Herald and Review from Decatur, Illinois • A1

1 WINDY 48 36 FORECAST, B8 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2019 Powered by DEAR ABBY A8 CLASSIFIEDS B6-8 COMICS B5 LIFE A7-8 LOTTERY A2 OBITUARIES A7 $2 Volume 147, Issue 302 A Lee Enterprises Newspaper Copyright 2019 Join the conversation: facebook.com/heraldandreview instagram.com/heraldandreview twitter.com/heraldandreview VIDEO: Watch David Ross introduced as Chicago Cubs manager IMAGES: Archive photos of the Millikin University campus AT Top seed Tiny DeLand-Weldon a volleyball force SPORTS, B1 Formalizing inquiry House plans vote on probe this week A6 Research Millikin eort focuses on cancer LOCAL, A3 SCOTT PERRY scott.perry@lee.net DECATUR It was going to take a lot more than a foggy, overcast day to dampen the spir- its of those who gathered Mon- day for a ceremony marking the start of construction of Mueller Water state-of-the- art brass foundry in Decatur. started Mueller here in Decatur in 1857 and have been lucky enough to be in business here for over 160 years, and we are very excited about this groundbreaking and putting this brand new foundry here in said Senior Vice President of Sale and Market- ing Chad Mize, who until re- cently was the vice general manager of the Decatur plant and foundry. believe this investment will allow our organization, as well as the city, to thrive for the next 160 years. This foundry is going to be the most modern, state of the art, most capable, cient brass foundry in the back home to De- Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe told those in attendance, adding it is a for a ground- breaking. Mueller was founded in Deca- tur in 1857 by German immigrant Hieronymus Mueller and is now based in Atlanta.

are thrilled the legacy is going to continue and the op- portunity that this brings for our community, for our workforce, is she said. ANALISA TROFIMUK analisa.trofi DECATUR Hundreds of students in special education and prekindergarten programs will not attend school today, the result of a strike by teaching as- sistants who say they are seeking better health insurance erings from Decatur Public Schools. The school district and De- catur Federation of Teaching Assistants have been in nego- tiations since April, including several meetings with a federal mediator. On Monday, as the strike deadline ticked closer, neither side showed signs of softening. District leaders al- leged at a press conference that the leadership had not ectively communicated health insurance ers to members.

Later in the day, union mem- bers gathered with supporters and parents outside of the Keil Administration building, where they rallied with chants of, teach, we care, just be Caught in the middle are par- ents like Cristy Proctor, whose 5-year-old daughter, Isabella, has Down syndrome and will not be able to attend class Tuesday. kids have to work so hard just to be respected in the community, and one thing that brings them joy is going to school to said Proctor, who said her daughter gets help from a teaching assistant. be told, matter, sorry, stay home. get back to when we District cials said 528 of the roughly 8,700 stu- dents would not be able to attend classes until the strike ends. Stu- dents most a ected by the situa- tion are enrolled in special needs courses, early learning programs, life skills, essential skills and cross-categorical alternative courses among others who have Individualized Education Pro- gram (IEP) plans.

Pershing early learning programs will be closed, but other pre-k programs not funded through a grant will stay open, Chief Communications cer Denise Swarthout said. Health insurance costs remain the major sticking point in the negotiations, both sides said. Board members said they are ering a reasonable proposal, which includes a high-deduct- ible plan under which the district would cover all of the monthly premium costs for single em- ployees and of the cost for employees with spouses, chil- dren or a family plan. Union leaders have said the cost increases for family coverage under the lower-deductible plan are unacceptable for members, whom they describe as making an average salary of $20,000. The union also said on Saturday that it was never given details of the high-deductible plan, but the district says the information was made available months ago.

Saying she spoke for the en- tire school board, President Beth Nolan blamed union leadership, and particularly President Paula Busboom, for much of the situ- ation. Busboom has misled her members and twisted the truth about our insurance op- tions, wage ers, willingness to negotiate in good faith and misinformation on data relevant to her she said. believe if the union members had been given accurate infor- mation from DFTA leadership, there never would have been a vote to Nolen also said comments by the union that the board care about students with special needs are unfair. Board member Regan Lewis also spoke, saying the district has made three ers increasing wages over four years and the union has rejected all of those. Lewis, an attorney who has been part of negotia- tions, said of union mem- bers would do better nancially under the plan.

Teaching assistants strike CLAY JACKSON, HERALD REVIEW Angel Cyrulik, center, cheers with children, Raegan, left, and Kellan on Monday during the rally in support of Decatur Federation of Teaching Assistants in front of the school Keil Administration. Cyrulik is a the PTO president at Baum School. Mueller breaks fresh ground ARGENTA Kurt Mi-chener has served as Ar-genta-Oreana re chief for just six months, but he be- came a cowboy Sunday after- noon. Kind of. A semi-truck hauling 113 cat- tle had overturned on Interstate 72 at the Argenta exit, released around 50 cows onto the high- way and left 60 to 70 trapped in the trailer.

Mi- chener had to think fast. was he said. the only way I know how to de- scribe Michener said the department was dispatched at 1:12 p.m. When he arrived at the scene, he found that 40 or 50 cows were running around on the interstate after they es- caped the trailer. Another 60 or 70 animals were still trapped inside.

He knew it was about to be a long day. Police shut down both east and westbound lanes, and Mi- chener began to make a few quick calls. As word spread, people began to er help. Volunteers help with roundup PROVIDED PHOTO Volunteers wrangled cattle into gated area Sunday afternoon to load them onto trailers. A semi-truck overturned on Interstate 72 near the Argenta exit, releasing almost half of the 113 cattle being transported.

DECATUR SCHOOLS Over 500 Decatur public school students will not be in class ONLINE View this story at to see video of the school news conference and union rally, and to read the most recent proposals made by each side. AFFECTED PROGRAMS Pershing Early Learning Pro- PreK classes (grant- funded PFA and special edu- cation) at Pershing, Richland Community College, Baum, Oak Grove Life Skills class- rooms Life Skills and hearing impaired program students Mu De- velopment (SED) program Skills program SEAP Program at Harris Stephen Life Skills, Essential Skills Life Skills, Es- sential Skills and Cross-Cat Alt Life Skills and Cross-Cat Alt DECATUR ECONOMY Decatur site will become a state-of-the- art brass foundry CATTLE ESCAPE Argenta-Oreana community captures cattle after I-72 escape ONLINE: Visit herald- review.com to see more photos of the cattle escape. KENNEDY NOLEN Please see STRIKE, Page A2 Please see MUELLER, Page A2 Please see NOLEN, Page A2 Free Delivery interest Free Financing Value Pricing where you neVer haVe to wait for sale additional huge savings on orange close-out merchandise. 41,000 sq feet of quality brand name furniture Where Customer serviCe means eXCellenCe speCial order Capability Furniture Bedding: 926 McDonald St, Suite 1, Mt Pulaski, IL 62548 217-792-3201 www.stahlsfurniture.com CrEDIt CarDS aCCEPtED HOURS: Mon-Fri 9:00 AM 6:00 PM Saturday 9:00 AM 5:00 PM Sunday 12:00 PM 5:00 PM 66 years family owned we will never be undersold on identical items.