Herald and Review from Decatur, Illinois • Page 1

SALUKIS WIN: Southeri reauests Eight bad minutes Virginia Tech rallies in second halfBl Prayers are but a mouse click awayDl 1 VISIT US ON THE WEB: WWW.HERALD-REVIEW.COM 8-year-old still missing after Clinton Lake boating accident MARCH 17, 2007 Sticking v.ith the zone Marshall played man-toman against Lincoln through a close first half, then took away Matt Schick and Brandon Farmer for mnct On Friday afternoon, rescuers dredged the waters of Salt Creek below the spillway on Clinton Lake for an 8-year old boy missing since Wednesday. Kalin Hunter of Normal was in a boat with his grandfather, Richard Hunter, and uncle, Jason Hunter, when the boat went over the spillway. Searchers in boats used dredging equipment at the base of the spillway, where the water flows into Salt Creek, but they snagged only sticks and logs from the cloudy creek. "This is wait and see. Everyone is working really hard," said Chris McCloud, state Department of Natural Resources spokesman, during a visit to the scene of the accident, just off Illinois 10.

Rescuers had used sonar to try to locate the child's body, said McCloud, but a strong current created by the hydraulic pressure of the M1SSINGA2 Coroner confirms uncle, grandfather drowned By EDITH BRADY-LUNNY Lee News Service Writer CLINTON An 8-year-old Normal boy remained missing Friday night, two days after a boat carrying him, his grandfather and uncle went over the Clinton Lake spillway, killing the two men. The State Department of Conservation police called off the search for Kalin Hunter at nightfall, but they plan to resume today. ifcJ Asf of the second half. It worked to near perfection, limiting tiiiuais Higss gftsus Sssociafiais Lee News ServiceEdith Brady-Lunny ST. PATRICK'S DAY DriiJdiig in 5 Lincoln's two stars to 12 second-half points in the Commandos' 60-51 Class AA state quarterfinal win.

Sports B1 Surveys or propaganda? The governor is using local officials to spread the word of his "Illinois Covered" health insurance proposal, appearing in television advertisements and sending letters to small businesses. Critics question whether the tactics are little more than another piece of campaign-style marketing. Money A4 Gettug a jump on the future Millikin University's Junior Block GREE1N an- SB. --a Do? afe holiday partying a pinch too far Herald ReviewLyndsie Schlink rmmmmmmmumm yjW Wife japwiUMlUMUMMW "i mm iiiiiiii. uuuwiuiuM)iaMwi ,4 t.

rSfe--- I program is about watching experienced teachers and taking their advice to heart. The program places future teachers in the classroom for ---lt hands-on experience a year before the traditional 14 weeks of student teaching. Local A3 'Hazy' White House memories The White House dropped its contention that former Counsel Harriet Miers first raised the idea of firing U.S. attorneys, blaming "hazy memories," as e-mails shed new light on Karl Rove's role. Support eroded further for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Nation A6 Student loans under scrutiny in New York Attorney general claims college, lender deals ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) New York's attorney general has accused colleges across the country of taking kickbacks from student loan companies and reaping other benefits while making it harder for students to get better deals on their loans. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said Thursday that an investigation he began last month into the $85 billion student loan industry found numerous arrangements made to benefit schools and lenders over the students. In some cases, it found that lenders provided all expense paid trips for college financial aid officers to exotic locations in return for directing students to the lenders. Cuomo's office is investigating at least six lenders: the.

nation's largest student loan provider, SLM com- -monly known as Sallie Mae; Nelnet Education Finance Partners Edu-Cap the College Board; and CIT Group Inc. Cuomo said he is actively investigating at least 100 schools. Cuomo would not divulge which schools were being investigated, but they include some Ivy League institutions. Cuomo said he has the authority to conduct a nationwide investigation because schools from across the country recruit students from New York. There have been no criminal charges or civil lawsuits filed.

"There is an unholy alliance between banks and institutions of higher education that may often not be in the students' best interest," Cuomo said. "The financial arrangements between lenders and these schools are filled with the potential for conflicts of interest. In some cases, they may break the law." Investigators found that many colleges have established questionable "preferred lender" lists and entered into revenue sharing and other LOANS A2 Giving gospel some pop Once, gospel music influenced popular music; now, the tide is flowing Mi Mbmim i hHBmi Mi iiiiiiii MMMTFimnirn MMJhMM Herald ReviewKelly J. Huff Server Ally Schinzler delivers a drink order as she and the rest of the staff at Bennigan's restaurant get ready for the St. Patrick's Day party hour.

AT TOP: Bill Merriman, an operations manager for Skeff Distributing displays a bottle of Bud Light that is decorated green with shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day. Merriman says he believes they sell more beer on St. Patrick's Day than on New Year's. By ALICIA SPATES Staff Writer the other way.

Like many other music directors, Eddie Truman, minister of music at Williams Tem ECATUR St. Patrick's Day is fie drunken driving. Mike Claffey, spokesman for the Illinois Department of Transportation, said the holiday too often finds people drinking to excess and getting behind the wheel of a car. one of the only days of the year when sham ple Church of God in Christ in St. Louis, is trying to find a balance between the old and the new.

Life D7 rocks are in high demand, corned beef and "We applaud the spirit of St. Patrick's Day, but if you're celebrating, you should do so responsibly," Claffey said. Your weather cabbage tantalizes senses and you can get pinched for not wearing green. The DOT is stepping up eltorts to get impaired drivers off the streets during St. Patrick's Day weekend through at least 100 roadside safety checks by law enforcement agencies across the state, including in Decatur.

But with the holiday comes a for excessive drinking. s. (Jk Keepmg with the green theme, liquor is Claffey said that on St. Patrick's Day in 2006, there were three drunken driving fatalities, with six in 2005 and eight in 2004. "Call a taxi or find a designated driv usually found in the form of green-dyed beer or sported in decorated green bottles, waiting to be drunk on that special holiday.

Mike Sands, co-owner and general manager of Decatur's Bennigan's restaurant, said their annual St. Patrick's Day tent party was stopped because "it was more of a risk" control Today: Partly sunny Tonight: Mainly clear and cold DetailsB8 er," Claffey said of those who overindulge. "Just don't get behind the wheel of a car." Referred to in Ireland as "drowning the shamrock," St. Patrick's Day is Index ling a large crowd, who usually were drinking. "When you have about a hundred people in a tent, it gets difficult to control them all we didn't want to take that risk," Sands said.

He added that the restaurant also was hoping to sti- GREENA2 Classifieds C1-16 Comics D5 Dear Abby D2 Horoscopes D5 Life D1-10 Lottery A2 Plame blames officials for 'carelessly and recklessly' blowing her cover Money A4 Movies D2 Obituaries D3 Sports B1-7 Television D6 50 cents Our 135th year Issue 76 Four sections Testimony sheds littje new information on CIA leak, scandal 111 00001' '02138 ment Reform Committee was a moment of political theater that dramatized Democrats' drive to use their control of Congress to expose what they see as White House efforts to intimidate dissenters. "My name and identity were carelessly and recklessly abused by senior officials in the White House by her testimony. She revealed little new information about the case, which sparked a federal investigation and brought perjury and obstruction of justice convictions of Vice President Dick Cheney's former top aide, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. No one has been charged with leaking her identity.

Still, Plame's appearance before the House Oversight and Govern the Bush administration Friday, telling a House committee that WTiite House and State Department officials "carelessly and recklessly" blew her CIA cover in a politically motivated smear of her husband. Plame, the operative at the center of the leak scandal that resulted in last week's criminal conviction of a former top White House official, created more of a stir by her presence on Capitol Hill than Delivery: 421-6990 Newsroom: 421-6979 Outside Decatur 1-800-437-2533 HERALD REVIEW DECATUR, ILLINOIS A division of Lee Enterprises By JULIE HIRSCHFEL0 DAVIS Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON Valerie Plame put a glamorous face and a personal story to Democrats' criticism of PLAME A2.