One of the state’s longest serving county public health directors has retired.

Macoupin County Public Health Department Director Kent Tarro retired officially on Saturday after 39 1/2 years of service. According to the Macoupin County Enquirer-Democrat, Tarro began working as an assistant administrator at the Macoupin County Public Health Department in 1983 under former Director June Weise.

When Weise retired in 1990, Tarro took over the position and as of last year, was the longest-serving county public health director in the history of the state. Tarro has worn many hats and started several programs during his near-four decade term of service including helping start the county’s public transportation program and starting the county’s first dental, mental health, and medical clinics across the county.

Tarro is being replaced by Christy Blank, the Chief Operating Officer of the health department. Blank has been with the Health Department for the past 5 years.

One of the EMS workers facing murder charges in the death of a patient in Springfield has been moved out of the general population at the Sangamon County Jail.

WMAY reports that Peter Cadigan has been moved to the Sangamon County Jail’s medical unit. Sheriff Jack Campbell told WMAY that Cadigan doesn’t have any medical problems but says the move was done for Cadigan’s protection.

Campbell says it’s not uncommon to place inmates in high-profile cases in the medical unit until authorities can be sure there’s no threat to them in the general jail population.

WMAY says Cadigan’s co-defendant eggy Finley, is being held in a standard cell in the female inmate block, but Campbell says because few women are currently incarcerated, she is in a cell by herself.

Cadigan and Finley face first degree murder charges after a police body camera video showed that the two of them strapped Earl Moore, Jr. face down on a stretcher where he eventually suffocated in an incident on December 18^th. Both Cadigan and Finley remained jailed on $1 million bond.

The City of Winchester found out some bad news for an infrastructure project earlier this month.

The Scott County Times reports that Benton & Associates Engineer Greg Hillis delivered the news that the city’s grant application for the Unsewered Communities Construction Grant Program was denied.

The grant would have allowed the city to install sewers to the Coultas properties the city owns west of Main Street. The city has zoned the properties to develop for residential and commercial use. It’s the second year in a row that the city has applied for the grant.

Hillis told the city that the EPA still has additional rounds open for the program over the next 3 years. According to the Times, this year’s round had 24 applicants asking for $91.1 million worth of projects.

Hillis told the Winchester City Council on January 4^th that one of the reasons their application was rejected because they didn’t have a signature from the Osage Nation Tribal Council on an archaeological survey done two years ago. Hillis previously told the city council that the dig turned up nothing conclusive as far as disturbance of any Native American artifacts or burial grounds. The Osage Nation did not accept the findings of the dig because the archaeologist overseeing the dig is not on their list of people who the nation will accept information from. Hillis told the council on January 4th that the list of acceptable people all come from Oklahoma, and it would cost upwards of $10,000 to get them to Scott County to perform another dig.

Mayor Rex McIntire told WGEM on Friday that the city has sent out letters with the studies attached to six tribal councils who cover the area in hopes of getting acceptance to perform the work.

City officials say they will reapply to the program this Fall.

The Jacksonville African-American Museum will be open over the mid-day today for tours as part of the observance of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Local historian and museum board member Art Wilson says people should come take a tour of the museum: “We’ll be celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Day today by opening up from 11:30AM-1:30PM, allowing people to come in and see some of the new exhibits we have. We have a lot of information on Dr. King and his journey that we are all still trying to continue with and hopefully can continue on with his blessings and his ideas of what he wanted us all to be about as it occurred and it is still obviously is going on today. We want people to focus on not just the fact that this is a holiday, but this is a day for all people directing for everybody to come together and understand each other, not be divided by our race or color, but united by the things that created this whole country and all of our ideas and beliefs and stuff, without one group or the other, certain things would not exist today that do.”

Wilson says the museum has a variety of new items on display: “We actually have some slave cuffs that came from O’Brien’s Auction House where Mr. O’Brien would sell slaves and he would have his cuffs on the slaves, and then, when he sold them, he would remove them and the people that bought them would put their own cuffs on. We had those donated to us. We have bricks that were actually made by slaves also that are here now in the museum. We have a cabinet that was built in the 1700s that was donated to us, and a bunch of new pictures by artists that some people will known, some people will never have heard of before; but they deal with black art and how they were portraying people at different times in portraits.”

Wilson says some events are in the works for February for the celebration of Black History Month. Wilson says learning about Black history is important now more than ever because some people simply have never been told or are unaware: “I see it. I hear it here. I hear it when I’m at Woodlawn Farm working out there. It’s not basically because of the individuals themselves. It’s just how certain aspects of history or speech have just been deleted out of their lives. I get people that come out to Woodlawn Farm, people from here, that are in their 70s-75 years old that have never even heard of the Underground Railroad, never even heard of a lot of these Black individuals and inventors. There is just a whole race of people that’s been totally deleted from their historic understanding of their inclusion or who they were or why they were protesting, Black Lives Matter. I mean they just don’t have it. Like I said, it’s not any fault of their own. It’s through a lack of teaching, lack of educating. Now, that’s becoming more of a thing. Now, they don’t really want those things to be known or being taught.”

To find out more about Jacksonville African-American history and Black history in general, Wilson says to come to the museum and ask questions. The Jacksonville African-American Museum is located at 859 Grove Street in the Asa Talcott House.

A Carrollton grocery store that opened in the wake of both Kroger stores closing in Greene County over a year ago has new owners.

Market on Main located at 521 South Main Street, on the south side of the Carrollton Square, now can call Shawn & Courtney Garrison of rural Carrollton its new owners.

The Greene Prairie Press reports that the original owners Jerry & Sue Schmidt sold to the Garrisons at the start of the new year. The Schmidts are moving out of state to be closer to their grandchildren and also wish to pursue a different path according to the report. The Garrisons took over the store on January 2^nd.

Courtney Garrison has worked in the healthcare field in Jacksonville for the past several years and Shawn Garrison has owned a construction business, and decided they both wanted to try something different.

The Garrisons have removed alcohol from the store and will be offering more dry goods and canned goods in the store as a result. They are also looking to expand their meat and frozen food section. The Garrisons told the Greene Prairie Press they are happy and excited to keep the store open in the community and look forward to continue to provide the service to those who either can’t or don’t want to leave Carrollton to get their groceries.

Crime Stoppers of Morgan, Scott, and Cass Counties are accepting tips for a recent vandalism incident in Beardstown.

Some time over the weekend between January 6^th – 8^th, individuals vandalized and damaged the basketball and tennis courts in the Beardstown Park District near the swimming pool.

Tiles were ripped up from the courts causing an estimated $68,000 in damage. According to Cass County Sheriff Devron Ohrn speaking to the Cass County Star Gazette, someone used a sign to bust up the tiles and then, drove onto the court with what appears to be a side by side or UTV. The sign was then thrown into one of the basketball hoops.

If you have any information about this incident, please leave an anonymous tip on the Crime Stoppers hotline at 217-243-7300, or leave a tip at morganscottcrimestoppers.webs.com or through the Crime Stoppers mobile app. Tips may also be sent via text message to the number 274637. The first word of the text tip must be “payout”.

If your tip leads to an arrest, you may be eligible for a cash reward.

A man suspected of a violent dormitory hold up at Illinois College before Christmas break may be facing more charges.

26 year old Devin C. Hall of Barrington Hills was arrested Wednesday inside the Morgan County Detention Facility by Morgan County Corrections officers on two charges of aggravated battery of a peace officer. The Journal Courier reports that Hall became combative with two corrections officers and both suffered minor injuries while subduing him.

Hall is charged with 4 Class X felonies that include armed robbery without a firearm and home invasion with a dangerous weapon. Hall is accused of entering a Mundinger Hall dorm room on the Illinois College campus with a dagger and a machete in the early morning hours of December 14^th in an attempt to take property. Eye witnesses to the event told the Journal Courier that he also intended to harm four students.

Hall appeared in court on the charges on January 3^rd where he pleaded not guilty to the charges. A jury trial for the case has been set for March 14^th. Defense attorney Michael Hankins has filed a motion of examination for his client. The next setting in the case is a pretrial conference on March 8^th.

If convicted of one of the Class X charges, Hall could face 6 to 60 years in prison. The charges for aggravated battery to a peace officer have not yet been filed by the Morgan County State’s Attorney’s Office as of press time.

A nationally known civil rights attorney will reportedly represent the family of a man who died allegedly at the hands of two Springfield EMS workers.

WCIA-TV reports that Ben Crump has been retained by the family of Earl Moore, Jr. Crump is the president of the National Civil Rights Trial Lawyers Association, and has previously represented the families of George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor.

Moore died on December 18th after LifeStar EMS workers Peter Cadigan and Peggy Finley, strapped him face down on an ambulance stretcher after the family says he was attempting to detox from alcohol and marijuana. Moore died of “compression and positional asphyxia,” according to Dr. John Scott Denton, a forensic pathologist from Bloomington. Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon then ruled Moore’s death a homicide, and Sangamon County State’s Attorney Dan Wright is charging both Cadigan and Finley with first-degree murder. The Springfield Police Department released body camera footage from the three police officers on the scene who witnessed the incident.

Cadigan and Finley are scheduled to have their first court appearance Thursday. They both remain held at the Sangamon County Jail on $1 million bond. According to online court records, Finley is being represented by Springfield attorney W. Scott Hanken. The State Journal Register reports Finley and Cadigan were represented by local attorney Peter Wise at the arraignment but it wasn’t clear if he was being retained by Cadigan.

The SJR says that Black Lives Matter Springfield co-founder Sunshine Clemons and Teresa Haley, head of the Springfield branch of the NAACP and its state director, urged supporters to walk for Moore’s family in the Martin Luther King Jr. Day unity march today in Springfield. The march steps off at Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church, 1800 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., at noon. A roundtable discussion about healthcare disparities for the African-American community is set to take place after the march at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church located 908 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Springfield.

A Beardstown man was sentenced to significant jail time in Cass County Circuit Court on Friday.

44 year old Jason W. Hawk will spend 11 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections on drug-related charges.

In August 2021, Hawk was placed on a year of adult probation after pleading guilty to possession of methamphetamine less than 5 grams.

In May 2022, the Cass County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to revoke probation. Hawk had subsequent arrests in June and August for violating the requirements of the sex offender registry as well as additional drug charges.

In November, after Hawk was indefinitely incarcerated at the Schuyler County Jail, a hearing was held on the initial petition to revoke probation. According to court records, the court ruled in favor of the petition to revoke probation.

On Wednesday of last week, the Court sentenced Hawk to 4 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections on the petition to revoke probation. On Friday, the court recalled Hawk for the additional drug and sex offender charges and he pleaded guilty to another charge of possession of methamphetamine less than 5 grams. The court sentenced Hawk to 7 years to be served consecutively with the previous case.

Hawk is currently in the Schuyler County Jail awaiting transfer to an IDOC facility.

The following events will be going on in Jacksonville today to commemorate the life and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:

10AM – The annual Commemorative March will begin at Mt. Emory Baptist Church located at 424 South Church Street and proceed south on South Church to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial located on the East Side of Community Park. The Jacksonville Police Department and Citizens’ Police Academy will provide escort and golf carts in the events any marchers need assistance. The Jacksonville Drum Line, under the direction of Chip Davis, will the march.

10:30AM – AM1180 WLDS’ What’s On Your Mind will play in its entirety, Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech given on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. The speech was given in front of an estimated 250,000 people as a part of the March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom.

11:30AM – 1:30PM – The Jacksonville African-American History Museum, located at 859 Grove Street, will be open for 2 hours following the march for anyone to tour the museum. Board member of the museum and local historian, Art Wilson, will be on hand to answer questions and share information about the contributions of local African-Americans to the Jacksonville community and beyond.

4PM – Mt. Emory Baptist Church will host a Commemorative Program to celebrate the life and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Rev. Johnny Nichols and Deacon Jackie Rogers will preside. This year’s keynote speaker is Rev. Jimmie Burries from Jacksonville’s House of Worship, Church of God in Christ. The Mt. Emory Baptist Church Choir will perform during the program. At the program’s close, local vocalist Annabelle Blue, will lead in the singing of the Negro National Anthem: “Lift Every Voice and Sing”.