The City of Jacksonville Parks & Lakes Department announced today that the Illinois Department of Natural Resources will be stocking trout at Morgan Lake in Nichols Park.

The spring trout season opens on Saturday, April 2^nd. The trout will be released in the middle section of the lake just east of the road bridge.

There will be a period of catch and release only fishing starting this Saturday and running until Friday, April 1^st.

After the season opens on April 2^nd, anglers will be limited to a 5 catch limit for keeps. All anglers must have a fishing license and an Inland Trout Stamp to fish for the trout.

Other lakes in the area that will also have trout release are Gridley Lake in the Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area in Cass County and Siloam Springs State Park Lake located on the border of Adams & Brown County. 54 other lakes will also have trout releases for the spring season.

For more information, contact the Illinois Department of Natural Resources at I fish illinois.org.

A Carrollton Alderwoman is working to bring a new landmark to the Greene County Courthouse to honor the county’s veterans – old and new.

Bernie Faul says she got the idea of creating the Veterans Freedom Walkway for the courthouse’s lawn after some recognition for local veterans was taken down around the Carrollton square: “This started when my son was in the Air Force, and around the square (and I have a graphic of this so I made them) some 18×18 aluminum core signs and we put on [the signs] the service member’s name and a yellow ribbon and what branch they serve in. Well, when [the city] painted the poles on the square, they took them all down. I kept noticing that they were never put back up. Before I became an alderwoman, I was going to city council meetings and I asked [the council at the time]: ‘When are you going to put these signs back up?’ I was told they weren’t going to because some of them were all bent up and they just weren’t in good shape. Well, I kind of knew that wasn’t right because aluminum core doesn’t bend very easily. The more I thought about it, I was telling my neighbor: ‘These young people that aren’t associated with the military at all don’t realize how much these people that go into the military give up.'”

Faul says that she quickly formed a committee with her neighbors, some fellow alderman, and local veterans and began devising plans on how to raise funds for the walkway, how to design it, and where to put it.

Faul says she’s already received tremendous support from many in the area, including help from the Eldred American Legion. Faul says she intends to reach out to the the state chapters of the VFW and the American Legion for further financial assistance.

Location of the walkway was the first obstacle that Faul attempted to tackle. She originally had plains for the park to be located on the north edge of Carrollton in Rainey Park, but withdrew those plans due to the park’s long-standing issues with flooding. She says another suggested site was the old Carrollton water tower site located across from the Greene County Jail, but Faul says she felt that location was too far out of the public’s eye. She says that she then approached the Greene County Board about locating the walkway on the Courthouse lawn. She says many members of the courthouse and the board were excited about the idea and she was told to proceed with a design to present to the board for final approval.

Faul says her current designs for the walkway are based off the Veteran’s Monument in New Berlin. Faul says she got connected with New Berlin Area Veterans Memorial committee president Paul Sweet who has helped with the design and engineering. The Carrollton Walkway will have a black granite wall design that will have the names of service members from Greene County engraved into it for the ages to be honored.

Faul encourages all of those who have served or is currently serving in the military to contact her for more information: “You can mail me a check, but people should contact me or members of the committee whether they can afford it or not if they have a military connection. We can work it out with them. We have a couple of people who have given us some funds (they didn’t want recognition, they just want to pay for some people who can’t afford it) and the young kids…I mean this is for all ages. That’s my main goal, to try and make sure I get everybody that’s got an association with the military and is from Greene County that wants on that monument to get honored.”

Faul will be giving a presentation to members of the public and the Greene County Historical and Genealogical Society on Sunday, March 20^th at the Carrollton United Methodist Church located on Maple Street and U.S. 67 at 2PM about the Veterans Walkway. More details about the monument and costs will be presented.

Faul says that members of the public can easily find her in Carrollton if they want more information. Gene Todd, Bob Shannon, Carol Witt, Terry Gross, and Luke Smith can also be contacted for more information.

The MacMurray Foundation and Alumni Association has extended the deadline for their scholarships.

According to a press release yesterday, the foundation says they realize that the March 15^th deadline may be hard for some applicants to meet because of ongoing issues with the pandemic and extenuating circumstance. The deadline has now been extended to Sunday, April 3^rd.

The MacMurray Foundation is still taking applicants for 11 separate scholarships. The Foundation and Alumni Association encourages those who have a connection to the college or college programs the now closed school was known for to apply. For more information, visit macalumfoundation.org/scholarships for more information.

In like a lion…out like a lion? March weather was predicted to be wild, and so far its living up to its name with large temperature swings.

Severe weather season is now upon the state, too. State Climatologist Dr. Trent Ford says that long-term models show that the state may be in for an active tornado season, as studies now show that the traditional Tornado Alley over the Great Plains is somewhat shifting east: “So at the same time we’ve actually seen a small decrease in tornadoes in the last 40-50 years in traditional Tornado Alley, we’ve seen a small increase in [tornadoes] closer to the eastern U.S. including parts of Illinois. That’s sort of the long-term trend. At the same time, we’re coming into a meteorological and chronological Spring, which is March through May, and generally Spring through early Summer is kind of our peak time of severe weather. I will say that tornadoes and other forms of severe weather can and do occur all year long as evidenced by the tornado outbreak we saw across Iowa and portions of Central Illinois this past December.”

Ford says what makes this year so unique is that the weather is coming out of a La Nina pattern. He says that some La Nina years are more active than others. He wants to caution the public that it’s too difficult to say just how many tornadoes will touch down in the state this Spring: “Using some of the long-term trends and some of the large-scale patterns that we are seeing right now does lean to maybe a higher likelihood of having a bit more active severe weather. I do again want to caution against saying that there is going to be a lot more tornadoes around Illinois than in the past years just because there is so much variability from year to year.”

Ford says March 2022 has lived up to its name with the temperature swings and various amounts of precipitation. He says long-term models show that precipitation will be up in most areas of Central Illinois, but predictions don’t show any delay to the upcoming planting season for crops.

A Petersburg, Illinois native is on the cutting edge of organ transplant research.

Dr. Joseph Turek is Duke University’s chief of pediatric cardiac surgery.

Turek and a team of experts are part of the only program in the western hemisphere that uses a unique way to help prevent a new transplanted organ from being rejected.

WTAX reports that Turek recently was a part of a breakthrough surgery that helped save a 6 month old boy’s life by co-transplanting a cultured thymus and a new heart. Turek says the combination of transplants could address the problem of new organ rejection in transplant patients.

Turek graduated from PORTA High school and according to WICS Newschannel 20, he spent a summer doing medical research at Southern Illinois University. Turek says that summer of research sparked his interest in saving lives and becoming a doctor.

Turek says the successful surgery was performed last summer and that current testing on the toddler shows that the thymus tissue is building well functioning T-cells that aren’t attacking the boy’s new heart.

The final suspect in an armed robbery from January has been apprehended.

Jacksonville Police Chief Adam Mefford says that 38 year old Ashton D. Haley of the 500 block of West Walnut Avenue is the final person of interest who has been arrested in connection to the incident that occurred on the evening of January 13^th in the Rolling Acres Subdivision on East Morton Avenue. Haley remains held at the Morgan County Jail pending arraignment in court.

Officers determined at the time that the victim had been robbed of personal items and an undetermined amount of currency at gunpoint by 3 suspects inside of a vehicle.

40 year old Edith M. Schubert, 24 year old Lillian D. Gaines, and 38 year old Jonathan P. Parrish were all arrested in connection to the case over the last 2 ½ months.

Schubert and Parrish were arrested on January 24th. Schubert is next due in court on March 29th for a pre-trial conference. Parrish is next due in court on May 4th for a jury pre-trial conference.

Gaines was arrested on February 16th. She is next due in court on March 15th for a preliminary hearing.

More information has been released about a 2-vehicle crash on Interstate 72 near Jacksonville Wednesday afternoon.

According to the Illinois State Police, a 2009 Silver Toyota Corolla driven by 50 year old Ruby A. Reese of Bloomington, Illinois and an unidentified semi truck tractor trailer were traveling westbound on Interstate 72 at mile marker 69, about a mile from the Jacksonville prison exit.

The unidentified semi attempted to change lanes from the left lane to the right lane, when it struck the front end of Reese’s car. The Toyota Corolla then struck a guard rail before coming to rest on the inside lane of the interstate.

The semi did not stop and left the scene. It remains unidentified.

Reese was transported from the scene by LifeStar EMS to an area hospital with non-life threatening injuries. A passenger, 18 year old Rachal Rutherford of Springfiled was uninjured.

The inside lanes were shutdown for a little less than an hour due to clearing the scene.

More information has come out about an arrest made in Cass County on Thursday morning.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Department reports that the arrest of 43 year old Christopher R. Welker of Beardstown early Thursday morning for failure to appear warrants for two counts of theft has had two additional charges added.

According to Sheriff Devron Ohrn, reports were submitted Thursday afternoon to Cass County State’s Attorney Craig Miller about information connecting Welker to alleged theft and criminal damage to property after wiring was found stolen from field irrigation units located in rural Beardstown. 

Welker is currently being lodged at the Morgan County Jail on $75,000 bond. Ohrn says the case is still under investigation and additional arrests may be forthcoming.

The Sangamon County State’s Attorney has been appointed to a new board meant to expedite forensic evidence in criminal cases in the State of Illinois.

Governor J.B. Pritzker appointed Sangamon County State’s Attorney Dan Wright to the Forensic Science Commission. 

Wright is a Republican and has served as the Sangamon County State’s Attorney since 2018. 

Wright is the second Illinois College alumni to join the Forensic Science Commission in recent months, joining Carrie Ward who was appointed by Pritzker in January.

Wright’s appointment is pending confirmation by the Illinois Senate.

Wright also serves as a board member of The Outlet, Memorial Behavioral Health, the Illinois Juvenile Justice Leadership Council, the Central Illinois Human Trafficking Task Force, and the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln among others. 

Wright says in a press release: “As State’s Attorney, I am deeply committed to the fair and equal administration of justice in Sangamon County. Forensic evidence plays a critical role in our criminal justice system. Service on the Illinois Forensic Science Commission alongside experts in the field to ensure the sound practice of forensic science supports the ability of prosecutors across the state to seek justice in all cases. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve.”

Pritzker has three more positions left to fill on the board before it is complete. 

More information has been released about a suspicious death investigation at a west end hotel in Springfield from Wednesday.

Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon has identified the decedent in the case as 47 year old Lesli Lundquist of Champaign. Lundquist was pronounced deceased in a hotel room at The Sleep Inn in the 3400 block of Freedom Drive around 12:30 Wednesday afternoon. Allmon says preliminary autopsy findings show that Lundquist died of a single gunshot wound.

As WLDS News reported yesterday, the Illinois State Police Emergency Radio Network issued an all-points bulletin at the request of the Springfield Police Department at 12:12PM looking for a potential homicide suspect, 33 year old Lamar M. Beck of Springfield. Beck has still not been taken into custody, according to Sangamon County Jail reports. Beck is believed to be driving an allegedly stolen Red 2013 Hyundai Sonata with the license plate DD68524.

According to the State Journal Register on Wednesday, after speaking with Springfield PD lead detective Joshua Steunkel, no warrants have been issued in the case and the investigation remains ongoing. At this time, since no warrants have been issued, Beck is only seen as a person of interest in the case.

Anyone with information about this can call the Menard-Sangamon Crime Stoppers anonymously at 217-788-8427 or the Springfield Police Department at 217-788-8311.