NORMAL – Normal Unit 5 School Board members now have a date to circle on their calendars concerning when they must decide upon whether or not to put a referendum vote on new school buildings in time to be on the Feb. 5 primary ballot.

That date: December 3.

Among the new buildings to be considered is a middle school which would house sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. Board members agreed they need to know final dollar amounts no later than Nov. 28.

Dr. Gary Niehaus, Unit 5’s superintendent, said the board would need to decide among three options to find dollars for operational expenses for new schools the district needs in wake of an increasing student population.

In addition to adding classroom space for both Normal Community and Normal West Community High Schools, the district’s plans include two new grade schools, one new middle school, expanding Sugar Creek Elementary, and renovations at eight other elementary schools.

Enrollment Up Nearly 3 Percent: On the same night when discussion of expanding facilities to meet an increasing student population was on the agenda, the district received same-day enrollment figures for the beginning of the semester from John Pye, assistant superintendent of operations and human resources.

Presenting same day attendance figures for Aug. 31 compared to the same day last year, Unit 5’s student population grew nearly 3 percent – by an additional 350 students. A total of 12,457 students were enrolled in the district’s 15 grade schools, three junior highs, and two high schools as of that day.

A total of 251 new students entered Unit 5’s elementary schools this fall, an increase of 4.26 percent over last year. A total of 6,148 children attend Unit 5’s elementary schools.

Forty-Six new junior high students entered the district when the year began, increasing the attending numbers at Kingsley, Chiddix, and Parkside Junior High Schools to 2,808 students as the year began – a 1.67 percent jump over the same period last year.

A total of 53 new high school students entered the district’s two high schools as the school year began. But that number is partly due to a drop in NCHS’ attendance numbers as much as it is a spike at Normal West.

Normal West added 94 new students as the year opened, while NCHS’ population dropped by 41 students. NCHS’ opens the year with a one-day population count of 1,813 students, compared to 1,688 students at Normal West.

Brigham Elementary’s Good News: Brigham Elementary School Principal Geoff Schoonover presented the “Good News” he had at his school by honoring custodian Mark Kidwell. Kidwell earned the praise, Schoonover said, because of, among other things, assisting others when need arises, assisting with the school’s recycling program, and helping maintain the school’s garden area.

“He’s an outstanding head custodian,” Schoonover said of Kidwell. “He’s a true asset and we give him three cheers.”

Celebrating Fairview’s 50th: Fairview School’s 50th year of service will be celebrated with a ceremony on Tuesday, Sept. 25.

District To Pay For Graduation Ceremonies: The Board unanimously approved a contract with U. S. Cellular Coliseum to serve as host of graduation ceremonies for NCHS and NCWHS for the next three years.

Under the agreement, the district will pay U. S. Cellular Coliseum $6,005.20 for use of the facility when both schools hold individual graduation ceremonies on May 31, 2008.

The responsibility for paying for the graduation falls back on the district for the first time in five years. District policy changed, so that from 2004-2007, students at the two high schools were responsible for raising the funds to pay for the graduation ceremony themselves.

Jim Gillmeister, the district’s chief financial officer, told the board that the cost of renting Braden Auditorium at Illinois State University’s Bone Student Center, the site of graduations the last several years, ran roughly $5,000. In previous meetings, however, board members had discussed how the district had outgrown Braden, looking at another facility.

Board OKs Bus Leasing Agreement: Board members unanimously approved a two-year leasing agreement with Kankakee-based Midwest Transit Equipment, under which Unit 5 would lease 11 buses for two years at a cost of $205,486. Once the lease expires, Unit 5 would own the vehicles.

Increasing Security Discussed: The board also discussed upgrading security at the schools, particularly in light of recent events such as two high school students in Pontiac being arrested for bringing guns onto campus. The young men arrested were looking to sell the guns, according to published reports.

Loren Baele, the district’s director of technology, addressed board members, explaining the district needs, among other things, a Global Positioning System for school buses as well as manifests for buses in order to keep track of students.

Baele said a parental notification system would also be useful.

He suggested increasing the number of cameras and digital video recording systems at the elementary schools. Unit 5’s junior highs already have cameras and DVRs in place.

Citizen Advisors Choose Projects: Topics of study for the district’s Citizen Advisory Committee have been selected for the coming year, explained Meghan Leiseberg, the district’s community relations specialist.

Among the subjects CAC will research and report on are an analysis of current and future technology and school safety and security. CAC’s results will be released next March.

NORMAL – As a professional golfer, Illinois State University alum D. A. Weibring has seen his name on leader boards and on a total of 16 trophies and plaques signifying having won such prestigious events as the 1996 Canon Greater Hartford Open and most recently, the 3M Classic on the Champions Tour.

Those kinds of things never fazed him. But, when ISU officials approached him about formally naming the University Golf Course after him, the 53-year-old admitted, “I didn’t know what to think.”

This past weekend gave Weibring the chance to let the idea sink in as ISU formally rededicated the golf course as the Weibring Golf Course in a ceremony Friday.

With wife Kristy, two of his three grown children, and his mother present, Weibring told the approximately 60 people gathered near the 1st tee, that ISU’s athletic director at the time he entered school, the late Dr. Milt Weisbecker, was the one who convinced him to choose ISU.

He said Weisbecker hired Rusty Wells to be the golf team coach when Weibring started. As a result of the team’s efforts, guided by Wells, ISU’s golf team was ranked in the Top 20 in the last couple of years Weibring was on the team in the mid-1970s.

That start, Weibring said, “Laid the foundation” for what the men’s and women’s golf teams have accomplished over the years.

Weibring said he wanted to come back and “do something for the University. I wanted to come back and help the program that helped me.”

He thanked ISU President Dr. Al Bowman, Athletic Director Dr. Sheahon Zenger, and the members of the University’s Board of Trustees for their support of the golf course and of the school’s golf programs.

Bowman pointed out that the University has held an annual event at the course, the Redbird Classic, for 25 years and that through that event, Weibring has raised $1.5 million for the school’s athletic programs as a result.

“Despite the demands of being a businessman, husband, and father, D. A. has consistently found time for his alma mater,” Bowman said.

In addition to the honor given him by the University, the Town of Normal, represented by Mayor Chris Koos and City Manager Mark Peterson at the event, announced the honorary renaming of the stretch of Gregory Street in front of the golf course as D.A. Weibring Drive, with Koos also declaring the day as “D.A. Weibring Appreciation Day.”

“As you drove up this morning, you may have noticed some bright, shiny new street signs that were installed about an hour ago,” Peterson told those at the gathering. “The town of Normal has existed for 142 years, but the designation of the honorary D.A. Weibring Drive is the first and only time that the town council has taken action to designate a street after a very important individual.”

Prior to Weibring addressing the crowd, Peterson presented Weibring with a replica of the street sign.

He advised the current crop of up-and-coming golf team members in attendance, if they were enjoying themselves in the ISU golf program now, “to support it. Plain and simple. If you enjoy the benefits of what has been laid out for you, then (when you graduate), you need to come back and get into your pocket and support the program, not just financially, but emotionally.”

Weekend Honors: In addition to participating in the Harlan Kilborn Classic Friday, Weibring was honored at halftime of ISU’s football game against Murray State.

NORMAL – When the Normal Kiwanis Club solicits donations in exchange for peanuts later this month, drivers who stop to contribute may only be asked once, the result of a route change approved by the Normal Town Council at their meeting at City Hall Tuesday.

In past years, the Kiwanis Club members have stood in the middle of six different intersections collecting donations in exchange for small bags of peanuts in an attempt to raise money to help area children attend Summer camps they put on.

Kiwanis members will again take up the task on Sept. 13 and 14, but one street they will not be using as in the past is the intersection of Shelbourne Dr. and Towanda Ave., due to concerns about increased traffic in that area.

Instead, the Kiwanis will use the intersection of Raab Rd. and Towanda Ave. as one of the six area streets motorists will be able to find the group’s members soliciting for the public’s donations next weekend.

All of the other streets where the Kiwanis members have posted themselves during this charity drive, as in past years, remain the same. Those intersections include, in addition to the Raab at Towanda intersection: Willow and School Streets; Adelaide St. and Hovey Ave.; Vernon Ave and Grandview Dr.; College Ave. and Cottage Ave.; and Linden St. and Shelbourne Ave.

Kiwanis member David Bessler addressed the council concerning the change, explaining to the council that the group was not looking to add to the six streets it already uses for collecting these donations, but rather, simply wanted to replace one route which had become problematic due to heavy traffic, with another.

Council member Adam Nielsen asked Bessler if the Kiwanis had ever considered another means of raising funds other than the rather dangerous method of standing in the street to collect from drivers, as they are doing now.

Bessler said the current drive nets 20 percent of the group’s total annual intake to operate the camps. He said 125 campers benefit from the donations taken in, as $50,000 is needed to operate the camp.

Rep. Brady Addresses Council: State Representative Dan Brady (R-Bloomington) also spoke to the council, updating them on projects he hopes will go through this legislative session – among them, an earmarked project to spend $100,000 for enhancing the Metcom radio system used by the Normal Fire Department.

Omnibus Agenda Approved: Among the omnibus agenda items the council approved were:

• Accepting a motion to waive the formal bidding process and approve the purchase of a dessicant dehumidification system from Naperville-based Pnuetech Engineering in the amount of $15,997 for the West Booster Station.

• Accepting a bid from Bloomington-based Rowe Construction Co. in the amount of $511,242.10 and award a contract for the construction of Shepard Rd. from the west boundary of Eagle’s Landing subdivision to Hershey Rd.

• To accept the audited Town of Normal Financial Statements and Report of Certified Public Accountants for the year ending March 31, 2007. A Springfield-based public accounting firm, Sikich Certified Public Accounts and Advisors conducted the audit, which was required by state law. The council also approved a motion to accept the Federal Compliance Audit for the year ending March 31, 2007.

• Accepting a resolution authorizing execution of a first amendment to a lease agreement with Irvine, Calif.-based New Cingular Wireless for the lease of property for a cell tower located at the town’s fire station #2.

• Accepting an ordinance amending a Special Use Permit for Grace Church, 1311 W. Hovey, as the church adds a building addition and expands their parking lot.

• Passing an ordinance creating parking restrictions on Grove St. With the passage of the ordinance, parking would be prohibited between 11 p. m.-6a.m. on the east side of Grove St. from Searle Dr. north to Kingsridge Dr.

The council also voted by a 6-0 count, with one abstention, not to amend a license agreement with Illinois State University for On-Site parking spaces. As a result of recently completed street improvements on Fell Ave., 10 new on-street parking spaces were added to the west side of Fell Ave., adjacent to Watterson Towers and its Commons area. Because he is an ISU employee, council member Chuck Scott did not participate in the vote on this matter.

NORMAL – One ought to expect a football game between a ranked and undefeated team and a ranked rival to be a shootout from the opening kickoff.

If those were the expectations of those watching Normal Community and Bloomington High in the nightcap of the Intercity Football doubleheader at Hancock Stadium, then fans got their money’s worth.

NCHS defeated BHS, 47-35, with close to 1,000 fans watching, handing the Purple Raiders a third straight intercity defeat.

BHS (1-1) was ranked fifth in the Class 6A State Poll as the game started and the 27-yard run by junior running back Darrelynn Dunn put the Purple Raiders on the board first with 7:20 left in the first quarter. Junior kicker Adam Peden’s extra point put BHS up, 7-0.

Class 6A champion NCHS (2-0), ranked first in their class before the game, got on the scoreboard with the next play, as junior running back Chad Hinshaw returned the kickoff 90 yards, running down the opposite sideline, for the Ironmen’s first score of the night. Hinshaw punctuated his score by adding the extra point, tying the game at 7-all.

With a drive that got an easy start on BHS’ 2-yard line, NCHS went into the second quarter up, 13-7, following senior running back Dan Moore’s 1-yard run. Although Hinshaw missed the extra point, NCHS started the second quarter with a 13-7 lead.

BHS went four downs and punted before NCHS got its next chance to score again. Moore’s 8-yard run at 11:04 in the second quarter, followed by a successful two-point run try, also by Moore, increased the Ironmen’s lead to 21-7, with 10:58 until halftime.

Junior running back Marcus Johnson got BHS’ last points of the first half in with 31 seconds left, scoring from a yard out, capping a 13-play, 81-yard drive. Peden’s extra point cut NCHS’ lead to 28-14 at the half.

NCHS took advantage of a BHS fumble on the Purple Raiders’ own 30-yard line at the start of the second half, turning it into 3-play drive which ended in a 15-yard running score for Ironmen senior running back Joey Anderson with 10:05 left in the third quarter. Hinshaw’s extra point pushed NCHS’ lead to 28-14.

After another BHS fumble that gave NCHS good starting field position at the BHS 26, NCHS held their largest lead of the night, 34-14, following a 3-yard run by senior running back Alex Buck, at 6:32 in the third quarter, and an unsuccessful two-point conversion.

BHS was able to reel off two straight scores after that. The first came as senior quarterback Levi Johnson unleashed a 34-yard scoring pass to senior receiver Eric Furler with 3:25 left in the third quarter. Following Peden’s extra point, BHS cut NCHS’ lead to 34-21.

The Purple Raiders senior quarterback helped his team further, with a solo 34-yard run, capitalizing, in a three-play, 30-yard drive, on an NCHS turnover, putting BHS as close as it would get on the night, 34-28, following another Peden PAT.

NCHS responded by marching 62 yards in four plays, ending in a 43-yard running score by Anderson with 1:15 left in the third quarter. Hinshaw’s point-after, increased the Ironmen’s lead to 41-28.

After a BHS punt, the Ironmen added six more points on a 19-yard run by Buck with 9:56 left in the contest, going up 47-28, following a missed two-point run try.

BHS’ last score came in the closing minutes of the game as senior receiver Tyler Sipes scored on the longest pass of the night for either side, a 65-yard pass from quarterback Johnson, topped off by Peden’s extra point.

NCHS kept their game on the ground, racking up 312 yards of rushing, led by Anderson, who had 20 carries for 129 yards, and Moore who had 22 carries for 116 yards.

Dunn led all BHS rushers with 13 carries totaling 91 yards, followed by Levi Johnson who rushed 9 times for 67 yards.

NCHS head coach Hud Venerable was a little emotional following the contest, saying, “I’m very, very proud of the Ironmen tonight. I’m very, very proud of the Ironmen tonight (because of) the way they came and competed. I thought our guys really competed tonight.

“We obviously felt that if we could stop their offense, we were capable of moving the ball against them,” said BHS head coach Rigo Schmelzer. “That says a lot because I am greatly impressed with their defense. The kids fought well. They fought hard. They kept their minds in the game. The kids made this a game, at least until the two fumbles in the third quarter.”