A 60-year-old Springfield man charged in federal court with operating six “houses of prostitution” in Springfield wants to transfer his ownership interest in an office building to an Illinois State Police trooper who jointly owns the building.

The Illinois Times reports that Gregory L. Fraase of Springfield asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen McNaught for permission to transfer his interest in a vacant two-level building at 2040 Timberbrooke Drive to Nathan Shanks. Fraase said in a March 22 motion that he and Shanks jointly purchased the west-side Springfield property, previously used for offices and a physician office, at an auction in July 2023. Fraase said in the motion that he wants to get rid of his ownership interest, without charging Shanks anything for it, because of Fraase’s “recently changed financial situation.”

Federal prosecutors said in a court filing that they are “aware of only one change in the defendant’s financial situation, the fact that he no longer is profiting from violations of federal law.” Prosecutors said they object to the property transfer unless Fraase provides more information about it. Prosecutors noted that Fraase’s pretrial release conditions require that he not “dissipate his assets” without court permission. Fraase has 28 days to provide the court with more information about the proposed transaction.

Fraase was indicted March 5th by a federal grand jury on one count of conspiracy in connection with alleged prostitution at sites advertised as Asian massage parlors throughout Springfield.

The 39-year old Shanks is a master trooper with the Illinois State Police, according to data with the Illinois Comptroller’s Office. The Illinois Times reports he has not returned comment on the proposed property transfer.

Sangamon County property records obtained by the Times indicate Shanks and GLF Group LLC previously jointly owned the one-story building behind Famous Wine & Spirits that later would become Jade Spa, located at 1560 Wabash Avenue. Jade Spa was one of several Asian massage establishments raided by the FBI in early February. Shanks transferred his half-ownership of the Wabash Avenue building to the new owners, Seven Carpenters LLC and GLF Group, in June 2021, according to property records obtained by the Illinois Times. Fraase represented the GLF Group during zoning requests with the City of Springfield in 2021. According to federal and local court records, Fraase was also paying utilities on the 6 parlors raided by federal authorities on behalf of GLF Group. The Times reports that Illinois Secretary of State records listed Fraase as a GLF Group manager as of April 16^th.

The Illinois Department of Transportation continues its move forward on replacing the Joe Page Bridge in Hardin.

The bridge carries Illinois Routes 16 and 100 over the Illinois River from Calhoun into the southernmost portion of Greene County, and is one of the only routes into and out of Calhoun County. The draw bridge was built in 1930 and is nearing its mechanical end of life and is currently a major cost to the state to repair and maintain.

Location Studies Engineer in IDOT’s District 8 Office, Cindy Stafford says that the second public meeting was held on March 21st at Calhoun High School: “We recently had our second public meeting where we brought to the public about 8 different corridors or bands that are initial starting points of what we are going to begin to evaluate to see if any of them are feasible or reasonable for replacing the bridge. The purpose of that public meeting was to get feedback from the public to see if they think those are good ideas to start looking at, if they think some of them need to be modified, or if there is another kind of band or study area they wanted us to look at in terms of corridors for replacement of the bridge.”

Stafford says that IDOT officials are currently in the midst of evaluating the feedback received from the meeting. Stafford says a working group will now begin creating alternatives to the 8 options presented to the public to figure out what works and what doesn’t: “These corridors are about 600-800 feet wide, so there is a lot of variation in terms of things that we can do with different alternatives in terms of those corridors. Some of the corridors may have fatal flaws so they may just drop out from evaluation. This is kind of that first filtering out of those options that we’re doing right now. We are going to be looking at the topography of the area to see how those corridors can access existing roadways on the east and west side of the river. We are going to look to see how those corridors work with the flow of the river, what does it do to river height, and the hydraulics of the river. We are also going to look and see what it would do to traffic patterns for both sides of the river.”

Stafford says once the alternatives are studied for each of the 8 corridor options are completed, another public meeting will be held to show which ones have fallen out of consideration due to fatal flaws and which ones needed updating. She says that after the third public meeting, another filtering down to preferred corridors will take place. She says the next meeting will likely occur later this summer or early Fall.

Stafford encourages any landowners and residents in the area to stay engaged with the process. Comment forms and more information regarding the mailing list can be found online at joepagebridge.com or call IDOT’s District 8 Office in Collinsville at (618) 346-3245.

The Jacksonville Area Museum manager has been named the state’s top young museum professional.

McKenna Servis has received the Russell L. Lewis Jr. Young Museum Professional Award during the 125^th annual meeting of the Illinois State Historical Society.

The Young Museum Professional Award is given annually to a person under the age of 30 and recognizes him or her for outstanding achievement in the museum profession. The criteria for choosing the award winner includes, but may not be limited to, leadership in the field exemplified by holding office or serving on a committee of a professional organization; presentations at workshops or conferences; publications; contributions to research in an area of expertise; and creativity and vision as it relates to his or her current position. The award was presented by the Illinois State Historical Society on Saturday, April 20 at the Hoogland Center for the Arts in Springfield.

Jacksonville Area Museum Board Chairman Allan Worrell said in a press release that Servis has been a perfect fit for the local museum: “McKenna is most deserving of this recognition and we are thrilled for her. It is another example of how well the Jacksonville Area Museum is thought of in public history circles.”

Servis was nominated for the award by David Joens, the director of the Illinois State Archives.

Servis says the nomination and win has been an honor: “It was an honor to be nominated for this award, let alone receive it. Achievements like this are not earned alone. I share this award with my family and the Jacksonville community. It is a privilege to serve Jacksonville and its surrounding communities by sharing their stories.” 

The Jacksonville Area Museum uses original artifacts, storytelling exhibits and the building itself, as well as items from the MacMurray College Foundation and Alumni Association collection, to show people of all ages and backgrounds why the Jacksonville community has been and continues to be one of a kind. The museum is located in the old Post Office building at 301 E. State Street, and its regular schedule is Wednesday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. There is no admission fee but a donation of $5 is suggested to keep the museum operating.

The museum will begin construction this summer on a major expansion project that will greatly increase its exhibit space and offer an even more innovative and engaging visitor experience. The expansion is possible thanks to generous donations to the Jacksonville Area Museum Foundation, the museum’s private, 501-c-3 fundraising organization.

To learn more about the museum visit: http://www.jacksonvilleareamuseum.org/.

The Village of South Jacksonville was the first municipality to hear in detail the upcoming changes that are being proposed to overhaul the public safety radio system.

Morgan County Emergency Management Coordinator and West Central Joint Dispatch Director Phil McCarty provided the South Jacksonville Board of Trustees on Thursday night of the breakdown that would upgrade and overhaul the emergency communication systems. The current systems that several of the first responder agencies are on are not compatible, not upgradable to a digital signal, or are nearing their end of life.

Village of South Jacksonville Chief of Police Eric Hansell, who sits on the Emergency Telephone System Board as a representative for the village, says the upgrades are timely: “Part of the reason why this is necessary is because the system that we have has been let go a little bit and not quite maintained the way it should have been. It’s going to be everybody on the same frequency as far as fire, police, and emergency services so that radio systems can be patched together a lot easier. Also, a part of is the foresight of the federal government mandating us all go to a P25-capatable radio system. That’s why we are moving forward with this. The ETSB is kicking in a huge chunk of money toward the project. It’s offsetting the cost for the other agencies. The agencies that are going to probably benefit from this the most right now is the Jacksonville Police Department and the City of Jacksonville and the Village of South Jacksonville. Our system here is an older system than what everyone else is on.”

McCarty told the board that the initial bid from Tait Communication came in at $6.1 million, but through a revised bid and a $1.75 million down payment from the ETSB, the cost for the project would be around $3 million. The new system would be on a 12-year lease and each municipality in the joint dispatch agreement would be responsible for their share based upon the percentage of their current Joint Dispatch services payment. South Jacksonville’s is a little over 11% share of the cost, making their annual payment about $44,000 more on top of their quarterly dispatch payments. The payment for the system would drop off after the 12 year lease agreement.

The Village board will take the agreement under consideration as a possible action item at their next business meeting in May. McCarty says he would like to have the bid executed with Tait by May 14^th in order to keep interest rates low.

McCarty also presented the City of Jacksonville with the project last night, saying he would like to get moving on the bid received by Tait because the loan interest to get the project has already gone up by a half percent, putting the loan’s interest at a little under 6%.

The Village is likely to have an action item to accept the agreement at their next business meeting on May 2nd, while the City of Jacksonville is expected to take action along with the Morgan County Commissioners on May 6th.

Two Greenfield men were arrested in Kampsville two weeks ago on drug charges by members of the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office.

According to a press release, on April 11^th, Calhoun County Deputy Nic McCall conducted a traffic stop on Crawford Creek near Illinois Route 100 near Kampsville. Subsequent to an investigation, McCall arrested the driver, 56-year old Wayne L. Decker of Greenfield for possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. Additionally, a passenger was also arrested, 44-year old James E. Stanberry, also of Greenfield for possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Both were taken to the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office in Hardin without incident, booked, and released with a notice to appear in court.

Both men have been set for a first appearance in Calhoun County Circuit Court for May 7^th.

A Beardstown man who allegedly pointed a gun at his landlord in the Lauderbach Trailer Court this past December has pleaded guilty.

36-year old Tyler J. Dambacher of Beardstown pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon yesterday morning in front of Cass County Circuit Judge Timothy J. Wessel.

Dambacher was arrested on the afternoon of December 12^th by Beardstown Police at the Lauderbach Trailer Court, just off of US 67 after a neighbor reported a disturbance. Dambacher, who was a tenant of the trailer court at the time, is said to have pointed a gun at his landlord in an argument. Police also cited Dambacher for being in possession of firearm ammunition as a designated felon from a case in 2008.

The ammunition charge was dropped per the plea agreement.

Dambacher was sentenced to 1 year of non-reporting conditional discharge and ordered to pay a $200 fine plus court assessment costs.

13^th District Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski and Michigan Republican Congressman Jack Bergman introduced legislation on Wednesday that would stop the downsizing and consolidation plan of the U.S. Postal Service.

The bipartisan Protect Postal Performance Act would halt the USPS plans to downsize facilities in areas that are located in underperforming postal districts. Facilities in Champaign and Springfield have been recommended for downsizing despite the region’s dismal on-time-delivery rates.

In a press release, Budzinski calls the consolidation plan by Postmaster Louis DeJoy “a misguided effort that could further impact poor postal delivery rates in our communities.”

Budzinski has been at the forefront of push back against the plan, joining Congressional colleagues on two letters about concerns and problems with the plan that could see the relocation of dozens of jobs to St. Louis or Chicagoland.

Budzinski’s Protect Postal Performance Act would bar the USPS from considering facility downsizing in regions that aren’t meeting the USPS delivery targets of 90.3% on-time delivery for three to five-day first-class mail and 93% on-time delivery for two-day first-class mail. Downstate Illinois currently experiences a 64.2% on-time delivery rate for three-to-five-day delivery options and an 84.7% on-time delivery rate for two-day mail.

A three-year old murder case came to a conclusion in Morgan County Circuit Court yesterday.

40-year old Joshua E. Wilson of Jacksonville pleaded guilty to a newly filed Class 1 felony second-degree murder charge in the shooting death of 26-year old Malcom V. Fitts.

Fitts was shot multiple times in the parking lot of the Turner Hi-Rise Apartment complex in the early morning hours of February 28, 2021 and later died at then-Passavant Memorial Hospital. Wilson was arrested three days later and charged with three counts of first degree murder. Wilson had been on pretrial release for multiple traffic charges. Wilson faced 20 years to natural life in prison on each of the charges.

Wilson’s case saw a rotation of several attorneys and evidentiary hearings prior to yesterday’s plea hearing. A potential jury trial was scheduled to start on Tuesday, April 23rd after Wilson had sought pretrial release under the provisions of the SAFE-T Act.

Morgan County State’s Attorney Gray Noll discussed after the fully negotiated plea hearing the reasoning behind the additional, lower class felony charge: “There are two different ways a first-degree murder case becomes second-degree murder case. One is that a defendant is under the belief that they were acting in self-defense at the time the offense occurred, but ultimately, would be shown not to be the case. Obviously that wasn’t the case here. In this case, it was that the defendant was acting under sudden and intense provocation, which is the second way that second-degree murder can occur here in the State of Illinois.”

Noll says that video, phone messages, and communications that would have been admitted as evidence had the trial occurred and would have shown that Wilson acted under the so called “intense provocation” language under the law: “The evidence that would have been presented at trial, if this would have proceeded to trial, was that the decedent Malcolm Fitts was having a romantic encounter with a specific female in the parking lot of the Turner Hi-Rise, and that the defendant Josh Wilson entered upon that scene – the romantic encounter that was occurring in a vehicle in the parking lot – and the defendant Josh Wilson was in a sexual relationship with the female as well at the time. Based upon that encounter, it is what led to Josh Wilson ultimately shooting Malcolm Fitts.”

Prior to the official sentencing, Macoupin County Judge Kenneth Diehl read three victim impact statements from Fitts’ mother, nephew, and from one of his sisters into the record. Krystal Harris, Fitts’ oldest sister, took the stand and gave the final impact statement saying she has since had to seek mental health treatment since her brother’s death, emphasized that Fitts’ children as well as her own would no longer have a positive male role model in their lives within their family, and called Wilson’s actions nothing more than “jealousy and hatred.” She also wished to emphasize that Fitts never packed weapons and was unarmed at the time of his murder.

Wilson had few words during his statement of allocution to the court, apologizing to the family for the pain he had caused Fitts’ family and saying he would have handled the situation differently if he could go back and change things.

Wilson’s attorney, Public Defender Devin Vaughn asked the court to place a request to the Illinois Department of Corrections for Wilson to be housed in a facility with drug and alcohol and mental health treatment options.

Judge Diehl accepted the fully negotiated plea and sentence of 15 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, 1 year of mandatory supervised release, and ordered him to pay a $500 county fine plus fees and court costs. Fifty-percent of the sentence must be served according to statute. Wilson was given credit for 1,146 days served in the Morgan County Jail.

Jacksonville’s Downtown retailers will be a part of an annual trek between three towns and three counties promoting small businesses.

The Backroads Boutique Crawl returns today and will continue through until Saturday at over two dozen select locations in Jacksonville, Winchester, and Beardstown.

Organizer Bailey Evans says that they are letting the nearly two dozen small businesses decide how to commemorate the annual retail event with their own sales and promotions: “We’ve kept the crawl kind of the same this year. Each store is actually doing their own individual thing, and they’ve also posted it as an individual event on their social media pages. Each store is deciding what kind of discounts they are going to give, or if they have a sale rack, or if they are just putting new items out, using different features – there are some stores that will have vendors that they are hosting. It is different than a normal day of shopping for each store, but we kind of left it up to each store as far as the percentage they want to give off or what they want to do for that day.”

Evans says that they would like to expand the boutique crawl radius in the Fall. They are hoping to expand to new businesses and into other towns and counties in the area. They are also looking at adding a VIP bus for select shoppers.

For a list of shopping locations and more information, visit this event page.

A company that has proposed a new solar farm on the east side of Jacksonville is holding an open house for the public.

Summit Ridge Energy has proposed a 5 megawatt community solar farm on 58 acres of property located off of East Morton Avenue and Blacks Lane. The property is directly east of the Prairie Knolls subdivision.

Representatives of Summit Ridge will be on hand at the VFW Post #4548, located at 903 East Morton Avenue on Thursday, April 25^th from 6-7:30PM.

The project’s representatives will be on hand to answer questions and provide a mock up of the proposed site. Light refreshments will be provided.