The Franklin, Waverly, and Woodson Fire Departments were called to a structure fire yesterday afternoon in Franklin.

According to dispatch reports, the initial call came in to West Central Illinois Dispatch at approximately 2:42PM yesterday about a structure on fire at 467 Harts Prairie Road. Franklin Fire immediately responded with mutual aid requested from Waverly and Woodson.

Determination of the fire’s cause and origin are still being investigated this morning. No other information is currently available. According to pictures posted on the Franklin Fire Department’s Facebook Page, the fire appears to have started at the rear of a double-wide trailer.

Also responding to the scene was the Waverly Police Department and Morgan County Sheriff’s Department.

An Indianapolis, Indiana woman will spend the next 20 years of her life in prison for her role in the death of a former Jacksonville resident.

27 year old Britney Overton was sentenced to 20 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections on Thursday after she pleaded guilty o a charge of robbery resulting in a serious bodily injury on May 19^th in connection to the murder of 23 year old Alexander D. Jackson, formerly of Jacksonville.

Jackson’s body was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head in a wooded area in the 11000 block Mann Road in rural Mooresville, Indiana on September 13, 2019. Overton and Blake were arrested in connection with Jackson’s death in October 2020 following 11 months of investigation after authorities determined that Blake pulled the trigger while Overton was present. Investigators discovered that Blake had confessed to the crime to a family member. Overton initially denied her involvement, but investigators were able to pin her to the scene of the crime after DNA was lifted from a set of keys that belonged to Jackson’s rental car

According to court testimony given by Overton, Jackson, Overton and Blake had gone on a small crime spree together and were driving Jackson’s rental car on September 9, 2019. At one point, Blake told Overton to stop the car in a wooded area, where Blake, Jackson and an individual named “K.J.” exited. Overton told the Morgan County, Indiana court that Blake shot Jackson because Blake believed Jackson would “snitch” to police. Overton heard Jackson scream and several gunshots in succession, according to a WTHR report.

According to charging documents in the case, Overton reportedly tried to get a gun a few days before Jackson’s death, and she removed him as a friend on Facebook minutes after police believe he was killed. Morgan County Chief Prosecutor Steve Sonnega later told WLDS News that his office didn’t believe that Overton was the person who pulled the trigger.

Blake was sentenced in April to 61 years behind bars on charges of murder and robbery. As part of her plea agreement and in exchange for her testimony during Blake’s trial, the murder charge against her was dropped.

The Reporter Times reports that several members of Jackson’s family delivered victim impact statements on Thursday prior to Overton’s sentencing.

Overton was given 820 days of credit for time served and had court costs waived.

The Beardstown Fire Department kept a fire from turning into a bigger one Thursday evening.

According to a Facebook post, shortly after 5PM Thursday, the Beardstown Fire Department was called for a garage fire in the 800 block of East 15^th Street.

Upon arrival, firefighters found the garage full involved and starting to catch the back porch of a nearby house on fire as well.

According to the post, firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the flames and perform overhaul operations. The garage appears to be a complete lost. Estimates of damage to the home have not been released.

The Beardstown Fire Department was assisted at the scene by the Beardstown Ambulance, Beardstown Police Department, the Cass County Sheriff’s Department, Ameren-Illinois, and the American Red Cross.

The state’s former public health director is under investigation by a state ethics agency for taking a job as a CEO at a medical non-profit overseen and funded by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Dr. Ngozi Ezike stepped down from her job in March as Director of IDPH. In April, she accepted an offer to be the head of Sinai Health System – a social safety-net hospital system in Chicago that primarily serves Black and Latino communities.

The Illinois Ethics Act requires department heads like Ezike to wait a year before accepting positions with companies that hold contracts overseen by their departments, or with companies their departments license or regulate. While in office, department heads also cannot engage in job negotiations with companies that lobby their agencies. The revolving door law also places a one-year ban on department heads taking compensation from entities regulated or licensed by the agency they oversaw.

The Illinois Office of the Executive Inspector General opened an ethics investigation into Ezike amid inquiries by the Better Government Association that she violated this revolving door policy. Ezike has refused to comment. Ezike’s attorney Heather Wier Vaught told the Better Government Association that she believes her client has consulted with the appropriate people and that she has not violated the law.

Vaught was legal counsel for 11 years to former embattled Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan until 2018.

In records requests, Sinai Health received five grants from IDPH between March 16, 2021 until Ezike’s departure totaling more than $2.1 million. On April 11 — about a month after she left her state post, and three days before she accepted the Sinai job — Ezike sent an email to the Office of the Executive Inspector General to defend the legality of her rapid transition to the private sector. Ezike told OIEG Susan Haling in the email that her legal counsel advised her there was no impropriety that would impede her taking the new job at Sinai Health.

Sinai Health System includes three hospitals licensed by IDPH during the last year of Ezike’s state tenure.

Email communications obtained by the BGA through open records laws show Ezike contacted then-IDPH ethics officer Evan McGinley in February — a month before she resigned — to solicit guidance about her upcoming transition to the private sector. Days after Ezike’s February outreach to McGinley, records show, Governor Pritzker’s ethics officer Whitney Rosen responded to a separate communication from Ezike. Rosen’s email said Ezike could engage in “informational interviews” that discuss employment and the salary range of a position. Discussions beyond a salary range were prohibited, Rosen wrote.

On March 4, while Ezike was still IDPH Director, Crain’s Chicago Business reported that Ezike “has been offered a job as the next President and CEO of Sinai. … Sinai Chicago gave an offer to Ezike for the top role in February, according to a Crain’s source. It’s unclear if she has accepted the offer.” WBEZ also reported that day that “the Sinai board of directors has been authorized to negotiate an offer with Ezike.”

Vaught contends that her client did not improperly negotiate for the Sinai CEO position while she was in state office. In her April 11 email to Haling, Ezike said she did not negotiate for her new Sinai position until after she left IDPH.

Sinai paid its last CEO $1.2 million per year, according to its federal tax filings. Ezike made $178,00 a year as head of IDPH according to state records.

Potential violations of Illinois’ revolving door law and its one-year cooling off provision are investigated by the state Office of the Executive Inspector General, which refers alleged violations up to the Illinois Attorney General. The case is then brought before a 9-member Executive Ethics Commission for possible discipline.

A ruling on the investigation by the state has not been given a timeline.

The Mt. Sterling Capitol Avenue project will have a new set of traffic delays next week, beginning on Tuesday.

Beginning Tuesday, Hood Construction will be boring the water main under Main Street from the south to north. There will be barricades when turning north and south off of Main Street. There will be one lane for thru traffic on both North/South Capitol. Parking will remain open with the exception of 1 or 2 spots where the boring crew will be working. This work is expected to take 2 days.

Mt. Sterling City Manager Vada Yingling says truck traffic for Prairieland FS and Western Grain Marketing should continue utilizing Southwest Cross Street at this time.

Routt Catholic High School is celebrating its 120^th Anniversary this weekend. Routt’s AP U.S. History class developed an exhibit at the Jacksonville Area Museum for people to have a glimpse at some of that history.

Routt High School U.S. History teacher and Jacksonville Area Museum volunteer Lisa Hall says that many of the items on display were donated and curated from several Routt alumni and through her students’ families: “We started several months ago about how we can best represent Routt. We selected photographs. We asked for artifacts from not only our family members, but looking around school trying to find what we could dig up there, and then putting it out to the Routt community if anyone had something they might want to share with us. Then, we learned how to document the things that we borrowed from people for the display. We selected our photographs. We wrote texts to tell the story of Routt. We centered it around 5 different components. After that, we started to interview people to get stories for their perspective. Then, it was putting it all together in a layout for people to come and visit and learn a little bit more about school, maybe relive a little bit of memory that they had when they went through Routt, or celebrate their connections to Routt.”

Each piece of the exhibit has QR codes that people can scan to hear stories associated with the pieces on display taken from the interviews the students conducted. Hall says a couple of the students really embraced the project. Hall says one student currently still talks with members of Cedarhurst Assisted Living about their days at Routt, while other students learned about their family members’ time at the school.

Hall says the students’ main take away from the project is that high school really isn’t that different now than it was in the past: “We’re not all that different. School may change through the decades. Clubs may change. Athletic success may change. The things we learn may change. However, at one point, everyone lives through the teenage years. The students got to compare what it was like for people in the past at Routt to what they are experiencing now. I think they enjoyed it. It was a lot of hard work. I think the students will admit that, as well. Putting everything all into perspective and then putting it into words wasn’t easy for them sometimes.”

Hall says the other thing that students took away from the project was their overall pride in the completion of the project. She says that several members of the Routt community and family members of the students went through the display’s opening last week. The Routt anniversary display will be on display for another two weeks at the museum.

The Winchester and Chapin Fire Departments responded to a house fire yesterday afternoon outside of Merritt in rural Scott County.

Winchester Fire Chief Freddie Andrews says the initial call came in at approximately 3:20PM to a two-story home at 1248 McGlasson Road, approximately ¾ of a mile north of Merritt.

According to Andrews, the fire started in the home’s southeast bedroom where it is believed that a plug-in strip overheated and caught fire. Andrews says that the cause is still unofficial as they continue to investigate, but he doesn’t believe it to be suspicious in nature.

Andrews says all occupants of the home including pets made it out of the house without injuries. Andrews says that Winchester and Chapin firefighters remained on scene for overhaul efforts for approximately 3 ½ hours. Both Winchester and Chapin had to tank in water to the location, as Andrews says that there are no fire hydrants in the area.

Andrews says that his department has contacted the local Red Cross on behalf of the family to provide housing and aid efforts. Andrews says that the house is not a total loss and could be rebuilt but the home’s contents were all severely damaged by smoke and water.

Midwest Youth Services will be hosting a special giveaway in two locations tomorrow in Jacksonville.

Executive Director Ann Baker says the initiative began several months ago when a national organization contacted Midwest Youth Services about getting new, name brand shoes to needy young people in the area: “We heard about this nationwide program. They are a not-for-profit called Soles For Souls, and they partner with different entities throughout the United States that they think have a great need for shoes. We just know that a pair of shoes goes a long way. It’s not just a pair of shoes. Especially during the pandemic, it’s providing some relief and creating opportunity to empower people to be their best self – feeling good, comfortable, being able to succeed in school. All of that sadly comes down to shoes sometimes.”

Baker says she interviewed with the organization’s executive director back in September 2021 talking about Midwest Youth Service’s community outreach. Soles For Souls approved Midwest Youth Service’s application in March and last month they received their shipment of shoes and Bombas socks. Bombas’ company mission is that for every pair of socks purchased from their company, they will donate one pair of socks to their network of giving partners who work to help the homeless, at-risk, and in-need communities across the country.

Baker says since the initial drop off of their shipment of shoes and socks that Midwest Youth Services has been working hard to distribute those shoes and socks throughout their service territory: “As of today [Thursday], Midwest Youth Services has provided street outreach and brand new shoes and two new pairs of brand new Bombas socks to every single youth that attends school at Garrison Alternative School here in Jacksonville. We have partnered with Lafayette Academy to provide shoes there, Crossroads Learning Academy, and then we’ve also went to St. Mary’s Elementary School & Junior High in Mt. Sterling, which is one of our coverage areas.”

Baker says the remaining shoes will be given away tomorrow [Friday] in two locations: “We still probably have about 80 pairs of shoes that we are wanting to get to those who might need them just to provide some relief. There truly is no requirements for getting the shoes and socks. We would like for them to go to people who could most benefit from having a new pair of shoes. We decided with our final hurrah of this year’s program was to do a pop-up event this Friday. From 9:30AM-11AM we will be located downtown on the Square. We will have our Midwest Youth Services Outreach Street Team there to help anyone. It is first come-first served. There is no guarantee on sizes or things like that because it’s truly what we have left. There is a very short survey for somebody to take if they do get a pair of shoes and socks. After that, they are on their way.”

The second location will be at the Walnut Court Substation located at 300 East Walnut from 1:30-3PM or until supplies are exhausted. Sizes will range from women sizes 5 through 11, and men’s sizes from 6 through 12 ½.

Baker says if people can’t make it to the event and would like to get a pair of shoes, they can contact Midwest Youth Services’ Office at 217-245-6000 and explain their circumstances. Baker says that the office will be able to set aside a pair of shoes and socks on a case-by-case basis if someone can’t come to either location tomorrow.

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.