To the editor,
As a reader of The Gazette-Democrat newspaper and also a subscriber (for many years) I wish to express to you and the Union County area a total injustice that I feel has happened at the Cobden school.
A 25-year veteran of Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Student Health Center has been named assistant to the university's chancellor.
Jake Baggott, currently associate director of the health center, is scheduled to begin his new duties March 1.
He will replace Susan Ferry, who is retiring after a 30-year career at SIUC, including the past 11 as assistant to the chancellor.
The appointment requires ratification by the SIU Board of Trustees.
Cobden won and Shawnee lost in second-round action at the Class 1A high school boys’ basketball regional tournament at Meridian Tuesday, Feb. 23.
Following are game summaries:
Cobden 48, Century 39: Alex Sweitzer had 17 points to boost Cobden to the upset of No. 3 seeded Century.
Robby Lehr added 13 points for the Appleknockers. Steve Draper had 9 points, Bo Gearhart 7 and Allan Brumleve 2.
The Appleknockers led 15-9 after one quarter and 24-23 at the half. The Pharaohs tied the game 31-31 headed into the final quarter.
Former Anna-Jonesboro High School athlete Jimmy Drew has been granted a transfer waiver by the NCAA and is eligible to play basketball for DePaul University in Chicago this week.
“Jimmy has been working hard since the start of practice and into the season while the appeal process with the NCAA has been on going,” DePaul head coach Jerry Wainwright said in a press release.
“Doug Baker in our compliance office has been working on this and it’s great to see Jimmy get an opportunity to play right away.”
An American Red Cross blood drive is planned Thursday, today, in Union County.
The blood drive is scheduled from noon to 6 p.m. at the First Baptist Church at 409 Morgan St. in Anna.
To make an appointment to be a donor, call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE or visit the website at <a href="http://www.redcrossblood.org">www.redcrossblood.org</a>.
Blood drive
scheduled
Anna-Jonesboro Community High School principal Brett Detering has announced that the National Merit Scholarship Program has honored Elizabeth Bell as a National Merit Finalist.
The A-JCHS senior was one of only four Southern Illinois high school students to have reached the semifinalist level.
School officials said it’s not yet known whether the other three students also advanced to the highest plateau along with Bell.
Cobden High School veteran baseball coach Blayne Smith topped the pinnacle of his career this past weekend.
Smith, who has coached baseball at Cobden for the last 34 years, was inducted at a banquet to the Illinois Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame at Woodridge Saturday, Feb. 6.
“It’s a tremendous honor when your peers have chosen you,” Smith said. “It doesn’t get much better than that and you just don’t get much higher. It was really a neat thing and a very impressive banquet.”
A Dongola man has pleaded guilty to two felony charges and will serve time in prison.
Union County State’s Attorney Tyler R. Edmonds announced Tuesday, Feb. 23, that Brandon D. Griffin, 26, of 445 Frey Ln., Dongola, entered a plea of guilty to one count of burglary and one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
Burglary is a Class 1 felony. Aggravated criminal sexual abuse is a Class 2 felony.
(Editor's note: the following article was written by Susan Odum, CED program coordinator for University of Illinois Extension.)
In rural southernmost Illinois, we often hear the term “the good ole days.” While the decade of reference may differ for each of us, the overall concept remains the same, a time we remember fondly generally centered on friends, family and community.
Monroe Rich Jr., 61, of Cobden, and formerly of East St. Louis, died at 5:25 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2010, at Union County Hospital in Anna.
He was born on Dec. 24, 1948, in Gary, Ind., the son of Lindberg and Ida Matthews Rich.
Mr. Rich is survived by his son, Malcolm Monroe Rich of East St. Louis; one brother, James Rich Sr. of Fairview Heights; and one sister, Pearlie Jackson of East St. Louis; other relatives and many friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents.
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