Staunton Star - Times - Published in the Interest of the Staunton Community for Over 143 Years

Thursday, Oct. 11, 1990 -- Sewer job Nearing Completion -- A few blocks of excavating and laying pipe, completing the lift station, and a lot of clean-up remain to be done on the Staunton sewer project.

Projected date for completion of the relief sewer project, draining of the old lagoon, and construction of a new one had been set at about the middle of November. Parts of Sixth Street, West Henry Street, and North Street are still to be excavated and hooked into the new relief sewer system. Three large pumps arc lined up, behind the lift station on West North Street, ready to be placed in wet wells there. The pumps, each capable of pumping 5.4 million gallons of sewage per day, will be hooked up electrically and mechanically in the near future.

Timed to go on and off in rotation, two pumps will operate simultaneously throughout the day. An automatic back-up generator is also being installed to maintain operation during power failures. According to Deborah Ramsey, City Engineer, this is the main lift station in Staunton. Another small station is located off Miller Drive and serves about nine or ten properties.

Ramsey said a bridge across Ginseng Creek to Bluff Street is still a possibility. At one point the City was told there was some money available from the County for part of such a project . Ramsey said no design work has been done on the bridge project yet.

HOMECOMING QUEEN CANDIDATES -- The crowning of the 1990 Homecoming Queen will take place on Friday, October 19 at 7:30 p. m. in the Staunton High School Auditorium. This year's queen will be crowned by Miss Kara Bellovich, the 1989 Homecoming Queen. Her escort will be Michael Bellovich. The queen candidates are Miss Tricia Banovz escorted by Larry Miller attended by Missey Bellovich escorted by Jeff Dalpozzo, Miss Jeannie Best escorted by Jason Huhsman attended by Jenifer Mundy escorted by Brad Best, Miss Kelly Bond escorted by Jeff Garde attended by Daphne Ureta escorted by Darren Bianco and Miss Elizabeth Kovaly escorted by Kevin Klein attended by Angie Sievers escorted by Matt Popovich.

Senior Pages for the crowning will be Becky Miller and Debra Sievers. Freshman Flower Girls will be Linda Bodner and Adrienne Spudich; Freshman Train Bearers will be Stacy Kinder and Sara Lotter. Master of Ceremonies for the evening will be Brad Cool. Niki Best and Janine Wilson are in charge of ticket sales. The ushers will be Aimee Kellebrew, Angie Masinelli, Sherry Masinelli, and Sara Scheller.

Music for the crowning will be provided by the High School Stage Band under the direction of Mr. Richard Bertolino.

Saturday's Recycling Drive went well -- Staunton Area Recyclers spent a busy morning last Saturday collecting glass, newspaper, corrugated cardboard, and aluminum beverage cans at their monthly drive. The parking lot of City Garage was a beehive of activity with many familiar and new faces making an appearance.

A good crew of volunteers made the collection possible and Staunton Area Recyclers thank the following:

Hardees for refreshments, Donna and Treva Hall, Clem Less, Holly, Jason and Jenni Steinmeyer, Molly McHugh, Carl and Zelda Zuber, Toby Jensen, Scott and Terry Gaudi, Ruby Hering, Gary Crainick, and Rose and Lee McNaughton.

The Recyclers seek to improve the environment through recycling and will continue to have monthly drives as long as there is community support. Part of that support is volunteer help, a couple of hours a month means hundreds of pounds of materials are re-used and avoid the landfill.

Town Meeting Will Discuss Car Spraying -- State Representative Gary Hannig announced Wednesday that he and State Senator Vince Demuzio will hold a town meeting in Staunton concerning a July 16 incident in which equipment owned by Able Industrial Maintenance and Cleaning, Inc. sprayed approximately 800 cars with a chemical mixture that damaged the automobiles' paint. The damage occurred while Able Industrial was cleaning sewers in Staunton.

"Anytime you have over 800 citizens adversely affected by an incident of this nature, a fact-finding meeting must be held," Hannig said.

"Senator Demuzio and I have been contacted by citizens concerned about health threats posed by the released chemicals as well as the settlement of insurance claims. This town meeting will give the citizens of Staunton a chance to voice their complaints.

The town meeting is scheduled for October 11 at 6 p. m. at the Staunton VFW Hall. Representatives from the Illinois Attorney General's Office and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency will be on hand to answer questions.

Thursday, Oct. 18, 1990 -- Chamber of Commerce Begins new year -- New Staunton Chamber of Commerce President Dwight Brackman said for years Chamber of Commerce members have been doing positive things for the community and he hoped to continue that tradition.

Tuesday evening the Chamber began a new business year with a dinner meeting at the Diamonds Restaurant. Brackman welcomed speakers Pat Heise, Administrator of Community Hospital, Todd Traylor, Director of Staunton Area Ambulance Service and Fred Brauer, Mayor of Staunton.

The Chamber holds dinner meetings featuring a variety of speakers at different spots throughout the year, and Brackman hopes to increase the attendance in the year ahead.

The Chamber's purpose is to advance commercial, industrial and civic interests of Staunton and its trade area. Brackman, who was elected Chamber President in September, has been a member since 1988. His membership has given him some opportunities to participate in activities quite different from his usual work. He has twice chaired the Annual Circus in Staunton by Reynold's Productions. For several months he has been working on the "civic center" project which would provide a building for various group activities in the city.

He is currently talking with several people about a program on earthquake preparedness for the near future.

Brackman has been Prudential (Insurance) District Representative since 1985, and opened his new building on East Pearl Street in September 1988.