Featured
Miners blow out Kincaid Ponies
Published
14 years agoon
By
BenGil Staff

Mason Bertolis rushes for a 55 yard touchdown.
The Miner football team was greeted by members of Gillespie High School’s undefeated 1976 football team who celebrated the 35th anniversary of their winning season during the Miner’s home opener. With a low scoring first half and a total of 7 penalties for the Miners, it looked as if the Miners were a little frightened by the home town crowd.
Coming out of the locker room at half time leading 6-0, the Miners wasted no time building the lead as a 47 yard run by Graham Cooper extended the score to 12-0 within 4 minutes of the second half. Within 6 minutes of the touchdown, Johnny Cox recovered a Kincaid fumble and extended the lead to 20-0 after the 2 point conversion from Tucker to Hellmann was successful.
With 1 quarter left of play, the Miners put the passing plays aside as the offense ran for a combined 150 yards in the fourth quarter. Johnny Cox, Derrick Tiburzi, and Mason Bertolis each added a touchdown to the lead as Eric Lancaster’s interception with 1:33 minutes left proved to be the deciding factor in the Miners 40-6 victory over the Kincaid Ponies.
4 penalties in the first quarter got the Miners off to a rough start after the 16 yard kick off return. The offense could only put up 53 yards, 33 of which came from quarterback Cameron Tucker who completed 3 of 5. Rushing attempts from Cox, Tiburzi, and Cooper added the other 20 yards. 2 offensive turnovers prevented the Miners from even reaching the red zone as a forced defensive turnover on downs provided the Miners the ball to open the second quarter.

Cort Hellmann attempts to shake the defender.
Following a scoreless first quarter, senior quarterback Cameron Tucker opened the onslaught with a 67 yard pass to Johnny Cox setting the Miners 13 yards away from the endzone. Short running gains set freshman Derrick Tiburzi up for 1 yard rushing touchdown to give the Miners a 6-0 lead after the extra point field goal was unsuccessful. Tucker completed just 1 pass in the second quarter for 67 yards while the offense was able to rush for 59 yards. 3 offensive turnovers including a fumble left the defense on the field majority of the second quarter. The offensive fumble set Kincaid 29 yards away from the endzone. The attempt to score was quickly abolished as senior Cort Hellmann picked the quarterback and had a short 12 yard return. The defense was able to force to the Ponies to turn the ball over on downs two other times, with one being a fumble recovery with 1:30 minutes left. Short running gains could not cash in for a quick touchdown before the half as the Miners ran into the locker room with a 6-0 lead.
Graham Cooper took majority of the hand offs in the third quarter as he ran for 57 yards while Tiburzi tallied 11 and Cox and Austin Semplowski added 3 yards each. Cam Tucker tossed for only 7 yards in the third quarter as he was 1 for 1 with the single reception being caught by key receiver Cort Hellmann. With just one offensive turnover, the Miners were able to add 2 touchdowns to the home half of the scoreboard as Cooper had a 47 yard rushing touchdown and Johnny Cox had a 45 yard fumble return. The defense proved to be strong as usual, causing the offense to turn the ball over twice and forcing a fumble. With the 2 point conversion pass from Tucker to Hellmann, the Miners led 20-0 heading into the final quarter.
The outpouring continued in the fourth quarter as the offense was able to rush for 150 yards. Johnny Cox opened the quarter with a 9 yard touchdown after he blocked a Pony punt. With 11:35 minutes left, the Miners kicked it away with a 27-0 lead. The receiver bobbled the ball and later fumbled it upon the tackle to set the Miners 32 yards away from the endzone. A 20 yard rushing gain from Cox along with a 9 yard rushing gain from Cooper set Derrick Tiburzi up for a 3 yard rush touchdown. After the extra point field goal was successful, the Miners led 34-0 with 8 minutes left of play.

Graham Cooper rushes for 57 yards in the 3rd quarter.
As many younger classmen were rotated in the game, the Miners still held strong. The defense caused the Ponies to turn the ball over on downs and again, the Miners were dancing in the endzone after Mason Bertolis ran the ball in for 55 yards. The 2 point conversion failed and the special teams were kicking it off once again. With 3 minutes left on the clock, the Ponies finally reached the endzone, but a failed conversion could only get them 6 points. With less than 2 minutes to play, the Ponies had the ball again and were on their way to the endzone. Their dreams fell short into Eric Lancaster’s hands as Lancaster picked the quarterback with 1:25 minutes left to secure the 40-6 victory for the Miners.
In their next game, the Miners clash with the Staunton Bulldogs in a Prairie State bout, which will take place on Friday, September 9 in Staunton. Gillespie will attempt to move on its 2-0 season record. The Bulldogs enter the bout with a 2-0 record after their 48-0 league win over Nokomis.
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Featured
Gillespie man injured in DUI accident
Published
9 years agoon
October 16, 2015By
BenGil Staff
A Gillespie man was taken to a local hospital after suffering injuries following a single-vehicle accident that occurred Sunday morning, October 11, after he drove off the roadway and into a deep ditch near the intersection of Route 16 and Charles Street in Gillespie.
Gillespie Police Chief Jared DePoppe reported that the police department was dispatched to the scene of the accident shortly before 3 a.m. Officers arrived to find Jonathan Genisio, 29, of Gillespie as the driver and only occupant inside the Ford Mustang vehicle.
Genisio was arrested, but give a notice to appear in court so he could seek medical treatment. He was charged with six different counts in addition to having his vehicle impounded. His charges include driving under the influence of alcohol, no insurance, improper lane usage, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, failure to notify SOS of an address change and failure to wear a seat belt.
At the time of publication on Thursday evening, the vehicle was recovered from impound and Genisio was discharged from the hospital. The extent of his injuries was unable to be released by medical personnel.
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Community News
Gillespie council discusses budget and meeting process
Published
10 years agoon
August 1, 2015By
BenGil Staff

Treasurer Dan Fisher (right) addresses the council.
The treasurer for the City of Gillespie had a lot to say about how city officials handle their subcommittees and how city funds are spent during the city’s committee meeting held Monday evening, July 27.
Dan Fisher, the elected treasurer for Gillespie, spoke to the council for over 30 minutes about how bills are paid and more importantly, how purchases are appropriated for and planned. During the city’s board meeting held earlier this month, Fisher suggested the council move their meeting dates to coincide with how the bills are paid.
He explained that many council members bring up issues or have questions about certain bills during the council meetings, but the questions are left to be answered by the city clerk who isn’t present at the board meetings. In addition to dragging out the meetings, Fisher said the questions should be taken care of before the meeting is held.
“We need to have a standardized process on how we buy things,” Fisher told the council Monday evening. “We need to spend more time on appropriating.”
We need to have a standardized process on how we buy things
Council members agreed with what Fisher had to say to them. “We need to spend a lot of time when do our appropriation and it’s going to take a lot of time from everyone, including myself,” he continued. “We need to find a way to be collective in how we do things.”
Fisher closed by adding that the council also takes too long at their regular city council meetings, which are held on the second Monday of each month. Speaking of the city’s July meeting that lasted nearly 3 hours, Fisher said the council needs to be much more “business-like”.
“We take too long at our meetings,” he closed. “It’s been proven that people lose focus after 90 minutes and there is no reason why we shouldn’t be able to get a meeting done in 1 hour and 15 minutes.”
City clerk Frances Smith spoke up after Fisher referred to the council’s last meeting. She prefaced her statement by saying she didn’t intend to saying anything, but continued by saying that the council’s July 13th meeting took her three days to transcribe. “It makes the clerk’s job hard – whoever it is,” she said. “There is a lot of side conversations and it’s very hard to hear on the tape.”
Ash Street Project
Alderman Steve Kluthe informed the board that he received the bid specifications back for the Ash Street Project which allows the council to advertise the specs to get an idea how much drainage project will cost.
Kluthe said the bid specifications cover everything including equal opportunity employer and prevailing wage information, but said the project could probably be handled by a local contractor. The project includes installing a culvert that will transfer the water to Cherry Street.
The council hopes the completed project will then alleviate the water that currently gets backed up north of Ash Street. “They are going to put a culvert underneath Ash Street to the north and grade the ground on the north side so the water flows to the culvert and down to the south end where there is a storm drain,” Kluthe explained.
TIF District
We should stretch the money out and begin to reinvest the money into community development
After the city pays UCB, Fisher said the council can expect to still have somewhere north of $40,000 remaining each year. “I would like us to start to look at other projects that meet the TIF criteria that we could spend $20-$30,000 per year,” Fisher explained. “Long-range projects – projects that could last 10-12 years. We should stretch the money out and begin to reinvest the money into community development.”
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Elementary School News
Elementary school releases supply lists for fall
Published
10 years agoon
July 15, 2015By
BenGil Staff
Kindergarten
- 5 boxes CRAYOLA brand crayons (24 count)
- 1 box CRAYOLA brand broad-line markers (classic)
- 1 backpack
- 1 box of water paints
- 1 pair FISKAR brand scissors (children’s)
- 6 large glue sticks
- 1 small plastic school box
- 4 pocket folders
- 4 large erasers
- 20 pencils (#2, lead, plain yellow)
- 2 boxes of Kleenex
- 2 rolls of paper towels
- 2 containers of anti-bacterial wipes
- 1 large box of sandwich size ZIPLOC bags (girls)
- 1 large box of gallon ZIPLOC bags (boys)
- 1 clipboard
- 1 highlighter
- 1 spiral 1-subject notebook (wide ruled)
- Extra set of clothes to keep at school
- Tennis shoes for P.E.
First Grade
- 1 plastic school box
- 3 packs of pencil top erasers
- 2 large pink erasers
- 5 packs of Ticonderoga brand pencils
- 2 yellow highlighters
- 2 boxes of CRAYOLA crayons (24 count)
- 12 Elmer’s brand glue sticks
- 1 pair of FISKAR brand scissors
- 1 spiral 1-subject notebook (wide ruled)
- 2 plastic 2-pocket folders
- 1 8ct classic CRAYOLA fine line markers
- 2 dry erase markers
- 1 roll of paper towels
- 2 boxes of Kleenex
- 3 containers of Clorox Anti-Bacterial Wipes
- 1 box of sandwich size ZIPLOC bags (girls)
- 1 box of gallon ZIPLOC bags (boys)
- Tennis shoes for P.E.
- Extra set of clothes to keep at school
Second Grade
- Handheld pencil sharpener
- 8 large Elmer’s glue sticks
- 1 large zippered pencil bag
- 24 – #2 pencils
- 1 wide ruled spiral notebook
- 1 package wide ruled loose leaf paper
- (2) 1” three ring binder
- 1 pack of pencil top erasers
- 1 pair of FISKARS brand pointed scissors
- 1 yellow highlighter
- 1 box broad line classic CRAYOLA markers
- 2 boxes CRAYOLA crayons (24 count)
- 2 plastic pocket folders
- 1 CRAYOLA watercolor paints
- 1 box of Kleenex
- 1 roll of paper towels
- Large Ziploc bags
- Sandwich size Ziploc bags
- 2 containers of Clorox wipes
- 1 box of CRAYOLA colored pencils
- 2 dry erase markers
- Extra set of clothes to leave at school
- Tennis shoes for P.E.
Third Grade
- 1 small school box
- 4 packages of pencils (#2, plain yellow)
- 2 boxes CRAYOLA crayons (24 count)
- 1 box CRAYOLA colored pencils
- 1 highlighter
- 1 pair pointed scissors
- 6 ELMER glue sticks
- 2 pocket folders
- 3 boxes Kleenex
- 2 containers of CLOROX wipes
- 1 roll of paper towels
- 1 package of loose leaf paper (wide rule)
- 2 notebooks (wide rule)
- (2) 1” binders
- 2 packs of pencil top erasers
- Gallon-sized Ziploc bags (boys)
- Sandwich-sized Ziploc bags (girls)
- 2 packages of post-it notes
- Tennis shoes for P.E.
Fourth Grade
- 2 packages of wide rule loose leaf paper
- 48 pencils
- 3 packs pencil top erasers
- (1) 2” binder
- 1 box 24 or 48 count CRAYOLA crayons
- 1 pair FISKAR scissors
- 1 box of colored pencils
- 1 single subject notebook (wide rule)
- 3 folders
- 2 packages of white index cards
- 4 highlighters
- 4 packages of post-it notes
- 2 boxes Kleenex
- 1 container of Clorox wipes
- Hand held Pencil Sharpener
- Dividing tabs for binder
- Tennis shoes for P.E.
Fifth Grade
- Art Box
- Pencil Pouch
- 36 pencils (mechanical preferred)
- 12 pencil top erasers
- Crayola crayons
- Markers
- Crayola Colored Pencils
- Red or Blue Pen
- Scissors
- Clear Ruler
- Clear Protractor
- 1 Bottle of Elmer’s Glue or 2 Glue Sticks
- (1) 3 Ring Binder (2 inch)
- 2 notebooks (one subject-wide ruled)
- 1 package of loose leaf paper (wide ruled)
- 3 folders
- 2 highlighters
- 2 boxes Kleenex
- Girls-Antibacterial Wipes
- Boys-4 pack of post it notes
- Hand Held Pencil Sharpener
- Pocket Dictionary
- Tennis shoes for P.E.
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