Jacksonville Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation has presented awards to several talented young artists, ages three through 12, who submitted entries to the center’s Spring-Easter Coloring Contest.

Director of Business Development for Jacksonville Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation Kristi Smith says that the contest received over 150 entries from the surrounding area: “This year we did a Spring/Easter coloring contest in the month of April for our residents to be able to judge some local coloring done by young people from towns and communities in our area. First prize was a Nintendo Switch Lite awarded to our overall winner, who was Ms. Sophia Ingram from White Hall. That entry was chosen above all others by our residents. We also had 3 age brackets that we were judging from with the first being ages 3-5, the second bracket was 6-8, and the third was 9-12. Anybody within the age groups in the community was able to fill out and color an entry and bring it to our building. We also handed out entries at the community Easter egg hunts that were going on at banks and sponsored by local churches throughout the area.”

There were two tiers of voting for each age bracket: resident choice winners and staff choice winners.

The winner in every “resident choice” age group received a $25 Jacksonville Chamber gift check, winners in each “staff choice” category received a $10 Bolt’s Candy, Cones, and Corn gift certificate.

Other winners in the competition were:
Carley Peterson of Jacksonville; resident choice winner ages 9-12
Stevie Clark of Jacksonville; staff choice winner ages 9-12
Madeline Crossin of Jacksonville; resident choice winner ages 6-8
Easton Graham of Chapin; staff choice winner ages 6-8
Harper Prather of Jacksonville; resident choice winner ages 3-5
Savannah Ryan of Jacksonville; staff choice winner ages 3-5

Smith says she hopes to expand the contest and make it even bigger next year: “Jacksonville is a large community. I, personally, am from a smaller surrounding town, so it’s very important to me to include all of our surrounding smaller towns because those people are still included in our Jacksonville community. I’m hoping to have the contest even bigger next year if possible. I’d like to be able to get the information out just a little bit sooner, and then, hopefully get even more participation. The residents absolutely loved it. It colored the walls. We had the entries up for several weeks. The residents and staff just absolutely loved it.”

Jacksonville Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation CEO/Executive Director Stephanie Smith said in a press release announcing the winners that the event is always a joy for both residents and staff to help everyone feel young at heart. Smith says she was also impressed by the amount of talent in the region among all the young artists.

55th District State Senator and current GOP gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey held a press conference at an Effingham, Illinois gas station yesterday highlighting the state’s ever-rising gas prices.

Bailey chided Governor J.B. Pritzker and 95th District Republican State Representative and current GOP Lieutenant Governor candidate Avery Bourne whose running mate is Bailey’s opponent Richard Irvin about policies passed in 2019 that doubled the state’s motor fuel tax.

Illinois’ motor fuel tax doubled in 2019 from 19 cents to 38 cents a gallon, as part of a package to fund the bipartisan $45 billion Rebuild Illinois capital program. The law tied the state’s motor fuel tax to he Consumer Price Index moving forward. Bailey calls it a failure in leadership at the state level: “There is no question that the gas price situation in Illinois is simply being made worse by high taxes. In 2019, J.B. Pritzker, Avery Bourne, and other weak-kneed politicians who lacked the courage to reform spending pushed legislation to double the gas tax here in Illinois – a tax that negatively impacts struggling families, the middle class, and working people more than anyone else, a tax that contributes to the rising cost of food at grocery stores and everyday items that families need to get by. Illinois has the second highest gas tax in the country, and working families pay the price for the lack of courage and conservative leadership in Springfield.”

Bailey called the suspension of the gas tax on July 1st by Governor Pritzker an insult to working families of the state. Bailey says the sales tax on gasoline should be permanently done away with: “What we need is a permanent reduction in taxes. We should permanently roll back the JB Pritzker / Avery Bourne gas tax. But if we can’t do this, we should at a minimum eliminate the sales tax on motor fuel. Friends, here in Illinois, we tax tax. That’s wrong. It’s an insane way of doing business. And even if gas prices were lower as a matter of principle, we should not place a tax on a tax. The sales tax on motor fuel is even more infuriating now that gas prices are soaring. Instead of finding meaningful solutions to this problem, JB Pritzker chose campaign year theatrics over genuine relief. JB’s plan to suspend the expected gas tax increase on July 1 is temporary and it is an absolute insult to working families. To combat inflation, we must reduce state spending and lower taxes. I proposed to start this process through a zero-based budget because Illinois families deserve real meaningful and permanent solutions to the crushing inflation, high taxes, and rising gas prices.”

Bailey, along with Republican State Representatives Blaine Wilhour and Adam Niemerg all called on the Illinois General Assembly to come back into session in Springfield immediately. Bailey went on to say that he had reached out to House Speaker Emmanuel “Chris” Welch about calling the session but to no avail. Jaclyn Driscoll of the Office of the House Speaker responded to an inquiry by Rich Miller of Capitol Fax with the following statement: “The Office of the Speaker doesn’t comment on Republican primary fodder. But as Senator Bailey knows, we’ve taken steps to freeze the gas tax and continue to explore additional options for relief for families dealing with the effects of global instability.”

You can view the press conference at this link.

The Kiwanis Bragging Rights BBQ saw a huge turnout this past Saturday at the Morgan County Fairgrounds.

Kiwanian and BBQ Committee member Rob Thomas says that people were lined up to get in the gates when they opened to the public at Noon this past Saturday: “We had a very good turn out. The weather couldn’t have been better. We figured that we had a little over 750 people show up in the first hour. We had 16 teams total cooking for the competition. 13 of the teams competed for a grand prize of $150. They all really competed for the People’s Choice. Paying members of the public each got a little stick that they could drop in the box for whoever they thought had the best food. We are glad that we are able to help out the Roller Hockey League and give them some money to work on their project.”

Thomas estimated gross receipts for the BBQ were near $15,000, with roughly $6,500 coming from sponsors of the event. Totals raised for the Roller Hockey League donation were still being figured as of press time.

The Jacksonville Roller Hockey League is seeking funds to repair the Olson Roller Hockey Rink in Nichols Park. The league has been seeking to raise between $80,000-$100,000 to resurface the surface at the rink since the Fall of 2020.

Thomas also estimated more than 800 people went through the gate for the BBQ, which put attendance at or near the record number for the event’s 22-year history.

Pike County Sheriff’s Deputies and Pleasant Hill Police arrested two women Wednesday evening after a traffic stop in Pleasant Hill.

Pike County Sheriff David Greenwood says that at 7:39PM Wednesday night, sheriff’s deputies and Pleasant Hill Police officers initiated a traffic stop on a white 2003 Chevrolet minivan for speeding in the 700 block of West Quincy Street in Pleasant Hill.

Subsequent to an investigation, the driver, 33 year old Brandy M. Stoye of Griggsville was cited for driving with a suspended license, operating an uninsured motor vehicle, and speeding. Stoye was cited and released with a notice to appear in court.

A passenger, 28 year old Buffy N. Burbridge of Griggsville was arrested for possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, and unlawful possession of hypodermic syringes.

Burbridge is currently lodged in the Pike County Jail. Bail was set in Pike County Court at $7,500 with 10% to apply. Burbridge’s preliminary hearing with counsel has been set for June 14^th.

Memorial Behavioral Health is expanding a crisis response team’s coverage area into Morgan and Scott counties on Monday.

The mobile crisis response team will now be able to assist adults and children in the area who are experiencing a mental health emergency.

Memorial Behavioral Health’s Cassie Delaney says the 24/7 service which launched in April in Sangamon and Menard counties will not have a fee: “Mobile Crisis Response is a community-based crisis service that’s available to all ages. It connects people with a mental health professional regardless of what time it is, their age, or their payer source. It gives the families or it gives the patient a way to get the help they need without going to the E.R. and it helps connect them with follow-up services. They are going to be able to get connected with routine mental healthcare outside of that crisis time.”

Delaney says the service works in tandem with local police and school officials to de-escalate situations: “Oftentimes, there is a call where it is not maybe obvious if it’s going to be a mental health call. The police answer that call and see that the person is really struggling with their mental health and then, they actually call us in, as well. There are calls that are obviously apparent with a mental health need within the community. It does go a little bit of both ways. We do a lot of training as well as provide kind of a partnership with the police department because they oftentimes go on calls where there are many things going on and they end up where we are called to help provide that mental health assessment for them in the community. It’s a very stressful time usually when the police are called to a situation.”

To activate a mobile crisis response team, callers can reach the service at 217-788-7070. Delaney says the service can be activated and used through telephone, telehealth options over the computer, or in person depending upon the situation. Delaney says that the service is being paid for by a grant through the State of Illinois.

Three men were arrested after multiple agencies attempted to stop them on motorcycles early this morning.

Jacksonville Police attempted a traffic stop on a group of motorcycles at Morton and Main at 11:08 last night. Officers had received reports of motorcycles revving engines and traveling over the speed limit through town. The motorcycles fled the Jacksonville Police attempting the stop. Jacksonville Police did not pursue the motorcycles.

The drivers of the motorcycles were later identified by Morgan County Sheriff’s Deputies and two of the motorcycles were stopped on Old State Road.

Cited in the incident were 25 year old Dakota A. Cheek of the 600 block of Hardin Avenue, 23 year old Tiersten J. Randolph of the 1400 block of East Lafayette Avenue, and 20 year old Dallas J. Turner of the 1200 block of Grandview Avenue. All three men were cited for fleeing and attempting to elude police. Cheek was additionally cited for a license plate display violation. Randolph was additionally cited for failure to yield to a traffic control device. Turner was additionally cited for improper license plate display.

All three have since posted bond and been released from the Morgan County Jail.

The Illinois Department of Labor’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health released a scathing report of the Beardstown Fire Department yesterday about a May 2021 apartment building fire at the former Myers Hotel that injured 3 firefighters, one of which was the fire chief. The names of the injured were not included in the report.

The report says the injuries to the firefighters were directly caused by “exposure to a fall hazard of approximately 21 feet from an emergency bailout due to rapidly deteriorating fire conditions.”

The report further says that key factors contributing to injuries were a lack of initial incident command, search and rescue operations taking place above an active fire without fire suppression in place, and firefighters performing search and rescue operations in zero visibility without a hoseline or tagline.

As a result of the investigation. the fire department was issued 8 citations for violations. Two citations were classified as repeat violations with monetary penalties. The report identifies 15 indirect causes of the incident and provides 19 recommendations to reduce the chances of a similar outcome in the future.

Reports about the incident and the IL OSHA report can be found here and here.

A popular summer attraction and cool off spot in South Jacksonville is going to be down for awhile.

Village of South Jacksonville Utility Superintendent John Green says the Godfrey Park Splash Pad is closed until further notice: “We brought it back up from sitting over the winter. De-winterized it. Got it up and going and working fine. Over May 28-29th, we noticed we were going through a lot of water. Come to find out that the pad wasn’t on the subscribed times to go off, and it wouldn’t go off. You could hit the activator at all hours of the night and it would work. We did a little research and found out that it was the main control board malfunctioning. We have ordered one. It will be down until that comes in. We ordered it on June 2nd. Hopefully the part will be coming, but it’s really been tough getting things nowadays.”

Green says the cost to replace the control board is around $850. Green is optimistic the wait on the part won’t be too long and things will be back up and running soon. As of today, Greene says he’s still not received a notification from the company that the new control board has been shipped.

For updates, continue to watch the Village of South Jacksonville website and Facebook page.

The Morgan County Commissioner paid out some sizable bills on Monday for their first meeting of the month of June.

Commissioner Chair Brad Zeller says that two large bills came out of the General Fund to start the month: “We have general fund bills in the stated amount of $98,477.02. With that, the two largest payments in that which is most of them is a payment for our joint dispatch quarterly payment of $41,765.90; and then, we also bought the sheriff a new SUV in the stated amount of $38,552.03. I would state that it was bought locally here at Westown Ford.”

Zeller says that the state bid and Westown’s bid were close, with Westown’s bid on the new SUV coming in slightly higher. Zeller says the decision was made to go with the Westown bid to keep the money local.

The other large bill came through a payout of American Rescue Plan money to the next traunch of bills related to the Morgan County Health Department’s renovation at the former Putnam-Springer building for $350,515.12. Commissioner Ginny Fanning says a final invoice for the building will be coming soon.

Zeller closed the meeting talking about the Health Department’s move to their new location: “We were told that the health department did get moved. They did get open with a few glitches, of course, with the phones and the Internet, which I guess is to be expected. I did speak to someone over the weekend that had the opportunity to go through the new location. Myself, personally, has not been in the building. I was going to wait until they got operating and got settled in before I personally go through or the board tours the building; but I did talk to someone who had the opportunity go through the new health department. They said that it was fabulous.”

The final, out of the ordinary bill was payout of health insurance costs in the amount of $95,370.32.