Benton, West Frankfort, Illinois News | Franklin County News
Newspaper covering Franklin County, Illinois
The Franklin County Highway Department has issued road closures in the county due to flooding.
Roads that are impassable due to water as of Sunday, June 2 are: Deering Road, Park Street Road and Peach Orchard Road.
Emergency management officials remind drivers not to attempt to cross when water is over the roadway. The rule used is: Turn around, don’t drown.
Staff Report
Franklin County Treasurer John Gulley announced today that 2012 payable 2013 real estate tax bills will be mailed on Friday, June 7, 2013. Installment payments are due on Tuesday, July 9, 2013, and Monday, September 9, 2013.
Beginning Monday, June 10, 2013, payments can be accepted in person at the Treasurer’s Office at the Franklin County Courthouse in Benton , at most banks in Franklin County , or via mail. Banks cannot accept late payments. When making payment, please bring or send your statement along with your check.
Taxes can also be paid on the internet at www.franklincountyil.org using most major credit and/or debit cards. A convenience fee will apply. This fee is not charged nor collected by the Franklin County Treasurer’s Office.
Taxpayers are reminded that there is a late payment penalty of 1.5 percent per month for installments not paid by the installment due dates.
If you have not received your tax bill by June 21, 2013, please call the Treasurer’s Office at (618) 438-7311. If the bill you have received should go to someone else, please call or return the bill to the treasurer’s office with the name and address of the new owner.
For more information about 2012 payable 2013 real estate taxes, please contact Franklin County Treasurer John Gulley’s office at (618) 438-7311.
James Leon Wilson, 74, died Friday, May 31, 2013, in Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.
Mr. Wilson was born April 8, 1939, in Jefferson County, to James Herbert and Clara Ileta (Harrison) Wilson.
He married Mary Fay (Kiselewski) Wilson on June 10, 1961. He was a coal miner.
Mr. Wilson is survived by his children, Veronica and Ed Sample of St. Charles, Mo., Joe and Lori Wilson of Kirksey, Ky., Sheila Maher of Sesser, Aleta Combs of Sesser and Robert Wilson of Scheller; grandchildren, Katie (Jarred) Griffin, Patrick Sample, Abby Haskins, Jessica Jenkins, Ashley Ambeau, David Jenkins, Dara Wilson, Kris Cole, Vincent Ambeau, Greg Jenkins, Emily Haskins, Tristin Cole, Macy Wilson, Zane Wilson, Thomas Combs, Rebecca Combs, Catherine Combs and Kolton Wilson; and great-grandchild, Axton Lowery.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
Funeral services will be on Tuesday June 4, at 10:30 a.mm. in Brayfield-Gilbert Funeral Home in Sesser, with Father Peter Balili officiating. Interment will be in Knob Prairie Cemetery in Waltoville. Visitation will be on Monday, June 3 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the funeral home.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to M.D. Anderson Cancer Research or to the American Lung Association and will be accepted at the funeral home
For more information, visit www.gilbertfuneralhomes.com.
SCOTTSBORO, Ala. – Rend Lake College golfer Dayton Jones (Hopkinsville, Ky.) finished 19th for a spot on the Second Team of NJCAA DII Men’s Golf All-Americans.
Dayton Jones
Jones carded a 76 on Friday to put him four strokes over par at 292 for the final tournament of his freshman season at Rend Lake. The 2013 NJCAA DII Men’s Golf Championships at Goose Pond Colony Plantation featured 122 golfers and some outstanding rounds – including a tournament-low 66 for medalist David Keenan of Parkland College and Steve Souchek of John A. Logan.
Jones started the tournament with a 71 and was tied for 11th. He followed that up with another 71 in the second round and moved into a tie for 9th. He slipped out of the top 10 with a three-over 74 on Thursday and shot a 76 on Friday to finish 19th.
Jones emerged this spring as RLC’s lead golfer. He tied for fourth place at the John A. Logan Spring Invite, tied for 11th at the Weist Foundation Classic in Decatur, and was The Lake’s lone national qualifier with a fourth-place tie at the Region XXIV Tournament.
South Mountain Community College in Arizona won a decisive team championship this year with four players finishing in the top 10 for combined team score of 1,139 (-13).
For all things athletic at The Lake, visit RLC online at www.rlc.edu/warriors.
EWING – Harl Gene “Heavy Dog” Harmon, 71, formerly of Sesser, died May 23, 2013, in Select Hospital in Evansville, Ind.
Gene was a retired coal miner. He worked at Old Benn 21 for 33 years. He also was an avid fisherman and hunter.
He was born March 24, 1942, in Christopher to Aaron and Ruth (Mezo) Harmon. He was married to Geneva (Alexander) Harmon.
Survivors include children, Marty Harmon of Sesser, Alisa and Scott Square of Naples, Fla., Dana and Allen Byrns of Sesser and Jeffery Harmon, also of Sesser; grandchildren, Todd Harmon, Nathan and Natasha Harmon, Cassidy Harmon, Tanner Square, Hunter Square, Danae and Jarrett Kelly, Addison Harmon and Sumer Harmon; great-grandchildren, Haden Harmon and Mayson Harmon.
He was preceded in death by his parents; and two sisters, Muriel Owens and Dorothy Mae Harbison.
Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Friday, May 31, in Maple Hill Cemetery in Sesser with the Rev. Mark Minor officiating. Family and friends are asked to meet at the cemetery.
Gene will be sadly missed by his family and friends.
Brayfield-Gilbert Funeral Home in Sesser is in charge of arrangements.
For more information, go to www.gilbertfuneralhomes.com.
Students make decisions about studying for careers with some facts, but far too few when the costs are so high. Ask anybody with a collection agency in tow and a degree and no job. When education was 80 percent state subsidized it was not a problem. It is now.
If a decision-making process is flawed and dysfunctional, decisions will go awry.
Carly Fiorina
___________________________________________________
By Walter Wendler
Whenever someone would walk in my office for a meeting I didn’t schedule, I would ask, “How much do you need?” The first response was always, “This is not about money it’s about academic excellence,” or “This is about a better working environment for faculty and staff,” or “This is about propelling the University forward.” About 3 minutes into the conversation “the ask” was made and I would say, “See, I told you so.”
I would then go into my standard pitch which included this epithet, “This challenge is not ours alone, but the people at Harvard — who have more money than God — are sitting around a desk like this one at this very moment decrying the lack of resources.” It’s the nature of chasing excellence.
As states reduced funding, universities infrequently modified mission and allocated scarce resources to the highest priorities. Debt deferring students are paying the freight with increased tuition and fees as the salve for scarcity’s wound. Lately they are not too happy about it.
There are ways to increase resources for the highest priorities… the same way it happens in a household… tough decision making. If libraries are seen as the foundation of success for a university, invest in libraries — stadiums, students, faculty, and staff — same deal.
If leadership cannot assign priorities and continues increasing tuition and fees there is a high price to pay in dollars and public confidence. Debt burdens grow, students seek lower-cost alternatives, faculty move and, as always, the marketplace relentlessly rules. Students and families pick the cost/quality/utility equation that works for them.
A devastating statistic from a Wells Fargo study reported by Halah Touryalai in Forbes last week is captured in the title, “Student Loan Problems: One Third Of Millennial’s Regret Going To College.”
Increasing costs and the perceived need to serve more and more students with less and less money is backbreaking work for the bean counters and leaves students holding the bag in bewilderment. The debt and learning time-bomb continues to tick.
Last week Louisiana announced a plan to fund projects on community college campuses to train plumbers, welders, nurses, and others for high demand occupations. The protestations of Louisiana’s university leadership followed closely, with wailing and gnashing of teeth: Too much for the two year schools.
Populism, politics, and old-fashioned persuasion create community college charm. Legislators perceive, rightly or wrongly, that investment for a skilled workforce have high public value. The investment in some university education tends to be less easily justified: that is the political reality.
Unfortunately too many institutions say “yes” to students not ready to study: They crave the loan dollars students are willing to sign up for. There is institutional responsibility in this debt burden. There is also political responsibility as government insured loan money is available regardless of ability to pay-back. Responsible behavior must prevail: Otherwise, the public trust, and the lives of individual student borrowers are compromised.
Thirty-three percent say, “This was a mistake?” Something’s kaput.
According to the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys in a study published last February graduating college seniors debt loads are growing at 5% per year. More troubling: The 35 to 49-year-old age group debt burdens grew by nearly 50%. Parent’s loans for the education of their offspring have increased 75% since 2005, and the average $34,000 borrowed by mom and dad exceeds $50,000 over a 10 year repayment plan. Meanwhile, default rates on government loans are near 20%.
The National Association of Home Builders says student indebtedness is having a negative impact on home buying. The education bubble popping the recovering housing bubble: Same song, different tune.
It must stop but it requires the political will of elected officials to demand accountability from universities and students have some proof of performance in their portfolio before borrowing. Especially as the cost of education increases: A wider gate at lower-cost community colleges, more scrutiny at the more expensive state flagships.
Or, on the other hand, we can tolerate or condone what Sussette Sheree Timmons pulled off according to a Dallas Morning News story last week. Ms. Timmons enrolled in and dropped out of 13 colleges since 2009, being granted financial aid and not attending or participating: A racket in this exaggerated and thankfully rare case. We hope.
She faces fraud charges. We hope.
Thirteen institutions ignorant? We hope.
Michele Renee’ Grubaugh, 38, died Thursday, May 23, 2013, at Memphis University Hospital in Tennessee.
She was born Sept. 9, 1974, in Joliet, to Thomas and Bea (Easley) Freeman of Sesser.
Surviving are her sisters and brothers November Freeman of Sesser, Thomas John Freeman of Sesser, Gary Willis of Tonica, IL, Robin Martin of Dowell and Toshya Willis of Sesser.
She was preceded in death by her father.
Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 29, in Brayfield-Gilbert Funeral Home in Sesser, with the Rev. Brad Wilson officiating. Burial will be in Maple Hill Cemetery in Sesser. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Memorials may be made to family to help with funeral expenses.
For more information, visit www.gilbertfuneralhomes.com.
Alva Edward Odle, 77, of Benton, passed away Thursday, May 23, 2013 at Heartland Regional Medical Center in Marion.
He was born in Benton, IL on July 18, 1935.
Mr. Odle worked for years as a body man and also worked in mine construction and appliance resale.
He was a member and former officer in the Fraternal Order of Eagles.
Mr. Odle is survived by five children, Denny Odle, of Benton, Mike Odle and wife Wendy, of Macedonia, Robert Odle and wife Deborah, of Benton, Bryan Odle, of Illinois and Wendy Odle Garrett, of Olney.
He is also survived by a stepdaughter, Peggy Lynn Tucker Martin, of Olney; his companion Kathy Shelton; of Benton; his best friend Fred West, of Benton; one brother James “Crow” Odle, of Benton. Also surviving are grandchildren Miki Lampley, Amanda Odle, Amy Odle, Jamy Odle, Debbra Odle, Shane Fitzpatrick, Sierra Odle, Dylan Odle, Rhonda Odle, Crystal Odle, Dominique Dontez Odle, Nikeisha Rachell Odle and Jim Dale Rathbun, Jr., 17 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.
Mr. Odle was preceded in death by his father, Charles “Chick” Odle and by his mother Mary Rusher and by a sister, Louise Conner Wallace.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 25 at Morton & Johnston Funeral Home in Benton. Burial will be in the Masonic & Oddfellows Cemetery, in Benton. Visitation will be after 12 noon on Saturday at Morton & Johnston Funeral Home. Memorials may be made to the family.
On May 22, 2013 Benton Police were dispatched to Fred’s Convenient Store located at 215 Bailey Lane in reference to retail theft. Upon arrival and through investigation, police arrested Kevin S. Kleinwachter, age 46, of Benton for retail theft and aggravated battery. Kleinwachter was charged and transported to the Franklin County Jail for further processing.
On May 22, 2013 Benton Police arrested Richard W. Key, age 41, of Valier for driving while license suspended and operating an uninsured vehicle. Key was charged and transported to the Franklin County Jail for further processing.
Randall R. Roberts, 74, of Benton, passed away Sunday morning, May 19, 2013 at Good Samaritan Hospital in Mt. Vernon.
He was born in Benton, IL on Sept. 13, 1938, the son of Roy and Edith (Carpenter) Roberts.
He married Rose Mary (Bettress) on August 3, 1973, and she preceded him in death on September 3, 2010.
Mr. Roberts was an Army veteran and was a member of the South Benton Missionary Baptist Church.
Mr. Roberts is survived by three sons, Charles W. Roberts and wife Kathy, of Winter Haven, FL, Randy Roberts and fiancee Carrie, of Marion and Joshua Roberts and wife Keshia, of Benton. He is also survived by five grandchildren, Elijah, Logan, Matt, Mark and John and one granddaughter on the way, Kaitlyn.
Also surviving are two brothers, Darrell Roberts and wife Malinda, of Benton and John Roberts and wife Darlene, of Benton; two special nieces, Jane Stowers, of Benton and Lucille Elko, of Benton.
Mr. Roberts was preceded in death by his parents, by his wife Rose Mary Roberts and by several brothers and sisters.
Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, May 24, 2013 at the South Benton Missionary Baptist Church with Brother Robert Ray officiating. Burial with military rites will be in the Williams Chapel Cemetery in Ewing. Visitation will be after 11 a.m. on Friday at the church.
The Morton & Johnston Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
