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Illinois to mark Walk to School Day on Oct. 5

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Illinois education and transportation officials are encouraging schools to participate in the upcoming International Walk to School Day.

More than 140 Illinois schools have registered for the Oct. 5 event so far.

The day began as a community demonstration in Chicago and has grown into a worldwide event celebrating its 15th year.

The slogan for this year's international event, "Hike it. Bike it. I like it!" was chosen after an online contest. The winner came from a suburban Chicago elementary school.

Participating schools are asked to instruct students on the basics of pedestrian and bicycle safety.

CAT Tracks Editor's Note:

Personally, I think this is a pretty dumb idea in this day and age. Why walk to school when you can ride...when the school district is receiving money to provide transportation?

The article says it began in Chicago...

...seems I read an article or two that said that when current Secretary of Education Arne Duncan was the CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, he changed a bunch of district boundaries under the guise of "education reform", and kids got shot/killed traveling to school over rival gang territory. Seems like a tradition that maybe should have been ended then.

Or...

C'mon!

If we are going to walk to school for "old times sake"...let's wait until the middle of winter, when the snow is a couple of feet deep, with the wind blowing gale force. Pick the kids up at their regular bus stop, drive them 5 miles away from the school, and drop them off. Let them walk five miles to school through a driving snow storm...like I did when I was a kid!!!

Another article on the KFVS website caught my attention this morning. Wonder if the story below is the reason there was no word of Missouri participating in the "Walk to School" event.

From the KFVS TV Channel 12 Website

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By Keith Boles

EMINENCE, MO (KAIT) - There have been over 22 confirmed mountain lion spottings in Missouri since 1994; Is this a population boom for an animal no longer thought to be living in Missouri? Or are these just chance encounters with the proliferation of game cameras?

Conservation Officer Brad Hadley says these mountain lions could have moved into his area from as far away as South Dakota. Since March there have been seven confirmed sightings in Texas, Shannon and Oregon counties.

Hadley, "Most of the time the mountain lion investigations that we have to do with will deal with a game camera that has caught a picture of a mountain lion passing through." Since the prices have been lowered on trail cameras these small green boxes are seen throughout the heavily hunted deer woods.

The camera we visited that had caught a lion retreating into the woods was located near a site where the hunter had left minerals and animals had dug a hole which was now filled with water.

Hadley says the cats may have followed the rivers from South Dakota. We were only about a mile or so from the Jacks Fork river and you could see that an animal would have plenty of cover to move along the valley.

Although it was really hard to tell from some of the pictures, Hadley believes that many of these sightings are males that have moved on from breeding groups in other states. He says that as those colonies grew these males left.

Hadley, "That's what we're finding is the most common scenario here. Is we're getting sub-adult males that are dispersing and being captured on trail cameras."

A mountain lion can weigh a couple of hundred pounds and that could be frightening to anyone who encounters one, but human encounters are rare.

Hadley, "They don't want to see you anymore than you want to see them. We've never had any confirmed live stock kills by mountain lions." Mountain lions are protected but Hadley says they have had 2 shot because the person felt threatened by them. Hadley says any mountain lion shooting is investigated and criminal charges could be pressed if the shooter was found to be shooting in any other case but self-defense.

There has been at least one confirmed deer kill which Hadley says is what is supposed to happen, the cat is fending for itself on what nature provides.

For those of you who want to go looking...it was rough getting back into the woods both driving and walking. Any mountain lion would hear you and be gone long before you found it.

Hadley says though they still want sightings reported.

"A picture, scat, deer kill, hair. We can confirm off DNA off hair that's collected off fences so if you have reason to believe that you have seen a mountain lion, I urge you to report it."

CAT Tracks Editor's Note:

Catty commentary continued...

...BIG CAT commentary!

Missouri school officials are missing a great opportunity here.

They could probably win an award of some kind for their new, improved "theme"...