Free Press Advocate

Heavy rains leave their calling card

Published by admin on Tue, 02/20/2018 - 7:50pm

The calendar still reads February. But just a week after snow and fog, folks started this week with balmy temperatures and a thunderstorm.
The National Weather Service reported that the rain that washed away much of the snow piles in town dumped between two and four inches of precipitation in Will County on Feb. 19 and 20, including 2 inches in Joliet and Plainfield, 2.47 inches in Wilmington, 2.25 inches in Coal City, 2.51 inches in Peotone, and 3.07 inches in Crete.
Areas of flooding were widespread throughout Will County on Tuesday, as temperatures hit the upper 60s.

11 percent to break even

Published by admin on Tue, 02/20/2018 - 7:43pm

    A preliminary recommendation for a water rate increase is just the beginning — city officials expect they’ll be raising that rate and increasing other rates and fees before the beginning of the next fiscal year.
    The superintendents of the water and wastewater systems, Pat Nugent and Darin Fowler respectively, developed long-range plans for each system that address regular maintenance, expansion and replacement of outdated infrastructure. Now city officials have to find ways to fund those improvements while making sure the systems stay operational.

WBSA to build restrooms in Island Parks

Published by admin on Tue, 02/13/2018 - 7:56pm

    The Wilmington Baseball and Softball Association makes a capital improvement or two on the community’s ballfields every year, and has agreed to take on a project at the request of the city that will solve the organization’s portable toilet problem.
    One of Mayor Roy Strong’s goals is to rebuild the restrooms in the island parks. He announced last week that the WBSA has committed to building a restroom on the South Island and rehabilitating the former facility on the North Island.

Council approves administrator contract

Published by admin on Tue, 02/13/2018 - 7:54pm

    The Wilmington City Council approved an amended contract for its new full-time city administrator, with a base salary of $98,000 plus guaranteed annual increases.

Hoping for an historical find

Published by admin on Tue, 02/13/2018 - 7:52pm

    He thought there was an outside chance that he had a genuine historical artifact, and wouldn’t it be nice if it could bring some money to his granddaughter, who found it.
    He brought the aged and brittle document to The Free Press Newspapers for some guidance.
    A Braidwood resident who asked not to be identified hoped that what his granddaughter found when cleaning out a house was an authentic copy of President Abraham Lincoln’s neatly penned Gettysburg Address.

Schools ‘healthy’ despite tough flu season

Published by admin on Tue, 02/06/2018 - 6:22pm

    Three urban schools closed in January for a good disinfecting to disrupt the spread of influenza; but local educational institutions aren’t seeing the absences that would require such a cleanup.
    The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported Friday that as of Jan. 27, hospitalizations for influenza were the highest seen, even higher than in 2014-15, the previous high season, and that flu activity continues to increase, resulting in crowded hospitals and spot shortages of antiviral medications and rapid influenza tests.

Veterans outreach, support group moves in

Published by admin on Tue, 02/06/2018 - 6:20pm

    It’s a long haul to go to Chicago for services, so a Chicago area veterans support organization is bringing outreach services down here.
    K9s for Veterans will provide veterans services and train service dogs at The Center, the area community center in Custer Park owned and operated by the Godley Public Water District. The Center’s tenants include Grief Anonymous, the Braidwood Area Coalition for a Healthy Community and TEACH Outdoors, an organization that introduces youngsters to traditional activities such as fishing, camping and hunting.

Coalition planning second post prom event

Published by admin on Tue, 02/06/2018 - 6:16pm

    The pressure is on — after putting on such a successful post prom last year, the Wilmington Coalition for a Healthy Community is under the gun to host an even bigger and better event this year.
    Ninety high school students attended the post prom in 2017, which was about half the number of students who attended the prom. Coalition members think that for a first event, 50 percent was a very good participation rate.

The other riverfront park

Published by admin on Tue, 01/30/2018 - 6:32pm

    The Wesley Township Board and a corps of volunteers have done more to develop the riverfront park that was gifted to the township than could be accomplished with any grant award. A to-do list will see even more improvements this year, which will help secure Rivals Lookout Park’s place as a destination for recreation.
    Merlin Karlock, of Bourbonnais, donated the former Rivals Club site to the township in 2009. Karlock had purchased the property and cleaned it up — he removed dilapidated buildings, rusted out campers, garbage, old brush piles and dead trees.

Second track for HSR will come, eventually

Published by admin on Tue, 01/30/2018 - 6:27pm

    City engineer Colby Zemaitis recently told the City Council that there’s no hard and fast timeline to say when the state and Union Pacific Railroad will move forward with its second track through town.