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.

The first annual Spring Fling Carnival presented by the Village of South Jacksonville, Prairieland Heritage Museum, and the Four Rivers Special Education District was a large success.

South Jacksonville Police Chief Eric Hansell said during last Thursday’s Village board meeting that the kids who attended really enjoyed the small carnival and were fascinated by the village’s fire truck and new police squad car that made appearances at the carnival.

Village Carnival Committee Chair Paula Belobradjic-Stewart says that nothing but positive reviews have come in from everyone involved. She said during the meeting that it was one of the easiest events that she had ever help set up and organize.

She says if people liked this first outing to stay tuned: “We are definitely already looking at expanding the carnival. We had 6 rides this year. We weren’t sure what to expect. It was all put together very quickly and that’s not usually the way we plan events with the village. We are looking at doubling and possibly even more than doubling next year with 15 rides. We’re looking to bring in a ferris wheel, some carnival games, and Prairieland is also talking about incorporating maybe their train and one of their other attractions they have for kids. We are looking at making it the South Jacksonville Celebration, as well. This first time, if people enjoyed it, stay tuned because it’s going to be bigger and better. That’s our plan – to grow it and have more people to be able to enjoy more things at our carnival.”

Other ideas are possibly bringing a petting zoo to incorporate more of the Prairieland grounds and possibly adding more concession options.

The Village Board thanked the Village of South Jacksonville Police, Fire, and Utility departments for their presence and work on the event. They also thanked the volunteers with the Citizen’s Police Academy and volunteers with the Prairieland Heritage Museum for their assistance, as well.

Work and ideas on next year’s event will begin in December.

Five West Central Illinois police officers were presented valor and life saving awards today in Springfield by the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police.

Those receiving FOP Valor Awards were Chapin Police Chief Steven Helmich, who is also a part-time South Jacksonville Police officer; Pike County Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Lowry, who is also a part-time Meredosia Police officer; Pike County Sheriff’s Deputy Skylar Lambeth; and Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Rusty Richard. Pike County Sheriff’s Deputy Dan Williams received the FOP Life Saving Award.

On March 26^th, Meredosia police attempted to pulled over Daniel Payne from Tennessee for a traffic stop but he fled, leading officers from several jurisdictions on a high-speed chase through Morgan, Pike, and Brown Counties. Payne crashed his car in Brown County during the pursuit and as officers approached the vehicle he opened fire, starting a gun battle with officers during which Helmich was critically wounded.

Officers Lowry, Richard and Lambeth were able to subdue Payne, and then immediately rendered emergency assistance to Helmich. Deputy Williams arrived on scene with a field tourniquet and applied it to Helmich, which is credited with helping to save Helmich’s life.

Payne is still being held on $1 million bond at the Schuyler County Jail. Payne will be arraigned on attempted murder charges on July 6th in Brown County Circuit Court.

Helmich, a resident of South Jacksonville, is still undergoing treatment but hopes to resume being a law enforcement officer later this Fall.