The Pike County Board said no to a craft cannabis grow facility this past week.

The Pike Press reports that board members unanimously denied a rezoning request to Ganja Thai LLC for a parcel of land near Martinsburg in order to accommodate an adult use cannabis grow/infusion/transport facility.

Opposition to the rezoning request was numerous at last month’s board meeting when the county board voted to table action after it was determined that rezoning application was incomplete.

According to the Journal Courier more than 50 people were in attendance at the meeting, most in opposition to the facility. Neighbors to the property at 17766 County Highway 11 said they had concerns about light pollution from security cameras and lights, unwanted odors, and heightened traffic in the area.

Pike County board Chairman Jim Sheppard told the Journal Courier that the group is expected to look for a different location in Pike County to build their facility.

The Pike County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of two individuals in drug arrests after traffic stops early this week.

On Monday at 6:38PM, the Pike County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to Milton in reference to a suspicious vehicle. Deputies located the vehicle in Davis Street near Pittsfield Street in Milton and conducted a traffic stop.

Subsequent to an investigation, the driver, 38 year old Dustin L. Henderson of of Louisiana, Missouri was arrested on charges of unlawful possession of methamphetamine, unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, driving under the influence of drugs, and no valid driver’s license.

A preliminary hearing for Henderson in Pike County Court has been set for May 10^th.

On Tuesday at 4:18PM, the Pike County Sheriff’s Department in conjunction with the Pittsfield Police Department conducted a traffic stop on a maroon 2003 Buick near the intersection of North Monroe Street at East Perry Street in Pittsfield.

Subsequent to an investigation, the driver, 45 year old Tabitha L. Mulford of Nebo was arrested on charges of unlawful possession of methamphetamine less than 5 grams and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.

Both were lodged in the Pike County Jail.

Education advocacy groups and the Illinois Federation of Teachers are calling for a major overhaul of state testing of grade school students.

According to the Illinois State Board of Education, a report was commissioned and found that major revisions need to be made for state assessments on grades 3-8.

The report was performed by the Center for Assessment starting in December. CFA’s findings showed that there was little support from teachers for a statewide interim assessment system for grades K-8. They also found that any interim tests should be decoupled from accountability measures used to evaluate and rate schools.

The Illinois Federation of Teachers released a list of recommendations for ISBE to improve current state assessments, including the creation of tests that are more authentic and aligned better to curriculum. They also recommended quicker turn time on test scores and better information and explanation of test results for teachers and parents.

The groups also asked ISBE to take a lead role in creating a fair and balanced assessment program as well as the creation of professional development for teachers on how to use testing information for the improvement of classroom instruction.

The Pike County Sheriff’s Office is asking the public’s assistance on the identification of individuals involved in recent vehicle thefts.

On Thursday, at approximately 7:49 AM, the Pike County Sheriff’s Department was contacted regarding a white, 2018 Ford F-150 Pickup Truck that was stolen from the 1000 block of Decatur Street in Barry. Upon arrival, deputies discovered that suspects also got into another vehicle and rifled through it, along with entering a closed garage, according to a report from Sheriff David Greenwood.

While investigating this theft, deputies came upon a black Honda Sport Utility Vehicle, parked near the Barry swimming pool that came back as being stolen from Hannibal earlier in the morning. During the investigation, deputies were able to discover the location of the F-150 in Hannibal, Missouri.

Pike County Investigators contacted the Hannibal Police Department who went to the location reported and located the F-150. The vehicle was processed by Hannibal Police Department Crime Scene Investigators and returned to its owner.

Greenwood says the investigation is still ongoing with evidence being processed from both crime scenes. Greenwood says that people should be diligent in locking their doors and locking up valuables.

If you have any information regarding these thefts please call the Pike County Sheriff’s Department at 217-285-5011 or you can call the Pike County Crime Stoppers anonymously at 217-285-1500. If your Crime Stoppers tip leads to an arrest, you may be eligible for a cash reward.

A Meredosia man convicted of first degree murder in January will have to wait until June to hear his sentence.

22 year old Dustin A. Finlaw was in court today for a status hearing on his sentencing in the first degree murder of Robert Utter of Rushville that occurred four years ago in Meredosia.

Recently, re-appointed defense counsel, Morgan County Public Defender Tom Piper told visiting Judge Jack Davis III that Springfield psychiatrist Dr. Terry Killian has been enlisted as a witness for the sentencing hearing.

Killian has asked to review the DVDs show in court during Finlaw’s trial that depicted his questioning before members of the Illinois State Police and the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department.

Piper also indicated that he may call additional witnesses for testimony prior to the sentencing.

Judge Davis set the next hearing in the case for June 3^rd at 10AM.

Jacksonville will be home to a very unique sport today and tomorrow. The North Central Association of Schools For the Blind Goalball Conference Championship with 10 state schools for the blind and visually impaired will be competing for the top prize at ISD. Mansell says the reason they aren’t holding the event at ISVI is because of the size of the event and the number of teams coming in from several states to play.

ISVI Athletic Director Ken Mansell says the sport got started after World War II to help rehabilitate veterans who had lost their sight during the war. He says it’s transformed into the most popular sport for the blind and visually impaired community across the country: “The game is 3 people are on each side defending the entire court. The net, the goal is approximately the same size as a soccer net but a little longer. The athletes will roll [or throw] a ball, just slightly larger than a basketball down to the other end in hopes of getting past the defender. Unlike in every other sport, where you can whoop and holler and cheer your team on while action is being played, [in goalball] everybody is deathly quiet because the players that are on the court, regardless of their eyesight, they are blindfolded and they have to listen for the ball. The ball has got 3 bells inside. It’s unbelievable to watch these kids communicate with each other so they are not running into one another. There is a lot of different strategies, and what’s really impressive about it is that the players will throw that ball up to 30-35 miles per hour [at the opposing goal].”

Mansell encourages anyone who is even remotely curious to look up a goalball match on YouTube and watch. He says the athleticism by the competitors is absolutely amazing to witness: “Watch a video of a game and you’ll see how tremendous they are. You would swear with their constant focus and concentration that all the athletes have 20-20 eyesight because they can find that ball. Regardless of their eyesight – whether a little bit or totally blind – each player has got a blindfold on and it’s checked by the official of the match.”

Tonight’s games begin at 6PM at ISD, with tomorrow’s competition starting at 8:30AM.

Jurors on Monday convicted an Illinois Department of Corrections officer for violating the civil rights of an inmate after he was pinpointed in a brutal beating of that inmate at Western Illinois Correctional Facility in Mt. Sterling in 2018, but they couldn’t reach a verdict against a superior officer.

30 year old Alex Banta of Quincy was convicted on Monday after a 4-wekk trial in U.S. District Court of Central Illinois in Springfield. Banta was found guilty of conspiracy to deprive civil rights, deprivation of civil rights, obstruction of an official investigation, falsification of documents, and misleading conduct. Banta faces up to life in prison for the conviction because jurors also indicated that in finding him guilty of the charges, those crimes made him culpable in the death of 65 year old inmate Larry Earvin.

The eight-man, four-woman jury was unanimous on Banta’s fate but were hung up on the charges and the alleged involved of Banta’s co-defendant, IDOC Lieutenant Todd Sheffler. Juror Kevin Sullivan of Springfield told members of the media outside the Paul Findley Federal Building in downtown Springfield that he didn’t feel like he and his fellow jurors completed their jobs. Muddy River News reports that Sullivan and fellow juror Roberta Clifton of Havana said jurors unwilling to convict Sheffler believed most of the injuries Earvin suffered happened in the D wing of the prison and not in the segregation vestibule. Sheffler stepped in to take over for another prison guard when they escorted Earvin across the prison to the segregation vestibule where the majority of the alleged fatal brutality took place. The jurors said that the testimony of some of the alleged witnesses to the vestibule beating was unreliable.

The case was given to the jury on Friday afternoon by U.S. District Judge Sue E. Myerscough. Further reporting from Muddy River News says after a little more than an hour of deliberation, jurors went home. They returned to the courthouse to resume deliberations at 9 a.m. Monday. Late Monday morning a question by the jury was sent to Judge Myerscough asking if they could judge separately each defendant or if they had to be judged together. They also asked to re-watch a 17-minute video interview of Sheffler conducted by the Illinois State Police on May 18, 2018, as well as video from cameras inside the WICC showing Earvin being escorted from D wing to the segregation vestibule.

At about 2:15 p.m., jurors sent another question to Myerscough, asking what would happen if the jury couldn’t come to an agreement on certain counts. At approximately 4:15PM on Monday after a short conference, jurors returned the verdict on the counts that they agreed upon. After Banta’s guilty verdict was read, Judge Myerscough set a status on Sheffler’s case.

Sheffler and his attorneys, government prosecutors, and Judge Myerscough met videoconference today for a status hearing. The information on the status of Sheffler possibly receiving a re-trial is pending.

Larry Earvin’s family members felt confused by the verdict, according to their attorney Jon Erickson. Erickson says the verdict presented limited closure in the case: “The family feels confused and hurt and upset. It’s clear that this beating took place not only in the blind spot but also in the resident wing, and that’s been the Earvin Family’s position all along. The video makes it evidently clear that Mr. Earvin was beaten long before he was even brought to the blind spot. It seems to me that the jurors felt that it was true as well, and that there were other officers involved – multiple other officers involved. The Earvin Family feels like there is just this creep…just baby steps towards justice, and it makes them even all the more frustrated that the Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Governor J.B. Pritzker are refusing to take responsibility for what is clearly a very rotten to its core IDOC, particularly Western Illinois Correctional Facility.”

Erickson says that the was very impressed with the presentation of the case by federal prosecutors showing the culpability of all of the guards involved in the incidents. Erickson says what was particularly impressive was how the prosecutors demonstrated that the knowledge of Earvin’s beating reached into the upper echelons of WICC’s management, including to the warden at the time Cameron Watson and assistant warden Steve Snyder: “The government did a great job of parading witness after witness through this courtroom all testifying that everybody knew, including the warden, that there were these ongoing beatings at the blind spot [in the vestibule] at Western Illinois Correctional Center. The warden is responsible for this murder, the assistant warden, several majors. We learned from the prosecution’s great work that the warden was out there physically watching Mr. Earvin after he already had been beaten once getting dragged into this death chamber by officers who were notorious for engaging in previous beatings. And yet, the warden stood there and allowed it to continue and he did not intervene.”

Snyder and Watson have previously denied all allegations against them.

Erickson says if the family doesn’t get full justice in the criminal case, a separate federal civil case is currently under status. Erickson says all involved in the criminal case have been named as a party in the civil case where the family is seeking compensatory damages.

The City of Winchester recently heard proposals about new gaming facilities that led to a split vote at their April 6th city council meeting. The council was divided because the proposed gaming facilities require a liquor license.

The first person to make their proposal to the council was Kayla Latham who wants to put in an arcade for kids, but would also have a video gaming area for adults at the open building next to Big Daddy’s Doghouse on South Main Street.

The second proposal came from Harlan Smith representing the Project Plamor Investment Group who is planning on putting in a combination pizza parlor and simulated golf establishment in the building that used to be the Pitt Stop on East Cross Street.

The third proposal came from Tanner Hurrelbrink, who submitted an application to the city to put in a slot machine parlor in the old chiropractor’s office across from the bank. According to the Scott County Times, Hurrelbrink did not appear at the City Council meeting on April 6th.

Mayor Rex McIntire says that a lengthy discussion ensued on all three applications because gaming parlors all require liquor licenses: “The proposal for the establishment at the old doctor’s office…that one really wasn’t popular at all with the council because it was too close to the Methodist Church. It would sit just catty-corner across the street. Secondly, all it was going to be was a gambling facility like many of the ones you see around different towns today. That was all it was going to bring was more gaming, which we already have gaming. One of the attractive features about the other two proposals was that they are going to bring something different to town and more recreational opportunities for kids and adults.”

McIntire says he ultimately decided to side with the council members who voted for the creation of two new liquor licenses for the city: “My main concern is that I don’t want people to think that we are promoting gambling and we’re not promoting more drinking. From my viewpoint and as well as the three council members that voted ‘yes’ is that we’re promoting business in our downtown area. I think one of the councilmen put it very well when he said that people aren’t beating down the doors in small towns to open businesses. We all agree that this isn’t necessarily the type of business that we like, but it’s better than empty buildings. Like I say, I’m promoting business. I’m not promoting gaming. I’m not promoting alcohol use. I’m promoting business for Winchester.”

McIntire says he had to break the 3-3 split of the council, with Aldermen Bill Jacquot, Lawrence Coultas, and Sandy Long voting in favor of the creation of the two new licenses and Alderman Jeff Pittman, Terry Gregory, and Ron Bell voting against them.

McIntire says he’s not awarded any of the proposals a liquor license yet. He says that he’s awaiting the business representatives of the proposals to see if they are going to complete various work on their proposals and actually do what they set out to do before he awards them a license.

Members of an ad hoc committee of faculty at the University of Illinois Springfield announced yesterday that they had recently voted “no confidence” in the school’s provost Dennis Papini.

In a press release to the media, members of the committee cited enrollment mismanagement, creation of a toxic campus climate, and misallocation of university resources of their reasoning behind the vote.

According to the press release, 74.5% of the committee consisting of tenured and tenure-track faculty placed their vote of “no confidence” in Papini in writing to University of Illinois President Tim Killeen, the board of trustees, and incoming UIS chancellor Janet Gooch.

Papini has been in the position of UIS’s provost and vice chancellor of academic affairs since July 2017.

The Pike-Scott Farm Bureau is honoring one of their long-time leaders with a special scholarship in his honor.

Executive Director of the Pike-Scott Farm Bureau Blake Roderick will have his last day on the job on Monday. Roderick has been with the bureau since December 1981.

In a letter sent out to media yesterday afternoon, Pike-Scott Farm Bureau President Kim Curry announced that the the Two Rivers Farm Bureau Foundation has established a scholarship in Roderick’s honor for his year’s of dedicated service. Curry cited Roderick’s tireless dedication to the local membership, his ability to work with members and elected leaders in the area, and being a guide through some of the local bureau’s best and most trying of times over the last 40 years.

Anyone who would wish to send congratulations to Roderick or donate to the newly established Roderick Family Scholarship can send a donation or a note to the Two Rivers Farm Bureau Foundation, PO Box 6, Pittsfield, IL 62363.