A summary of the news for December 2002.
 Home |  Alumni |  City Hall |  Editorial |  Events |  History |  Schools |  Map |  News
 Chatter box |  Email |  Photos |  About Minonk |  Satire |  Issues

December 2002

December 1

Lindsey Kolb led the Fieldcrest Knights to a 46-32 win over Woodland Monday night at Minonk. Kolb had 12 points and 3 assists while Jamie Arndt chipped in with 10 points. The Knights are now 2-3.
Fieldcrest defeated Ridgview 75-61 Tuesday night at Minonk behind the 29 points of Eric Heider who had six 3-pointers. The Knights made good on 22 of 27 free throws to improve their record to 2-2. The Lady Knights defeated Chenoa 51-44 Thursday night at Chenoa. Fieldcrest was led by Sara Fluech with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Lindsey Kolb added 14 points and Kristin Ghiglieri chipped in with 8 points.
Former Woodford County Sheriff Bill Meyers will lose his pension after being convicted of mail fraud and money laundering this year. Meyers will lose $2,500 per month although he will get credit for $40,000 of his own money that he contributed toward the fund. $25,000 of that amount was paid to him after his resignation until the decision was made in October. A remaining amount of $16,000 will be refunded to him.

Meyers is being held at the Oxford Federal Corrections Institution in Oxford, Wisconsin. His projected release date is July 5, 2005.

Eric Heider led the Knights to a 71-51 victory over Woodland Friday night at Minonk. Heider connected on five 3-pointers and led all scorers with 32 points. Josh Baker had 8 points while Jamie Buss contributed 7 points. Both had 6 rebounds. Fieldcrest is now 3-2.

December 8

The Minonk Business Association's annual Parade of Lights in downtown Minonk Saturday night was bigger and better than ever. A large festive crowd gathered to watch the parade along Chestnut Street in chilly upper 30's degree weather. At 6:30 p.m. fireworks were exploded in the sky and the street lights were turned off to kick off the parade. The slow moving lighted floats seemed literally to float in the darkness that surrounded them. It was a magical environment that lifted the hearts of children and adults alike.

Many former Minonk residents returned to their home town to witness the event and to meet with old friends. Many of them remembered when downtown Minonk was crowded like this every Saturday night 50 years ago. After the parade many of the stores remained open for business. Many local craftmen displayed their crafts at Trinkets and Treasures. Cunningham Candies was open for the public to observe their candy making. Children were able to have their picture taken with Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus at City Hall. Children were given rides in a horse and carriage on Chestnut Street.

Gratitude and compliments go out to those who helped make Minonk's Parade of Lights an annual event that we all look forward to each year.

Jamie Kennedy scored 20 points to lead Ridgeview over Fieldcrest 52-22.
Fieldcrest beat Heyworth Tuesday night 64-53 behind the scoring of Eric Heider and Shaun Manning. Heider continued his 3-point scoring blitz with four 3-pointers and 26 points while Manning added 21 points for the Knights. The Knights are now 4-2 and 3-0 in the Midstate Conference.
Shaun Manning led Fieldcrest to a convincing 64-31 victory over Chenoa Saturday night at Chenoa. Manning poured in 21 points while Geoff Reiter and Eric Heider added 8 points each. The Knights are now 5-2 overall and 4-0 in the Midstate Conference.
The Westside Park Pavilion Committee held a meeting at City Hall on Wednesday, December 11, to discuss what action to take after reviewing all bids submitted for construction of the pavilion. The committee decided to investigate ways of raising additional funds in light of the fact that the lowest bid was $20,000 over the amount the committee expected to spend on construction.

Consideration was also given to having the committee become the general contractor in order to complete the project at a lower cost. Architect Chuck Fischer said this could be done but the risks of delays and cost overruns will be the responsibility of the committee. Some committee members suggested that it would be better to resubmit the project for bidding again in the late winter after reviewing construction modifications.

The committee will hold its next meeting on January 15 at 6:30 p.m. at St. Paul's Church.

EL Paso overcame Fieldcrest Thursday night behind the scoring of Kathy Garrels who led the Comets with 18 points. Lindsey Kolb had 11 points and 4 steals for the Lady Knights.

December 15

Fieldcrest used a balanced scoring attack to defeat Putnam County 63-54 to win the Colmone Classic Tournament at Spring Valley Thursday. Eric Heider, who was named the Tournament Most Valuable Player, led the Knights with 14 points while Josh Baker had 12 points and Brett Brown added 11 points. Shaun Manning and Brett Brown were also named to the all-tournament team.
Fieldcrest withstood a comeback by Hall of Spring Valley for a 80-71 victory Wednesday night at the Colmone Classic Tournament at Spring Valley. Eric Heider led the Knights with 31 points while Shaun Manning added 19 points. Brett Brown had 11 and Josh Baker had 10 as Fieldcrest improved their record to 7-2. The Knights faced Putman County tonight for the championship.
Eric Heider scored 20 points to lead Fieldcrest to a convincing 70-46 victory over Galva Tuesday in the Colmone Classic Tournament at Spring Valley. The Knights are now 6-2.

December 22

The Fieldcrest Board of Education decided to place a tax referendum on next April's ballot in order to bolster the education fund which has been hit hard by declining farmland values. The board will ask for a 90-cent increase in the education fund. The board also increased its levy to $4,721,134 for next year which is $224,296 more than this year's.

Superintendent Michael Stagliano said that a .90 increase in the education fund would generate around $900,000 per year. If the levy remained at this new maximum rate for three years, that would generate $2.7 million dollars. The alternative is to issue working cash bonds. However, if working cash bonds were issued for the same amount and paid off in three to four years the school district would not realize $2.7 million because $300,000 of that would be interest alone.

Stagliano also added that the board will be considering areas in which cuts can be made for next year.

The breakdown of the school district's funds are as follows:

  • Building - $524,700
  • Education fund - $3,153,500
  • Fire Protection - $52,894
  • Illinois Municipal Retirement - $201,400
  • Leasing - $53,000
  • Social Security - $142,040
  • Special Education - $42,400
  • Tort - $286,200
  • Transportation - $212,000
  • Working Cash - $53,000


Previous month       Next month