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Mt. Olive Teachers forced to strike
This story is contributed by a member of Mt. Olive’s Education Association and is neither endorsed nor affiliated with TheBenGilPost.com.
At a meeting held December 4, teachers of the Mt. Olive Community Unit School District voted to authorize a strike. Under Illinois law, the strike could take place as early as this Friday, December 6. “We will be making a decision on the start date of the work stoppage tomorrow,” said local union president Marcia Schulte.
“We all had hoped it would not come to this”, Schulte said, “but The Board of Education’s demands for unnecessary ’take backs’ has forced teachers to strike”. Mt. Olive teachers have worked since the beginning of the school year in August under an expired contract. The sticking points now are the employer’s demand that the teachers agree to eliminate a contractual retirement incentive and agree to a two-tier salary schedule. Salary and insurance also remain unsettled.
“The two-tier salary schedule is over the top. It is unnecessary and inflammatory. And the board’s proposal to eliminate the contractual retirement incentive is breaking a written promise they made to our veteran teachers,” Schulte said. “Now they want to renege on that promise. All we ask is that they keep their promise.”
According to IEA staff member Marcus Albrecht, the retirement incentive actually saves the district money because it encourages higher paid senior teachers to retire and allows the district to replace them with younger lower paid teachers. Just In the past two years the retirement incentive has resulted in a reduction of more than $150,000 in the total district teacher salary cost. In addition, while district administrators and nonteaching staff have received from 6-8 % increases in their salary schedules over the past three years the teacher salary schedule has not been increased since 2009-2010.
Mt. Olive is a historic union mining community. The famous labor organizer Mother Mary Jones is buried in Miners Cemetery at the edge of town. Recognizing the significance of the town history a film crew recently came to Mt. Olive and created a video about the teacher bargaining crisis. The video along with additional information regarding the strike is posted on the local union website and can be viewed at www.MtOliveEA.org.
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Another major winter storm is forecasted to blanket the BenGil area in heavy rains, flooding and snowfall starting Wednesday night through Thursday.
The mixture of precipitation and rapidly changing weather likely will produce the potential for sudden icing on roads, with high winds leading to blowing snow and reduced visibility.
“The Illinois Department of Transportation’s snow-and-ice teams will be prepared and out in force, but the public needs to be ready for conditions to change quickly and worsen if they are out on the roads,” said Illinois Transportation Secretary Omer Osman. “As always during periods of extreme weather, the safest option is to postpone any unnecessary trips and stay home. If you must travel, prepare for very slow and potentially hazardous conditions. And please slow down around our plows and other emergency vehicles, giving them plenty of room to do their jobs.”
The National Weather Service is predicting a wintry mix of precipitation to start with thunderstorms and heavy rain in much of the state this evening, converting to freezing rain overnight before turning to snow Thursday morning. In addition to localized flooding, ice and sleet accumulations are likely, creating extremely slippery surfaces and slick conditions.
Due to the rainy conditions ahead of temperatures falling overnight, the effectiveness of pretreating and salting surfaces in advance of significant snowfall will be limited. The public should anticipate icy conditions even when roads appear clear and greatly reduce speeds.
“As the Illinois State Police plans to take on the unpredictable Illinois weather, we would like to remind motorists to do their part in keeping the roads a safe place,” said Illinois State Police Director Brendan F. Kelly. “ISP, alongside IDOT and other agencies, will be working in hazardous weather conditions. Please remember to slow down, stay vigilant and move over for ANY vehicle on the side of the road.”
Statewide, IDOT has available more than 1,800 trucks and equipment to plow, treat roads and respond to weather emergencies. If you encounter a plow or any maintenance vehicle during your travels, please slow down, increase your following distance and remain patient. Do not attempt to pass – conditions in front of the plow will be worse than behind it.
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Police are investigating the death of a Bunker Hill woman who was found dead at the end of her driveway near the roadway on Monday morning, January 31.
Nancy Blycker, 91, had multiple injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police. The Macoupin County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call to the 2900 block of Wood Hill Lane around 7:40 a.m. on Monday.
The initial suspicion was homicide, according to a release by the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis who said approximately 20 investigators were working the investigation, but the autopsy contradicted that suspicion.
The Major Case Squad said on Tuesday it is “highly unlikely” Blycker’s death was the “result of homicidal means.”
The Major Case Squad turned the case back over to the Macoupin County Sheriff’s Department. The official cause of death is pending further lab analysis.
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The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for the BenGil area, southwestern Illinois, and the St. Louis area.
The warning was issued early Tuesday taking effect at midnight tonight until noon on Thursday, February 3 calling for a “wet, heavy” snow. The forecast also calls for ice prompting a warning about possible power outages.
“All indications continue to point to a disruptive, impactful, and dangerous winter storm impacting the region starting late tonight and lasting through Thursday night,” the National Weather Service said in its Area Forecast Discussion.
The BenGil area is expected to receive heavy mixed precipitation including snow accumulations between 6 and 10 inches, sleet accumulations around three-quarters of an inch, and ice accumulations around two-tenths of an inch. Wind gusts will be as high as 35 mph on Thursday.
The storm is expected to start with rain most of the day today before transitioning into a mixture of freezing rain and/or sleet Tuesday night, then all snow Wednesday morning or as late as Wednesday afternoon continuing until about noon on Thursday.
