Bills Aplenty Moves Ahead Legislators Keeping in Elmwood Busy in Springfield by SARAH MANSUR by JOHN A
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****************ECRWSS***** PRSRT. STD. U.S. POSTAGE PAID Elmwood, Illinois Permit No. 13 Thursday Carrier Route Presort April 29, 2021 The Weekly Post RURAL BOXHOLDER Vol. 9, No.10 LOCAL P.O. BOXHOLDER Hot news tip? “We Cover The News of West-Central Illinois With A Passion” Want to advertise? Serving the fine communities of Brimfield, Dahinda, Douglas, Duncan, Edwards, Elmore, Elmwood, FREE! Call (309) 741-9790 Compliments of Farmington, Kickapoo, Laura, Monica, Oak Hill, Princeville, Williamsfield and Yates City Our Fine Advertisers! Mural project SCHOOL SIGN ON DISPLAY Bills aplenty moves ahead Legislators keeping in Elmwood busy in Springfield By SARAH MANSUR By JOHN A. BALLENTINE Capitol News Illinois For The Weekly Post SPRINGFIELD – The state Senate and ELMWOOD – A committee of res- House passed more than 750 bills last week, idents is working to bring public art addressing isolated timeouts in schools, of Elmwood’s history to the walls of youth vaping, teaching Muslim history, the buildings in the community. commemoration of Juneteenth and automatic Examples of similar wall art is vis- voter registration in prisons, among other ible in Kewanee, Galva, Wyoming topics. and Toulon – all of which have paint- Friday was the deadline for the General As- ings and murals on buildings. Many sembly to pass bills out of each chamber, for of those artworks have been done by consideration in the other chamber. The Gen- the The Wall Dogs, a group of artists eral Assembly’s session is scheduled to end who have agreed to come to Elm- May 31. wood this fall. Capitol News Illinois has summarized “Right now we have two building below a few of the notable bills that passed owners who have agreed to have mu- one chamber last week. To become law – rals on their buildings,” Economic Balagna House Moving workers Howard VanHouten (left) and Bruce VanHouten (right) re- among other pathways – the bills will still Development Director Amy Davis cently helped move the stone that was mounted above the entrance to the old Farmington need to receive approval from the other told the Elmwood City Council dur- High School. The stone will be displayed at the Farmington Museum. Photo by Dave Giagnoni. chamber and the governor. Continued on Page 11 Continued on Page 13 Gobbles in the timber mean it’s turkey time By GRETCHEN STEELE walkers, pooping on patios, and In 1970 a total of 1,000 lucky For The Weekly Post wrecking the occasional garden and people held permits for the state’s Nothing says spring in Illinois flower bed with their scratching first wild turkey hunting season in quite like the flashy noisy show put around looking for food. 67 years. The reintroduced wild tur- on by the Eastern Wild Turkey as As abundant as wild turkeys ap- keys had successfully established they gobble and strut and in general pear today across the landscape, that breeding populations, producing show off much like a teenage boy at wasn’t always the case in Illinois. enough offspring that a trap-and- the spring dance, all in hopes of at- It wasn’t until 1970 that Illinois re transfer program could be estab- tracting a mate. instituted a hunting season for wild lished. The United States is home to six turkeys, after a 67-year hiatus. That first season, populations were recognized subspecies of wild tur- Habitat loss and overhunting had not yet widespread, but DNR offi- key, but the eastern sub species is the eliminated wild turkeys from Illinois cials felt that enough wild turkeys only found in Illinois. by 1910. Between 1959-67, the Illi- existed in just three Illinois counties Wild turkeys can be found in all nois Department of Natural Re- to allow hunters a modest take. By 102 counties in Illinois and have sources (IDNR) obtained 1980, a total of five counties were even started finding their way into wild-trapped turkeys from Missis- open for turkey hunting, with 165 urban areas where they sometimes sippi, Arkansas and West Virginia. gobblers bagged that spring. By the become a bit of nuisance. Wild tur- These birds were released in small mid-1980s, the Illinois harvest Male wild turkeys like this pair put on a show in April and May trying keys in urban settings have been ob- groups at five locations in southern began topping 1,000 birds. to impress females, including strutting, spitting and gobbling. Photo served chasing the mail man or Illinois. Continued on Page 2 by Gretchen Steele. Page 2 THE WEEKLY POST • April 29 2021 www.illinoisweeklies.com TURKEYS: Some problems in urban areas Continued from Page 1 ting and gobbling tom tur- the patio door pecking, fan- keys less wary of people, Hardly what turkey hunters keys put on much to the de- ning, and in general trying and this can become a today have come to expect! light of bird and wildlife to knock the daylight out of problem during the breed- Compare those numbers watchers. its reflection! ing season. If wild turkeys with 2020’s harvest data, Indeed, most Illinoisans The potential for conflicts have found your bird when15,800 wild turkeys are pleased with this con- between wild turkeys and feeders, it’s good to run were harvested in the servation success story, but people is real and is likely them off before they be- spring. That total includes we are also starting to see to continue as turkey pop- come regular visitors. the 2020 youth harvest of turkeys make their way ulations grow and human • Temporarily cover win- 1,744 birds. The statewide into urban areas where they development increases. dows or other reflective ob- record total was set in 2006 can be a bit problematic. According to the Wildlife jects if they have attracted with 16,569 turkeys. Wild turkeys are large Illinois website, “In some the attention of a mis- The numbers of tags, birds. The average adult cases, nuisance turkeys are guided tom during breed- hunting opportunities, and male (gobbler or tom) not wild birds, but can be ing season. Turkeys have recorded harvest numbers stands 3-3½ feet tall and pen-raised turkeys from even been known to attack of at this point in Illinois weighs 18-24 pounds. Fe- game-farm stock. While it super shiny and reflective truly point to a conserva- males (hens) are smaller, is illegal to release pen- cars and trucks resulting in tion success story. typically 2½-3 feet tall and raised turkeys in Illinois, some nasty scratching to Even if you aren’t an ar- weighing 8-2 pounds. some turkeys have escaped that prized vehicle! dent turkey hunter, there is When a bird of that size or been released into the • Protect flower beds and much to enjoy from wild decides your yard or gar- wild. These birds often garden plants from ma- turkeys in the spring – den is their territory, they look like wild turkeys, but rauding turkeys using poly- whether it be listening to can indeed be a little in- they lack a wariness of hu- propylene bird netting (1⁄2 them gobble across the timidating. Not to mention mans, are not adept at liv- or 3⁄4-inch mesh). landscape or just enjoying that startling effect of a big ing in the wild, and often • Lastly, the Illinois Wild- the show a group of strut- tom turkey marching up to associate people with food. life Code protects wild tur- Besides leading to human– keys. It is illegal to kill turkey conflicts, the escape (unless you have obtained of pen-raised turkeys has the proper permits and li- wildlife biologists con- censing to legally harvest a cerned about the spread of wild bird) or remove wild disease to wild flocks and turkey or to destroy their the loss of genetic purity nests or eggs. If you need caused by hybridization.” assistance with a turkey If you are concerned problem in an urban area, about conflicts with wild contact a local DNR Dis- turkeys and would like to trict Wildlife Biologist. reduce the potential for is- For now though, just re- sues here are some tips: joice in the return of this • Do not feed wild tur- much sought-after species keys. Providing food at- and take a moment to ob- tracts more birds than serve and marvel at the tur- would naturally be found at key’s annual spring show – a site. It also makes the tur- it is worth watching. ESTATE AUCTION EQUIPMENT - GUNS & AMMO HOUSEHOLD - ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES 8322 S. Martin-Weber Rd., Glasford, IL From Casey’s in Glasford: Go North to Canton/Glasford Blacktop and turn left, go 1 miles, turn right on to Martin-Weber Road. Go 1/2 mile. First house on the right up the lane. SATURDAY, MAY 8TH, 2021 STARTING AT 9:30 A.M. EQUIPMENT ANTIQUES & M105S Kubota/LA 1301S loader, COLLECTIBLES approx. 250 hrs. 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