The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 5

Local News of our communities, our region and state A5 -The Pantagraph Monday, September 1, 1997 ft QNDAVMEMOS try f'm A I.e.' --i i iff I Jl i -Jiiip ISlii sTCiif'L, 1 Pom squad attends dance camp Eleven members of the Normal Community West High School pompon squad recently nabbed several honors while attending the NCA Danz Camp at Illinois Wesleyan University. The team captured several awards, including earning a bid to the national Danz competition next spring in Dallas; the Gold Circle of Winners award for being the top dance team in the team performance competition; the Technical Excellence Award; the Superior Showmanship Award; the Team Leader Silver Award; and the Spirit Pom. Several individuals also were honored at the event. Kim Knut-son, Jill Epsicokhan and Betsy Smith were nominated as "All-American" dancers; Knutson also was named "Top Gun Leaps and Turns" winner and Epsicokhan was named "Top Gun Kicker" winner. The team, with a total of 18 members, performs at Normal West boys and girls basketball games.

a If -I mmmi (I The PantagrapWLLOYD YOUrQ Above, Dr. John Esch, right, chief of surgery, and registered nurse Marsha Reeves, director of surgical services, discussed the features of the new operating rooms under construction at OSF St. Joseph Medical Center. Below, Corey Silver, an operating room registered nurse, prepared one of the current operating rooms for a surgery. More room to operate OSF St.

Joseph nears finish of new surgical wing Dr. Leslie Quiram drove this car around the Twin Cities over the Labor Day weekend to promote the message that drinking and driving don't mix. Labor Day message driven home Dr. Leslie Quiram, a Twin City brain-stem specific chiropractor, has a message this Labor Day weekend: Don't drink and drive. While that message is nothing new, Quiram literally tried to drive it home by traveling around the Twin Cities in a 1957 Thun-derbird that was plastered with anti-DUI information.

With the support of the Bloomington Police Department, he took the car to the department on Friday and to weekend high school football games. He's driving it in today's Labor Day parade that begins at 10 a.m. in downtown Bloomington. Quiram came up with the idea "to raise the consciousness level," he said after a recent patient, a teen-ager, was killed in a car crash where the driver, also a teen, was legally drunk. Target collects books for literacy The Target store at Normal's College Hills Mall will be among the stores nationwide celebrating the back-to-school season by donating thousands of books to kids across the country.

Through Saturday, the store will have donations bins to collect new and like-new books, which will then be donated to family literacy programs across the country. "As a partner in the community, we are proud to be able to provide a program that will help in the development of families," said a Target spokeswoman. .1. I I for some surgeries. By PAUL SWIECH Pantagraph health editor Dr.

John Esch stood in an operating room at OSF St. Joseph Medical Center. Although it wasn't being used, it was still crowded, with an operating bed and other surgical equipment. Imagine adding the half-dozen people who generally assist during an operation, said Esch, chief of surgery at the Bloomington hospital. Oh, and don't forget the patient.

"We're just really sardined in here," Esch said. Things aren't much better in the hallway, where mobile storage racks line the walls. "We use every available inch," said Sharon Hoy, a registered nurse and clinical manager dressed in scrubs. The surgeon locker room is tight. The recovery room is small.

Two visitor waiting rooms are full. Leading a tour of the tight quarters, Esch was trying to illustrate why St. Joseph is building a replacement surgical services wing. "It's a crying need," he said. "It's not just because it would be nice to have." The wing is being built be-.

tween the medical center and Eastland Medical Plaza, where outpatient surgery is performed. The wing will replace the 29-year-old, square-foot surgical area. Ground was broken for the new wing last No-, vember. The scheduled completion date is OctA 18, with a blessing and dedication tentatively set for Nov. 7.

The wing is being built because the needs of Bloomington-Normal area patients, surgeons and hospital staff have changed, said Esch and Marsha Reeves, a registered nurse and director of surgical services. Since 1968, the area's population has grown and people are living longer. In addition, neuro (brain) surgery and cardiac (heart) surgery are performed in town now. In 1968, patients had to go elsewhere for those procedures. St.

Joseph now does up to 550 surgeries a month, including 350 open heart surgeries. Technology used by surgeons and hospital staff also has changed. For example, lasers and PL tKl monitors to view the patient's heart rate and blood pressure didn't exist years ago. That equipment requires room. Even staffing needs have changed, putting more people in the operating room, Hoy said.

Those changes have put pressure on the existing six operating rooms, which range in size from 280 square feet to 460 square feet. Some relief came eight years ago when Eastland Medical Plaza opened with three outpatient surgery rooms. Now, new inpatient operating rooms are needed, Esch said. The five operating rooms under construction in the new wing are 566 square feet. That's more room for surgeons and staff, as well as laser equipment, monitors, a better lighting system, in-room storage and in-wall X-ray view boxes, Esch and Reeves said.

Air circulation in the new wing is better, an intercom system allows communication between staff in two operating rooms, and a softer floor is being laid to assist surgeons and staff members who are on their feet for several hours A pneumatic tube has been installed to move tissue specimens and blood from the lab to tHe operating room. Now, those items move by dumbwaiter or are hand-carried, Hoy said. In addition, the recovery rooms, locker rooms and waiting rooms are larger. Because the addition is being built close to trje outpatient operating rooms, surgeons won't have to walk as far between outpatient and inpatient surgery rooms, Esch said. And patients can be moved among those rooms more quickly, he added.

"In any service organization, the push is tj ward efficiency," Esch said. The new wing wfll help surgeons and hospital staff to be more efficient, he said. 3 The wing and equipment will cost about $9 million. The existing inpatient surgery area will be renovated for respiratory therapy, an expanded intensive care unit family waiting area, the chaplain's living quarters and a sleeping area for on-call physicians and staff. 1 Alk.M Offices observe Labor Day Bloomington resident Kecia Jent, far left, National Youth Temperance Council executive director, presented a program at the recent Women's Christian Temperance Union convention as WCTU officials watched.

Area residents attend WCTU convention Local residents were among those attending the recent 123rd convention of the National Women's Christian Temperance Union in Kansas City, Mo. The WCTU is the oldest nonsectarian, nonpartisan woman's organization in the United States that educates about the harmful effects of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. "Few organizations or even churches stand unwaveringly for the same principles this long," said WCTU President Sarah Ward of Indiana. The convention also received encouragement from the youth membership, led by National Youth Temperance Council Executive Director Kecia Jent of Bloomington. Zoo's red panda dies Gretel, the Miller Park Zoo's 12-year-old red panda, was found Council candidate, South Hill leader dies By PAMELA CROSS Pantagraph staff A Bloomington neighborhood leader who ran for City Council earlier this year died Sunday of natural causes.

i dead in her exhibit last Stores will be open, but all local government offices, schools and financial institutions will be closed today for the Labor Day holiday. In addition, many other services are not operating, including mail delivery and the Bloomington-Normal Transit System. The Bloomington and Normal public libraries also are closed, and there will be no garbage pickup in either community. Instead, today's garbage routes will be collected Tuesday in Bloomington and Normal. The Normal City Council meeting also has been rescheduled to 7 p.m.

Tuesday at City Hall. While many businesses are closed, Amtrak is operating on its regular schedule and most retail businesses will be open, including Eastland and College Hills malls and the Bloomington-Normal Factory Stores. College Hills is open from noon to 5 p.m., while the Bloomington-Normal Factory Stores and Eastland's hours are from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. However, at Eastland, some anchor stores will be operating on a different schedule.

Those stores and times include: J.C. Irene Klink died at her South Hill neighborhood residence. She was 61. Klink was one of four primary candidates for the Ward 1 Bloomington City Council seat in February. She gained attention with an unusual occurrence in that runoff.

She tied longtime Alderman George Kroutil for second place with 58 votes each. John Rhoda was the top vote-getter in the primary. The primary was supposed to pare the candidates to two for the general election in April. A tie-breaking lottery was avoided when Kroutil surprised everyone, including Klink, by with Parade steps off at 10 a.m. The annual Labor Day parade, with a theme of "Organizing for our Future" begins at 10 a.m.

today in downtown Bloomington and ends at Miller Park. There will be union marching units along with floats, high school marching bands, construction equipment, antique cars and appearances by local elected officials and community service representatives. Also appearing for the first time will be the 300-member Illinois State University Marching Band. The parade will line up at 9 a.m. at Front and Center streets.

It will head west on Front to Lee Street, south to Wood Street and then travel west on Wood to the park. Penney, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Kohl's, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Sears, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Pantagraph's business and advertising offices will be closed today, but customer service will be open from 5 to 10 a.m. to serve readers needing assistance. The newsroom will maintain regular hours. Irene Klink week. Though old for a red panda, Wednesday's death was unexpected, zoo officials said.

The cause has not been determined, but preliminary examination indicates a possible heart and bowel problem. Gretel arrived at the zoo in April on permanent loan from the San Antonio Zoo. Miller Park Zoo Superintendent John Tobias told The Pantagraph at that time that Gretel was considered to be "retiring" here. Although distantly related to the more familiar giant panda, red pandas are more akin to raccoons, Tobias said. Arrangements had already been made with the Cincinnati Zoo for a second I mil 11 drawing from the race, citing health reasons.

Kroutil, a four-term alderman, told The Pantagraph in late February his decision to step down was made easier by his familiarity with the other candidates. Klink referred to him as a good friend. Rhoda went on to win the council seat for Ward 1 in the April election. An active longtime member and officer in the South Hill Neighborhood Association, Klink championed thel strengthening of neighborhoods through neighbor in-; volvement. She also was a proponent of recycling.

At a February campaign appearance with the other; Ward 1 candidates, she said, "Citizens should take on re-; sponsibility for educating new neighbors about the (recy- cling) program and making sure that they have the needed blue box." Beck Memorial Home is handling Klink's funeral arrangements. Her obituary is on Page B8. Gilman man struck, killed by train Pantagraph file photoMAUREEN O'CONNOR Gretel, the red panda, shortly after her arrival at Miller Park Zoo. red panda, which is scheduled to arrive in early October. Until then, the zoo will not have a red panda display.

Write to Monday Memos in care of The Pantagraph, 301 W. Washington Bloomington, IL61702-2907. GILMAN A 69-year-old Watseka man was killed Sunday after he was struck by an Amtrak passenger train, an Iroquois County sheriffs deputy said Sunday night. Joseph Aliotta was hit by the train as he stood on the platform at the Gilman train station about 7:55 a.m. Sunday.

Assistant Iroquois County Coroner Roy Baier said Aliotta was dead at the scene about 8:30 a.m. Gilman police are in charge of the investigation and are continuing to collect evidence and statements to learn how and why Aliotta was struck..