Journal Gazette from Mattoon, Illinois • Page 1

I srcnrs GALLIGAN BACK ON EIU SIDELINE i UTESTYLESj C1 UNITED METHODIST WOMEN PLAN GARDEN WALK Mattoon II 133rd Year, No. 131 50 Cents 2010 Mattoon Journal Gazette I I ft WW II II 3D 0 Funnel clouds, flash floods reported across III. Ullinfif 9572 Wednesday, June 23, 2010 I LOCAL I Workers have some success at pool Repairs at the children's area of the Rotary Community Aquatic Center in Charleston have gotten a boost with a successful water pressure test of primary service lines. Page A3 CHAMPAIGN (AP) -Strong winds tore the roof off a small-town apartment complex Tuesday as a series of storms that spawned several funnel clouds and a possible tornado soaked much of central Illinois. In Beardstown, about 45 miles northwesf of Springfield, 26 families were without a place to stay after winds tore the roof off their apartment building about 1:40 a.m., Mayor Bob Walters said.

A shelter was set up at a local school. "It tore the roof right off of it, threw it across the street about a half block away," Walters said. "It wasn't declared a tornado; you'd never know it by looking at the city." Weather monitoring equipment at Beardstown High School recorded winds of 100 mph, he said. Other homes and businesses also were damaged, and trees were down all over town after what the mayor called the worst storm he could recall. At one point, Ameren reported several thousand people in the area without power.

Crews had cleared most major roads by late Tuesday afternoon, but the cleanup could last a month, Walters said. "Fortunately, we haven't had any reported injuries," he said. "Some people were trapped in their houses because tree limbs fell down and things like that." The heavy rain fell on ground that was already wet from previous storms and created flash foods across the region. In Farmington, about 20 ILLIN0ISA2 Ken TrevarthanStaff Photographer Storm clouds move rapidly across Illinois Route 16 west of Mattoon on Tuesday afternoon on the way to deliver a heavy load of rain to Coles County. Storms make their way through Midwest Four accused of stealing $500 in cigarettes Four people arrested last week allegedly stole more than $500 worth of cigarettes from a Mattoon gas station, and the suspects are under investigation for other, similar thefts.

Page A3 Hummingbird festival set this Sunday At Okaw Valley Orchards northwest of Sullivan on Sunday afternoon, the public can participate in a hummingbird festival led by the Illinois Audubon Society. Page A3 NATION WORLD McChrystal comments put him in crossfire President Barack Obama planned to talk personally to Gen. Stanley McChrystal today about disparaging public comments the Afghan war commander has made. Page A6 Mexico asks court to nix Arizona law On Tuesday, Mexico joined support of lawsuits challenging Arizona's new measure targeting illegal immigration. Page A7 Residents near Avon, west of Indianapolis, used an earth mover to poke a hole in an earthen dam in hopes of lowering the water level in Indian Head Lake enough that the dam wouldn't be overwhelmed by more rain and swamp bridges and homes downstream.

A huge crater had developed in the side of the dam that morning and muddy brown water lapped the top, prompting the temporary evacuation of 32 homes and 16 homes in a MIDWESTA2 AVON, Ind. (AP) A wave of severe storms crashed through the Midwest on Tuesday, forcing residents in central Indiana to flee their homes because of rising flood-waters and frantically ease the pressure on an earthen dam before a new band of storms came rumbling through. In several states, residents took advantage of a brief break from the severe weather Tuesday afternoon to clean up from tornadoes and flash floods. Twenty-five homes were destroyed and at least a hun dred more damaged in Wisconsin, while 26 families in Illinois were homeless after strong winds tore a roof off an apartment complex. The storms that pelted the region weakened as they moved east, but the National Weather Service said another wave was expected to hit Iowa, Illinois and Indiana on Tuesday night.

Enough moisture remained in the air that if storms developed in the heat, they would likely be downpours, said Jason Puma, a weather service meteorologist in Indianapolis. x' vvft If- TOP THIS 'Naked Cowgirl7 bucks demand from Med Cowboy' NEW YORK (AP) New York City's famous Naked Cowboy wants a bikini-clad woman who calls herself The Naked Cowgirl to stop ripping off his trademark. The Times Square cowboy, whose real name is Robert Burck, is known for strumming his guitar wearing only briefs and a cowboy hat. He has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Sandy Kane, who wears a red, white and blue cowboy hat and matching bikini. Burck says if Kane's going to make money by posing for photos, he wants her to sign a "Naked Cowboy Franchise Agreement." Most of his licensed franchisees are required to pay $5,000 a year or $500 a month and go through a screening process.

Kane, who is in her 50s, is a former stripper who's now a fixture of the city comedy scene. Her real name is Sandra Brodsky. She says she doesn't owe Burck anything. Library grant application needs Gover's signature By DAVE F0PAY Staff Writer MATTOON A grant application for funds to help with repairs at the Mattoon Public Library should be submitted to federal officials soon, perhaps by next week. That's the next stage of the application after the library conducted a meeting Monday for public input on the grant, library Director Ryan Franklin said.

Now, grant documents need the signature of acting Mayor Tim Gover, she explained, and she thinks she will have them to Gover by later this week. The library is applying for $35,000 in federal stimulus money to help cover the $100,000 for additional work on its air conditioning system, to replace lighting and to repair outside steps. The funds are mostly for libraries that don't have money to do construction projects or remodeling but it can also be used for repairs, Franklin said. The Mattoon library would be the first to get stimulus funds for repair work LIBRARYA2 Associated Press Deck hand Dung Van Le stands on a commercial fishing boat in a marina in Grand Isle, Monday. The captain of Le's boat said that since April's Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, his crew's revenues have been cut in half.

Judge lifts offshore drilling ban COME BACK THURSDAY -3L 1 'THE MAGICIAN' Local surgeon writes mystery novel. Trial: Blago excited by value of Senate seat CHICAGO (AP) At times agitated, excited or profane, Rod Blagojevich sorted through ways he could benefit personally from the U.S. Senate seat vacated when Barack Obama won the presidential election, according to testimony and wiretap recordings played Tuesday at the former Illinois governor's corruption trial. Speaking on the day of Obama's election, Blagojevich can be heard on one recording saying he'll make a good-faith effort to fill the open seat but hastens to add that "it's not coming for free." "It's gotta be good for the people of Illinois and for me," he says. In talking about his once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to appoint a senator, Blagojevich considered several ideas in a bid to get the danger because one was? All oil tankers like Exxon Valdez? All trains? All mines? That sort of thinking seems heavy-handed, and rather overbearing." He also warned that the shutdown would have an "immeasurable effect" on the industry, the local economy and the U.S.

energy supply- The ruling was welcomed by the oil and gas industry and decried by environmentalists. Feldman's financial disclosure report for 2008, the most recent available, shows holdings in at least eight petroleum companies or funds that invest in them, including Transocean which owned the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that DRILLING A2 drilling exposes workers and the environment to "a danger that the president does not believe we can afford." Several companies that ferry people and supplies and provide other services to offshore rigs argued that the moratorium was arbitrarily imposed after the April 20 explosion that killed 11 workers and blew out a well 5,000 feet underwater. It has spewed anywhere from 67 million to 127 million gallons of oil. U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan and has owned stock in a number of petroleum-related companies, sided with the plaintiffs.

"If some drilling equipment parts are flawed, is it rational to say all are?" he asked. "Are all airplanes a NEW ORLEANS (AP) -A federal judge struck down the Obama administration's six-month ban on deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico as rash and heavy-handed Tuesday, saying the government simply assumed that because one rig exploded, the others pose an imminent danger, too. The White House promised an immediate appeal. The Interior Department had imposed the moratorium last month in the wake of the BP disaster, halting approval of any new permits for deepwater projects and suspending drilling on 33 exploratory wells. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama believes that until investigations can determine why the spill happened, continued deepwater MORE ONLINE www.jg-tc.com CONTACT US 1-800453-2472 TODAY'S INDEX Advice C2 Classifieds D3-6 Comics D2 Community Entertainment Local A3 Lottery A4 Markets B5 Obituaries Opinions A5 6 181 lllSPjjP 5 BLAG0A2.