THE DAILY ENQUIRER~DEMOCRAT FOUND AT ENQUIRERDEMOCRAT.COM Macoupin County’s Dominant Newspaper 75¢ Macoupin County ~ Carlinville nquirer~Democrat OUR 165TH YEAR NO. 36 E THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2017 FOURTEEN PAGES, ONE SECTION New Year's Holiday Deadlines Fri., Dec. 29, 2 p.m. for Thurs., Jan. 4, issue 'Together, We Win' of the Enquirer~Democrat for all news articles and advertising. For 38 years, INSIDE Carlinville volleyball coach shaped young ladies lives, on and off the court By Eric Becker Coaches embark on their sport of passion not knowing what impact that they will have on their players, Lott collects items or how much of an impact the players Carlinville coach Fran Struble is shown Dec. 9 talking to the five Cavalier for charity will have on the coach. Take Fran Struble for example. seniors, from left - Taylor Wills, Emma Griffith, Sydney Bates, Alyssa De- See page 2 It’s safe to say that the impact could Spain and Anna Chew - after announcing she would be retiring as coach be felt from both sides. of the CHS volleyball team. Her final group of seniors helped Struble win The Carlinville volleyball coach a sectional title for a ninth time and finish in the Elite Eight of Class 2A. recently announced her retirement from the game of volleyball that she the Carlinville Schools all she had - Susan Albracht (51-6), the Cavaliers has spent the last 38 years coach- and in return, the ladies she coached entered the 1980s seeking a new ing young ladies about not only the gave her a lifetime of memories to leader. game, but life lessons. cherish through her retirement years. Struble was asked to be the new Mural added to Wall So after 38 years, 930 wins, 30 But how she got to 2017 is a remark- coach. But right from the start, some- straight 20-win seasons, 22 regional able journey of its own. thing wasn’t right physically with the titles, nine sectional titles, a super- Humble beginning new coach. Street Financial building sectional title and a third place fin- According to ihsa.org, Carlinville The 1980 Cavaliers finished 11-9, Earlier this month, Bernie Gietl and D.L. Whitlock-Geitl finished a Wall ish at the state tournament in 2009, volleyball began in 1975 with a 5-3 but the troubling part was the strug- Street-themed mural on the back of the building that houses Wall 24 county titles and 24 conference record under Catherine Devitt. Two gle that Struble had been dealing Street Financial. Company president Carl Zeidler credited the pair championships, Struble has retired. years of coaching from Linda Ru- for coming up with the design, which took them about two months Manar tours She gave the game of volleyball and dolph (31-15) and two years under See STRUBLE on page 12 to paint. CHS Shipman See page 3 Lawsuits against Cerar, Heigert dismissed Judge April Troemper has dis- missed slander lawsuits filed last year against former Alderman George Cerar and Alderwoman Kim Heigert by Carlinville Public Bourne, Girl Scouts Works Director Tim Hasara. visit capitol The complaints, filed in April See page 7 2016 against Cerar and in Octo- ber 2016 against Heigert, were dismissed at the request of attor- neys Donald Craven (represent- GHS players, coaches and fans stand with Staunton ing Hasara) and Peter Jenetten Saturday (representing Cerar and Heigert), At the Dec. 19 girls’ basketball game, in a show of support for the people of Staunton who are grieving the deaths of three young women killed in a 12/30 who stated in the stipulation for 12 -3 November traffic accident, Gillespie High School students, players, coaches and fans wore red shirts and collected donations for the families of Tori dismissal document that “the Sunday Carroll and sisters Hailey and Madisen Bertels, who lost their lives in a traffic accident on Interstate 55. Also remembered that evening was Gillespie above cause of action has been 12/31 Middle School sixth-grade student Madyson Loftis, who passed away Monday from injuries she received in a weekend UTV accident. Pictured above settled, and hereby stipulate and 2 -10 are players from both teams standing together in a show of unity for the grieving communities. agree that the above cause may be dismissed, with prejudice to the INDEX plaintiff, costs paid and cause of Editorial 4 action satisfied.” No details were provided about Obituaries 5 the settlement reached, though the New laws go into effect Jan. 1 dismissal was “with prejudice,” Church 6 More than 200 new state laws will who have participated in such pro- cialty veteran plates to replace them any type of signs/decals on windows meaning the matter cannot be Calendar 6 go into effect on Jan. 1, 2018. grams and have been accepted into with another type of plate without that would obstruct the driver’s view. brought back to the court. HB 40 removes the trigger provi- one of the state’s public universities. paying the fee. HB 736 establishes a small busi- Reached for comment on the Court 7 sion from Illinois law that would re- HB 270 requires each law enforce- HB 470 makes corn the official ness grant program that will provide suit against her being dismissed, Heigert said, “I am glad that this is Classified 8 instate previous state policy banning ment agency to develop a written state grain of the state of Illinois. money to low-income individuals on abortion in the event Roe v. Wade policy regarding the investigation of Similarly, HB 2895 designates cy- public aid who are interested in be- over, and that I can now get back Sports 10 is overturned by the U.S. Supreme officer-involved criminal sexual as- cling as the official state exercise. coming entrepreneurs. to business.” Court. saults. HB 514 allows records of charges HB 1677 requires the Secretary Cerar commented, “I felt all Mac Stats 13 HB 243 allows high schools to es- HB 302 requires insurance com- that result in an acquittal or dismissal of State to include information on along I wasn’t guilty of anything wrong, and I feel that it was a set- Trades 13 tablish partnerships with local law panies to periodically check any with prejudice, except for minor traf- human trafficking in its commercial enforcement to create police train- unclaimed life insurance policies fic offenses, to be immediately sealed driver’s license curriculum and study up to knock me out of the running for mayor. I’m glad it’s behind ©2017 Macoupin County ing academy job training programs against a state death registry to en- after the final disposition of the case. guide information. us.” Enquirer Democrat and requires the Illinois Student As- sure families are receiving their due HB 733 prohibits motor vehicle HB 1784 allows motorists to pass sistance Commission to administer life insurance payouts. dealers from allowing a driver to Hasara did not respond to a re- a scholarship program for students HB 374 allows veterans with spe- leave the premises in a vehicle with See LAWS on page 8 quest for comment by press time. TOP HEADLINES OF 2017 Sanders charged 9 8 with forging Royal Blackburn College 7 Lakes audit Aug.17 offers free tuition to Macoupin County high school grads Sept. 21 10 Fire sweeps through Country Classic Cars Nov. 23 Teenager killed in wreck Aug. 10 Amtrak station now open for travelers 6 involving ATV June 8 See Headlines 5-1 on page 14 JAN FEB MAR APRIL MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC 2534 [email protected] news Top 10 Stories of 2017 #10 - Fire sweeps through Coun- had time to depart. made aware of suspicious activity wreck was caused when the ATV firmed by the U.S. Senate. Boente ing from the Illinois Alluvial Water try Classic Cars involving an annual financial au- Cheek was driving went into the also serves as the acting assistant Company, Inc. (the official entity Alarms sounded at about 8 p.m. #8 - Blackburn College dit report for the village of Royal path of a semi. attorney general of the National Se- for the regional water concept) in Aug. 8 for a fire at Country Clas- offers free tuition to Macoupin Lakes. The annual financial report The third occurred Dec. 17 in curity Division and will retain that December: any council member sic Cars on Old Route 66 near County high school graduates the village is statutorily required rural Plainview and resulted in seat until nominee John C. Demers who attends the meetings but is not Staunton. Flames were visible Blackburn College President to file with Mendoza’s office -ap the death of 11-year-old Madyson is confirmed. designated as council’s representa- through the roof when firefighters John Comerford unveiled the peared to be a report from a pre- Loftis of Benld and injuries to an tive on the board could face crimi- arrived on the scene. As many as school’s new Macoupin Promise vious year with only the dates 8-year-old boy also in the UTV; #4 - Council approves nal trespassing charges. Though 11 fire departments from Macoupin tuition program on the lawn of changed, instead of a new report as three other passengers were not regional water plan municipalities are subject to the and Madison counties responded to Blackburn’s McKinley House on required by state law. According to injured. The wreck was caused by On June 19, Carlinville City OMA, not-for-profit corporations assist. The business’ rural location Tuesday, Sept. 19. The new pro- Macoupin County State’s Attorney one of the UTV’s wheels dropping Council voted 5-3 to enter into a such as IARWC and JCRWC are required water to be hauled in to gram guarantees free tuition to Jennifer Watson, Sanders allegedly into a washout on the road while regional water plan with Jersey not.