A Jacksonville man was cited by Illinois State Police after striking an ISP squad car on Interstate 72 on Thursday during the extreme winter weather.

At approximately 4:27 p.m. on Thursday, an ISP District 9 Trooper was traveling eastbound on Interstate 72 at Milepost 82 near the New Berlin exit. According to State Police reports, a white 2002 Oldsmobile Alero, driven by 22 year old Cameron T. Withee, of Jacksonville was traveling westbound and struck the ISP squad car. Neither Withee nor the Trooper were injured in the crash. Withee was cited for Driving with a Cancelled, Suspended, or Revoked Illinois License and Driving Too Fast for Conditions. This crash was one of several separate crashes near westbound I-72 near New Berlin around that same time period. The interstate was closed for approximately 6-8 hours while IDOT, local and county police, and ISP cleared the roadway of stranded vehicles and motorists.

The traffic crash was one of five separate incidents in which State Troopers were struck Thursday in response to storms on Illinois’ interstates. ISP also investigated 303 traffic crashes, responded to 827 motorist assists, and over 2,000 calls for service around the state during the recent significant winter storm event. ISP Troopers were assisted by a multitude of law enforcement agencies and personnel across the state to escort stranded motorists to safety and investigate traffic crashes.

ISP District 8 in Pesotum responded to a multi-vehicle crash involving 19 commercial motor vehicles and 9 passenger vehicles on Interstate 39 near El Paso. Dozens of other vehicles slid off the roadway and were stranded. Interstate 39 from Normal to Minonk was closed for nearly 24 hours while ISP Troopers and multiple local law enforcement agencies and other first responders assisted to ensure motorists were safely escorted to a warming center. I-39 reopened for full traffic late yesterday evening.

The Illinois House devolved into a mass of political theater yesterday, as both political parties fought over House rules surrounding masks being worn (or not) by its members.

9th District Democrat Representative Lakeisa Collins of Chicago raised a motion to have 10 House Republican members to be removed from the House Floor yesterday for refusing to wear masks. It’s the second time this week that Collins has brought the motion. It was originally raised on Wednesday but was withdrawn. Republicans on the House floor allegedly caught pictures of House Democrats in defiance of the mask order on Wednesday prior to withdrawal of the motion.

107th District Representative Blaine Wilhour of Effingham asked Collins to yield to the floor for discussion and questioning prior to the vote being taken yesterday. Collins refused. Wilhour responded by calling it “weak.” In a vote of 66-39, the House voted to remove Wilhour along with Republican Representatives Joe Sosnowski, Toni McCombie, Dan Caulkins, Brad Halbrook, Adam Niemerg, David Welter, David Friess, Chris Miller, and Andrew Chesney from the chamber.

Republican House Leader Jim Durkin and State Representative Mark Batinick of Plainfield found the vote to remove members a bit telling, as they both pointed out the General Assembly had refused to act on any of Governor J.B. Pritzker’s executive orders over the last two years during a short debate about the GOP members’ removal.

Halbrook, Caulkins, Wilhour, Niemerg, and Miller later issued the following statement in a press release about their expulsion: “For the third day in a row, we refused to comply with the House mask mandate because of our commitment to highlight the unnecessary school mask mandate and because we are tired of rules and policies that don’t make any sense. This time the Democrat majority followed through with their threat to remove us from the House floor and we were forced to vote on bills remotely instead of in person on the House floor.

“At one point House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch stated that there were more important things to do than spend time on the House floor debating masks. His statement illustrates how out of touch the Democrat majority is when it comes to the frustration of parents across the state of Illinois. These parents are tired of the cruelty brought on their children with these senseless mask mandates at schools. They are tired and frustrated and they want someone to listen to them. What can be more important than the concerns of parents about what is happening to their children?

“Our message to Illinois parents is simple. We are listening to you. We stand with you, and we support you. The Democrats are feeling the heat because the public has had enough of the two years of the mandates and the disregard for their concerns. We must be resolved now more than ever to return Illinois to normalcy. We are going to keep fighting for your rights as parents to make healthcare decisions for your kids and we hope you will keep fighting too.”

McCombie refused to leave the chamber and was eventually allowed to stay for the remainder of the evening where the House voted to approve new Legislative Inspector General Judge Michael McCluskey. McCombie did not record a vote on the bill. McCombie later said her key was removed and she wasn’t allowed to vote.

House Speaker Chris Welch accused Republicans of slowing down the legislative process at the end of the McCluskey debate: “Let’s slow everything down, like we saw here today. And yesterday. When we know it’s committee deadline week. And we’re here on the floor arguing about House rules that have been in place for two years. Arguing about something as simple as putting on a mask to protect the health and well-being of everyone in this chamber. Why are we arguing about masks today? Slow everything down to bring this place to a halt.” Welch said the argument would stop in the coming days of session.

Later in the day, attorney Thomas DeVore, who has a temporary restraining order against the governor’s mask mandates in schools, filed suit against House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch in Bond County Circuit Court. The lawsuit, DeVore told the Center Square, is on behalf of his state Rep. Blaine Whilhour of Beecher City, and himself as an individual.

According to Capitol Fax, the House adjourned this morning after a brief session until Tuesday before taking any votes. Three of the of the ejected members from yesterday: Freiss, Wilhour, and Sosnowski were given excused absences.

The first pieces of the Washington Elementary School renovation project took place Wednesday night at the District 117 School Board meeting.

The board approved a bid of $59,000 for asbestos abatement in the school’s hallways for M&O Environmental Company out of Peoria. The work will take place over spring break this year, with further asbestos abatement set to take place over the summer in classrooms and other high-traffic areas of the school.

Other portions of the project were met with delays. District Consultant Bob Roads says that supply chain issues have caused things to get backed up sooner than expected: “The district’s main project has been delayed a week. It’s now going to be opened a week from today. I think the reason for that is probably twofold. One was the decision by the board, which I think was a good decision, to provide temporary classrooms which allow construction project to proceed through next Fall, which I think will substantially reduce the cost of the project and probably open it up to more bidders.”

The bids for the general contractor and the modular classrooms placed to the south of JMS will occur in the middle of next week. The modular classrooms will be used for the duration of the Washington Elementary project and then, for Eisenhower Elementary students when their renovation project is being completed.

The board also approved seeking bids for three pole lights for the east side teacher’s parking lot at JMS. The electricity wires will be ran underneath the drive and provide light on an otherwise completely dark lot. Superintendent Steve Ptacek suggested that when the electricity conduit is ran underneath the drive for the light poles that ethernet and/or broadband cables can be ran at the same time to have for the modular classrooms once they are installed.

Another major company in Illinois with ties to former House Speaker Michael Madigan could soon fall under federal criminal indictment.

WBEZ reports that a subsidiary to AT&T known as Illinois Bell Telephone Company LLC is the focus of a previously undisclosed federal investigation led by U.S. Attorney John Lausch. The investigation reportedly centers around a a single, 9-month consulting contract in 2017 worth $22,500.

Illinois Bell is led by former Madigan aide and policy director Eileen Mitchell. The company filing with the SEC about the investigation on Tuesday did not indicate what, if any, role Mitchell had in the contract in question nor were any details spelled out about the contract itself.

AT&T was one of a number of companies who were named in a subpoena to Madigan’s office records in 2019 the same day Commonweath Edison and Lausch’s office agreed to a deferred prosecution agreement surrounding the energy giant’s patronage hiring scheme and no-work-for-salary positions in order to curry favor with Madigan as Illinois’ House Speaker.

Representatives of the company told WBEZ it has cooperated with Lausch’s investigation since 2019 and does not believe they have done anything wrong in regards to the contract.

Crime is down in the City of Jacksonville and Morgan County.

According to statistics released this week by Jacksonville Police Chief Adam Mefford and the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department, the number of calls for service is up while overall offenses reported in both jurisdictions are down.

Jacksonville Police reported a 5.8% increase in calls of service last year compared to 2020, with the busiest month being July.

Jacksonville Police and the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office reported a dramatic increase in criminal sexual assault and sexual abuse cases, with both reporting an increase of 10 cases over the year.

Crimes Against Persons and violent crime was down in the city by 2.36% and down overall in the county in 2020.

Traffic fatalities went up by one case in the county compared to 2020.

48^th District State Senator Doris Turner is championing a measure to allow school districts to hire substitute teachers with a short-term license for longer periods of time.

Turner says the bill will make it easier for districts to find long-term solutions for openings and vacations of full-time staff. The bill raises the cap on consecutive days a short-term substitute teacher can teach from 5 to 15 days.

Senate Bill 3907 passed the Education Committee on Tuesday and awaits further consideration.

The Jacksonville School Board meeting held a wide range of emotions last night concerning the statewide school mask mandate.

The district moved to a mask-optional policy last week in the wake of a temporary restraining order administered by Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow. District 117 was named in that lawsuit brought by several parents and teachers from around the state. Yesterday, the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules or JCAR struck down the Illinois Department of Public Health’s attempt to re-up the mask mandate for schools across the entire state.

Jacksonville High School Freshman Leviana Moody spoke to the school board last night detailing irreparable emotional and mental harm that masks have had on her educational and social development for the last two years from a student’s perspective. Her mother Trista Moody and former teacher Cheryl Kelly echoed those concerns in follow up comments to the board asking how the board would move forward in a world without masks and full of mentally damaged students and teachers caused by the masks and the traumas caused by COVID-19 mitigations and the virus itself.

Superintendent Steve Ptacek got emotional when speaking about his own two children, who are also students in the district. Ptacek feels that Ms. Moody summed up the arguments from a student’s perspective quite well: “Ms. Moody did a phenomenal job of representing a major concern that both kids and parents have had, and she definitely touched a nerve knowing that I’ve got two students that are juniors and seniors in high school. My [oldest] kid’s last two and a half years of his high school experience have been not ruined. He’s enjoyed them…but just altered in such a major fashion. It definitely hit an emotional part within me. I’ve been in the unfortunate position over the last couple of years to have to analyze risk and make decisions that I personally, at time, don’t agree with but my personal feelings…that’s not my job. My job is to analyze risk, analyze situations, try to keep kids in school, and bring that information to the board so they as a group can ultimately make the decision with my recommendations. I’m not going to shy away from those. The emotion of the last two years have hit a lot of people now, and I hope that’s one of those good signs that it’s at the end of it so that it’s time to breathe a sigh of relief. Then, we can reflect on the impact that this thing has had on us. I think when you are caught in the middle of it, when you’re in the middle of the race, you just keep moving forward. I think that the feeling that we could be at the end is allowing a lot of emotions from a lot of people to come out.”

District 117 School Board members Brenda Stewart and Teresa Wilson also brought up their own personal reflections with their families on the pandemic and hope that the world is on the down side of the pandemic. Ptacek and the board commended both sides of the issues, the staff, the faculty, and the nursing staff for their work throughout the pandemic.

Ptacek hopes for a clear ruling from the Appellate Court in the coming days. He says that the mask issue has turned away from a scientific one and into a political one: “This is not about health. This is not about education. This is 100% right now about politics, and schools are being put in the middle. I have to watch what I fully say because we are included in the lawsuit, but anybody who is closely involved with this knows that’s absolutely what’s going on right now. The most disturbing part of this is that it doesn’t seem that the kids are at all a focus. It’s about politics, and that’s from both sides, and that needs to stop.”

Ptacek said during the meeting that some parents have asked about remote options for students who are in fear of coming to school. He says that it will not be an option in District 117 because of not only the district’s stance but the Illinois State Board of Education stressing the importance of in-person learning. The only action taken on the issue was that Ptacek is going to be amending language in the district’s dress code to allow for masks to be worn by those who wish to wear them for their own health or personal reasons. He told the board he would be finalizing language on masks in the dress code in the coming days to ensure that the masks that are worn are not a personal fashion choice but for health and personal reasons only.

Another wealthy Illinois business man has weighed in on the Republican gubernatorial nominee race with a major donation.

Business supply company CEO Richard Uihlein of Lake Forest is giving $1 million to State Senator and GOP candidate for governor Darren Bailey. Uihlein is the CEO of of the packing and shipping firm Uline.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Uihlein and his wife Elizabeth have donated nearly $31.5 million to Republican candidates and causes since 1998.

The donation will give a lift to Bailey in the crowded GOP primary, and Bailey said on a Facebook video yesterday it was an “initial” donation with a promise of more to come.

Uihlein’s donation to Bailey comes just days after billionaire Ken Griffin, the founder and CEO of the Citadel investment firm, gave $20 million to rival candidate Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin.

Republicans are trying to match the $125 million that Democratic Governor JB Pritzker has donated to his own campaign since last year.

A Mt. Sterling man found guilty in December of murdering his girlfriend in 2019 is heading to prison.

42 year old John M. Dean was sentenced to 65 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections today for the shooting death of 44 year old Rebecca Niewhoner.

Judge Charles H.W. Burch announced the sentence after hearing victim impact statements from Niewhoner’s mother Carolyn Woodward and Niewhoner’s ex-husband, Kraig Niewohner, with whom the victim had a daughter.

The trial lasted a little over 8 days, with a 12-person jury of seven men and five women finding Dean guilty on December 16^th. Defense Attorney John Leonard filed a post trial motion for acquittal and asked for a new trial on January 14^th, with Judge Burch ruling against the motions.

Dean was remanded to the custody of the Brown County Sheriff’s Department today and returned to the Schuyler County Jail pending transfer to an IDOC facility.