[DEC. 30, 2002]  The big story of 2002 was a sad one -- the closing of the Lincoln Developmental Center. The story started in 2001, when state officials charged employees with abuse and neglect of residents and threatened to close the facility unless conditions improved. In the fall of 2001 Gov. George Ryan began moving residents out, saying he was concerned for their health and safety. Before these moves, LDC had about 375 residents, but by the beginning of 2002 only about 200 remained on the 80-acre campus. By the end of August, the campus was empty. Some former LDC employees have moved to jobs in other state-operated facilities, but many were left without jobs. The impact of shuttering the 125-year-old institution is still being felt as the year 2002 ends.

Gov. George Ryan announced that the Lincoln Developmental Center would either be closed or downsized to a point where it could "pass federal inspection." The Illinois Department of Human Services, which operates facilities for the developmentally disabled, was asked to come up with a plan and put it on the governor's desk by Jan. 31. Advocates for community-integrated living arrangements continued to urge the governor to close the facility, while parents and family members of LDC residents lobbied for it to remain open.

Early in January, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees filed a lawsuit in Logan County Circuit Court to keep Gov. Ryan from closing LDC. The suit asserted that because the Illinois General Assembly appropriated funding for LDC for the entire fiscal year, the facility could not be closed until June 30, when the budget expired. AFSCME also said the state would have to get a permit from the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board before it could legally shut down LDC.

In Springfield, state Sen. Larry Bomke and a crowd of Lincoln Developmental Center supporters addressed a joint meeting of the House Disabled and Mental Health and Patient Abuse committees. Bomke, R-Springfield, spoke about the need to keep LDC open, citing not only the economic benefits to Lincoln, but also the requests from parents and families to keep it open.

In mid-January a rally in support of Lincoln Developmental Center was held at the Lincoln Community High School auditorium, which was nearly filled with LDC supporters, including parents of residents. Eighteen speakers, including union officials, business leaders and politicians took the podium amid a wave of red "We Support LDC" signs. The speakers' remarks were met with cheers and, on many occasions, standing ovations.

State Sen. Larry Bomke, state Reps. Gwenn Klingler, Dan Brady, Jonathan Wright and Bill Mitchell, along with Lincoln Mayor Beth Davis and Logan County Board Chairman Dick Logan stated their support. Democratic candidate for governor Paul Vallas said that if he were elected governor he would solve the problems at LDC and keep the institution open. AFSCME Council 31 Director Henry Bayer said that over 9,000 signatures were already on petitions, with more petitions still to be collected.

Both Lincoln College and Lincoln Christian College made news in January.

Lincoln College received a $1 million Illinois FIRST grant to help build the Lincoln Center, an athletic and convocation facility that will include a greatly expanded Lincoln College Museum.

Lincoln Christian College was chosen from 75 other schools to host the 2003 and 2004 NCCAA Division II national volleyball championship. The tournament is expected to bring nearly 1,000 people and 10 volleyball teams from across the United States into the Lincoln community.

At the beginning of the new year, Linc-On TV, which had served the Lincoln area by creating community-interest television programming, became Log-On Productions, Inc., a not-for-profit agency also dedicated to community programming. The company continued broadcasting locally over cable Channel 15, owned by Insight Communications.

Other January news

On Jan. 4, the American Legion building at 1740 Fifth St. went up in flames. The Lincoln Fire Department answered the call at about 6:30 a.m. and had the blaze under control at 10 a.m. Early reports say it was a grease fire.

The Lincoln Sewage Treatment Plant was chosen to receive the 2001 George W. Burke Safety Award. Plant manager Grant Eaton said this is an unusual honor, awarded to only one person or group in the state of Illinois per year. Presentation of the Burke Safety Award will be made in the spring.

Gene Burwell announced that he was selling his 22 retail units of Burwell Oil Service Inc., to Thornton Oil Corp. of Louisville, Ky. Thornton Oil is one of the 500 largest privately held firms in the United States. The transaction is expected to occur March 1.

The Lincoln Police Department announced they are accepting applications for the 2002-2003 class of the Citizen Police Academy. The 10-week class gives participants an opportunity to learn about the police department and its daily operations.

The Lincoln Community High School speech team placed second at the speech tournament in Heyworth Jan. 12. Carrie Schreiber and Ed Jodlowski coached the team, which was getting geared up for the state debate tournament.

In January Logan County completed another phase of beefing up its security when an X-ray machine was installed at the Logan County Courthouse.

The Rural Health van, sometimes called "the corn bus" because of the mural painted on the outside, is here to stay, Dayle Eldredge, Healthy Communities Partnership coordinator, announced at the fifth annual report to the communities. The federal grant has been finalized and HCP may now keep the van, she said. She also announced a new Senior Issues Task Force, which brings five task forces under the umbrella of HCP.

In the first ceremony of its kind in the state, Lincoln area resident Iona Boyd received the Purple Heart medal awarded to her first husband, Pvt. Paul W. Kodatt, a medic who was killed in the Philippines during World War II. Illinois Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka presented the medal and also gave Boyd other contents of the abandoned safe deposit box where the medal was found. The medal presentation was part of the Illinois treasurer's Operation Search and Restore, which locates owners of medals found in abandoned safe deposit boxes.

In sports, Lincoln's Brian Cook led Illinois to a win over Iowa in a nationally televised Big Ten basketball game. Illinois jumped out to a quick 9-4 lead as Cook started the game with an alley-oop dunk and completed the run with a 3-point basket. Cook finished with 21 points and Illinois finished with an 11-point victory.

The LCC volleyball team won the national championship in 1998 under the direction of two-time NCCAA Coach of the Year Kevin Crawford. Crawford, Angels' coach for 12 seasons, led the team to six national tournaments and to the Final Four four times.

This year also marks the 50th anniversary of Lincoln Christian Seminary. The seminary was established in 1952 and today has grown to more than 300 students, who are instructed by 11 full-time faculty members and 20 adjunct faculty. LCS graduates serve in 38 countries and across the United States.

Three area Republican representatives urged Gov. George Ryan to keep Lincoln Developmental Center open. After meeting with House Republican Leader Lee Daniels and discussing the issue, Reps. Gwenn Klingler of Springfield, Bill Mitchell of Forsyth and Jonathan Wright of Lincoln joined in writing a letter to the governor strongly expressing their conviction that the center should not be closed.

Gov. Ryan announced on Feb. 4 that LDC will remain open but will be downsized to 100 residents who will be moved to new small group homes on the campus. The plan will require moving 159 residents from LDC to other care settings in order to meet the new resident population target. Since last fall, 132 LDC residents have been moved or are in the process of moving to other care settings in Illinois. Ryan also announced plans to continue the development of small group homes on the LDC campus. The current state budget contains $2.5 million to construct four small group homes, to be ready next year, that will house 10 residents each. In addition, Ryan ordered DHS to develop long-range plans for the construction of six more small group homes on the LDC campus.

On Feb. 22 the Department of Human Services took the first step toward laying off a total of 372 employees, by sending out layoff notices. Workers to be laid off must be given a 60-day notice.

On Feb. 25, Judge Donald Behle of the Logan County Circuit Court ruled that one count of the suit brought by AFSCME to prevent Gov. Ryan from closing LDC would be heard, that the governor and the Illinois Department of Human Services must get a permit from the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board before moving any more residents from LDC. Another count, that the governor did not have a right to close LDC before June 30 because the legislature had already appropriated money to fund it, was dismissed.

Economic Development Director Mark Smith put together some numbers to show the economic impact of Gov. George Ryan's latest proposal to cut the number of residents and staff at LDC, Lincoln's largest employer. A few months ago, the facility had about 370 residents and 700 workers. With 700 employees, LDC had a payroll of $28 million in 2001. Under the newest proposal, with 200 employees, the payroll will shrink to $8.4 million. Factoring in the rollover effects of the $28 million payroll, the area has had a $112 million economic benefit from a staff of 700. The rollover effect, Smith explains, is the impact of the money as it circulates in the community. With a payroll of only $8.4 million, the rollover effect shrinks to $34.6 million, a total loss in economic benefits of $78.4 million.

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Lincoln Community High School speech team placed first in the regional speech tournament at Chatham-Glenwood High School on Saturday, Feb. 2. Receiving first place awards were Callie Davison, dramatic interpretation; Tim Fak, extemporaneous speaking; Betsy Buttell, humorous interpretation; Carly McLean, oratorical declamation and original oratory; Eric Agostino, prose reading and verse reading; Abigail Sasse, radio speaking; Ty Sank, special occasion speaking; and Stanton Schumacher, Jerrod Marten, Jamie Eckert, Collin Voyles, Adam Voyles, Amanda Perry, Katie Muck, Tom Swanson, Brady Gerdts and Brandon Davis, performance in the round.

LCHS hosted the sectional speech tournament on Saturday, Feb. 9, and the local team placed fourth. "There is no doubt that our season has been extremely successful," said Ed Jodlowski. He and Carrie Schreiber coach the team. "At the beginning of the year we set the goal to send seven entries to state. Eight is a dream come true," he said. LCHS students who qualified for the state tournament on Feb. 15 and 16 at Downers Grove South High School are Eric Agostino, first place in prose reading and third pace in verse reading; Carly McLean, second place in oratorical declamation; Abrigail Sasse, second place in radio speaking; Ty Sank, third place in special occasion speaking; Doug Rohrer and Julie Wood, third place in dramatic duet acting; Betsy Buttell; third place in humorous interpretation; and Beau Hanger and Kasey Pepperell, third place in humorous duet acting.

Competing at the state level, in Downers Grove, LCHS students also placed. Eric Agostino won eighth place in prose reading; Doug Rohrer and Julie Wood took 10th place in dramatic duet acting; Carly McLean took 15th place in oratorical declamation; Abrigail Sasse took 17th place in radio speaking; Beau Hanger and Kasey Pepperell took 19th place in humorous duet acting; Betsy Buttell took 19th place, humorous interpretation; Ty Sank took 19th place, special occasion speaking; and Eric Agostino took 19th place, verse reading.

The Chester-East Lincoln Mathcounts team took first place at the regional competition, which was at Millikin in Decatur on Saturday, Feb. 9. Nine area schools were represented at the competition. The team from Johns Hill school finished second. This was a reversal of the results last year, when Johns Hill finished first and C-EL took second. The C-EL team members are Alison Kessinger, Kevin Huelskoetter, Troy Tolan and Aaron Meyrick. The C-EL team finished first in the overall standings and will advance to the state Mathcounts competition in Chicago on March 9.

The city of Lincoln has already spent more money than it has taken in during the current fiscal year and will be looking at a pared-down budget for next year, several aldermen said at Monday evening's city council meeting. The financial crunch has come because revenues are down and interest rates are so low the city is getting a lot less income from its investments that it usually does, according to Steve Fuhrer, the council's finance chairman. The city has spent $446,000 more than it has taken in during the year, aldermen learned.

Although some city officials may believe no racial profiling occurs in Lincoln, that statement is not accurate, according to Alderman Glenn Shelton, minister of the Second Baptist Church and the first African-American to serve on the city council. "There is a problem in this community," Shelton said at the Feb. 4 evening meeting of the council. The problem, he said, is that some African-Americans feel they are not being treated equally or with respect by police and other agencies, firemen, EMTs, and hospital personnel.

The Lincoln City Council unanimously approved an ordinance and a resolution to borrow up to $12 million from the Water Pollution Control Loan program. The city must upgrade the sewer plant to meet IEPA requirements. To assure the IEPA that the city can repay the loan, the city has raised sewer rates in a two-step program. As of Jan. 1, 2002, rates for residential users went from $11 per month to $14, and rates for commercial, industrial and institutional users have also risen. The second tier of rate increases, to go into effect 18 months later, would raise rates for all users again, bringing residential rates to $16.39.

The city of Lincoln is $37,000 in the hole because of people who aren't paying their sewer bills. City Clerk Juanita Josserand said that 30 certified letters had gone out to property owners behind on sewer bills, but 28 of them came back because the owners refused to sign for them. Eaton said the next step is to give these delinquents one more notice, then dig up the sewer line and disconnect them.

Other February news

On the air less than a year, Classic Rock 96.3, WMNW in Atlanta, is changing its name to FIX 96. The name change begins Feb. 11, when the station unveils its new local morning show and an evening open line for sports. Besides classic rock, the station broadcasts area high school football and basketball games, special events such as the Logan County Fair and balloon fest, local news, and sports. Ash said the new "Morning FIX" will run from 7 to 10 a.m. weekdays. He plans to have surprise guests, trivia games, prizes and more. The new open-line sports show will run Mondays from 6 to 7 p.m. and will be hosted by local sports personalities Jeff Mayfield and Greg Taylor. Both men write sports news and features for Lincoln Daily News.

An open house was set for Sunday, March 3, from 3 to 5 p.m., to feature the new Dr. John Logan County Building and the many newly refurbished offices in the Logan County Courthouse. During the open house, refreshments will be served in the courthouse rotunda.

Lincoln Christian College and Seminary held the dedication ceremony for the new Laughlin Center at 10 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 23. Olympic medalist Jean Driscoll was the guest speaker. The new athletic facility includes a 30,000-square-foot gymnasium that features seating for 1,000 people, training and locker rooms, office space, and a weight room and athletic equipment, as well as additional parking and landscaping. Some 1,200 to 1,300 people showed up to celebrate and dedicate the building.

Lincoln dentist and award-winning poet Lee Gurga has been appointed editor of Modern Haiku, which is the oldest journal of English-language haiku and considered the most important publication of and about haiku outside of Japan. Founded in 1969 in Los Angeles, Calif., Modern Haiku has been edited by Robert Spiess of Madison, Wis., since 1978. Gurga has been assistant editor for the past four years.

A Lincoln resident was killed Feb. 20 in an automobile accident two miles west of Lincoln. A vehicle an unlicensed 15-year-old was driving struck a utility pole in the 800 block of 1575th Street, also known as Fifth Street Road. Chief Deputy John Garlits said the vehicle was westbound when the driver lost control and struck the pole. The impact caused electrical wires to fall. Joseph Boughan, 18, was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:25 p.m.

The Illinois State Redbirds rode an impressive run just before halftime last night en route to a 60-51 defeat of the Bradley Braves. Lincoln's Gregg Alexander was not his usual self on the offensive end, but defensively he continued his stellar play. Coach Tom Richardson said, "Gregg was not out of this game at all. Just because he wasn't hitting his shots ... he still stays focused. He never lets one aspect of his game affect another. He's a tough kid." In fact, Alexander helped Redbird defenders limit the Peorians to four-of-22 shooting from the arc. The Redbirds moved to 11-12 on the year, 7-4 in the MVC, and had a rare sweep of the Braves for the first time since 1998.

Brian Cook scored Illinois' first 12 points at Ann Arbor, Mich. Illinois had not won a game on the road in the Big Ten yet this year. Cook led the way with 19 points and nine rebounds, helping the Illini control the boards 38-31. He also contributed zero turnovers on a night when Illinois committed only eight. In a recent Illini win, a 69-67 cliffhanger over the always-tough-on-Illinois Purdue Boilermakers, Cook put up an Illini game-high 16 points, pulled down six rebounds and blocked three shots while altering several others.

(To be continued)

[Joan Crabb]

FBI notice

[DEC. 30, 2002]  The Federal Bureau of Investigation is seeking the public's assistance in determining the whereabouts of the following individuals:

• Abid Noraiz Ali, born Aug. 15, 1977
• Iftikhar Khozmai Ali, born Sept. 20, 1981
• Mustafa Khan Owasi, born Nov. 12, 1969
• Adil Pervez, born Dec. 12, 1983

• Akbar Jamal, born Nov. 1, 1974

The above identified individuals, whose names and dates of birth may be fictitious, are believed to have entered the United States illegally on or about Dec. 24. Although the FBI has no specific information that these individuals are connected to any potential terrorist activities, based upon information developed in the course of ongoing investigations, the FBI would like to locate and question these people.

The FBI has been working with Homeland Security Agencies (U.S. Customs, INS, TSA) to locate these individuals. The above information has also been disseminated to the appropriate law enforcement agencies around the United States and throughout the world.

Anyone with any information pertaining to these individuals is asked to contact their nearest FBI office. Photographs of these individuals can be found on the FBI's website at www.FBI.gov or on LDN's front page.

[News release]

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