Your Hometown News Since 1840 www.WashingtonTimesReporter.com Vol. 171 No. 44

WedNeSdAY, November 2, 2011

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Around Town .......... A2Your News ............... A3opinion ................... A4Sports .................. B1-3obituaries ............... B4Classifieds .........B9-10

INSIDE

• Fire training facility• Amazing Race• Student Spotlight

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These features you’ll find only in this week’s print edition

of the Washington Times-Reporter. See Page A3 for more details.

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WHAT iT iS After years of not having a place to call home, the Washington Fire Department now has a fire training facility of its own on Constitution Street.

What’s going on here? by brandon Schatsiek | editor

WFD builds fire training facility

The Washington fire department’s new fire training facility, which is simi-lar to others in the tri-county area, stands in the shadow of the Washington water tower on Constitution Street. The Wfd is expected to move into the building in a few weeks. brANDoN SCHATSIeK/TImeSNeWSPAPerS

In just a few weeks, the Washington Fire Department will finally have a training facility to call its own.

Construction on the facility began in July after a year of planning for the fa-cility that Fire Chief Mike Vaughn said the department needed “badly.”

Before, the department was relegated to training anywhere it could, includ-ing in parking lots, various buildings around town or even going to Peoria.

“Fortunately in Washington we don’t have too many run-down homes (to train in) ... so we had a shoot-from-the-hip kind of training,” Vaughn said.

“Now we’ll be able to form some

more regular scenarios ... a lot better training in rescue techniques involving rope rescue stuff, roof ventilation and eventually we’ll furnish the inside to either simulate a basement fire or main floor fire.”

The building, which the department paid to build using its own money by moving back the purchase of new ve-hicles, is similar to other fire training facilities in the area.

“Dunlap has one made by the same company and there’s one in Randolph Township ... this is one of the most cost-effective buildings available,” Vaughn said.

BY BRANdoN SCHATSiekTimesNewspapers

At tonight’s special board meeting, District 308 members are set to vote on a proposal that could save the G.W. Bayler residence as well as thousands of dollars in demolition costs as the high school is ready to bulldoze a piece of Washington history.

Steve Havy, former Washingtonian and now CEO of a building company in Georgia, has offered to take the house off of the high school’s hands and move it somewhere else.

“I have been a builder for 30 years and instead of them destroying history ... I offered my company to move

BY BRANdoN SCHATSiekTimesNewspapers

A s the Trojans, Central’s col-ors are blue

and white, but during these past two weeks there have been swarms of pink making its way through the halls at both

the primary and inter-mediate schools.

As part of Breast Can-cer Awareness Month, the Central Student Council decided to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer research.

Teachers were allowed to dress down and wear pink, so long as donated money for every day they were supporting the cause.

“Among the staff it’s been great. ... It really brings people together,” said Central Primary

School Principal Molly Kasbob.

In addition to having teachers and students wear pink, student council members sold stickers and bracelets.

“I think it’s awesome (to be a part of this) because it’s giving back, and for something that is a worthy cause that we can all support and raise money for easily,”

said student council member Addison Baele, 13.

According to student council sponsor and eighth-grade teacher Cathy Coleman, council

members try to find a worthy cause every year, but this one hits home more than most with two teachers on staff

BY BRANdoN SCHATSiekTimesNewspapers

Tim Day found himself lying on the ground outside of his Washington home; he tried to get up but could barely move.

He knew it wasn’t good when he heard two loud cracks as his feet finally reached stable ground.

“I was going to try and hit and go into the tuck position and then roll out of it, but what I did was I came straight down and heard just cracks,” Day said.

“My first thought when I couldn’t get up off the ground was, ‘My god, I’m going to be out of work for two months. How are we going to do this?’ I thought, ‘OK, we’ve got enough money in the bank, we can handle this.’”

Now five years and more than seven surgeries later, Tim and his fiancee Stephanie have less than 30 days to move out of

their Washington home because they can no longer pay the bills.

living the dreamDay was living the so-called

“American Dream.” It was 2006 and Day and

Stephanie had just purchased their new home on State Street in Washington.

He was subcontracting work performing medical exams for different insurance companies, while she was a manager at Kroger.

Day bowled on the Pro Bowl-er’s Association regional tour and speed roller skated com-petitively on the national level, played softball and loved to fish.

Day said he had just bought an old Porsche, so he and his now 12-year-old son, Timmy, could work on it in their free time.

“(Timmy) has ADHD really

Teachers at Central primary School are pictured oct. 21 wearing all different kinds of pink clothing — and shoelaces — to raise money for the Susan g. komen foundation. Staff members at both the primary and intermediate schools were allowed to dress down with jeans and sport a pink item so long as they made a small monetary donation every day they wanted to wear pink during the last two weeks. The idea came from the Central Student Council after learning that two teachers — one from each school — are battling breast cancer. brANDoN SCHATSIeK/TImeSNeWSPAPerS

Prett inPink

Central schools support their own, raise more than $550 for Susan G. Komen Foundation

‘Lately I’ve been a country song gone awry’

Tim day lies in a hospital bed at oSf Saint fancis medical Center following his second spine surgery on march 25, 2011. day has struggled with medical problems ever since falling off of his roof in 2006. He and his fiancee have less than 30 days to get out of their Washington home after the bank sold it on oct. 17. SUbmITTeD PHoTo

DISTrICT 308

Contractor proposes to move Bayler home, board votes tonight

See BAYleR pAge A9

See CeNTRAl pAge A7

See dAY pAge A9