The Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office has announced 5 drug-related arrests over the past week.

According to a press release, at 10:28PM on Thursday, a Deputy with the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office conducted a traffic stop on Illinois Route 100 near the Godar Diamond Access area approximately 3 miles north of Hardin. Subsequent to an investigation, the driver, 39-year old Carissa L. Cawthon of Kampsville was arrested for possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, having an inadequate exhaust system, and operating an uninsured motor vehicle. Cawthon was arrested without incident and lodged in the Jersey County Jail where she is currently being held on bond. Cawthon is due in Calhoun County Circuit Court for a first appearance on March 3^rd.

Calhoun County Deputies followed up on Cawthon’s arrest on Thursday and executed a court-authorized search warrant at an apartment in the 700 block of Illinois Route 96 in Kampsville. Subsequent to the execution of the warrant, deputies discovered methamphetamine, fentanyl, and drug paraphernalia. 43 year old Ricky D. Barnett of that vicinity was taken into custody for possession of methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Barnett was arrested without incident and taken to the Jersey County Jail. He is currently being held on bond. His first Calhoun County Circuit Court appearance is February 28^th.

On Thursday of last week, a Calhoun deputy conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle on Illinois Route 96 near Mozier. Subsequent to an investigation, the driver, 38 year old Johnny L. Chapman of Louisiana, Missouri was arrested for possession of a controlled substance, driving with a suspended license, and operating an uninsured motor vehicle. Additionally, a passenger, 31 year old Maureessa D Addington of St. Paul, Virginia was also taken into custody for possession of methamphetamine and possession of a controlled substance. Both were taken into custody without incident. Chapman is currently held on bond at the Pike County Jail. Addington remains held on bond at the Jersey County Jail.

On Monday of this week, 43 year old Kara R. Retherford of Carrollton was arrested by Carrollton Police on a Calhoun County arrest warrant. Calhoun authorities say the warrant stems from a traffic stop which was conducted on September 17^th 2022, at Illinois Route 16 near the Joe Page Bridge, which resulted in the seizure of suspected methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. The seized items were sent to the Illinois State Police Crime Lab for testing, and subsequent to that testing, a warrant was issued on November 4^th for Retherford’s arrest for possession of methamphetamine. Retherford was arrested without incident and is currently lodged in the Greene County Jail awaiting a first court appearance in Calhoun County.

The National Transportation Safety Board has released a final report on an airplane crash that killed a well-known Springfield couple and their friend three years ago.

Sangamon County Coroner Cinda Edwards and her husband, former Springfield Mayor Frank Edwards along with family friend John Evans and the Edwards’ family dog were killed when their twin-engine Piper Aerostar went down in the afternoon of January 28, 2020 in an unincorporated area of Sangamon County near the outskirts of Springfield.

Prior to the crash, Frank Edwards who was piloting the plane, told air traffic control that the aircraft was having instrument trouble and difficulty with the weather.

According to the board’s final report according to WFMB in Springfield, the aircraft’s landing system guidance failed. The NTSB said in their report that Frank Edwards had reported 5 months prior to the crash that the horizontal situation indicator was malfunctioning and a new unit was shipped directly to Edwards. The NTSB could not determined if that new unit had been installed at the time of the crash.

A Griggsville man accused of setting fire to Lynch’s Livestock back in September pleaded guilty to four counts of arson on Tuesday in Pike County Court.

37 year old Travis D. McDonald was arrested by Pike County Sheriff’s Deputies on September 15th in connection to three separate fires that occurred over a four-day span at Lynch’s Livestock located 2 ½ miles north of Griggsville on State Highway 107.

McDonald was initially charged with three felony counts of arson, two felony counts of criminal damage to property less than $100,000, and one felony count of criminal damage to property between $500 and $10,000. Additional charges against McDonald were filed later in September that include burglary, arson, and criminal damage to property between $10,000 and $100,000 relating to a separate July 26, 2022 incident in which McDonald was accused of entering and setting a garage on fire in the 600 block of North Chandler Street in Griggsville.

According to court dispositions from Tuesday, the criminal damage and burglary charges were dropped per the plea.

McDonald was sentenced to 6 years total in the Illinois Department of Corrections, a total of $4,000 in fines, ordered to pay restitution of over $389,000, plus court fees and costs. McDonald was given credit for 146 days served in the Pike County Jail.

13^th District Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski says her first month in office has been an effort to seek bipartisanship in the Republican-led new Congress.

The new 13^th District includes Champaign-Urbana, Decatur, Springfield and a piece of the Metro East suburbs. The Springfield-based Democrat says she’s ready to get to work in her two major committee assignments: “I got appointed to the House Agriculture Committee, and I’m awaiting to find out my sub-committee assignments; but more exciting I’m going to be a part of negotiating the first farm bill in the last 5 years. I do think that even though we are a divided Congress very narrowly, the farm bill is the place where we really should be able to come together to get some things done for family farmers, for communities that are going to benefit from a strong farm bill throughout the 13th Congressional District. I’m really excited to get to find out what subcommittees I’m on. The second committee that I’m on is the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee. I just got selected to be on the Health subcommittee. I’m very interested in working on things that support behavioral health for our veterans and making sure they have access to the healthcare that they deserve and that we owe them.”

Budzinski will be on the House Agriculture Committee with 15^th District Illinois Republican Congresswoman Mary Miller. Budzinski says she spent much of her first week in Congress talking to Republican members in hopes of building bipartisan agreements on policy issues: “When I came out the first week for new member orientation, I made it a point to reach out to all of the Congressional delegation around me. I did sit down with Congresswoman Miller. I also sat down with Congressman Mike Bost. He is the chair of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee now. I also sat down with Congresswoman Cori Bush who represents St. Louis. Congresswoman Miller is on the House Agriculture Committee and we had a very nice conversation in my first week. We both agreed that maybe agriculture is the place where we can work together, and I look for those opportunities to work across the party aisle to get those things done on those issues where we can agree. I believe that things with issues surrounding agriculture and infrastructure are those sets of issues. Serving on the House Ag Committee with the Congresswoman, I hope we can find those issues where we can pull in the same direction for families in Central and Southern Illinois.”

Budzinski says she did speak with and hear concerns from outgoing members of Congress Rodney Davis and Cheri Bustos who had previously served lengthy tenures on the House Ag Committee. She says that she plans on helping craft the crop insurance and protection policies into the new farm bill. She says she also plans on joining the House Biofuels caucus to help promote Illinois’ biofuel production.

Budzinski says she’s still in the process of setting up her constituent offices throughout the district, but looks forward of being back home in the district on Thursday when the House adjourns so she can finish setting up constituent services and hear concerns from within the district to take them back to Washington.

More of Budzinski’s Interview with Ben Cox can be found here.

One person was shot in an alleged road rage incident involving a U-Haul truck on Illinois Route 97 yesterday afternoon.

According to a press release from the Menard County Sheriff’s Office, at approximately 4:26pm, the Menard County Sheriff’s Office received a call for assistance from the Mason County Sheriff’s Office. The Mason County Sheriff’s Office advised they had received a report of a motorist who had been shot, and was traveling southbound on IL-97 from the Kilbourne area. Mason County further advised that the victim was being pursued by the suspected shooter, who was reportedly driving a U-Haul box truck.

Menard County Sheriff’s Deputies, Petersburg Police Officers, and the Cass County Sheriff responded to the area to attempt to intercept the suspect and stop the pursuit of the victim. Information was then received that the victim had turned around and traveled back into Mason County, while the suspect reportedly continued south on IL-97. The suspect was intercepted by deputies on IL-97 at Atterberry, traveling southbound. The suspect refused to stop and a pursuit ensued. Deputies and officers made several attempts to box in the U-Haul to bring it to a stop. The suspect began driving erratically, nearly striking law enforcement vehicles. The deputies and officers continued their attempts to box-in the U-Haul and were able to successfully get the suspect to stop on IL-97 south of Schirding Avenue, approximately 2 miles northwest of Petersburg. Deputies then apprehended the suspect without further incident.

Deputies from the Mason County Sheriff’s Office arrived on scene and took custody of the suspect, who was transferred to the Mason County Jail in Havana . The victim was transported to a Springfield hospital.

This incident remains under investigation by the Mason and Menard County Sheriff’s Offices. The suspect remains in custody, pending charges after review by the Mason and Menard County State’s Attorneys. The Menard County Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by the Petersburg Police, the Cass County Sheriff, and the IL Dept. of Natural Resources Conservation Police.

No further information about the incident has been released at this time.

48^th District State Senator Doris Turner has introduced legislation that all EMS workers wear body cameras and all ambulances be outfitted with on-dash cameras.

Senate Bill 1306 would require “all EMS personnel to be equipped by their employers with body cameras that record the interactions of those personnel with patients, emergency responders, and members of the public during service calls.”

The bill comes in the wake of the death of 35 year old Earl Moore, Jr. of Springfield allegedly at the hands of two LifeStar EMS workers in December who strapped him face down in a gurney where he suffocated. Both EMS workers have been charged with first-degree murder.

Turner’s bill has a provision that would not allow the footage to be requested via the Freedom of Information Act unless being requested by “the person who made the service call or that person’s attorney or personal representative or a law enforcement official.”

EMT companies would have one year to come into compliance if the bill is approved.

The bill has been referred to assignments.

50^th District State Senator Jil Tracy was recently awarded for her work on behalf of the state’s park districts.

Tracy was recently presented the Illinois Association of Park District’s Outstanding Legislator of the Year Award in a ceremony earlier this month.

IAPD President and Chief Executive Officer Peter Murphy commended Tracy’s commitment to advancing park and recreational opportunities for Illinois citizens by being an advocate for local government in legislation in Springfield.

Murphy says Tracy has participated in the Legislative Panel at the IAPD Legislative Conference in years past and has been responsive to IAPD questions and concerns during her tenure in the General Assembly.

A 2021 criminal sexual assault case at the heart of a judge’s current trial with the Illinois Courts Commission was heard on a different matter last week.

Now 19-year old Drew S. Clinton of Taylor, Michigan appeared before Adams County Judge Roger Thomson on February 1^st seeking to have his criminal sexual assault case expunged from the public record.

An expungement order directs the court to treat the criminal conviction as if it had never occurred, essentially removing it from a defendant’s criminal record as well as the public record.

Judge Robert Adrian found Clinton guilty of one count of criminal sexual assault during a bench trial on October 15, 2021. However, Adrian changed his mind at Clinton’s sentencing hearing on January 3, 2022, and declared him not guilty. The changing of the conviction and the fallout of events afterward have landed Adrian under investigation by the Judicial Inquiry Board resulting in a possible trial later on this year with the Illinois Courts Commission.

Clinton served 148 days in the Adams County Jail prior to having his conviction overturned during sentencing. The statute under which Clinton was convicted required a minimum four-year sentence in the Department of Corrections, but Adrian refused to impose the sentence, calling the county jail imprisonment for Clinton “plenty of punishment.”

Muddy Rivers News reports that Adams County Assistant State’s Attorney Laura Keck argued last Wednesday that the expungement should be denied on the grounds that if a person is ever charged with a sex offense, the state’s attorney’s office can file a motion to use prior offenses.

According to the report, Judge Thomson agreed with Keck’s argument and denied Clinton’s request for expungement. Clinton, who represented himself in the expungement hearing and presented no arguments last Wednesday, does have a right to appeal. Keck told Muddy River News that appeals on expungement cases are rare and are hardly ever won.

Illinois State retirees in Central Illinois may lose access to the largest hospital system in the region if negotiations break down before the end of the month.

State retirees began receiving notices at the beginning of this month of a potential provider network change between Aetna and Memorial Health System. Aetna and Memorial Health Systems are currently in ongoing negotiations for the provider contract that is set to expire on April 1^st. This negotiation does impact both Memorial affiliate hospitals and their physician groups.

According to the letter sent out, if Aetna and and Memorial have not reached an agreement by March 1^st and a retiree is currently utilizing one of Memorial’s hospitals or physicians, you will be notified of the process of changing or selecting a new hospital, physician, or any transition of care needs.

For West Central Illinois retirees, that may mean traveling to Quincy, Jerseyville, or St. Louis to find an in-network doctor, specialist, or clinic.

In a statement released by Memorial Health today, the system says they have been working over the last several months to negotiate a new contract with Aetna, including commercial and Medicare Advantage plans: “We continue to negotiate with Aetna in good faith with the goal to ensure access continues beyond April 1, 2023 to Memorial Health facilities, services, physicians, and providers.”

An attempt to reach Aetna for additional comments has not been returned.

Top officials from the Illinois Department of Central Management Services and Aetna were called into question in November during the start of the previous General Assembly’s lame duck session over cuts to a single plan for state retirees with the company back in November.

Two LifeStar EMTs accused of first-degree murder appeared in Sangamon County Court yesterday on a motion to reduce bond.

Sangamon County Judge Robin Schmidt denied the motion to reduce the $1 million bond for 44 year old Peggy Finley and 50 year old Peter Cadigan of Springfield.

The EMTs are being held at the Sangamon County Jail charged with the first-degree murder of 35-year old Earl Moore, Jr.

The EMTs are alleged to have strapped Moore face down to a stretcher causing him to suffocate to death back on December 18^th after emergency services were requested to Moore’s home.

Cadigan and Finley have both pleaded not guilty to the charges. The State Journal-Register reports that Judge Schmidt, making her first appearance in the case which has gained national media attention, said there was “inherent risk” that neither of the defendants would appear at future court dates.

The next hearing in the criminal case is set for March 20th. Both Finley and Cadigan face 20 to 60 years behind bars for the offense, if convicted.

Moore’s family has filed a wrongful death civil lawsuit in the case against both EMTs and LifeStar Ambulance Service.