Jacksonville Police arrested two individuals after a domestic disturbance turned violent this afternoon.

West Central Illinois Joint Dispatch received a call at 2:11PM from a residence in the 600 block of North Clay Avenue. The male caller on the line told dispatch that a female he had an active order of protection against struck his car multiple times and left southbound from the residence in a blue Dodge Journey. The male complainant also advised that one of the female’s family members traveling with her had struck him with a crowbar during an altercation at his residence.

A short time later police located the vehicle and arrested 18 year old Amaru L.S. Williams of the 400 block of South Main Street for aggravated assault, aggravated battery, and criminal damage to property over $500. According to a police report, Williams allegedly battered the victim with a weapon, pointed a loaded firearm at the victim while threatening them, and damaged the victim’s vehicle by striking it with their own.

Police also arrested a 15 year old male juvenile for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and possession of a stolen firearm after police say they found a loaded, stolen firearm on the juvenile during a search.

Williams remains held at the Morgan County Jail. The juvenile also remains held at the jail.

The Girard Volunteer Fire Department battled its second major fire in as many days.

The first page out came to Macoupin County Central Dispatch at just before 3PM for a chimney fire at a residence in Girard. Smoke was reported to be showing from the eaves.

Upon arrival, the Girard Fire Department immediately paged out for mutual aid from the Virden Fire Department At 3:35, the Carlinville Fire Department was paged for mutual aid with manpower, a pumper, and a tanker. The Northwestern Fire Protection District was called out for a water tender and Prairie Land EMS for two residents of the home who had possible smoke inhalation.

Auburn, Medora, Farmersville, and Greenfield Fire also were summoned for water tenders and manpower. The Prairieland Ambulance shed provided a warming center for firefighters on the scene during the fire fight.

Girard Fire was eventually able to leave the scene at 10PM. No further information on the location of the fire or total damage has been given.

Multiple fire departments from Cass & Mason Counties were called out to a structure fire in Chandlerville early this morning.

The Beardstown Volunteer Fire Department reports that shortly after midnight they were summoned for mutual aid to a two-story structure fire in the heart of Chandlerville. The residents were reported to be home at the time of the fire and were able to get out safely.

The home is deemed a total loss, with no cause of fire determined at this time. Fire crews were on scene for approximately 4 and a half hours. No injuries were reported.

Departments on scene were Chandlerville Fire, Beardstown Fire and Ambulance, Virginia Fire, Ashland Fire, Bath Fire, Kilbourne Fire, Oakford Fire, Havana Rural Fire, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, and Ameren Illinois.

The Morgan, Scott, Cass Crime Stoppers have issued a call for tips about the whereabouts of an individual wanted in relation to a South Jacksonville armed robbery from earlier this month.

18 year old Jakobie T. Whitaker of the 200 block of West Greenwood Avenue has been named as a suspect by South Jacksonville Police for an alleged armed robbery that took place on December 11^th at a residence in the 1500 block of South Clay Avenue.

Whitaker and 21 year old Yanni M. Armstrong of the 900 block of North Clay are alleged to have entered a woman’s home without force with one displaying a handgun and demanding money from a female at the residence.

Armstrong was apprehended by Jacksonville Police Detectives in an alleged stolen vehicle from Hannibal, Missouri in the 800 block of North Clay on Wednesday.

Whitaker is described as a black male, standing 5’10” tall, weighing approximately 150 pounds, with short black hair and brown eyes. He has a prominent neck tattoo that says “FA$T MONEY.”

If you have information about Whitaker’s whereabouts or more information about the December 11th incident, please submit an anonymous tip online at www.morganscottcrimestoppers.webs.com. Click on the tipsubmit link on the homepage and fill out the form, or call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 217-243-7300. Tips may also be submitted on the Morgan Scott Cass Crime Stoppers mobile app found on the Google Play store or on Apple’s Itunes. Anonymous tips may also be submitted by texting to the number 274637. The first word of the text tip must be ‘payout.’

A five-alarm fire in northern Macoupin County saw a Girard building burn to the ground last night.

Initial reports of a fire at the former Girard Bowling Alley/Pickadillys located in the 700 block of North 3^rd Street came in shortly after 6:30PM. According to initial reports, fire was seen inside the building and flames were showing on the building.

Approximately 5 minutes later, Virden and Carlinville Fire was radioed for mutual aid. Firefighters fought the blaze in 35 below zero wind chill conditions as flames consumed the building. The neighboring Dollar General was opened for firefighters to come in and warm themselves in frigid temperatures. Can-Am and CSC Motor Company also housed some firefighters throughout the night as a warming center.

Macoupin County Joint Dispatch was notified at 7:30 that all subjects were out of the building. The Farmersville-Waggoner Volunteer Fire Department joined in the firefight as mutual aid at 7:45PM, with Northwestern radioed for additional manpower only shortly after 8:45PM.

After 5 hours, the fire was extinguished at approximately 11:30. The building has been deemed a total loss. Firefighters were able to save the neighboring Dollar General, as the siding was reported to be melting from the heat. No further information has been made available.

Illinois Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin announced a small number of projects coming to Central Illinois as a part of the $1.7 trillion Fiscal Year 2023 omnibus appropriations bill.

A total of $182 million is being direct by Congress to come to the State of Illinois alone.

Included in the bill is the renovation of the LaGrange Lock & Dam near Beardstown. $49.3 million is going to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to complete design on the modernization of the LaGrange Lock on the Illinois River as part of the Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program. The program seeks to expand and modernize seven locks at the most congested lock locations along the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers and fund $1.7 billion in ecosystem restoration.

The bill also includes $1 million to the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield to create a new Institute for Rural Health.

There are also a number of projects that were funded in the cities of Springfield and Quincy through the omnibus bill.

The U.S. Senate also included a Pike County initiative in the recent passage of the FY23 Omnibus Appropriations Act.

The New Philadelphia National Historical Park Act will designate the original town site of New Philadelphia, Illinois, as a National Historical Park. New Philadelphia, now incorporated into Barry, Illinois, in Pike County, was the first town platted and legally registered by an African American, “Free” Frank McWorter.  Founded in 1836, New Philadelphia’s population peaked in 1865 as home to 29 households and 160 people.  By 1885, New Philadelphia lost its legal status as a town because of population decline as a result of the railroad bypassing the town.  New Philadelphia was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 and was recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 2009.

By becoming a National Historical Park, the site will be able to seek federal grants and funds each year for maintenance through the National Park System under the U.S. Department of Conservation.

Retiring 17^th District Congresswoman Cheri Bustos is making a major contribution to one of Jacksonville’s oldest institutions.

Bustos’ Office announced yesterday that the collection of artifacts and papers from her years in office will be archived in a joint partnership with the nonpartisan Dirksen Congressional Center and Illinois College. Bustos is also establishing the Callahan-Bustos Family Endowed Scholarship Fund through a gift to the college, which will provide scholarship funding to students pursuing work for the public good.

Illinois College and The Dirksen Center will each hold separate elements of the Bustos Collection. Illinois College will retain the Congresswoman’s physical artifacts for display and research, while The Dirksen Center will hold the physical and digital papers from her office for academic research. The two institutions have committed to an ongoing partnership beginning with the Bustos Collection, with research opportunities for faculty and students at Illinois College once the papers are processed and open for viewing.

Bustos briefly attended Illinois College in the early 1980s before transferring to the University of Maryland-College Park where she earned her bachelor’s degree in political science in 1983. Bustos is a member of the Illinois College Congressional Hall of Fame.

WLDS hopes to speak with Congresswoman Bustos at a later time about these contributions to Illinois College as well as her time spent in Jacksonville at a later date.

Jacksonville Police arrested a wanted individual in connection to a South Jacksonville armed robbery from earlier this month.

Jacksonville Police Detectives arrested 21 year old Yanni M. Armstrong of the 900 block of North Clay Avenue at the Jacksonville Police Department at approximately 9AM this morning. Armstrong had a previous warrant out for possession of stolen property. Armstrong was also questioned about an incident in South Jacksonville that occurred on Sunday, December 11^th.

According to a South Jacksonville Police Report at the time, at approximately 1AM on Dec. 11^th a female complainant told police dispatch that two individuals known to her came into her home without force in the 1500 block of South Clay Avenue. Upon entry, the complainant said one of the subjects displayed a handgun and demanded all of her money. The subjects then fled the area. Warrants were issued for the suspects described to police.

Armstrong has been cited for alleged armed robbery in connection to the case and is currently being held on bond at the Morgan County Jail.

South Jacksonville is looking to mirror its neighboring municipality to the north a little bit more.

South Jacksonville Police Chief Eric Hansell has been working for the last several months to create a list of city ordinance violations that can be issued as tickets by village police. Hansell says the list will be similar to tickets issued as city ordinance violations in the City of Jacksonville with minor adjustments to verbiage and parameters to fit the village’s needs. He says a lot of the offenses are simply things people need to do to be a good neighbor and keep the peace: “Clearly, South Jacksonville is a subset of Jacksonville, and our residents are living in close proximity of each other divided by Michigan Avenue [to the north]. If we are going to have laws in the village, they might as well be as closely aligned with Jacksonville as possible. These laws that we’re enacting in the ordinance are ordinances that South Jacksonville didn’t have that are going to help the police department facilitate neighborhood disputes [getting resolved]…loud music, opening burning, and things like that to make the quality of life in the village better for the residents.”

Hansell says it’s not about writing tickets to make money for the village. He says they are an enforcement measure to mediate disputes and to enforcement ordinances voted on by the village board of trustees: “Ordinances aren’t enacted by the police department. We merely enforce the ordinances. The ordinances are enacted by the board, approved and decided upon by the board. We enforce them, and then, they are adjudicated either ‘not guilty’ or ‘guilty’ in court. It’s not like I’m saying, ‘Hey, I want this law so I can go out and write a bunch of tickets.’ It’s just I want this law in place to be able to mediate disputes and make the quality of life here better.”

Hansell says he is exploring a municipal court system, but does not believe it will be cost effective for the board to have at this time. He says he will keep the idea on hold until he sees how many city ordinance violations that his department writes once the final ordinance book is passed by the village board.