Coal City

Mother nature puts a damper on spring sports

Published by admin on Tue, 04/10/2018 - 5:33pm

    Mother Nature has been uncooperative.
    While game cancellations this time of year are typically due to spring thunderstorms, this year has been a different.
    Winter is refusing to go away, and in turn athletes and fans are enduring freezing temperatures and even snow.
    “This year has definitely been different,” said Wilmington Athletic Director, Brian Goff. “Typically in the spring it is rain. You can move a day or two, and you are good. This season it is cold, and it has been consistent. This has definitely been one of the more frustrating springs.”

Small towns, big money

Published by admin on Tue, 04/10/2018 - 3:46pm

     When video gaming went live in 2012, counties and municipalities had two choices—opt in or opt out.
    Carbon Hill and Diamond went all in. Coal City opted out, at least for a while.
    It was spring 2012 when a representative of the Illinois Gaming Board paid a visit to the village of Coal City to announce its plan to begin licensing video gaming locations.
    Neal Nelson, who was the mayor at the time, had concerns about allowing gaming to commence in the village and asked trustees to take some time to research the topic.

Presenting a plan for South Broadway

Published by admin on Tue, 04/10/2018 - 3:30pm

     Parking concepts being contemplated for the reconstruction of South Broadway have been the talk of the town, but there is much more to the plan than parking. Last weekend town officials provided an opportunity for the community to come in and take a look at streetscape proposals.
    The informal information session was held at the mayor’s request, because he wanted to give residents an opportunity to view the proposals, make suggestions and provide feedback, and they did just that.

South Broadway project more than just parking

Published by admin on Tue, 04/03/2018 - 7:00pm

      The doors to Coal City’s Village Hall will be open Saturday and town leaders are encouraging citizens to step inside to get a first hand look at what’s proposed for the reconstruction of South Broadway.
    An informal information session will take place Saturday, April 7, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Village officials and engineers in charge of designing the project will be on hand to explain it, answer questions and accept feedback on the proposal.

Girls lead the charge with Constellation grant

Published by admin on Tue, 04/03/2018 - 6:57pm

Joliet Junior College was recently awarded one of the Constellation E2 Energy to Educate Grants. Constellation is a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation, the nation's leading competitive energy provider.
JJC's project “Girls Leading the Charge” will provide 250 middle-school female students in its district with a unique opportunity to learn about energy, specifically solar powered cars by becoming a design engineer.

Water tower coming down

Published by admin on Tue, 04/03/2018 - 6:54pm

     After sitting on the village’s capital projects list for several years, the water tower located in the center of Coal City is scheduled to come down this spring.
    Iseler Demolition Inc., a Michigan company specializing in the dismantling of water towers, submitted the lowest responsible bid to raze the aging tower adjacent to the village hall and police station.
    The village budgeted $105,000 for the removal, but when the costs came in Iseler’s bid was well under budget at $25,650.

Municipal utility rates on the rise

Published by admin on Tue, 04/03/2018 - 6:51pm

     In order to align revenues and expenses associated with the operation of its municipal water and sewer department, the village of Coal City is adjusting its rate upwards.
    Beginning this month every drop of water consumed will cost a few cents more because town officials approved a 2 percent utility increase when they met last week.
    Each year the village reviews its rate structure and total expenses according to a formula that takes into consideration the various costs to operate the system.

Timely hitting, ace pitching result in another win for Coalers

Published by admin on Tue, 04/03/2018 - 6:12pm

    The Coal City varsity baseball team utilized some solid pitching, stout defense and timely hitting on Monday to pick up an impressive 6-4 win over visiting Joliet West.
    “We were able to grab the lead in the second inning and add on to that lead every inning,” said Coaler coach Greg Wills. “We are not where we want to be offensively yet, but we have had some quality at bats at opportune times to help us score runs and give our pitchers a little cushion.”

Lady Coalers unable to rally against Pontiac

Published by admin on Tue, 04/03/2018 - 6:07pm

    Coal City’s varsity softball team suffered a tough loss on Monday against Pontiac, as they attempted to mount a comeback in the seventh but fell short, 7-4.
    Pontiac took the initial lead with a one-run first inning, and grew the gap to five runs through the fourth inning to jump ahead of Coal City, 5-0.
    The Lady Coalers registered their first run in the top of the fifth, as Abbie Cullick registered an RBI double, plating Leslie Youskevtch.

Pitching in the spotlight as Coalers add four more wins

Published by admin on Tue, 03/27/2018 - 7:04pm

    The Coal City varsity baseball team, led by the pitching of junior lefty Keegan Gagliardo, continued to pile up the wins as Gagliardo fired a no-hitter in a 11-1, five-inning win over Prairie Central at Cullick Field Monday afternoon.
    “Our pitching has just been amazing,” said Coaler coach Greg Wills. “We were talking coming into this game, before the kid hit the little looper lining to third, that was our 26th strikeout in a row. It may have actually been more. We had at least 26 strikeouts consecutively.”