Demolition work began in earnest on Monday on McClelland Dining Hall on East College Avenue.

In December, it was announced that then owner Mike Hayes of Jacksonville had donated the building to Our Savior Parish and Routt Catholic High School. At that time, representatives of the school and the Catholic Diocese of Springfield were to determine the building’s structural integrity before establishing a committee made up of school community members to figure out a use for the building.

In late Feburary, the leadership of the parish decided it was not economically viable to restore the building and began the process to raze it.

McClelland Dining Hall was built during a 20-year growth period at MacMurray College in 1929. Two dormitories, the Henry Pfieffer Library, Kathryn Hall, and Annie Merner Chapel were all built during that era. McClelland served both as a place of function for students to eat as well as a place for formalities – hosting numerous dances, receptions, and events – including the annual Jacksonville Kiwanis Pancake and Sausage Day. The building was named after the 8th president of MacMurray College Dr. Clarence McClelland who started his career just 4 years prior to the building’s construction in 1925. McClelland spent 27 years with the college, helping to increase its endowment and double its enrollment. He was largely responsible for First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt coming to the campus to speak in 1947.

Tragedy struck the building in the early morning hours of June 9, 2024 when a fire gutted the eastern addition to the building that housed the modern kitchen, which saw renovations in the early 2000s prior to the college’s closing.

State Representative C.D. Davidsmeyer says Illinois citizens should brace themselves for incoming utility hikes.

On March 18th at the Capitol, Davidsmeyer alerted the Illinois House of the electricity hikes and potential energy shortages. He says the hikes come from a combination of factors, including the state’s green energy policies: “The governor set aggressive decarbonization goals pushing utilities to move away from reliable energy sources. MISO, the Midcontinent Independent Systems Operator, which manages the Illinois grid in the central and southern portion of the State of Illinois has warned of potential energy shortfalls particularly in Central and Southern Illinois.”

Davidsmeyer says the move towards green energy is artificially increasing the price of electricity: “As we force our energy policy…as we force renewables that are not ready to provide the actual energy that we need and we retire reliable sources like coal and [natural] gas – what are we doing? We are increasing the price, artificially increasing the price, we are forcing increases of price in energy to our constituents.”

Davidsmeyer says that when there is a shortage, the state imports energy from neighboring states that are still using coal and gas-fired power plants to produce electricity: “We have to have something that provides the energy. The reality is we don’t have energy here in the State of Illinois. Do you know what we do? We import it. We import coal energy or natural gas energy from Indiana, from Missouri, and from Kentucky. So, we are getting it from the same sources. You just feel better because we are not producing it here in the State of Illinois.”

Outside of what he has called bad policy choices, Davidsmeyer noted the higher electricity prices will be due to higher demand during peak summer months, constraints on power supply, and ongoing transitions away from fossil fuels in the state’s energy mix.

The federal Department of Government Efficiency has struck a major project for the Jacksonville Parks Foundation.

Dr. Michael Woods presented the Grace Orchards project to the City Council last month in order to create community-based orchards in unused green space throughout the City of Jacksonville. The fruit from the trees would then be available for members of the community to come pick for their own consumption.

Woods says that the federal government has frozen climate funds that would have gone directly to the planting of the orchards: “We are really excited about getting this orchard established on vacant land across our community, trying to address both food insecurity needs, addressing the treescape, beautifying vacant lots – that’s kind of our goal with the Grace Orchards. We received approved funding from Faith in Place, which was a pass through from the federal government to the USDA through the Forest Service and then through Faith in Place. Unfortunately, right now all of the federal grants are being scrutinized and/or placed on a hold, and we are caught in that situation. So, our grant has been placed on a hold while they are still trying to figure out the disbursement of those resources.”

Woods says the hope was to plant the trees this Spring but with the freeze they have been delayed. For now, the Parks Foundation will continue to move forward on its new East Park Acres urban farming project. The East Park work will start within the next week with cover crops, with help from the City of Jacksonville Parks Department.

Woods says that the orchard initiative is now pivoting towards searching for local resources to purchase the trees in order to plant this Fall: “One – we are reaching out to many of our philanthropic community members in hopes that they may be so inclined to step up and maybe provide $1,000 or if I could find 6 individuals to invest $5,000, we can get that $30,000 ready to go pretty quick [to replace the grant funding]. We also realize there are various types of people – we’ve already had several individuals step up and give us $500 investments to help us bring this project to fruition. That’s one thing – we invite the entire community, no matter what you may have, if you want to invest $20 to help buy a tree – that would be great. The Jacksonville Parks Foundation is putting forth an initiative or sort of a call to the community to help us invest in getting this orchard established. Then, if the federal funds do get released, the beauty of it is it will just help to amplify and extend the project even further. The grant was to pay for 200 trees. If we get the donations to match the $30,000, then if the funds get released on top of that – it would just double the size of the orchard project.”

Woods says he’s also seeking out several different grants totaling approximately $2 million in order to further the Jacksonville Parks Foundation projects ranging from the urban farms to low-income housing. For more information, visit townbrook.com.

The Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs and the USDVA Women’s Health Department will be honoring one of Jacksonville’s own today.

U.S. Army Veteran and Amvets Department of Illinois Commander Laura Doss has been named one of IDVA’s 25 Illinois Women Veterans Leaders of 2025.

Doss will be awarded the honor at Malcolm X College in Chicago. The award is given to women veterans for their extraordinary leadership, contributions, and commitment to the women veteran community.

Calhoun County area firefighters saved a woman’s life on Wednesday during a structure fire in the village of Batchtown.

According to a press release from the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office, shortly before 2PM on Wednesday, West Central 911 Dispatch notified emergency units and first responders in Calhoun County of a structure fire in the 100 block of West Batchtown Road in Batchtown after a bystander reported a fire inside the home.

Volunteer Firefighters from Richwoods Volunteer Fire Department, Point Fire Protection District, and EMS personnel from Calhoun Volunteer Ambulance, as well as the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office immediately responded to the scene. The Village of Hardin Fire Department also responded for mutual aid.

The first firefighters arrived on scene within 5 minutes of the call and began dousing the residence. EMS personnel on scene called family members and discovered that a 59-year-old female was still inside the house. Volunteer Firefighters from Richwoods Fire Department made entry to the residence and recovered a victim from inside; and extinguished the fire.

Immediate life-saving measures were rendered by Calhoun EMS personnel. The victim was then transported by Calhoun Ambulance Service to the Batchtown helipad, where she was flown by Survival Flight to a St. Louis area trauma hospital.

The Illinois Fire Marshall’s Office arrived following the fire to conduct an investigation of the origin of fire. The results of this investigation are still pending at this time.

The sole occupant suffered injuries, but is expected to recover. However, several family pets did perish in the blaze.

Crime Stoppers of Morgan, Scott, and Cass Counties are seeking information to assist the Jacksonville Police in their investigation of a recent burglary.

Sometime between February 1^st and last Friday, unknown individuals broke into a vacant building in the 600 block of East Beecher in Jacksonville and took a Ryobi 1800 Generator.

The police are asking that if anyone who has further information about this incident to please submit an anonymous tip online by visiting the Morgan Scott Cass County Crime Stoppers Facebook Page and click on the ‘Contact Us’ button at the top of the page or visit their website and morganscottcrimestoppers.com. Click on the ‘Submit A Tip’ button at the top of the page.

Or, you can call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 217-243-7300. Remember, Crime Stoppers want your information and not your name. If your tip leads to an arrest or recovery of stolen property, you may be eligible for a cash reward.

The City of Virginia has no acting mayor or any personnel in its offices.

The Cass County Star Gazette reports that at the March 10^th Virginia City Council meeting Mayor Randy McClure had City Clerk Ashley Cox read a prepared statement prior to reading a resignation letter and then exiting the chambers.

McClure’s letter lashed out at nearly all of the city’s committees and departments for lack of work or lack of action, citing personality conflicts that he says has hindered progress. He also took aim at the current city council, saying those same personality conflicts have caused a refusal to come together and work on issues that remain.

Citizen complaints have mounted at Virginia City Hall for current issues with calculation and accounting for water bills.

Ward 1 Alderman Ott Wulf acted as mayor pro temp for the remainder of the meeting, with little board action taken after McClure’s exit.

A new mayor for the city will be elected this coming Tuesday with Wulf and Steve Clark listed as candidates for the position.

The Jacksonville Area Chamber of Commerce held its Annual Meeting at the Jacksonville Country Club last night. Four annual awards were announced at the meeting.

The Chamber posthumously recognized Bob Chipman as its Circle of Excellence recipient. In order to receive the Circle of Excellence recognition, the nominee must be retired from an active Chamber Business. The nominee must have served the Chamber on a Committee, as a Board Member or as Chair with a provable record of contributions to the Chamber of Commerce that have made a difference in furthering the goals of the Chamber. A Circle of Excellence nominee must also have provided at least 10 years of service to the Chamber.

Business of the Year was awarded to The Pointe at Jacksonville.

Small business of the Year was given to Neff-Colvin, Inc. The Chamber was especially grateful to Doug Megginson and the crew with Neff-Colvin as they completed the exterior renovations at the Chamber offices over the last year.

The Not-for-profit Business of the Year was awarded to the Jacksonville Regional Economic Development Corporation. The chamber also gave special recognition to Bonni Waters on her upcoming retirement.

Jacksonville Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding a man found unresponsive in a home on West Railroad Street early Sunday morning.

According to a press release from the Morgan County Coroner’s Office, at approximately 2:40AM Sunday officers from the Jacksonville Police Department responded to a residence located on West Railroad. Upon arrival, officers discovered an unresponsive individual in the home. The subject, a 24-year old male, was pronounced deceased at the scene by the Morgan County Coroner Marcy Patterson.

Following the discovery, investigators from the Jacksonville Police Department initiated an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the individual’s death. Due to the nature of the scene, an ongoing investigation is underway. No further details have been released. At this stage, authorities believe the incident to be isolated.

The identity of the deceased has been withheld pending the notification of the next of kin.

The investigation is being conducted by Jacksonville Police Department, the Illinois State Police, The Morgan County Coroner’s Office and The Morgan County State’s Attorney.

The Illinois Attorney General’s Office has announced the arrest of a Scott County man for allegedly producing and disseminating child sex abuse material.

The Attorney General’s office has charged 27-year old Bobby H. Xiong of Bluffs in Greene County Circuit Court with three counts of dissemination of child pornography, Class X felonies punishable by up to 30 years in prison; and two counts of possession of child pornography, Class 2 felonies punishable by up to seven years in prison.

Xiong is currently detained at the Greene County Jail, and his next court date is scheduled for April 28th.

Raoul’s investigators, along with officers from the Illinois State Police and Scott County Sheriff’s Department, conducted a search of Xiong’s residence in the 300 block of Piper Street in Bluffs on Thursday, March 27th. Xiong was taken into custody after investigators discovered evidence of child sexual abuse material.

Raoul’s office is prosecuting this case in cooperation with Scott County State’s Attorney Richard Crews’ office.