Portions of Illinois Route 67 and Illinois Route 125 in Cass County were shut down for a short time this morning due to a semi trailer fire.

The Beardstown Fire Department reports that calls came in just before 9AM of a semi trailer on fire just south of the Illinois Route 125 and Illinois Route 67 junction, just west of Beardstown.

Upon arrival, a semi trailer hauling scrap metal had caught fire. The highway was shut down for approximately 1 hour while the fire department attempted to extinguish the fire.

Fire officials say that the truck was then moved to a nearby parking lot where an excavator with a grapple was brought in to help extinguish the remaining fire.

No further information was given.

One Central Illinois school district will be losing a key administrator while another gains one next summer.

Winchester Elementary Principal Andy Stumpf has been hired as an assistant superintendent for Greenfield School District. The hiring took place at Greenfield’s September 19^th board meeting, with Stumpf beginning his new duties with Greenfield starting in July 2023. Stumpf is currently in the last year of his contract with the Winchester School District and is currently working on receiving full superintendent licensure with the state. Stumpf is expected to complete his licensure with the state in December.

Stumpf will replace Greenfield interim superintendent Dr. William Phillips. Phillips replaced Dr. Kevin Bowman, who left Greenfield-Northwestern to return to Piasa-Southwestern as their superintendent this year.

Stumpf is a 2000 graduate of Carrollton High School. He began his teaching career, returning to Carrollton in 2005 where he spent the next 9 years before he received his administrator’s certificate. He took over as principal in Brussels in 2014 before moving to Winchester in 2017. Stumpf told the Greene Prairie Press that the career move is a bit of a homecoming.

A Sangamon County Grand Jury returned a 13-count indictment yesterday against a man accused of killing a couple in the southwest edge of Springfield earlier this month.

23 year old Mark N. Crites has been indicted for 8 counts of first degree murder, one count of aggravated arson, one count of residential arson, theft, possession of a stolen motor vehicle, and aggravated possession of stolen firearms.

The charges relate to an arson incident in the 100 block of Genoa Drive in Springfield where Crites is alleged to try and burn a house down with people present. Then, later on in the dates, Crites is alleged to have shot and killed Gloria & John Norgaard in their home located in the 500 block of West Southwind Road in Springfield before stealing a vehicle. Crites was later apprehended in Benld located inside of a stolen 2007 Dodge Charger.

Sangamon County State’s Attorney Dan Wright’s Office says that Crites will be arraigned on the charges this morning. He remains held at the Sangamon County Jail on $5 million bond. If Crites is convicted on all the charges, he faces a potential mandatory life sentence to prison.

A Carlinville man who stabbed a Virden man to death at his residence last year will spend the next four decades in prison.

Macoupin County State’s Attorney Jordan Garrison announced today that 21 year old Dalton M.K. Obermark has been sentenced to 40 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for the murder of 58 year old John W. Rennie. Obermark previously pled guilty to a single count of first degree murder in July.

According to WICS Newschannel 20, it was revealed during the hearing today that Obermark relocated to Illinois after being released from prison in Florida early last year, and it was only a month later that the murder of Rennie occurred inside Rennie’s Virden home. Obermark then took Rennie’s car and attempted to travel to Florida.

WICS reports that Obermark was previously imprisoned in Florida for armed robbery and grand theft auto, and while imprisoned in Florida, conspired to escape.

Obermark will not be eligible for parole until February 2061, and will have to serve a period of 3 years of mandatory supervised release.

Pleasant Plains has rescheduled its homecoming parade for Friday afternoon, after postponing it last weekend following the medical emergency that sent a Plains football player to the hospital.

The parade route has been modified to avoid disruptions to Illinois Route 125 during Friday afternoon traffic at the height of harvest season. The school district says it rescheduled the parade with the encouragement of Jayden Veesenmeyer’s family

Veesenmeyer remains hospitalized following emergency surgery after he allegedly suffered a subdural hematoma after a hit during last Saturday’s football game and then collapsed.

According to WMAY, hundreds of people turned out last night for a candlelight vigil near St. John’s Hospital in Springfield in support of the Veesenmeyer Family.

More than $56,000 has been raised on GoFundMe to help offset the family’s accruing medical expenses.

Pleasant Plains Schools has also announced that the admission for the Homecoming Football Game on Friday night will be a free will donation, with all proceeds going to the Veesenmeyer Family.

A new Petersburg eatery recently received an award for exceptional preservation of the building it is currently housed in.

Landmarks Illinois announced that Broadgauge in Petersburg was the recipient of one of the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Awards. Broadgauge was one of only 3 recipients in downstate Illinois.

Built in 1872 as a megastore on Petersburg’s historic square, the Broadgauge Building in Downtown Petersburg has been reopened and reimagined by owner Douglas Pope. Today, the multi-purpose building includes a bar, restaurant, billiards room, event space and coffee shop and has become one of Petersburg’s largest employers.

Broadgauge also announced on its Facebook Page today that the building received final approval from the National Park Service that Broadgauge is now a “certified historic building” that underwent a “certified rehabilitation” that “meets the standards of the Secretary of Interior for rehabilitation”.

Ownership said in the post: “Thank you to the countless craftsmen that made this rehabilitation possible. The dedication to this project in the midst of labor and supply shortages was astounding.”

In all, Landmarks Illinois awarded 9 historic building preservation projects throughout the state.

A West Central Illinois county is in financial trouble with the State of Illinois.

The Pike Press reports that Pike County was notified in writing by the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity that the county has been placed on the state’s Stop Payment List for not completing a financial audit for the previous fiscal year.

The notification says that all funding through DCEO has been suspended until the state’s audit reporting requirements have been met.

The Pike Press further reports that County Board Chairman Jim Sheppard informed the remaining board members that he hopes to have all outstanding financial information to the county’s auditor in October to get the audit completed by early November.

County Treasurer Scott Syrcle told the Pike Press that not all county departments will be affected by the Stop Payment designation. Syrcle says that the county’s ambulance, health department, and sheriff’s department who are all in the running for upcoming grants will likely see the heaviest effects.

Pike County has been dealing with fund status issues since July. Syrcle and Sheppard had previously said that the county’s switch to the Paycom payroll system caused many of the fund status errors, which in turn, has delayed the completion of the county’s audit.

Two locations in Carrollton, a grocery store in Jerseyville, and two locations in Springfield have been listed as places effected by a recall on ready-to-eat meat products.

More than 87,000 pounds of meat is being recalled across Illinois and Missouri from Behrmann Meat & Processing Inc. in Albers, Illinois for various ready-to-eat meat products that may be contaminated with listeria.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service made the announcement on Saturday. WICS Newschannel 20 reports that more products are expected to be added to the recall soon.

The ready-to-eat products were produced from July 7^th to September 9^th. Stores effected by the recall include Buck’s Crossing and Market on Main in Carrollton; Sinclair’s Grocery Store in Jerseyville, and Margo’s Meats and Humphrey’s Market in Springfield.

To view the labels effected by the recall, visit this link.

Two Rivers Crime Stoppers of Jersey & Greene counties is giving out $1,000 cash for a tip that leads to an arrest of a man wanted for multiple crimes across several counties.

Two Rivers is seeking the whereabouts of 26 year old Devin A. Krueger of rural Jerseyville. Krueger is wanted on multiple felonies in Greene, Jersey, Macoupin, and Madison counties. Two Rivers says that he is also wanted in connection to and questioning for multiple residential burglaries and possession of a stolen vehicle.

Krueger is a white male who stands 5’9” and weighs approximately 165 pounds. He has short brown hair and brown eyes.

If you have any information, please call Two Rivers Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-300-2590 or you can submit an anonymous tip on the Jersey County Sheriff’s Office mobile app. You may also call the Macoupin-Montgomery Counties Crime Stoppers at 1-800-352-0136, submit a tip online at macmontcrimestoppers.com, or submit a tip on the P3 mobile app.

If you’re tip leads to Krueger’s arrest, you are eligible for a possible $1,000 cash reward.