SHAWNEE GROUP BUYS 14 BUSES

KARNAK, Ill. -- The Shawnee Development Council has received three new 14-passenger buses for the Shawnee Transportation Authority fleet that provides transportation for residents of Massac, Alexander, Pulaski, Union and Johnson counties.

The council has provided rural transportation since 1978, by reservation, to clients needing dialysis, cancer treatments or other medical services.

The three new buses, which are handicapped accessible, will replace some older buses that have logged about 250,000 miles. The older buses will be serviced and used as backups.

Ron Black, the council's transportation coordinator, said the council has 19 buses.

Daily runs are made to Southern Illinois communities, with medical runs to Carbondale and Marion in Illinois, and Paducah, Ky., and the Cape Girardeau area.

The council, headquartered in Karnak, provides a number of human services programs to assist low-income families in Southern Illinois.