The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 3

www.pantagi-aph.com The Pantagraph Wednesday, March 16, 2005 A3 LOCAL i I 1' 'V 7 Tom Whalen Steven Purcell i ft is If IK By M.K. Guetersloh mhgueterslohJjpantagrapri.com BLOOMINGTON Emergency-telephone-dispatch services, the downtown arena and making Bloomington a place friendly for business were top issues Tuesday for the candidates for Bloomington City Council. The McLean County Chamber of Commerce sponsored a forum-for candidates in Bloomington Wards 1, 3, 5 and 7 at the Interstate Center as part of its local-election series. "Metcom is not working," Ward 5 Alderman Jim Finnegan, who is running for re-election against Grant Hol-loway, said of the county's 911-dispatch center. "We are going to have to spend some money and that's too bad, but we have to look at the safety for our officers and our community." Aldermen Rich Veitengruber and Tom Whalen also are in favor of having the city pull out of Metcom and supported plans for Bloomington to establish its own dispatching center.

Holloway agreed that something needs to be done with Metcom. Instead of separating from the countywide emergency-telephone system, Holloway suggested the money intended for setting up a city dispatch center could be better spent on improving Metcom. Steven Purcell, who is challenging Whalen in Ward 7, said he is concerned how Bloomington will be perceived when it comes to future intergovernmental agreements with Normal and McLean County because of the city's withdrawal from Metcom. place," said Huette. While the city can't meet all requests for all the projects, Whalen said the council needs to look at all aspects of the re- quest and make the decision case by case.

In addition to providing some incentives, Veitengruber and Finnegan said the city needs to look at developing a better qual- ity of life for Bloomington residents meaning parks, the arena and the downtown Cultural District. Gibson said as long as businesses are making a profit, they will stay in Bloomington. Holloway said the right infrastructure projects, such as the extension of the sewer on the east side of Bloomington and an east-side highway, will continue the growth. Purcell said the community's educated and motivated work force makes the area attractive to industries and business. Normal City Council Adam Nielsen, who is running unopposed for his second term on the Normal City Council, also spoke at the forum.

Nielsen responded to criticism that many on the City Council do not understand small business. Nielsen, who works for the Illinois Farm Bureau, pointed out his education in economics and decisions he's made on the council that sup- port small businesses. He added that Normal Mayor Chris Koos, the owner of two small businesses, and Council-woman Sonja Reece, a former member of the chamber board, understand the needs of small business. XJ-J Alderman Kevin Huette is one of two who voted Monday, against an agreement that will allow the city to withdrawal from Metcom. He said he is concerned the city will spend the money to build its own dispatching center and still have the same service problems as it has with Metcom.

Greg Konnett, who is challenging Huette is Ward 3, could not attend the forum. Allen Gibson, Veitengruber's challenger in Ward 1, said he is concerned about the money being spent to leave Metcom. Arena While some of the candidates differed on whether they would have voted to build the $37 million, arena in downtown, all the candidates agreed that it's time to support the project. Most said that ensuring the project succeeds will reduce any burden to the taxpayers who may have to make up any shortfalls in its budget. The arena is under construction at Front and Lee streets.

When it comes to encouraging businesses to locate and grow in Bloomington, several candidates said the City Council needs to help where it can. "Incentives have a time and a A. 1. The PantagraphLORI ANN COOK Mary Lynn Edwards showed some of her more than 750 postcards from her St. Patrick's Day collection.

Many of her cards are a booklet type. istory in cards United Way of Pontiac reaches campaign goal St. Patrick's Day facts St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland whose feast day became a holiday almost worldwide, is surrounded by legends. I The fifth century is said to have ridded Ireland of all its snakes.

While there were no snakes in Ireland, the legend arose from the snake as a pagan symbol, and relates to St. Patrick bringing Christianity to the Emerald Isle. I The patron saint of Ireland was not even born in Ireland, but rather in Britain. As a young man, he was taken by raiders into slavery in Ireland. He escaped after six years in captivity and went on to study theology in Britain.

At age 45, he became a bishop and set up hundreds of churches in Ireland. He died March 17, A.D. 460. Residents of the United States, Canada and Australia have traditionally held some of the biggest St. Patrick's Day celebrations in the world.

Today, Japan, Singapore and Russia also celebrate March 17. In Ireland, St. Patrick's Day was traditionally a religious holiday until 1995, when the government began a national campaign to promote tourism and make the day a secular showcase of Ireland. More than 1 million people took part in the St. Patrick's Festival in Dublin.

St. Patrick's Day TV show What: "The History of St. Patrick's Day" When: 6 p.m. Thursday Where: The History Channel i rut mac I 1 ,1 By Phyllis Coulter pcoulterpantagraph.com NORMAL Postcards created a century ago to celebrate St. Patrick's Day were seldom politically correct by today's standards, but collector Mary Lynn Edwards likes them anyway.

During the period these postcards were made, Irish people were the targets of discrimination and negative stereotypes. For example, some postcards depict a red-nosed, drunken Irishman, said Edwards who has collected 30,000 postcards many with an Irish theme since she first got interested in the hobby in 1980. "My grandmother was Irish and I went to a school with Irish nuns," Edwards said, explaining her special interest. Some of her favorite postcards were created in the golden age of postcards, 1893 to 1918. That's when printers in Germany had developed a high quality printing process, she said.

In the early 1900s, the sender couldn't write a message on a postcard, hut today's familiar divided back half for an address, half for a message appeared after World War I. One could send them for a penny, she said. Edwards, a member of the postcard division of Corn Belt Philatelic Society, often is invited to talk to people about her collection this time of year. Antique postcards with a St. Patrick's Day theme can be had for a dollar or two, but some in By Karen Blatter pontiacpantagraph.com PONTIAC Members of the United Way of Pontiac were thrilled Tuesday to announce they have reached their fund-raising goal because they were worried about it just last week.

"Last week, we received two checks that we were not expecting," said coordinator Dee Ingles. "It put us a smudge over our goal." In May, the board of directors set a goal of $176,000, which was up $2,500 from the year before. On Tuesday, board members updated the United Way thermometer on the corner of Mill and Howard streets to reflect meeting the goal. At the campaign celebration in January, United Way President Gary Bressner said the organization had reached 91 percent of its goal. At the time, Bessner encouraged people to pass the hat and donate just a few more dollars.

"It helped," he said. "We had smaller, individual donations come in, and then the two checks. It helped out in the very end." Reaching the goal means that most of the groups the United Way serves will receive their funding expectations, which were set about a year ago. The United Way provides funding for a variety of local organizations, including Boys and Girls Club of Pontiac, Mid Central Community Action and Peace Meal. "We are excited," said Bessner.

"It has taken a lot of extra effort. Small donations always help fill the gaps." Ingles said she expects agencies to continue to need more funding in the next few years as state funding decreases and giving will be even more important. The board will announce its goal for the 2005-2006 campaign in a few months. The organization started the 2004 campaign in September with a breakfast featuring Chicago Bears linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer. November marked the end of the campaign, but money is al- The PantagraphKAREN BLATTER tially, and they can be a good resource for learning a community's history Edwards collects other holiday postcards.

Halloween postcards are most expensive to collect, followed by Santa Claus postcards, St. Patrick's Day and ordinary Christmas postcards. She sells postcards and other antiques at the El Paso Antique Mall, earning money to buy. more. She and husband, Philip, travel to New York City and St.

Louis to attend stamp and postcard shows. Edwards' collection have silk inlays and are worth about $75. There are many images of Uncle Sam and St. Patrick together and with intertwined flags of the two countries. These celebrations of Irish-American unity were especially popular with Irish immigrants.

She estimates she has about 1,000 St. Patrick's Day postcards in three albums and a sizable collection of Bloomington and Normal postcards. She said most people start collecting hometown cards ini Cindy Munch, United Way of Pontiac campaign co-chairwoman, added the final update to the organization's sign Tuesday to show the group met its goal of raising $176,000. ways accepted. Local grade schools helped to raise about $280 with penny drives.

Also, an advance drive raised about $18,000 for the campaign. Heartland OKs spending more on center Man killed in trench collapse for construction included working with the state, seeking money from local businesses, working to increase federal contributions and looking to additional tuition increases. Tuition increase The $3 per hour tuition increase, effective this summer, means a full-time student taking 15 hours a semester will pay $1,890 a year instead of the current $1,650. The increase had been discussed at previous meetings as a way to deal with a continual decline in state aid. At $63 per credit hour, Heartland remains under the state average for its 48 community colleges.

That is $69 per credit hour. Some suburban colleges have increased tuition by as much as 13 percent for next semester, said Heartland spokeswoman Janet Hill-Getz. Enrollment has increased 25 percent and state aid has dropped 30 percent, Heartland President Jon Astroth said. increase tuition per credit hour to $63. The new tuition rate goes into effect this summer.

Construction on the work force development center is set to begin in the last week of April. Widmer said contracts would be awarded within the next month. Although the state has promised to fund most of the $19 million project and gave Heartland the go-ahead to seek bids in January Gov. Rod Blagojevich's promised funds have yet to be released. After the meeting, Widmer reiterated Heartland's confidence in the promised money and noted Heartland's portion of funding would be spent first anyhow.

"We've had the support of the governor's office through the entire project," he said. During the meeting, several board members agreed with that throwing out the bids wouldn't necessarily bring lower bids, and that excellent contractors now are in the mix. Suggestions to get the additional money By Mlchele Steinbacher msteinbacheriSpantagrapri.com LINCOLN Heartland Community College officials agreed to spend at least $763,000 more than planned on building the college's work force development center, largely because of higher-than-expected bids. "If we are going to proceed, we need to identify some more money or throw everything (bids) out and start all over," Rob Widmer, Heartland vice president of finance and. business, told the college board at its meeting Tuesday at the school's Lincoln campus.

Other options under consideration could drive the overage to more than $1 million. The board agreed to move forward with the project, opting to look for ways to cut costs andor find more money for the project. Also at the meeting, the board voted to trench walls collapsed. Wallace said Melvin Water Superintendent Wesley Young was on the scene to shut off the water when the accident happened. He dialed 911.

Wallace said he did not know if Glenn was being employed by a contractor, nor did he know if safety equipment had been in use. Glenn, who was Wall Township road commissioner, also farmed, Wallace said. An autopsy was scheduled for today. Wallace said an inquest would be conducted. PANTAGRAPH STAFF MELVIN A rural Melvin man died Tuesday morning when a trench in which he was working collapsed on him.

William W. Glenn, 66, of 1170 North 1400 East Road, was pronounced dead at Gibson Area Hospital in Gibson City shortly after the 11:25 a.m. accident. Ford County Coroner Doug Wallace said Glenn was digging a trench to work on a septic line at the Saul Fores residence, 312 E. Third St.

in Melvin, when the 6-foot.