September 01, 2010
 Editor:
Dave Uphoff
Last week I mentioned that farmers were not cutting down the corners of the corn fields at rural intersections. Last weekend I saw Clayton Township Supervisor Randy Koehler cutting the corners of the corn fields near my house in the country. After talking to Randy, I learned that he cuts the corners every year, not the farmers. Furthermore, Clayton Township is the only township that cuts the corners of corn fields at rural intersections. So I tip my hat to Randy for a job well done. But I ask why do not the farmers cut the corners of their own cornfields? This would save a lot of work for the township supervisor. Going even further, why plant corn so close to the corners in the first place? They are downright dangerous.The word is that the local corn crop yield will not be as good this year because of the excessive heat during pollination in July. Yields are expected to be under 190 bushels per acre compared to over 200 last year. Everyone agrees that it has been a long, hot and humid summer. I don't know if it is because of government stimulus money, but I have never seen so much road paving done as this year. Route 251 between El Paso and Minonk has been resurfaced with asphalt as is route 116 between Flanagan and Pontiac, and route 116 between Roanoke and Metamora. Long stretches of I-55 have also been resurfaced between Bloomington and McLean. Word is that the county does not have the money to resurface the road running north out of Minonk to Route 251. It is by far the worst road in the area and will probably need state money for resurfacing even though it is considered a county road.
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The decision to retry former governor Rod Blagojevich is appropriate. Amazingly, the jury could find him guilty on only one count, that of lying to a federal official, and being hung, 11 to 1, on the other 23 charges. To those who say the state is wasting money in retrying Blago, I say you cannot put a price on justice. The fact that one lone juror could prevent him from being convicted on all counts suggest several things; (1) the next time around he will probably be convicted; (2) the ex-governor's public proclamation of his innocence on nation-wide television may have influenced the lone holdout. At the next trial, the prosecution better do a better job of selecting jurors so as to not allow Blago's continued media barrage to have an effect on the jury. Better to spend the money now and put Blago away. To do otherwise will cost the state more money in continued graft, lost business and influence peddling which will continue unabated if he is not found guilty.
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