Journal Gazette from Mattoon, Illinois • Page 6

A6 Wednesday, November 12, 2008 LOCAL www.Jg-tc.com FamilyCare medical coverage ended until judge rules on suit nononiff sacnnces Students lend a hand in CMS Veterans Day celebration down an expansion of FamilyCare. A hearing on the matter is expected Wednesday. Epstein ordered Gov. Rod Blagojevich Oct. 15 to stop covering families earning 133 percent or more of the federal poverty level.

But court documents indicate the administration has stopped paying all vouchers submitted through FamilyCare, regardless of income level. SPRINGFIELD (AP) The Blagojevich administra-. tion has stopped paying for medical care under the state's FamilyCare plan because of a lawsuit over the program for Illinoisans who can't afford private insurance The move affects more than 500,000 FamilyCare recipients. Administration lawyers are asking Cook County Circuit Judge James R. Epstein to clarify his order to shut Subscribe Today! 1-800-453-2472 ByMVEFOMY Staff Writer CHARLESTON Zack Steidl said it wasn't so bad being in school Tuesday, because he got the chance to hear his friend's grandfather's stories about D-Day during World War II.

Zack has the chance to learn from a younger veteran, too: his father Jason, and the Charleston Middle School eighth-grader invited his dad to attend the school's annual Veterans Day ceremony. With Ihe observance, he said it was OK that there's school on a holiday, as long as people still remembered what it was about. "If we have school, we should do something to honor veterans," he said. CMS has done that each of the 10 years the school district had student attendance on Veterans Day with an observance involving local veterans. Math teacher Kathy Augustine, a member of the committee that organized Tuesday's event, said the annual event fits well with the idea of emphasizing the meaning of the holiday while students are in school to learn about it.

"I know we could celebrate it on a different day, but I think there's something about celebrating it on the day that sends a message," Augustine said. Nearly 75 veterans accepted invitations from CMS students to attend Tuesday's ceremony. Jason Steidl, an Army recruiter, said he felt appreciated but also welcomed the chance to visit with older veterans. He agreed with his son that the event was a good thing for the students, too. "It gives them one day out of the year to open their eyes and learn about the sacrifices people have made," he said.

i II 11 PAYMENT PLANS VfeS '24 HOUR FILINGS rs We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for YVl I bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code. jv 1 I Charleston Champaign Decatur I 345-2525 356-3030 429-3030 irullcr-VJcntc, Inc. Cleanina lnchidM8tntardF1Kr otter ExptrM 121908 Plumbing Heating Air Conditioning Septic install Sewer Waterlines Sewer Cleaning Directional Boring 21 7-234-8336 Ken TrevarthanStaff Photographer Vietnam veteran Bob Black, Sr. holds the hand of Amanda Bahney of Mattoon, wife of Spc.

Eric Bah-ney, who died July 12th before the deployment of his unit (the 634th Brigade Support Battalion, Company A) to Afghanistan, after the military funeral rites demonstration Tuesday afternoon at Charleston Middle School. member who helped organize the ceremony, said she thinks giving the students a bigger role made the observance more meaningful. "It gets the students more involved and they take more out of the program instead of just sitting said. The CMS students also raised $250 and donated it Tuesday to the Bahney Foundation, a group that provides overseas soldiers with laptop computers and Web cams to help them stay in touch with their families. Contact Dave Fopay at or 348-5733.

"It also became apparent that the students were mostly consumers and not participants," she added. "We've made a genuine effort to put the emphasis on student participation." Signs of that included posters representing each branch of the military that students made and placed on the gym's walls. The school band then performed each branch's theme song, and veterans representing each service along with their student hosts stood while their particular song was played. Eighth-grader Brooke Homann, a student council The veterans and the students who invited them started the program by visiting with one another in the school library, then headed to the school's gym for the ceremony. That included patriotic songs, speeches, a performance by the Mattoon High School JROTC drill team and a military funeral service by the Charleston VFW honor guard.

The ceremony's features were similar to what CMS has done for Veterans Day before, but this year students were more directly involved in the planning and the presentations. Augustine said part of the idea was for variety. Nation Please join us in celebrating our grand reopening! Wc are back from the wreckage of two tornadoes and better than ever. Tour our fabulous new facility and see demonstrations of all ol the new equipment. Join us from 1 1:00 am to 3:30 pm on Saturday, November 15, 2008 (or plenty ol hot food and cold drinks.

Register to win some great prizes. We appreciate the support that we have receired from our customers and the community during the past few months while we were rebuilding from the storms. This is our way to say "thank you." We hope to see you there. More than 100 brave weather to honor veterans in Charleston Central Illinois Transmission 1916 South 17th Street Mattoon (217) 235-2487 Krukewitt explained the timing of the ceremony pays tribute to World War I ending with an armistice on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. He said Armistice Day was transformed to Veterans Day in 1954 to honor all veterans.

"It is imperative that on this day we take the opportunity to keep alive the memories, sacrifices By ROB STROUD Staff Writer CHARLESTON Wind blew and rain fell cold Thursday, but those who gathered on the courthouse square did not shrink from their determination to honor veterans. More than 100 people peered out from under umbrellas, rain coat hoods and uptown awnings to watch Veterans of Foreign Wars Paul Li -v-. fiuwfSifi- WW and accomplishments of our nation's veterans," Krukewitt said. Krukewitt closed with an article by Capt. MORE ONLINE Visit www.jg-te.com to view more images from Veterans Day activities in Mattoon and Charleston.

McVey Post 1592 conduct its annual Veterans Day service The post's color guard and firing detail stood at attention on the Come Visit Our Great New Location GLASSES IN A HOUR SO) EVEN BIFOCALS! Ken TrevarthanStaff Photographer Carl Sandburg Elementary School second-graders sing the National Anthem during the Veterans' Day ceremony Tuesday morning on the Coles County Courthouse square in Charleston. his full height, returned my salute with pride and exclaimed, 'Good morning, Salwei wrote. Salwei wrote the colonel behind the veteran stopped in mid salute, smiled at her, and quietly moved forward. "As I entered the clinic, the utter beauty of the encounter preoccupied me. What prompted the old man to assume that I was saluting him? Perhaps he just thought, 'It's about Salwei wrote.

Contact Rob Stmud at or 348-5734. Patricia Salwei about an experience she had while entering the medical facility at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. Salwei wrote that a veteran who appeared to be more than 80 years old was slowly walking toward her, but she paid more attention, to the colonel behind him. She saluted the colonel and exclaimed, "Good morning, as the hunched over veteran shuffled by her. "(The veteran) immediately came to life.

Transformed by my greeting, he rose to 2nd PAIR OF GLASSES FUSEES I I i A Pair of Glasses! COMPLETE GLASSES Get A 2nd Pair Free; i you, a friend, or family member (Frames Lenses) 1 PAIR SPECIAL (Includes frames up to $119 Value with single vision lenses) Bifocals available at additional cost With this coupon thw 111 sob- northeast corner of the courthouse lawn alongside second-graders from Carl Sandburg Elementary School, bundled up against the cold weather. "It is great to see all the young people here today," said post Commander Ron Krukewitt, his voice ringing out through a public address system. The chorus of students sang "American the Beautiful," "God Bless America," and "The Star-Spangled Banner" in honor of Veterans Day, after practicing these songs at school. Donald and Dori Fairbanks of Charleston were able to see their 8-year-old daughter, Paige, look up with a smile on her face as she sang the national anthem with her fellow second-graders. "She had her hand on her heart and she looked up at the flag throughout the whole song.

I am so proud of her," Dori Fairbanks said, adding she is glad the second-graders were able to turn out despite the bad weather. Fairbanks said her father served in the Air Force and one of her husband's friends is serving with the Illinois Army National Guard in Afghanistan. Consequently, Fan-banks said she and her husband make sure their children understand the importance of Veterans Day. "It's a big deal for our family," Fairbanks said. i may nor oe usoa wnn omer special onors I May not be used with other discounts I 1 May not be used with other special offers Program tot Seniors 0PTIG0LD 60 MfrtMnintussunt $10 OFF EYE EXAM With complete Glasses Purchase (My net iiMd wUti dtocound) TitriMivli.

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