Goebel Patton, a true Southern Illinois living legend, is approaching his 100th birthday and friends and family paused on Sunday to offer well-deserved congratulations.
Here’s the link to the story at the Southern Illinoisan.
Archives for 2013
Charges filed in fatal accident
July 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Traffic charges have been filed against a Franklin County farmer following a fatal accident last week that claimed the life of a McLeansboro man.
Steven S. Browning, of Benton, was operating a tractor shortly after 9 p.m. on July 10 that was pulling a bean drill on Route 14 east of Benton when he was struck by an oncoming vehicle being driven by Lavern J. Johnson, 50, of McLeansboro. Browning has been charged with operating an over-width vehicle and improper lane usage.
According to the police report Browning was driving the tractor west on Route 14 and the farm machinery took up the entire westbound lane and protruded into the eastbound lane also. Johnson was traveling eastbound and struck the tractor, authorities said.
Johnson was killed on impact from head and chest injuries according to Franklin County Coroner Marty Leffler.
A few minutes after the initial crash a second vehicle, driven by 71-year-old Mary Stich, of Dahlgren, also struck the tractor. Stich had to be extricated from her vehicle by first responders from Ewing-Northern Fire Protection District. Stich was airlifted from the scene to Deaconess Hospital in Evansville with critical injuries.
Also injured in the accident was Kurtis T. Hunter, of Johnston City, who had stopped and was outside his vehicle calling 911 when he was struck by the vehicle being driven by Stich, after she collided with the tractor. Hunter was taken to Franklin Hospital with injuries to his legs and was treated and released.
Obituary – George Brazitis – Christopher
July 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment
CHRISTOPHER – George Brazitis, 58, died Sunday, July 14, 2013, at Franklin Hospital in Benton.
George was retired from the city of Christopher Street Department.
He was born Jan. 9, 1955, in Chicago, to George Brazitis Sr. and Sophie (Zalesky) Christenson of Christopher.
George is survived by his children, Christopher Brazitis of Marana, Ariz., and Carrie Jakusz-Amhenst of Junction Wis.; grandchildren, Elicia Benowski and McKenna Benowski; and brothers, Carey Brazitis of Lake Charles, La.
He was preceded in death by his father.
George wishes were to be cremated with no public services.
Gilbert Funeral Home in Christopher is in charge of arrangements.
For more information, visit www.gilbertfuneralhomes.com.
Benton man arrested on sexual assault and child porn charges
July 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment
A 68-year-old Franklin County man has been charged with sexual assault and child pornography.
Thomas L. Vaughn, of Benton, is charged with predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, child pornography, and grooming.
Information was filed Monday in Franklin County Circuit Court alleging that Vaughn used Facebook to lure a girl under the age of 13 and then he assaulted her. Authorities also reported they discovered child pornography on Vaughn’s computer.
Vaughn was taken to the Franklin County Jail and is being held in lieu of $500,000 bond. Vaughn is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on July 24.
Sheila Simon to shift gears, run for Comptroller
July 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon is likely to announce a run for Comptroller next week, a source will knowledge of the decision told the Sun-Times.
Here’s the link to the story at the Chicago Sun-Times.
Lisa Madigan takes pass on governor’s race
July 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment
For months, Attorney General Lisa Madigan and her father, House Speaker Michael Madigan, brushed aside the notion that it would be a conflict of interest if she served as governor while he continued to run the General Assembly.
Here’s a link to the story at the Chicago Tribune.
Our Universities: All That Glitters Is Not Gold
July 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Students and families should understand what is desired from an education. Socially or politically prescribed solutions for personal aspirations don’t work.
“Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that is not gold.
— Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy —
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Oregon is breaking the funding mold for higher education. House Bill 3472 passed overwhelmingly and awaits the governor’s signature. With no initial student investment, the plan proposes a maximum guaranteed loan payback of 3% of a borrower’s annual income for 24 years. An uncollateralized no down payment loan with eventual payback fixed to earning capacity.
The plan has been dubbed “Pay it Forward, Pay it Back.” It has a nice ring to it.
The impetus: Soaring costs and a 100% jump of interest rates from 3.4% to 6.8% on federally backed Stafford loans. It’s not surprising that students enrolled at Portland State University in a class entitled “Student Debt: Economics, Policy and Advocacy” helped give the legislative effort legs.
However, it should produce trepidation that will compound like interest on a loan shark’s balloon note.
Some aspects of HB 3472 are unclear. What is crystal clear: The $24,616 in debt carried by the average student graduating from a university in Oregon grieves elected officials. I can promise you it grieves students and their families. I talk to them every day. It grieves leaders who ignore the devastating combination of increasing costs, diminished expectations and falling value of college degrees. Intelligent action is required…grief fixes nothing.
Increasing costs are marked by runaway tuition and fees. Diminished expectations are evidenced in grade inflation, admission granted to unprepared students, and a proliferation of degrees with neither workforce benefit nor preparation for graduate school. On some days it seems the enterprise is falling apart, and proposals like HB 3472 are seductive in the educational leadership vacuum that chokes change by doggedly holding on to the campus status quo: more students, more money.
Universities offer an ever growing number of junk degrees. Tuition dollars are wrung out of students for study of little intrinsic or extrinsic value. With little emotional investment and no financial obligation, student commitment to study is too frequently in the tank.
Institutional and elected leadership pander for support fueled by a twisted view that success in life is tied to a college degree; the Oregon legislation does nothing to retool the calculus of higher education.
I don’t believe every degree must produce an immediate job. Every degree should provide opportunities for continued intellectual and economic growth to its holder. Intellectual and economic growth is determined on a one-at-a-time basis by a student. State run equations don’t work. This commoditization of a university education equates an education to a cell phone, iPod, or food: it’s misguided and undermines the purpose of a university, community college, and trade school, all.
HB 3472 as championed by the 7000 member Oregon Working Families Party is riddled with potholes.
First, the road is indeed paved with good intentions. Of course, nearly $25,000 in debt for a degree with low value of any kind is wrong and impossible to defend before thoughtful families. Making more of these kinds of degrees available to more people on more borrowed money is even more egregious, no matter the payback plan.
Second, a degree guarantees little. Students and families need to be honestly apprised of the power of a specific degree, at a specific time. Performance is neither granted nor guaranteed by a degree. Value is not produced by the state, but by capable individuals. House Bill 3472 reinforces the idea that the degree is a trinket.
Third, it worked in Australia. Really? The jury is still out down under. Indeed debt is lower, but has the value of the degree increased? Is the human condition or economy better or stronger? These are pivotal unanswered questions.
Fourth, value in anything earned decreases when attainment is guaranteed or easy. A university education is a private betterment. Public benefit comes when the knowledge and insight gained are levied by an individual.
Unwary prospectors looking for real gold are confused by Pyrite. Students and families are similarly fooled by specious claims at what lies at the end of the rainbow, and too often it’s not a pot o’ gold, but a bag o’ debt, regardless of how it is paid off.
‘Roads to nowhere??’ My first encounter with Sen. Kirk Dillard
July 15, 2013 By Leave a Comment
(Editor’s Note: I noticed today that state Sen. Kirk Dillard announced that he will run for governor in Illinois next year. Back in 2006 I read as story where Sen. Dillard made a remark about funding for Southern Illinois highways and referred to them as ‘roads to nowhere.’ At the time I was a columnist for the Southern Illinoisan and fired off a column taking the Senator to task while asking for an apology. I didn’t expect I’d get one. Nevertheless, it was the kind of moment a columnist lives for and I relished the opportunity. Two days later Dillard called me and apologized for the comment and then wrote a letter to the editor at the SI and apologized (again) to the folks in Southern Illinois. I felt it was a classy thing to do, something he clearly didn’t have to do, and I have had a high opinion of him since. We’ve crossed paths a couple times since the incident and always share a laugh about it. I believe Dillard is a good man and I am glad to see him in the race. Illinois certainly needs some good, solid leadership. I hope you enjoy this column that ran in the Southern Illinoisan on May 6, 2006.)
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Memo to Sen. Kirk Dillard:
Good morning Senator and greetings from beautiful Southern Illinois.
You’re probably wondering why a small town, ink-stained wretch like me is writing to a well-known Chicago-area state senator like yourself. Well, it seems to me you have your foot wedged in your mouth and I want to give you an opportunity to pull it out. I also hope that you’ll overlook the fact that I’m not one of your constituents from DuPage County and read through this memo.
My concerns are about a comment you made in a story in the Chicago Tribune. I’m certain you’re quoted often on a variety of subjects, so let me refresh your memory. The story involved a proposed lease on the Illinois Tollway to a private company and detailed how you and fellow Republican, Sen. Peter Roskam, drafted legislation that would require two-thirds of the lease price – estimated to be more than $14 billion – go to projects that benefited counties the tollway crossed through.
The story went on to say that you felt Gov. Rod Blagojevich must be watched closely about how the revenue from the proposed lease is spent. Well, I certainly can’t fault you in keeping one eye on the Guv, but in all honesty your quote caused the hair on the back of my neck to stand up.
The quote reads like this:
“I just want to make sure they (Blagojevich and Democrats) don’t raid a suburban asset to bail out the Chicago Public Schools or to give even more money to Downstate roads that lead to nowhere.”
Roads that lead to nowhere?
With all due respect, Senator, I beg your pardon.
Truthfully, after reading that statement my first thought was to call you on the phone and give you a piece of my mind. But, my good Southern Illinois upbringing made me realize that it would be impolite to take out my anger on a person who is obviously ill-advised, misinformed and uneducated about Southern Illinois.
So, instead of spewing out a few expletives I decided to take you on a tour of Southern Illinois. And let’s begin with a little geography lesson, all right? You should understand that Southern Illinois is not, let me repeat ‘not’ everything south of Peoria, so for arguments sake, I’m referring to the bottom (that’s Southern Illinois lingo for southern) 20 counties in the state.
Obviously the scenic roads here in Southern Illinois are too many to name, but let me tell you about some of the beautiful places those roads that you say go nowhere, will actually lead you.
In fact Senator, it would be to your advantage to take a few days off from the northern Illinois rat race and travel roads that lead to Giant City State Park, Rim Rock, Pounds Hollow Lake, Cache River Refuge, Lusk Creek, One Horse Gap, Burden Falls, Glenn O. Jones Lake, Garden of the Gods, Shawnee National Forest, Rend Lake or any of two dozen wineries.
We also have roads that lead to Trail of Tears State Forest and Park, Bald Knob Cross, Wayne Fitzgerrell State Park, Fort Massac State Park, Dolan’s Lake, Ferne Cliff State Park, Trigg Tower, Inspiration Point and the Southern Illinois Wine Trails.
While there are a gazillion roads in Southern Illinois that lead to beautiful and historic places let me explain the one thing about your comment that ticked me off the most, Senator.
You see, there are roads all over Southern Illinois that lead to small communities like Dowell, Vergennes, Makanda, Elkville, Royalton, Orient, Hurst, Buckner, Percy, Dubois, Macedonia, Simpson, Muddy, Raleigh, Tamaroa and Valier. And the roads to these communities, roads to nowhere as you called them, lead to good, honest, hard-working folks that go to work every day, pay their bills and stand amazed at the shenanigans we see from our elected officials in Springfield. You should also understand that these folks would not consider living anywhere else but right here in Southern Illinois.
I applaud you efforts to keep a close eye on how the revenue from the proposed tollway lease will be spent but you certainly erred in trying to toss out a clever quote at the expense of those of us here in Southern Illinois. In truth, your comments showed just how little you know about Illinois because all roads in Southern Illinois lead to the most beautiful, picturesque God’s country in the state.
In short Senator, I believe you owe the good folks in Southern Illinois an apology and I’ll be anxiously waiting for that to happen. And if you ever want to visit Southern Illinois and take a tour on all our roads that definitely lead to ‘somewhere’ give me a call. We’ll hit the ‘road’ and make our first stop Blake Burton’s Restaurant in Whittington where we’ll have a piece of white pie. I guarantee it’s better than any piece of pie you can buy in DuPage County. And it’s my treat of course.
And oh, by the way, if you really want to look for a ‘road to nowhere’ you might want to look a little closer to home and consider Waveland Avenue – you know … the road that leads directly to Wrigley Field. The way the Cubs are playing these days, now there’s a road that leads to ‘nowhere.’
Best wishes,
Jim
Illinois bass fishing tournament promises $400,000 to winner
July 15, 2013 By Leave a Comment
LAKE OF EGYPT — One of the largest bass fishing tournaments in the nation is coming to Southern Illinois. The winner earns $400,000 in cash.
The Lake of Egypt, located in southeastern Williamson County, will be the site for the “Big Kahuna World Championship Bass Fishing Tournament” as part of the Bass Widows Fishing Series.
In all, $1.3 million in prize money will be awarded throughout eight weekly qualifying tournaments leading up to the championship round where even second place pays an astounding $200,000.
“This will be one of the largest prize money tournament series in America,” said Jody Perrotto, one of the event’s organizers and owner of the Johnny Bass Fishing Campus and Event Center at the Egyptian Hills Resort where tournament activities will be centered.
“This is an incredible event to be held in Southern Illinois, and an incredible amount of money to be won. If you can set the hook, you could be the big Kahuna and take home the $400,000 prize,” Perrotto said.
The tournament starts October 2. Registration for the tournament begins July 15.
To qualify for the championship tournament, fishermen must place in one of the top 15 positions during any one of the eight qualifying tournaments; qualifying tournaments are held each week leading up to the championship.
First place in the qualifying tournaments pays $20,000. Each of the 8 qualifying tournaments are a major bass fishing tournament in their own right.
“There will be a total of 120 entries competing for the championship,” Perrotto said. “Cash prizes will be awarded to the top 15 finishers.” ($400,000, first-place; $200,000, second-place; $100,000, third-place; $50,000, fourth-place; $30,000, fifth-place; $20,000, sixth-place; $17,000, seventh-place; $12,000, eighth-place; $10,000, ninth-place; $7,000, 10th-place; $5,000, 11th-place; $3,000, 12th-place; $2,000, 13th-place; $2,000, 14th-place; $2,000, 15th-place.)
“This is the best pot odds in fishing,” Perrotto said. “Plus you are fishing one of the most beautiful lakes in the nation rated as one of the top three bass fishing lakes in the state.”
The Lake of Egypt is a 2,300-acre reservoir located about seven miles south of Marion just off Interstate 57. It has 93 miles of shoreline. The lake’s average depth is 19 feet with a maximum depth of 52 feet.
There is a $2,000 entry fee for the qualifying tournaments. Each qualifying tournament will be limited to 125 two-angler boats.” Anglers wanting to participate are included on a first come basis and “should enter early as we are receiving inquiries from all over the country.” Perrotto said.
For more information, go to www.basswidowsfishing.com or contact the Fishermen’s Information Line at 618-995-2151 or 708-669-4988.
Gun issue inspires talk of downstate Dem challenge to Gov. Ryan
July 15, 2013 By Leave a Comment
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — When Gov. Pat Quinn tried to impose his last-minute restrictions on Illinois’ new concealed-carry gun law, he spent days rallying support in Chicago neighborhoods with stops at a West Side church, a community center and even historic Wrigley Field.
Here’s the link to the story in the Belleville News-Democrat.
