Lack of stopping at signs and speeding near Westside Park

I live a few houses down from Sarah. I also see the same issues as she does. In addition to the running of stop signs there are the speeders. Some are seen flying down at speeds in excess of 40 mph.

A while back, the speed limit had changed down to 25 mph. The speed limit in Westside Park became 20 mph a few years ago. Nobody goes those speeds. There are a lot of kids crossing 4th, Washington, Jefferson and 5th Streets. One of these days, something bad is going to happen. Will it be to one of our kids? Maybe it will be an adult trying to walk our kids across these dangerous streets surrounding the park? But in our reactive response society, nothing will be done until something bad happens.

When I moved to Minonk in 1998, there was a stop sign heading west on the corner of 4th and Washington. That was taken down in 2000 and the speeding problems increased on 4th street.

As much as some council members hate it (some past members have mentioned that they do not want to be a town of stop signs), my suggestion is to put stop signs at every entrance and exit to Westside Park and for our authorities to enforce stop sign usage as well as posted speed limits. What's the sense of posting a speed limit if it will not be enforced?

I have almost 2 year old twin daughters I need to protect. If nothing is done, we'll have to protect our kids by fencing our yard, which I'm not real keen on.

The only time I see any of our authorities looking for speeders is out on 251. Obviously, that must be where the quick money is.

I'd like to see someone be in the preventative spirit before something bad happens.

If I'm correct in the process, we need to start knocking on Brian Peterson's door (he's our alderman, who also lives on West 4th street if I'm not mistaken) to voice our concerns. We should also get a petition going to tell the City of Minonk how serious this problem is.

Sherry Willis

Minonk Car Wash under new ownership

Thanks for supporting Cub Scouts

Thanks Again,

Sarah Prosser
Committee Chair for Pack 78

Free HP print cartridge

Barth Weistart
bweistart@stern-associatescpa.com

Remembering class of 48 who served

• The 4th of July seemed an appropriate time to remember all the young men from Minonk Community High School's graduating class of 1948. It was shortly thereafter when the "FORGOTTEN WAR", The Korean Conflict, became an important part of all the males in that class. From June 1951 until March 1953, 700,000 reserve GI's, 180,000 National Guard members along with 1,510,000 enlisted persons and 1,750,000 souls who were drafted into service to help stem the growth of Communism in Asia. There is a fitting Monument in Washington DC attesting to those who served and gave their lives during that period.

Submitted by Albin Johnson

Germany has windmills too

When did a Stop Sign become merely a Suggestion?

When I flew up to look for a house, I fell in love at first sight. This community is just as charming as I had remembered it. We were lucky to find a gorgeous house just on the edge of the park on 4th St. It brings great joy to both me and my husband's hearts to see our two girls so happy just being kids again. Playing in our large backyard and walking across the street to go play in the park brings a lot of joy to them. That was not a luxury we had in Florida. I never let them out of the yard there and I never imagined in a million years that I would be concerned about them walking across the street here.

I am at a loss for words as how to describe what I feel inside when I see cars either pull one of those "California stops" or simply let off the gas peddle as they roll right through the stop signs here…every single day! I'm at an even greater loss to figure out how these people can do this at the stop signs surrounding a park where children are playing. Being new to the community, I didn't want to raise too big of a stink…but I'm really starting to become concerned. Since moving into our new house, we have had several projects going on and today I was in the front living room setting out knick-knacks and deciding on where to hang pictures, etc.. Throughout the past month, while outside on our deck my husband and I have noticed several cars (including trucks from our area businesses) rolling through the stop sign…but today…In just a two hour period while working in the living room I must have seen 15 vehicles not obeying the stop sign.

My youngest daughter was born 12 weeks premature and we fought to keep her alive and well. She is perfect today and we'd like to keep her that way. As parents, we teach our children to look both ways before crossing the street and to be defensive "bike riders/walkers". However, we cannot watch over them every single moment…and that is to allow them to become responsible human beings, build trust, gain confidence, and be accountable for their actions. If they make a bad decision and choose not to follow our rules even one time and we witness it, we will address it with them. If we don't witness it, I'd like to think that the good people in this community would help out a little by just following basic traffic laws to at least help keep them safe.

I really hope that this email comes up in conversation with you and your neighbors. It only takes one accident to take a life away, the roadside memorials at the intersections of the surrounding country roads are evidence of that. Please do the right thing and protect the children of this community.

Kindest regards,
Sarah (Rients) Gullery

Concerned about loose dogs

Sincerely,

Carrie Lindley

Class of '48

Art Kettelhut

Thanks to those who supported Ellen Stokowski benefit

We may not agree with the politics, complain of the increase of taxes, and our school system. We read about it in editorials or talk about it amongst ourselves... I am just as guilty of this as the next guy. But what we do have in this community is the people. People who show concerns for our friends and neighbors whether they are a native here or just moved in. We focus on pulling together to help our fallen in time of tragedy, health challenges and when they have lost loved ones. The results of tonight's benefit is a perfect example of what we are all about. So I want to give credit for this success to everyone through your donations, volunteering, and by participating in tonight's event, we have strengthen our community bond and provided comfort, hope and will power to our friend, family member and neighbor: to help them heal and most importantly to never give up. After tonight we may just acknowledge one another with a simple nod on the street but at least at this very moment, right now, no matter who we are, we put all differences aside and united. We pulled together as a team.

Thanks to all and may God bless.
Becky Quick

Fieldcrest CAC Coaches and Sponsors Meeting