JG-TC.com > Opinion > COLUMN: If FutureGen was top news in 2006, where would it rate in '07?

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St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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Thursday, January 3, 2008 12:22 AM CST
COLUMN: If FutureGen was top news in 2006, where would it rate in '07?

By BILL LAIR, Managing Editor
blair@jg-tc.com

If having Mattoon and Tuscola named as finalists for FutureGen ranked as the area’s top story in 2006, could anything but FutureGen be the top local story of 2007?

A year ago, in our weekly Journal Gazette/Times-Courier online poll, we asked readers to pick the top local news story of 2006.

Your choices were:

1. Mattoon and Tuscola selected among four finalists for the FutureGen power plant.

2. Deployment of the Mattoon National Guard unit to Iraq.

3. The dispute between Carle hospital and Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center over Carle’s desire to build an outpatient surgery center in Coles County.

4. Coles County election changes, in which a new sheriff, county clerk and two new county board members were elected.

5. Approval of the Coles County comprehensive plan.

To refresh your memory, being FutureGen finalists received 50 percent of your votes.

The National Guard deployment was second (22 percent), followed by Carle/Sarah Bush dispute (21 percent), Coles election results (4 percent) and comprehensive plan (3 percent).

On Dec. 18 of 2007, FutureGen Alliance officials announced that Mattoon will be the site for the $1.5 billion-plus near-zero emissions coal-fueled power plant.

So, if being one of four finalists garnered 50 percent of the votes in 2006, what would being picked as THE site rate for 2007?

Perhaps we should do another poll on the top local news stories.

While the FutureGen decision, I believe, will be culture-changing for Coles County for generations to come, there were other noteworthy stories that could compete with FutureGen as a top story in 2007.

Consider these:

1. The June 21 crime spree in Douglas County that resulted in the shooting death of Chief Deputy Tommy Martin and several Arcola bank employees being held hostage for hours before being released. Two Chicago men are awaiting trial on almost 50 charges.

2. William Perry was named the 10th sitting president of Eastern Illinois University with a goal to make EIU a “first choice” institution.

3. Mattoon Mayor Charlie White resigns for health reasons and dies a few weeks later. White had served Mattoon in many capacities in the past 40 years. Commissioner Dave Cline was appointed to serve as interim mayor a few weeks before the FutureGen announcement was made.

4. Lake Land College President Bill Thallemer resigns in May in an apparent dispute with the Lake Land Board of Trustees. Thallemer had served as president for less than a year. He was replaced by Vice President for Academic Affairs Scott Lensink. He is serving as interim president at the college.

5. The new Coles County interchange on Interstate 57 opened a few days before the end of the year. The new interchange had been 12 years in the making. It connects to County Road 1000N, which will route large trucks to the Mattoon and Charleston industrial parks north of both cities and also probably will be the primary motor route to the FutureGen plant when it opens in several years.

6. The Rosebud Theatre opened in Effingham a couple months ago. The 1,500-seat facility is bringing some top entertainment to the region. Some who have performed there already are Diamond Rio, The Oak Ridge Boys, BB King, Marie Osmond, Pat Boone and Charlie Daniels Band. Among those coming soon to the Rosebud are the St. Petersburg Ballet, Tracy Byrd and Bill Cosby.

That’s a pretty substantial list of top news stories and by no means sums up all of the important news that occurred in 2007.

Hey, we publish newspapers 365 days a year now. There is a lot happening throughout Coles County and the area.

This continues to be a fun place to be in the news business. A lot of the stories that were big in 2007 will continue to be big news in 2008 and we will be bringing them to you all year long.

OK, I have one gripe about the new I-57 interchange. Actually, I have two but one apparently is out of our control.

So, here is my gripe: Is the road sign on I-57 telling motorists about the exit the best we can do? It tells motorists this is the exit for County Highway 18 and County Road 1000N!

True, those are the names of the road that crosses the interstate at Exit 192. But why can’t the exit say something like Mattoon/Charleston or Mattoon/Charleston industrial parks?

Most exit signs tell the crossing highway and one or two towns it leads to.

I think we need a more informative sign at the new interchange.

My other gripe? The fact that the interchange won’t be connected to Illinois Route 130 and Charleston for several years.

My goodness! A lot of trucks travel to Casey Tool and Machine, Arkwright, ITW Hi-Cone, Vesuvius and Dow Chemical on Charleston’s north side.

We waited 12 years and can only get half of the road after all that time?

OK. No more griping. It’s too early in 2008 to be griping. It’s going to be a great year.

Happy (belated) New Year to all of you.

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Locke wrote on Jan 3, 2008 3:27 AM:

" Happy New Years to you, Mr. Lair. "

Julio wrote on Jan 3, 2008 8:20 AM:

" May be the top news of 08 too when the government decides not to fund it. "

Illinibill wrote on Jan 3, 2008 8:45 AM:

" Mr. Lair,
Perhaps it is because Charleston has not put up the money to do their part to get the road built. The Good ol'boys from the east side want to wait and drag their feet, whine and complain to Co. Board until finally the Mattoon side pays for their improvements. (again) Well, suck it up and pay your own way. "

Collatine wrote on Jan 3, 2008 9:59 AM:

" I agree with both gripes. The sign is absolutely ridiculous and laughable. In fact, the first time I came down 57 and saw it, I was shocked. "

Dohbaugh wrote on Jan 3, 2008 11:31 AM:

" Someone correct me if I'm wrong, and I sure they will, but I don't think Mattoon or Charleston put up the money for this. I was under the impression it was the county board that funded this project. I realize they get their money from Mattoon and Charleston tax payers, but the above post doesn't make sense to me. Am I missing something? "

gringa wrote on Jan 3, 2008 1:54 PM:

" Actually, Dohbaugh, you're not missing anything, but it was the ominous federal government that funded most of this project. If we hadn't been forced to submit most of our tax dollars to DC, where we have to prostitute ourselves to get any of it back, we could have built the Route 45 and Route 57 and Route 130 interchanges 30 years ago when the need first arose. "

Becky wrote on Jan 3, 2008 3:08 PM:

" WOW! All that really did happen didn't it? Well, no wonder the year just flew by so fast. Happy New Year everybody! Here's wishing for another exiting year of growth and prosperity here in good ol' Coles County :) Hopefully, someone will see Mr Lair's complaints and figure out a way to make the interchange connect to 130 too. He does have some very valid points. If we can waste so much of OUR tax money on studying the sex lives of worms, I don't think that it's too much to (why do we even have to) ask for what we deserve anyway. Oh yeah, I forgot.....Chicago....nuff said...grrrrrrr. "

Grandpa wrote on Jan 3, 2008 3:47 PM:

" The interchange and connecting roads are not paid by Mattoon to the west and Charleston to the east. The project comes from county, state and federal money. "

coonbug wrote on Jan 4, 2008 11:46 AM:

" Any body know what construction companies will be building this site? "

Dohbaugh wrote on Jan 4, 2008 3:52 PM:

" Hopefully, the top story of 2008 will be the impeachment of Dick Cheney. If the main stream media gets off it's duff and carries information about Florida's congressman Robert Wexler's plan to call for impeachment this story will grow like wildfire. Of particular interest, to some, is that the public be made aware of the Cheney family ties to Lockheed via his unscrupulous wife and son-in-law. I think this will make his ties to Halliburton look like peanuts. Cheney is the guy that Ike warned up about. He, along with his wife, has to be the most unethical couple to have ever hit Washington DC. He seems to be involved with more defense contractors than my stalker, Doh, has phony posting names. "

Dohbaugh wrote on Jan 4, 2008 3:53 PM:

" Probably Halliburton, coonbug, that is if our illustrious VP hears about it. "

nighthawk wrote on Jan 5, 2008 5:49 AM:

" Illinibill has a bit of anti-charleston in him, must be a transplant to mattoon...............stay there! "

The Dude wrote on Jan 5, 2008 1:48 PM:

" The sign on the interchange probably says that, because if it would say Mattoon/Charleston motorists would be confused when they exited 57 and saw no gas stations or restaurants. They want the new interchange to be for truckers, and they want everyone else to use the old one so hopefully they come to Mattoon or Charleston to fill up and eat. "