Benld News

I have had the honor of working with John Fritsche and others in organizing the Tour de Coal ride in the Benld-Gillespie, Ill., area the past four years.

A Gillespie School District committee has narrowed possible locations for a new school to three.

The Jamison family hopes the story of how much they miss their lost dog will persuade another family that adopted it to give the puppy back.

A blind Sheltie mix female is getting used to her new owner - and vice versa. "I wouldn't give this dog up for a million dollars," Pam Boutin, 45, of Alton, said of Rainbow, the dog she recently adopted from Adopt-A-Pet, a no kill animal shelter in Benld.

In this photo taken Aug 27, 2009, Gillespie School District superintendent Paul Skeans walks down a sidewalk outside the Benld Elementary School that was shifted and moved by mine subsidence in Benld, Ill.

The Ben-Gil Boosters are hosting a fund-raiser on Saturday, July 18, at the Gillespie Civic Center to raise money for a new Benld Elementary School.

Fortified by a $750,000 federal boost, officials now are moving forward on a plan to lease a modular building to accommodate Benld Elementary School students displaced by mine subsidence.

The southern Illinois community of Benld has received a $750,000 federal grant for temporary classrooms after an elementary school was damaged by mine subsidence.

State Sen. Deanna Demuzio, D-Carlinville, said she is working to find funding for modular classrooms that would house Benld Elementary School students until a permanent structure is built.