• Radar
  • 7 Day Forecast
  • Live Weather Video

WEEK Weather

Radar
72 °F
CLEAR
WIND : SSE
6 mph
HUMIDITY : 63 %
October 12, 2008
More Weather
  • News
  • Weather
  • Sports
  • Features
  • YouNewsTV
  • Programming
  • Community
  • Inside WEEK
  • Contact Us
  • YouNewsTV Prep Sports
  • Local & Regional
  • US & World
  • Business
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • Technology
  • Political
  • Closings
  • News Links
  • Traffic

Central Illinois Cities Look to Save Money

Tools

  • Save
  • E-mail
  • Print
  • YouNewsTV™
  • Most Popular
  • RSS Feed
  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
Central Illinois Cities Look to Save Money

By Gina Ford

Story Published: Jul 16, 2008 at 5:01 PM CDT

Story Updated: Jul 16, 2008 at 5:01 PM CDT

The trickle down affect of a poor economy can shake the foundations of a small town.

And now some Central Illinois towns are looking to conserve and move on, from the ground up.

Pekin residents are facing a harsh reality as gas has risen about 20-cents overnight.

City Manager Dennis Kief says with the ever-rising gas prices, he's had to find ways to cut back.

"A flexible fuel fleet..." said Kief.

Kief says they are in the process of buying city vehicles that use E-85 fuel.

"We have several of our inspector's vehicles that are now flexible fuel" said the City Manager.

Pekin is home to two ethanol plants that Kief says provided part of the funds for the new fleet.

The City Manager says the he is also looking to extend bus service between Pekin and Peoria to make hourly routes.

With four dollar a gallon gas it's pretty expensive, so it you can do it on a bus, I think you're going to see more and more people doing it"said Kief.

And soon Pekin's city offices will be required to keep their thermostats at 72 degrees year round.

High-energy prices are affecting everyone these days, and Pekin isn't the only city trying to find ways around them.

Ann Ruggles of the Peoria police department says they are also trying to make cost effective changes...They are looking into buying Segways.

"It would be on a small scale, but we feel that there's probably a lot of areas they could be used" said Ruggles.

She says it would mostly be for Parking enforcement, events on the river and even some street patrols.

In addition, the department is also asking officers to help conserve while they're out on the street.

"When they're out of their vehicles, the vehicles are to be shut off...they're not to be left idling" said Ruggles.

Although it seems these changes may not save lots of money, city officials believe it's a positive start.

View Oldest Comments First

Thursday, Jul 17 at 3:02 PM Jim wrote ...

Consider replacing all the stoplights in town with traffic circles. Save electricity costs, Pekin!

Wednesday, Jul 16 at 11:43 PM Gas Miser wrote ...

I see the Pekin Park District has put there cops on ATV's for patrolling. I'm sure that saves the Park quite a bit of money and they seem to like it. Why can't Pekin City and Peoria City Officers do the same for patrolling, ATV's are much cheaper than Segways! Police ATV's are even street legal in Illinois - maybe WEEK should do a story on that???

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 500 Characters Left

Comments are moderated and will not appear on this story until after they have been reviewed and deemed appropriate for posting.

WEEK News 25 and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the above comments or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any Public Forum.

Most Popular

  • Flying Boat Kills Motorcyclist
    Watch Video
  • Soldier Fighting Two Battles
    Watch Video
  • Crash Kills Father & Injures Children
    Watch Video
  • Rezko on Illinois Corruption
    Watch Video
  • Two Fires One Lesson
    Watch Video
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.

Alexander Travel

When your journey from a dream to a great story includes us, you travel better.

On Demand

  • All Video All Video
  • News 25 @ Your Desk News 25 @ Your Desk
    Watch Video
  • RSS Feeds RSS Feeds
  • News 25 Notifier News 25 Notifier
  • Mobile Edition Mobile Edition

Stock Quotes

What's On TonightFull Schedule

6:00
Football Night in America
7:15
Sunday Night Football-New
Local Business Dir

Most Popular

  • Flying Boat Kills Motorcyclist
    Watch Video
  • Soldier Fighting Two Battles
    Watch Video
  • Crash Kills Father & Injures Children
    Watch Video
  • Rezko on Illinois Corruption
    Watch Video
  • Friday Night Football
    Watch Video
  • Two Fires One Lesson
    Watch Video
  • Chris Spahn Benefit
    Watch Video
  • Local Businesses Thrive in Slumping Economy
    Watch Video
  • YouNewsTV: Football
  • Cheap Gas Phase
    Watch Video

Poll

Do Political Debates Help You Decide Who to Vote For?

  • Yes, I wait until I see and hear the candidates before I make a choice
  • No, I know whom I’m voting for
  • I watch to see if someone messes up
Copyright © 2008
WEEK, a Granite Broadcasting Station
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
NBC
Powered by Broadcast Interactive Media.