangement," he added.

Due to prior commitments, it was decided that both Bock and Dutz will meet the last week of the month to arrange the material and report back to the committee.

[Fuzz Werth]

[MAY 8, 2001]  The city of Lincoln got a new police chief and a new fire chief Monday evening when the council approved Mayor Beth Davis’ appointments. Richard Montcalm, a 12-year police department member who has served as community police officer, and Robert "Bucky" Washam, a firefighter for 26 years, were named to the posts.

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[Joan Crabb]

[MAY 8, 2001]  State police are investigating an accident that occurred on Route 10 west of Lincoln at 1:50 p.m. Monday. 

William Robert Hazard, 71, of Mason City was driving a ’96 Buick Park Avenue, heading east into Lincoln. About one-fourth mile west of Interstate 55, his vehicle crossed the median, striking the front fender on the driver's side of a westbound 2000 Toyota Echo driven by Linda Rose Coffey, 54, of Bend, Ore. Hazard’s vehicle continued on along the driver’s side of Coffey’s vehicle. According to the state police report, Coffey’s vehicle then collided with the front driver’s side of the vehicle immediately in back of her, a ’94 Plymouth Voyager driven by M. Ann Hewitt, 49, of Broadwell.

Hazard was declared dead at the scene by Logan County Coroner Chuck Fricke.

Coffey also died from injuries in the accident and was declared dead at the scene. A passenger in Coffey’s vehicle, her daughter Julie L. Stotts, 28, of Sisters, Ore., was taken to Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital, where she was treated and released.

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Hewitt was taken to St. John’s, Springfield, where she is listed in critical condition.

Coffey and Stotts were in Lincoln because of the funeral last week of Mrs. Coffey’s father.

All family members have been notified.

[Jan Youngquist]

[Linda Coffey obituary]

[William Hazard obituary]

[MAY 7, 2001]  The Logan County Board Regional Planning Commission received the following letter from the Mount Pulaski City Council:

Dear Mr. Robert Menzies,

At the April 24^th Mt. Pulaski City Council meeting it was decided not to renew our commitment to the Regional Planning Commission for 2001. The council does not perceive any benefit to our continued participation.

We may elect to renew our participation in future years; however, at this time we are respectfully withdrawing our support.

Sincerely

William C. Glaze

Mayor

The letter was discussed at the next Logan County Regional Planning Commission meeting. It was noted that this was the first indication of this action. It was noted that under current county board ordinance, Mayor Glaze remains a voting member of the RPC even if Mount Pulaski withdraws its support. The commission did not object to the withdrawal and decided to send a response letter to the Mount Pulaski City Council encouraging their continued participation. It is as follows:

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Dear Mayor Glaze,

Your letter of 4/26/01 electing "not to renew our commitment to the Regional Planning Commission for 2001" was received and read at the meeting of the RPC last night. At the request of that body I am respectfully asking the Mount Pulaski City Council to reconsider this step.

Your letter provides as the reason for this action that the council does not perceive any benefit to our continued participation." This statement concerns me because as a result of action by and through the RPC the South part of Logan County is enjoying an unprecedented level of new growth.

Those of us serving on the RPC have as our overriding objective the economic and quality of life improvement for every person in Logan County. I believe this can best be achieved by the various elected and appointed officials working together to secure a collective good unobtainable by singular activity.

Please accept our invitation to express your concerns, thoughts and suggestions at our scheduled meetings. We value your input and the participation of Mt. Pulaski and encourage you to continue to provide representation for your constituents on and through the Regional Planning Commission.

Sincerely,

David R. Helper

Chairman, Regional Planning Commission

[MAY 4, 2001]  Music, humor and welcoming fellowship highlighted the 16^th year birthday open house at the Oasis Thursday afternoon. The Oasis has been providing services, programs and activities to the citizens of Logan County since May 1985. The open house featured door prizes, entertainment, cake, cookies, coffee, punch and a sampling of services. The public had opportunity to browse leisurely through the center with numerous people on hand to greet visitors and explain displays.

[Jan Youngquist]

[MAY 4, 2001]  The 134th annual Lincoln College spring commencement will be Saturday, May 12, at 2 p.m. in Davidson-Sheffer Gymnasium. Well-known Abraham Lincoln author and history professor Dr. Allen C. Guelzo will be the commencement speaker and one of four honorary degree recipients.

Guelzo’s book "Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President," which won the 2000 Lincoln Prize, looks at the outward events of Abraham Lincoln's life and compares them with his intellect and inner spiritual struggles. Guelzo is the Grace Kea Professor of American History at Eastern College in St. Davids, Penn.

[Professor Dr. Allen C. Guelzo]

Other commencement guests receiving honorary degrees will be Timberline Aviation founder Wallace E. (Pat) Carroll Jr.; the Honorable Roger W. Ferguson, vice-chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; and Eileen Mackevich, executive director of the Chicago Humanities Festival.

Carroll, a Lincoln College alumnus of the class of ’61, is an entrepreneur of several business ventures. He is the founder of Timberline Aviation, a full-service support company in Grand Junction, Colo., that specializes in maintenance, fuel and jet chartering.

Ferguson, nominated for the Federal Reserve by President Clinton in 1999, is part of a seven-member board whose primary responsibility is the formulation of monetary policy.

Mackevich is president and executive producer of the Chicago Humanities Festival, a celebration of classical learning, which attracts more than 40,000 people to the Chicago area.

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[Eileen Mackevich, Wallace E. (Pat) Carroll Jr.
and Roger W. Ferguson]

Approximately 231 students will receive Associate of Arts degrees at the Lincoln College commencement ceremony. A reception for the graduates and their families will immediately follow the ceremony.

Students from the area who are receiving degrees include the following:

Nathan Bottorff, Adrienne Harmon, Julie Hinds-Jackson and Erik Rich of Atlanta;

Rebecca Ruben of Hartsburg;

Matthew Aper, Elise Arteman, Angela Bates, Karrie Boch, Scott Bottrell, Tiffany Boward, Rebecca (Anderson) Burg, Merritt Burns, Renée Carvalho, Chris Curry, Dayne Dalpoas, Dawn Demling, Aimee Dierker, Courtney Dirks, Brittney Dobson, William Eric Ellis, Teresa Fitzpatrick, Heather Fry, Shelly Goodman, Joshua Green, John Grimes, Nathan Hilgendorf, Luke Hughes, Teri Kavelman, Betty Long, Amanda Lyon, Tina Mayer, Krissandra Newby-McCray, Charlene Robb, John Ross, Joshua Shanle, Brian Sheley, Candace Sheley, Michael Skorzak, Chelsie Slack, Brandi Slimick, Nicole Sprague, Mark Stoltzenburg, Jennifer Stout, Bridgett Thomas, Donna Turner, Chad Twente, Stephen Vinyard Jr, Rachel Washam and Zachary Winter, all of Lincoln;

Francesca Biundo and Johnny Power of Mason City;

Kari Hester of McLean;

Kimberly Johnson of Middletown;

Brooke Buckles and Katie Fritz of Mount Pulaski.

[Lincoln College news release]

[MAY 4, 2001]  Lincoln College will host a dedication ceremony for the Anna K. and Bernard E. Behrends Admissions Building on Saturday, May 12, at 5 p.m.

This building was named because of the generous support of two siblings from Lincoln who are graduates of Lincoln College. Anna K. Behrends is a member of the class of 1936, and Bernard E. Behrends is a member of the class of 1948. After leaving Lincoln College, they each finished their college education at Bradley University in Peoria.

Bernard E. Behrends is currently the CEO of Hartsburg State Bank in Hartsburg and has served as a Lincoln College trustee since 1992. Anna K. Behrends is retired after working 40 years as an elementary school teacher. She is a former president of the Lincoln College Alumni Association.

The Anna K. and Bernard E. Behrends Building houses admission staff offices and a phone center. The approximately 2,100-square-foot structure was built in 1998 by Roger Webster Construction of Lincoln.

[Lincoln College news release]

[Anna and Bernard Behrends]

[MAY 3, 2001]  Victor Caballero is probably wishing he had gone some other way on April 22.

Caballero was driving a semitrailer on Interstate 55 near Elkhart when he was pulled over near Elkhart on a routine mileage and cargo log check by State Trooper J.P.Driscoll. When it was suspected that he had altered his logbook, he was ordered to take a mandatory rest stop at the next truckers stop, which was Burwell Truck Plaza at Route 10 and I-55. During the stop Caballero’s name had turned up in a nationwide drug trafficking database. He was out on bond, accused of hauling 1,200 pounds marijuana in Oklahoma.

[Victor Caballero]

Logan County’s drug unit was called to help. Deputy Jerry Melton and drug dog She-Bear met state Trooper Driscoll and state police Sgt. Craig Rios at the truck stop. She-Bear was able to hit on the presence of drugs, and officers began making arrangements for the unloading of the truck. While temporarily out of sight of the officers, Caballero was witnessed to quickly go around to the back of the truck and roll two boxes out the back door. He then ran around, jumped back in the truck and followed Trooper Driscoll to a place where the truck could be unloaded to another truck when it arrived. Luckily there was another trucker right there who witnessed the whole thing and reported it.

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[She-Bear demonstrates her talent for the press. With quick deliberation she sniffs up and down the car, stopping abruptly and pawing at the car wheel well where drugs had been stashed for the demonstration.]

[Logan County Deputy Jerry Melton and She-Bear pose. Though Deputy Melton doubted she would sit for a picture, She-Bear loved the press.]

In those boxes were over 100 bags, 246 pounds of what is believed to be the purest cocaine. Test results are expected to take weeks on that many bags, but if they are as pure as thought to be, it will have a value well over $11 million and up to $55 million and may qualify as the largest downstate drug confiscation to date.

Caballero is accused of controlled-substance trafficking and possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. Tuesday, May 1, the 29-year-old El Paso, Texas, man pleaded innocent to both Class X drug charges before Logan County Judge David Coogan during a probable-cause hearing. He is currently being held without bond. He will come before a jury for trial in June. If convicted of both counts, he could face up to 45 years prison time, plus court costs and fines, in addition to any sentencing he receives in Oklahoma.

[Jan Youngquist]

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