News

School Board makes policy on social, emotional screenings

Published by admin on Tue, 06/13/2017 - 7:44pm

    Beginning in the next school year, age-appropriate developmental and social and emotional screenings are required parts of the health examinations given when students enter kindergarten or first grade, sixth  and ninth grade, or when enrolling in an Illinois school for the first time.

Last windmill standing tall at in Goose Lake

Published by admin on Tue, 06/13/2017 - 7:27pm

Standing high above the prairie on one of the paths is the only remaining windmill at the Goose Lake Prairie State Natural Area. Years ago there were seven windmills providing water for early settlers and their animals that once lived on the property which is now the park.
The park, located at 5010 N. Jugtown Road between I-55 and Route 47 near Coal City, consists of restored and native prairie and two picnic areas each with a playground. Walking paths that wind through the prairie all started from near the Gunnar A. Peterson visitor center and of course the Cragg Cabin.

Safety first

Published by admin on Tue, 06/13/2017 - 7:23pm

As summer celebrations commence, the sizzling, twirling and booming of fireworks will be a common sound throughout the community. In its quest for residents to celebrate responsibly, the Coal City Police Department reminds citizens of state and local ordinances regarding the use of fireworks.
    Police Chief Tom Best reports the possession, sale and use of most fireworks is prohibited in Illinois, and state and local rules regarding fireworks will be enforced by the police department.

Bugg to retire as a Coaler

Published by admin on Tue, 06/13/2017 - 7:21pm

Unit 1 Superintendent Dr. Kent Bugg will conclude his career in education as a Coaler.
    Other than being a father to his two daughters, Bugg said,  “Serving as the leader of this school district has been the greatest honor of my life.”
    Bugg was hired by the Unit 1 Board of Education in 2000 as the first principal in the newly constructed Coal City Middle School. Four years later the board selected him to succeed Dr. Michael Throneburg as superintendent of schools. He has served in his current role the past 12 years.

Fire Sirens sound the bell for the last time

Published by admin on Tue, 06/13/2017 - 6:32pm

It’s been a traditional civic group in Braidwood since 1969.

But as of this past weekend, the Braidwood Fire Sirens are no more.

After hosting this year’s annual garage sale days, the Sirens, with just four members at its tail end of service, officially disbanded.

Members said that with dwindling membership and less of a need for the Sirens to take on specific roles with the fire department anymore, it was time for the group to say good-bye.

Heberer retires after 45 years

Published by admin on Tue, 06/13/2017 - 6:25pm

After 45 years with the department and 10 years as chief, Ken Heberer is enjoying life without the fire pole.

On June 1, Heberer officially retired from the fire service, following four and one-half decades answering calls in the Braidwood Fire Protection District. On June 3, his fellow firemen, family, and friends held a retirement party in his honor at the fire house on Main Street.

Coal City Fire Chief Jim Sheldon noted that he and Heberer have developed a close bond as chiefs in neighboring towns.

Homeowner finally gets home repair permits

Published by admin on Tue, 06/13/2017 - 6:21pm

It was not a pretty process, but the disagreement between the city of Braidwood and one homeowner over permits to rehab his home has come to a conclusion, with the homeowner walking away with permits in hand.

Chris Earling said he had a positive and productive meeting with the city’s inspector, Mike Sharp, over changes inside his home that have been held up since the house was purchased in March.

Search continues for missing Shadow Lakes woman

Published by admin on Tue, 06/13/2017 - 6:16pm

Police are searching the area for an elderly woman who left her Shadow Lakes home between Sunday night and Monday morning and has not been seen since.

Kim Ellen “Kay” Gray, 73, was reported missing from her home at 104 Smallmouth Lane at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, June 12.

Gray is a Korean American female, 5-feet, 1-inch tall and weighs 130 pounds. She suffers with dementia. Police believe she may have wandered away from her home on Sunday evening.

Police investigating fatal rollover crash

Published by admin on Mon, 06/12/2017 - 10:33am

A Morris man died in a single-vehicle rollover crash that occurred early Monday, June 12.
Jerald E. Saragossa, 51, was pronounced dead at the scene, on Wilmington's north side.
Wilmington police received a call just after 1 a.m. Monday reporting a vehicle that had left the roadway on Route 53 just south of South Arsenal Road.
Witnesses told officers that the white Ford pickup truck had passed them at a high rate of speed while traveling southbound near the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery. The witnesses then lost sight of the vehicle.

75 years since worst ammo plant disaster

Published by admin on Tue, 06/06/2017 - 7:55pm

    It resulted in the greatest loss of civilian lives at an American munitions plant in World War II, but it is barely a footnote to the narrative of the war because it happened while the critical Battle of Midway was being waged in the Pacific.