Village of Hennepin, Illinois

Image courtesy of the News Tribune Drea Damara plans to be a famous author one day, and she’s off to a good start, publishing “The Weeping Books of Blinney Lane” in 2015, and releasing her next thriller, “Chasing Vengeance”, on Saturday. The 34-year-old Illinois Valley woman first had works of poetry published under her real name — a name she holds very secret — at the age of 19. She then started writing fiction and took on a pen name to protect her privacy, just in case those books become popular. The fantasy book focuses on a street of cursed shop owners of a Salem, Massachusetts, street, specifically a book shop owner, her nephew, and the special books in her shop. “I’ve always come up with stories, I can’t stop,” Damara said. “I have the first two books of a spy trilogy completed and I’m working on the third.” The Blinney Lane book is published through an independent publisher, and Damara said when the first book was written, it was written as a stand alone book, but because of

New yard waste guidelines are now in place. A site has been constructed at the south end of 2nd Street for Hennepin residents to deposit their yard waste (grass clippings and weeds) and tree trimmings (branches and twigs). All residents are asked to take care of their own yard waste and tree trimmings by depositing them at the site. The Street Department will continue to pick up limited amounts of debris from resident’s homes if they are deemed unable to move the debris themselves. The Village requests that residents put their yard waste to the back of the containment to allow the area to fill up from back to front. This site is under video surveillance and citations will be issued promptly to anyone abusing the area by dumping restricted items. No yard waste in plastic bags is permitted at the site. Branches must be no longer than four feet. In addition, this site is not intended for a dumping site for entire trees. Residents are responsible for hiring a tree service for re

The Putnam County CUSD 535 Board of Education has announced the hiring of Clayton Theisinger as the new PCHS principal for the 2016-17 school year. Theisinger is currently serving as an administrator at L-P Township High School. Chris Newsome was also hired as the new assistant principal/athletic director at PCHS for the 2016-17 school year. He is currently serving as the technology director for Putnam County schools. Source: Putnam County Record