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Miners Extend to 3 Game Winning Streak

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Graham Cooper fills the gap.

Once again, the Gillespie Miners faced no difficulty after beating the Mt. Olive Wildcats 56-0 in a Prairie Stat Conference match-up and on Mt. Olive’s homecoming night.

With the win, the Miners extend their record to 5-1 on the year and 4-1 in the conference.

The Miners scored early and scored often as they cashed in three Mt. Olive turnovers for three touchdowns. A rushing touchdown from Johnny Cox, Graham Cooper, and Derrick Tiburzi along with a defensive safety provided the Miners with a 23-0 lead and breathing room, none the less.

Just 2 minutes into the game, the Miners were on the scoreboard. The Miner’s had kicked it off to start the game, but after Mt. Olive’s three and out, the Miners were 25 yards away from the endzone after the punt block. Johnny Cox established the first points on the Miner side of the scoreboard after his 10 yard rushing touchdown. The next offensive drive from Mt. Olive turned into another turnover as the Miner defense forced the punter to step out of bounds to record another 2 points and extend the lead to 9-0.

The second touchdown in the first quarter came after Graham Cooper dashed 26 yards after 3 broken tackles. After Aaron Semplowski’s successful field goal, the Miners were in control of the game 16-0 with 3 minutes left in the quarter. In just 2 minutes, the Miners were dancing in the endzone once again after Derrick Tiburzi’s 5 yard touchdown run. Tiburzi’s touchdown came after Mt. Olive’s third consecutive turnover in the quarter. With less than one minute on the game clock, the Miners would kick it off to the Wildcats as they would open the second quarter with the ball.

Cort Hellmann looks for his receiver.

The Wildcats opened with possession of the ball in the second quarter, but it provided no advantage as a turnover gave the Miners the ball within 3 minutes. The Miners, as they lead 23-0, showed no signs of letting up. Tiburzi ignited the offense in the second quarter as his 22 yard rushing touchdown extended the lead by 29 points with 8:35 minutes left to play before halftime. Mt. Olive’s second offensive drive again amounted to negative yardage and another fourth down failed conversion as the Miner defense recorded the sack to set the Miners 67 yards away.

67 yards was a piece of cake as it took just one play to reach the endzone. Johnny Cox recorded his second touchdown of the game after the 67 yard touchdown run after 2 huge blocks from the offensive line. Cox’s touchdown brought the score to 36-0 with less than 4 minutes of play in the second quarter. With about 3 minutes on the clock, the Wildcats were in dreams of the finding the endzone. The dreams turned into nightmares as the Miner defense traded a Mt. Olive offensive fumble in for a defensive touchdown.

Coach Borgini and the Miners were now well in control of the game as they led 43-0. Though the 43 point lead was not enough, as the Miners were able to find time for one last touchdown after Rick Mock’s interception with 50 seconds left before the half. Eric Tiller found the endzone after a 33 yard touchdown run and the Miners now led 50-0 after Semplowski’s kick was successful. With just 43 seconds left to play after the touchdown, the Wildcats did not have enough time to reach the endzone as they headed into the locker-room at halftime trailing by 50. The Miner defense proved to be the deciding factor in the first half as they recorded 5 turnover on downs, 1 interception and 2 fumble recoveries.

The Miner’s would receive to start the third quarter as they led 50-0. The sideline was now in full rotation after halftime. The game clock was now able to run continuously since the lead margin was greater than 40 points. With the clock running, the Miners were not able to rain the touchdowns on as fast as they were in the first half. The Miners were able to produce just one touchdown in the third quarter after Drew Crook’s 1 yard rush put the Miners 56 points ahead. The second offensive drive from the Miners resulted in a turnover.The turnover gave the Wildcats the ball to start the final quarter.

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As the crowd began to steadily dwindle, it was the final quarter to play in Mt. Olive as the Miner’s led 56-0. The Wildcats were in control of the ball for only 18 seconds in the opening offensive drive as a fumble was quickly captured by the Miner defense. The Miner offense struggled though in the fourth quarter as they could only reach the first down marker once throughout the entire quarter. Mason Bertolis’ ten yard gain moved the chains, but after the Miner’s lost yardage on 3 consecutive plays, the Wildcats were in possession of the ball for nearly the rest of the game. The Wildcats moved slowly down the field as they reached two first down markers, but never were able to cross the 50-yard line.

Graham Cooper looks for an opening.

With 1:30 minutes left, the Wildcats were forced to punt it away, but after the punt bounced off a Miner helmet, the Wildcats were back in business on the 48 yard line after they recovered the ball. The punt reception provided no spark for the offense as they fumbled it just 40 seconds later. The Miner defense recovered the fumble and let the remaining 30 seconds of the game run out as they secured their fifth victory on the season.

Offensively, Johnny Cox carried the team with 115 yards on the ground along with Graham Cooper’s 106 and Derrick Tiburzi’s 56.

Defensively, Eric Tiller and Jessie Smith led the squad with 5 tackles each.

With the win, Gillespie improves its record to 5-1 on the season and 4-1 in the conference. The Miners travel to Nokomis to confront the Redskins in a non-league outing on Friday, October 7. The Redskins host the Miners with a record of 4-2. Nokomis beat North Mac 25-22 last Friday, September 30.

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Gillespie man injured in DUI accident

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Genisio's Ford Mustang in the City of Gillespie's impound lot Tuesday morning.

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

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Treasurer Dan Fisher addresses the council.

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

Fisher distributed a “Budget Basics” packet to board members during the committee meeting held Monday and said the council should consider implementing a purchase order system to account for all purchases. “That way when the bills come in, we can match the form up with it and everyone knows what the purchase was for and what account it comes out of,” he clarified.

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.”

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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

Fisher informed the council that the tax bills for the TIF district went out and the city can expect to receive close to $60,000. He reminded the council that even though the city made a big payment to United Community Bank last year in excess of $90,000, there will still be a payment made to UCB for their portion paid into the TIF until the TIF expires, which Fisher said is 12-14 more years.

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

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School Supply 2

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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