The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 4

A4 THE PANTAGRAPH, Tuesday, March 16, 1993 Olympia program to 'prep' students for technical jobs i I "tr 1. jl HQ Tto PantagraphA)AVlD PROEBER Playing hooky Temperatures that climbed into the low 50s yesterday lured Twin City residents outside in droves. Illinois State University sophomore Bob Carpenter proved you don't need ice for winter sports in his street adaptation of hockey. Carpenter, of Rapids City, and his friends took to a "rink" in Ash Park's parking lot in Normal. Driver in fatal crash to be released year because of the new census count The census showed a decrease in the number of people living below the poverty line in the district so state aid may drop, he said.

Ms. Struck said the census statistics are ironic because the number of students in the free lunch program at Olympia has been rising. She said the issue is still unresolved, so the loss of funding is not certain. In another matter, director of instructional programs Gary Woith informed the board about the new summer school program. The program, Grand Rapids Academic Summer Program, consists of correspondence lessons in mathematics and reading for elementary students.

Students participating in the program complete weekly lessons at home and send the answer sheets to the program headquarters in Grand Rapids, Mich. Woith said the program is a cost-effective alternative to traditional summer school and it helps students and parents work together to further educational goals. It also helps students to retain skills they learned during the regular school year. He said the cost of the program is $18.50 for one subject and $31.50 for both subjects. Cooney reported a committee researched court decisions and recommended that students be authorized to give the graduation benediction and invocation using non-sectarian language.

He also recommended that the board transfer baccalaureate exercises to the ministerial association. Under the committee's plan, the school would supply the facility for the baccalaureate ceremony but would not sponsor the activity. Cooney said the committee based many of its recommendations on an appellate court decision in Texas that sets restrictions on graduation ceremonies. In other business The board: Learned that Caterpillar Inc. has donated a $10,500 engine to the district for students to use in shop classes.

By DAVID BENTUN Pantagraph correspondent STANFORD The Olympia school board last night heard about a program at the high school assisting students as they prepare to enter the job force. Tech Prep is a nationwide program that includes applied courses in business, industrial technology, home economics, mathematics, science and English, according to Martha Wray, Olympia librarian and program coordinator. The object of the program is to develop new ways to prepare students by offering hands-on classes so they will be ready to obtain employment after school, Ms. Wray said. Olympia Middle and High School Principal Andrew Cooney said he visited Illinois Valley Central High School and was impressed with the program and how it helps students.

Six Tech Prep projects are being implemented at Olympia, with two more in the planning stages, Ms. Wray said. Strategic planning In other business, the board heard from Atlanta Elementary School Principal Bill Thomas and McLeanWaynesville Elementary Principal Kathy Riddle about the district's strategic planning project Eight action planning teams have been formed and started meeting in February, Thomas said. The teams consist of faculty, staff, community members and students. Each team has a strategy to analyze and summarize.

In September, the teams will present their findings to the school board. School board president Craig Alexander said the team concept will help to bring together different viewpoints from the large and diverse school district He added that the community members will be active participants in the process, not just observers. Superintendent Carol Struck said 60 people are working as team members and about 100 have been involved in the overall planning of the project The board also heard from business manager Bob Wilhelm, who said the district may lose $50,000 a an appeals court ruled that was excessive, he gave her the maximum five-year term. Under Illinois law, Mrs. Mott, 52, of Normal, was entitled to one day off her sentence for each day of good behavior.

She additionally qualified for 173 of a possible 180 days of supplemental good behavior credit, said Department of Corrections spokesman Brian Fairchild. After her release from Logan Correctional Center, where she served most of her sentence, Mrs. Mott must serve a year of mandatory supervised release, what formerly was known as parole. However, in practical terms, that means only that she must make a telephone call to a postrelease counselor and avoid arrest for a year, Fairchild said. Mrs.

Mott's relatives could not be reached to comment yesterday. due to be released anyway, said legal counsel Diane Ford. But while state law says Mrs. Mott has served her time, relatives of Douglas Dennis, 23, of Bloomington, and his cousin, Thomas Trotter, 33, of Normal, say that's not enough. "I don't feel the woman should be released after two years for killing two people," said Patricia Brining of Bloomington, who is Dennis' sister and Trotter's cousin.

"I'd like to see them change the law so when they say they're going to serve five years, they serve five years," said Dennis' mother, Dorothy Dennis, of Bloomington. The pair hopes to be guests on radio and television talk shows to promote their opposition to automatic early release of inmates. Although they blame the McLean County legal system, presiding Judge W. Charles Witte attempted to impose an eight-year sentence. After By DON THOMPSON Springfield bureau chief SPRINGFIELD Relatives' attempts to have Eleolore Mott released early from her reckless homicide prison sentence will no longer be necessary: She is to be released today after serving two years and one week of a five-year sentence.

Jlowever, relatives of her two victims say that isn't long enough. Last fall, Mrs. Mott's son and daughter asked Gov. Jim Edgar to grant her clemency on the grounds that she was mentally ill and couldn't control her actions Aug. 15, 1988, the day she rammed a motorcycle and car from behind as they stopped at a red light on Veterans Parkway in Normal.

Edgar didn't act to accept or reject the appeal, however, in part because Mrs. Mott was Officials asked for feedback on E-91 1 dispatch Ex-Bloomington man feared drowned By EMILY WILKERSON Pantograph staff Whether a LeRoy resident's cat is stuck in a tree or a Chenoa house is burning down, county residents' calls could be channeled through one place for help. About 100 representatives from public safety agencies in towns throughout the county took the first steps last night in developing the central communications center where dispatchers would answer both emergency 911 and nonemergency calls. The center would be part of an Enhanced 911 system already in about hiring, purchases and administration of the center. Bloomington, Normal and McLean County law enforcement officials support the plan.

But representatives from some towns outside the Twin Cities said they fear a communications center would cost them money and rob them of their autonomy. "Dealing with this large number of communities, I think everybody's afraid they're going to give something up," said LeRoy Police Chief Tim Goodson. "I think for what we give up, the benefits in return will be well worth it" the works in McLean County. Using the same dispatch center to answer seven-digit service calls would be more efficient and could be cheaper, said Pat McMahon, a consultant for the Emergency Telephone System Board. McLean County Sheriff Steve Brienen, board chairman, asked the public safety officials to notify the board's coordinator in the next two weeks if they are interested in developing the central communications center.

Interested representatives from every community also would be asked to form a board that would make decisions The county will be purchasing state-of-the art computer and radio equipment to develop an Enhanced 911 system using a $1.25 surcharge for each of the about 65,000 phone lines in the county. Dispatchers could use the same equipment to answer non-emergency calls phoned into the center on a seven-digit number, McMahon said. Because Bloomington, Normal, McLean County, Lexington, LeRoy and Chenoa each have their own dispatch centers, fewer employees would be needed to staff one site, he said. The single site also would expedite emergency calls in towns without a dispatch center. Six boats and a helicopter searched until dark Thursday, and a continued search Friday failed to turn up any sign of McCorkle, Phillips said.

Weekend checks by a single park service boat failed to discover further evidence. McCorkle is a former employee of a Twin City automobile dealer-; By Pantagraph staff A former Bloomington man is missing and presumed drowned after an apparent boating accident Wednesday on Lake Roosevelt Wash. National Parks Service spokesman George Phillips yesterday said a limited search for Carl D. ship. He had moved to Washington McCorkle, 41, of Spokane, within the past few months.

will continue for the next couple of Caterers could serve alcohol in proposed ordinance Phillips said Lake Roosevelt is about 250 feet deep, making diving for a body unlikely. Water and air; temperatures have been hovering in the 30s, he added. Water conditions were fairly calm, and the boat did not appear to have any mechanical problems. "It's a mystery," Phillips said, adding that witnesses had seen him earlier in the day and "everything appeared normal." weeks. The fisherman's abandoned boat with its motor still running was spotted on the lake Wednesday with two dogs aboard.

The dogs were rescued. His boat trailer and tow vehicle were found parked at a marina near the confluence of the Columbia and Spokane rivers, which makes up Lake Roosevelt effect in Normal, he said. In another matter, the Liquor Commission recommended renewal of the city's existing liquor and entertainment licenses. The liquor licenses are held by 36 restaurants and retail stores in the city. Entertainment licenses were granted to seven businesses.

able to serve alcohol but only charge party hosts for the cost of the liquor. The fee for that license would be $250 per year, plus a $5 registration fee per event "You can't make money on alcohol and you can't charge for a drink," Normal Attorney Wayne Karplus said. Class SP licenses would allow the current holders of Normal liquor licenses to have a cash bar. A retailer would be restricted to 12 SP licenses per year, he said. The SP license fee would be $100 for the first day, and $50 for the second and third days of an event Karplus said the license classifications are identical to Bloom-ington's, although the fee for Bloomington's Class license is $50.

Officials are trying to make the licenses reciprocal, meaning that all licenses could be used in both cities. "If Bloomington recognizes Normal licenses, then we would recognize their licenses," he said. But Karplus said Bloomington has not approved such an ordinance. If that city does not pass the ordinance, it would still go into By GARY MAYS Pantagraph staff Caterers would be able to serve alcohol legally in Normal under a catering ordinance being studied by city officials. The Normal Liquor Commission, which is made up of City Council members, last night discussed the prdinance.

Mayor Paul Harmon said he wanted to talk to current liquor license holders before the commission takes action on the measure. "The ordinance would create two classes of licenses. Class license holders would be Parks budget includes White Oak bridge The Parks Department also plans to replace the Miller Park concession stand after Labor Day. Rich said the concession stand, estimated to cost $35,000, will be moved to an area behind the outdoor theater and no longer feature inside seating, but rather serve park-goers through a walk-up window flanked by outdoor patio seating. Rich said the old concession stand no longer met McLean County Health Department By KURT ERICKSON Pantagraph staff A pedestrian bridge linking baseball diamonds at White Oak Lake with the remainder of the west-side park is among highlights of plans by Bloomington's parks department for 1993-94.

In a brief discussion of bricks and mortar projects last night, Parks chief Keith Rich told aldermen the $70,000 bridge over Sugar Creek was an item lobbied for by many residents in the area. To get from the ball diamonds to the rest of the park, pedestrians from the south must cross a narrow and heavily-traveled vehicular bridge with no sidewalks on Cottage Avenue. That said Rich, has made residents fear for the safety of children using the park. Construction of the bridge is scheduled to begin before next fall pending approval of the city's $79 million budget The capital improvements portion of the spending plan totals about $16 million. TELL US WHAT YOU WANT TO KNOW As part of our local election coverage, The Pantagraph interviews each of the candidates.

Join us as we question the candidates in the races for Bloomington mayor, Bloomington and Normal city council and City of Bloomington township supervisor by submitting your own question! We want to know what you want to know! The kind of questions we' re looking for are specific to an Issue and should be addressed to all candidates of a race. (Do not single out one candidate.) A sample question might be: Are you in favor of the consolidation of Normal's and Bloomington's fire and police departments? Take time to express your concerns; call CITYLINE on March 1 8 from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. It's a fast, simple way to get involved. CANDIDATE QUESTION LINE 829-9000 ENTER 4275 Education group raises another $50,000 in three years.

Interest on the endowment would then be used to fund innovative academic programs in the districts, such as math and science enrichment programs, artist-in-residence programs or parent workshops. For the remainder of the year, the foundation will concentrate on obtaining donations from employers in the Twin Cities, Leifel said. It also is preparing to award its first grants, totaling $5,000, on May 15, he added. As of last week, Leifel said, there had been seven applications seeking money. The application deadline closes March ing support from friends and associates.

"I think the community ought to be congratulated. It's an indication of the support there is for public education in Blooming-ton-Normal." The recent effort brings the group's total collections to more than $175,000 including $75,000 in cash and $52,500 in corporate pledges. The estimated $50,000 in individual donations included 47 charter memberships, which require a $1,000 donation. The goal of the foundation which is endorsed by both districts is to raise a $500,000 endowment By KAREN HANSEN Pantagraph staff "Fund raising for the Beyond the Books Educational Foundation continues to excel beyond expectations. IThe foundation, a joint venture of private citizens in Bloomington District 87 and Normal-based Unit raised about $50,000 in individual pledges during two recent weekend phone-a-thons, according to Foundation President Dan Lfeifel.

was very pleasantly surprised," Leifel said of the efforts, which involved about a dozen fouhdatiof board members solicit The I a a CITYLINE Information on call, 24 hours 829-9000.