Help needed for student-athlete

Dear Editor,

My name is Theresa Kruse, the daughter of Vernon and Fern Kruse of Lanark, and granddaughter of Clarence (Sam) and Edna Kruse of Shannon, and Milton and Nancy Marceau of Forreston. Currently a senior at Alverno College in Milwaukee, WI I am majoring in Art Therapy. While attending Alverno I have participated in Soccer, Basketball, and Softball all four years. As a committed Vice President of Student Athlete Advisory Committee (S.A.A.C.), I volunteer my time with community service projects, promoting overall wellness around campus, and establish relationships with other student athletes in the conference.

I am sending you this letter because I have been invited to participate in the USA Athletes International Softball League at Melbourne, Australia from July 1-13, 2007 to compete in the 2007 International Softball Challenge. It will be an excellent event for me to show goodwill and friendship among nations, as well as play the game of Softball. I will travel to Melbourne not only to play Softball but also to see a new culture, meet new people and experience a different way of life. I know one of my dreams is to travel to Melbourne and play for the USA Athletes International Softball League. With your help I will be able to reach my dream. All donations are tax deductible; please send before April 10, 2007. Thank you!

Sincerely,

Therese Kruse

8370 S. 35th St.

Franklin, WI 53132

The Murder of America

Dear Editor,

I am writing to let your readers be aware of the North American Union Treaty that President Bush signed with Mexican President Vincent Fox, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin; all working together for the New World Order crowds agenda of the Illuminati's Council of foreign relations based out of Chicago, to dissolve the U.S.A. Constitution, our Sovereignty and our bill rights. To replace our dollars with the Amero, and imprison all dissenters into Gulag concentration camps. The plot of the council of foreign relations and their fellow traitors to America would be to abolish the United States as a Nation, set up the North American Union Treaty, and put into high offices in the U.S.A. Mexican and other foreign officials.

It calls for a new judicial court higher than the U.S.A. Supreme Court and a joint U.S.A./Mexican/Canadian Parliament superior to our Senate and House of Congress. All national borders will be dissolved, Bill of Rights trashed and U.S.A.'s welfare and other benefits will be given to 106 million Mexicans who will be invited to re-conquer and populate the former states of America! This is all to occur by 2010, and to them the American public be damned!

I tell you the truth, both parties in Washington DC are conspirators with the Bush's, the Clinton's, Senator John McCain and Ted Kennedy holding key leadership roles! Behind it all is the New World Order Crowd of the Illuminatiís Bronfman, Greenberg, Rothschild, Rockefeller dynasties, and the Bilderbergs, along with the trilateral commission cliques pulling the strings. Here is the frightening bombshell of the century- treasonous acts on every side abetted by the anti-patriotic and controlled mainstream media. America is in Big, Big, Trouble with this treaty!

I am requesting that each reader please put pressure on your D.C. representatives, spread the word about this treasonous act to everyone you know. This nation is being sold out to implement their one world government, one world new age cultic false religion, and one world demonic leader!

Since I believe the Holy Bible is true, the Bible foretells and warns us in the latter days this will be, but I do believe we can slow it down if we as Americans wake up in time and stop being desensitized, brainwashed by media, complacent and apathetical citizens. We need to really clean out D.C. in BOTH parties to save our sovereignty, expose the trilateralists, council of foreign relations, and Bilderbergs for the evil doers they are and get elected true patriots loyal to our constitution, sovereignty, bill of rights, our God and our Bible and not the Koran!

I am very concerned about the 'ones' I see being pushed by the mainstream media as possible Presidential Candidates in 2008 by both parties. We need to really study their background and not listen to their lies to get into office and then once in do the opposite. We need to pray for America and pray we are not deceived by lies when it comes to voting in 2008. We need to stop being a yellow dog Democrat and a true blue Republican to save America. There are good candidates running in 2008 on other tickets. But we in America have the mentality they can't win. Remember Ross Perot came close to winning on the Reform Party ticket. I truly believe he won it, but the voting was corrupt. So we ended up with a President that was corrupt with scandalous episodes and now his spouse is running in 2008 sounding like a true conservative and having a so-called evangelical Christian helping her campaign out to get the Christian votes. It's been said her campaign office is spreading that Senator Obama of Illinois is a devout Muslim!! Who are we at war with? I believe what was said years ago, "There's not a dimes worth of difference between either party." There is still hope for America if we wake up in time!

Thank you,

Patricia Blount, Savanna

Volunteer for LFD/EMT

Dear Editor,

In order to continue to provide the excellent ambulance care and fire protection this district has come to expect for years, the Lanark Fire Protection District and the Lanark Fire Department are in need of volunteer firemen and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT). While Lanark is certainly not alone in this very serious dilemma, we want to be proactive in finding new ways to recruit volunteers, re-assess our delivery of the services, and seek immediate and long-term resolutions.?With an aging population, our number of calls has increased. Decreased job opportunities in the district have reduced the number of available volunteers during the day. Last year the ambulance responded to 183 calls in addition to the 110 fire calls and accidents. This resulted in 293 calls for the year or almost one call a day. Before an ambulance can respond, state law requires two EMTs be on the call. Additionally, because of the distance to any hospital, we like to have a volunteer driver. Thus, three people leave Lanark for about two hours each time the "Whistle Blows".

For the past five years, the Lanark Fire Protection District has hired a daytime EMT to cover the hours of 7:30 am to 4:30 pm. These paid EMTs have been marvelous help for daytime calls. They are at the fire station the entire time and have taken on some of the burden of operating an ambulance. Many citizens don't realize that the ambulances need to be stocked with drugs, oxygen and other supplies after each call. These are time-consuming tasks required of the volunteers either after the call or at night and weekends. By checking supplies, keeping the ambulances in good running order and a multitude of other housekeeping tasks required each day, this has worked well for Lanark for the last five years but now we are facing an additional shortage of personnel.

We intend to continue to provide you with the best ambulance and fire protection possible. Currently, we have a dedicated group of volunteers who are working their other jobs and trying to keep up with the many state mandated hours of training so they can continue to provide you with a fast and speedy response time. If no volunteers are soon added, we will be compelled to hire additional personnel, forcing us to raise the tax levy and/or bill for services like many of our neighboring communities have done to cover the cost. Presently, the Lanark Fire Protection District does not bill for our ambulance services.

In the attempt to maintain our level of ambulance service, we are trying to recruit more volunteers, add a cadet program through Eastland High School, and explore other areas of supplying the needed personnel. We have a few new volunteers who may be interested in taking the EMT class, but many more are needed.

Volunteer firemen are needed as well. Should a daytime fire occur, we are very short of personnel to even get the trucks to the scene. Fortunately, we have a wonderful working relationship with other districts and use mutual aid agreements to send personnel and equipment. This cooperation has been a real aid to all small communities who are facing the same shortage of volunteers. We have a group of honorary firemen who have served ten years or longer. These fine men and women are encouraged to respond. The department can always use the extra help. ?We wish to publicly thank our area employers who let people leave work to respond to someone in need. When these employers call for help they expect a rapid response. We are very willing to provide this response but can only do so with the cooperation of the entire community. For those employers who do not let employees respond, please re-evaluate your policy of not permitting workers to leave the job site to respond to ambulance and fire emergencies.?A special thank you goes to our outstanding group of volunteer's that work tirelessly to keep all of us in this community safe. By dropping what they are doing when one of us calls 911 day or night, regardless of the cold or heat, rain or snow, they always come. This can only be called an unselfish gift to all of us. Thank you to all of these generous volunteers.

But now we need your help! If you can volunteer, please contact us. Any fireman, EMT, or trustee will be glad to answer your questions and get you an application.

Lanark Fire Protection District Board of Trustees

Connie Knutti, President

Chris Lower, Secretary

James Callaway. Trustee

Volunteer Emergency Medical Technicians:

Tim Foltz-EMT-I

Asst. Chief EMS Coordinator

Brad Aude - EMT

Tymi Currens - EMT

Elaine Gallentine - EMT

Brian Gray - EMT

Stacy Kalina ­ EMT- I

Derrick Majors - EMT

Chris Markley - EMT-I

Brian Murphy ­ EMT-P

Kim Sturtevant - EMT

Mike York- EMT-I

Volunteer Firefighters:

Dave Lotz, Chief

Jameson Burkholder

Keith Burkholder

Steve Carroll

Elizabeth Chambers

Don Fehlhafer

Mike Feltmeyer

Amy Folk

Les Guenzler

Jack Hill

J.L. Hunter

Robert Kalina

Jeff Lindsay

Sheldon Phillips

John Sgro

Dan Shaulis

Matthew Strohecker

Thomas Hunt

Tom Weber

Justin Wolbers

Dennis Wolbers

From the desk of State Representative Jim Sacia

February 20, 2007, Guest Column

Friday, February 16, I had the privilege of being the guest speaker at the Whiteside County Lincoln Day dinner. It was also the day that our U.S. House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution to prevent the President from sending 21,000 more troops to Iraq. One might ask what the correlation is.

A young reporter from WSDR radio of Sterling posed this question to meWhat do you think Abraham Lincoln would say today with all of the unrest and political turmoil over the war in Iraq? To me the answer was simple. For anyone who has toured the new Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield (and if you haven't, you owe it to yourself and your family to load them up and make the pilgrimage), you know that Lincoln faced more turmoil over slavery and the Civil War than is almost imaginable.

I think Lincoln would be proud. We are a country that can openly debate difficult issues. We are an ever evolving country that believes fervently in open criticism of those who lead us.

Why do I say our country is ever evolving? Here is an example: My military era was some 40 years ago. As a young army soldier who wanted to go to Vietnam but was never sent, I watched in horror as my fellow soldiers, my friends and even my brother returning home from Vietnam were spat upon and had rotten eggs thrown at them. Simply put, no one carried a sign saying "Support our Troops." Thankfully, it is different today. Yes we are in an unpopular war as was the Vietnam War, but our service men and women return home as heroes as well they should and they should have then.

A well known photograph of the Vietnam era was taken of movie actress Jane Fonda dressed in North Vietnamese combat gear manning a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun surrounded by smiling North Vietnamese soldiers. I personally found it repulsive. Many others opposed to the war thought it was wonderful.

The fact that this country has citizens who both support and oppose conflicts tells us a lot about America. We can openly debate an opposing view. It is imperative for all of us to express our views. Sir Edmund Burke said it best "I don't fear our adversaries. What scares me to death is the deafening silence of good people doing nothing."

As always, you can reach me, Sally or Barb at 815/232-0774 or e-mail us at jimsacia@aeroinc.net. You can also visit my website at www.jimsacia.com. It's always a pleasure to hear from you.

Senate Week In Review:

A view from the Illinois Senate Republican Press Office - Feb. 19-23, 2007

SPRINGFIELD ­ Legislators were welcomed back to Springfield this week with more than 1,700 bills to consider over the next few months. While committees were busy working through piles of new bills, old issues ranging from electric utility rates and the state's Health Facilities Planning Board were also discussed, according to State Sen. Todd Sieben (R-Geneseo).

Before adjourning for the week Feb. 23, the Senate passed two pieces of controversial legislation, one regarding stem-cell research and the other dealing with property taxes.

Senate Bill 4 permits embryonic stem-cell research and allows for public funds to be used to fund the research. The legislation requires the Illinois Department of Public Health to develop the Illinois Regenerative Medicine Institute Program to award grants to Illinois' medical research institutions. Institutions receiving the grants are prohibited from cloning human embryos, and selling or purchasing embryos for research purposes.

Additionally, the Senate considered a bill aimed at extending property tax relief for homeowners in Cook County. Senate Bill 13, known as "The 7% Solution," caps the annual property assessment increase at 7% for another three years. Currently, the cap only affects Cook County but other counties have the option to adopt the "solution" as well. The bill also contains provisions for homestead-related relief for returning veterans.

Both bills are now sent to the House of Representatives for further consideration.

At a Capitol press conference on Feb. 21, a group of lawmakers urged Gov. Rod Blagojevich to request a special legislative summit in order to address the recent Illinois electric rate increases.

Reports of some residents facing rate increases of more than 100 percent prompted the group of lawmakers, consisting of Republican members from the Senate and House of Representatives, to formally request Gov. Blagojevich to call on the legislative leaders and the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) to convene and develop a solution to the electric rate increase immediately.

On Jan. 1, a 10-year freeze on electric rates was lifted by the ICC, prompting rates for Ameren and ComEd customers to dramatically increase. Although the issue was discussed at length during the fall veto session in November, an agreement between the House and Senate could not be reached.

In other news, the results of a study on the effectiveness of a state board that oversees the construction and expansion of hospitals and other healthcare facilities were released Feb. 22 at a hearing in Springfield.

In November, lawmakers approved a resolution asking the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability to study the effectiveness of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board and the Certificate of Need (CON) process in containing healthcare costs and protecting healthcare access.

The study, which was conducted by the Lewin Group, stated that there is no evidence that the CON process actually reduces costs or improves the quality of care. However, the study did note that the CON process may provide protection to hospitals with a large percentage of Medicaid patients and recommended an extension of the CON process for a three-year period in order for the state to conduct a comprehensive study on the impact on those hospitals.

The following bills passed through the Senate and head to the House of Representatives for further consideration:

Sex offenders (SB 14) ­ Requires sex offenders, when registering, to include all e-mail addresses, instant messaging identities, chat room identities, and other Internet communications identities that the offender uses or plans to use. This information will be public information.

Victims compensation (SB 31) ­ Provides that a person is entitled to file a claim for compensation under the Crime Victims Compensation Act within one year after a criminal indictment of a person for the offense upon which the claim is based.

Green governments (SB 46) ­ Creates the Green Governments Coordinating Council and strengthens the Illinois Green Government Program and helps state agencies find new and better ways to make their facilities environmentally-friendly by reducing solid waste, conserving water, saving energy and purchasing alternative fuels.

Agribusiness (SB 57) ­ Expands the term "energy-related agribusiness" to include fuel processing and development facilities using agricultural commodities, vegetable oils, animal fats, or biomass feedstock with regards to loans.

Tires (SB 154) ­ Extends the 50-cent new or used tire fee collected from retail customers, which was set to expire on Jan. 1, 2008.

The following bills passed through committee and head to the Senate floor for further debate:

Methamphetamine (SB 55) ­ States that a person who knowingly uses a fictitious driver's license or government-issued identification, or those of another persons, or otherwise provides false information, to obtain a targeted methamphetamine precursor is guilty of a Class 4 felony for a first offense, Class 3 felony for a second offense and a Class 2 felony for a third or subsequent offense.

Prostitution (SB 75) ­ Provides that when any person who has not previously been convicted of, or placed on probation for, felony prostitution and is found guilty of felony prostitution, the court may sentence that person to probation without entering a judgment with their consent.

Classroom credit (SB 138) ­ Allows all elementary and secondary school teachers, as well as home school educators in Illinois, to receive a credit equal to 50% of total non-reimbursed classroom expenses in excess of $250. The maximum credit a teacher could receive is $500.

Septic tanks (SB 184) ­ Makes it clear that rural homeowners will not have to follow the proposed Illinois Environmental Protection Agency state septic tank regulations if their tanks empty onto their property only.

Libraries (SB 186) ­ Public library districts may invest temporarily idle money from the working cash fund. The interest earned on the investments may be transferred permanently to the general fund or remain in the working cash fund.

Sieben Bill Protects Concerned Citizens

SPRINGFIELD ­ Concerned citizens who testify at county zoning hearings will not have to worry about becoming embroiled in any resulting court challenges to zoning decisions, under legislation being sponsored by Assistant Senate Republican Leader Todd Sieben (R-Geneseo).

"This legislation was suggested by a constituent who was actually named as a defendant in a challenge to a county zoning decision simply because he had attended the county zoning hearing and asked a few questions. It cost him $7,000 in legal fees to get dismissed from the case," Sieben said. "The prospect of becoming involved in a court challenge certainly puts a damper on citizen involvement in local issues."

Senate Bill 29 specifies that only the Zoning Board of Appeals, the hearing officer or the applicants for zoning changes be named as"parties of record" in any action challenging a zoning decision.

Passed Feb. 21 by a unanimous vote of the Senate Local Government Committee, Senate Bill 29 now moves to the full Senate for further consideration.