The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 5

www.pantagraph.com Pantagraph 'Thursday, April 19, 2007 A5 LOCAL STATE HEYWQRTH ELEtUQlLZDD? Simon's loss to incumbent came on her own merits Trustees scuttle asphalt plant idea By Jim Suhr ASSOCIATED PRESS Sheila Simon never wanted her famous surname to influence whether people voted for her as mayor of the southern Illinois town of Carbondale. And in the end, it didn't. Simon daughter of the late Paul Simon, the former U.S. senator and presidential candidate known for his bow ties and squeaky clean image fell short Tuesday in her bid for mayor, losing one of the state's most closely watched local races to incumbent Brad Cole by 502 votes. When she decided to run, Simon said she intended to run on her own merits and, though she was proud of her surname, wouldn't exploit it.

"I sure tried not to have it play a role," she said Wednesday According to unofficial results, Cole received 2,201 votes to Simon's 1,699 votes in the race for the four-year, seat leading the city that's home to Southern Illinois University's flagship campus. Mackinaw could be ready to open door to mailboxes By Connie Seastedt seastedtfamilyyahoo.com MACKINAW Mackinaw residents soon may have a choice for how they get their mail, thanks to the results in a Tuesday referendum. By a 234-84 vote, the community opted to drop a prohibition on mailboxes in town. Village President Craig Friend said it is up to the Village Board to pass a new ordinance reversing the ban imposed since the mid-1990s. Postal officials say logistics still need to be worked out before free mail delivery to homes and businesses more than a quarter of a mile from the post office.

can begin. Questions include placement of mailboxes and whether the post office will need to add staff. "In the '90s, people voted to only have the post office boxes because of aesthetics and safety as many of the streets were narrow," said Friend. "With all the growth that has taken place in the past four to five years with many people moving in from the bigger cities, opinions had been voiced to do away with the ban." Friend said he was surprised the referendum went the way it did. He said he had heard from many residents who still didn't want mailboxes at their homes "because of safety concerns, including fears of identity theft.

"Many like their mail locked up and safe, and whenever this new change does happen, they still have that option," said Friend. Brian Wagner, customer relations coordinator for the U.S. Postal Service in Peoria said the Postal Service will meet with village officials to establish what needs to be done to set up PantagraphCEASAR MARAGNl Perry Knop, left, speaks to Sheila Simon at Simon's post-election party at Mugsy McGuire's in Carbondale. Simon, daughter of the late Paul Simon, fell short Tuesday in her bid for mayor. Write-in candidate wins seat on Olympia board By Troy Semple heyworthstarverizon.net HE YWORTH A proposal to locate an asphalt plant on Hey-worth's west side is apparently off the table after the mayor and village trustees expressed little support for the project.

Mayor Steve Crum listened to comments from two people, then later offered his thoughts and polled trustees for their opinions on the proposal by Entler Excavating Co. of Decatur. "Everybody I've talked to in the past two weeks is concerned about the smell," Crum said Monday "No one can sit here and tell us for sure about the smell. I can't find anybody who can give me assurance and pinpoint exactly what to expect from an asphalt plant." Resident Mark Ryburn said he found plenty of negative information on asphalt plants after a search on the Internet. Ryburn said he was concerned about the environmental effects of emissions from the plant and how that may affect the health of his wife, who has battled cancer in past years.

"You can mask the smell all you want to, but that won't eliminate the chemicals that are released into the air," said Ryburn. Trustee Eric Russow agreed, saying he was concerned about groundwater contamination and the threat to the village's water supply, which is less than a mile downstream from the proposed site. Trustee Todd Zalucha said he felt the board was given little time to study the issue. "I don't feel I have enough information to make any kind of decision," said Zalucha. "However, it was obvious not just from the public hearing but also from the citizens' petition that there is little support for the asphalt plant." Trustee Randy Eilts said he had not seen anything in writing that would allow him to begin to evaluate the proposal.

"I feel like we're wasting a lot "You can mask the smell all you want to, but that won't eliminate the chemicals that are released into the air." Mark Ryburn Hey worth resident of time on something that has not even been proposed in writing," said Eilts. "Just like the Enterplex. Look at how much time and money we wasted on that, and we didn't get anything in writing. That's exactly the way I feel about the asphalt plant. Until I see in writing a proposal of what their plans are and the infrastructure they plan on putting in, I'm not even concerned about it." Zalucha said the board should be careful about scrutinizing every project proposed for the village because commercial development is desperately needed.

"Obviously, increasing our property taxes via commercial development is ideal," said Za-. lucha. "As we don't have commercial development, what I'm concerned about is that we're going to continue to have the budget crunch that we have now. I don't think it's going to change what we're going to do with the asphalt plant, but looking forward, we're going to have to make some hard decisions as to what we're going to attract here." Crum said he did not want to discourage commercial development. "I appreciate Entler Corp.

and Troy Dunker and their thought process in offering to have us entertain the proposal," Crum said. "It's not that we're trying to push business out, we're open for business. But in this particular line of business, there are so many unanswered questions." "I believe it's happened before in an instance where there was no opposition, but not for a school board with so many said Hahn. "We have to of course wait for final certification, but I think everyone will work well together." Hansen said she considered running following Olympia's previous, unsuccessful tax increase referendums in recent years, but she never did. After undergoing major surgery in mid-February, she was not sure she could have committed the time and energy to running for the board this year.

Things changed following a speedy recovery, however, and Hansen said she decided after talking with her family to register as a write-in candidate. "Laura, Kevin and I may have run independently but we all were in this race for the best of the students," said Hansen. "I hope to make a difference in students' lives and reach out to those communities with no elementary schools," she said. "At the end of the day, my hope is that after a student leaves Olympia, they are ready to enter the competitive field of finding a job or entering higher By Connie Seastedt seastedtfamilyiyahoo.com STANFORD A write-in candidate has won a seat on the Olympia school board, elections officials announced Wednesday. Carolyn Hansen of Minier had 1,355 write-in votes in the four-county district, pushing her past Rose Willis of Hopedale, who had 1,243 votes.

Write-in results were not available until Wednesday "I'm just thrilled and humbled by all that stood behind me in this election. I was cautiously optimistic as the votes were being counted, but I knew I was fighting an uphill battle," said Hansen, a manager in the learning and development department of State Farm Insurance Cos. Incumbents Laura Cremeens and Kevin Frazier retained their board seats because they each had more votes that Willis. There were six people on the ballot for the three seats, and Hansen was the seventh candidate. Olympia Superintendent Donald Hahn said it is difficult for a write-in candidate to win an election, and he could not recall the last time this has happened.

Roanoke man wins board seat on write-in campaign BT PANTAGRAH STAFF ROANOKE Bob Huschen won a last-minute write-in campaign to fill an unexpired two-year term on the Roanoke Village Board. Huschen defeated write-in opponent Mike Orr 137-24. Neither Huschen nor Orr sought the position at the village's caucus in January and neither filed to run as an independent candidate on the ballot after the caucus. Write-in candidates a.re required to file paperwork with the county clerk stating their intention to run. Huschen said he didn't run to promote any particular platform, but he thinks the village has enough laws.

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