Illinois lawmakers appear to be breaking from Governor J.B. Pritzker’s mask mandate for public schools.

The Joint Committee on Administrative Rules or JCAR, made up of a bi-partisan group of General Assembly members voted to object to the Illinois Department of Public Health filing a repeat emergency rule last night to extend the school mask mandate regardless of the ongoing litigation in Sangamon County Court brought against over 140 school districts in the state.

The refiled rule would have forced every school district not named in the suit to enforce masks.

According to Mark Maxwell of WCIA, approximately 1 hour ago, JCAR voted to object to the IDPH emergency rule.

Democrats Mike Halpin, Fran Hurley, and Curtis Tarver joined Republicans on JCAR in opposition to the filing. According to Maxwell, the ruling by JCAR now effects 350 school districts in the state who have not made a local decision on a mask policy since Sangamon County Judge Raylene Grischow issued a temporary restraining order on the mask mandate for the 140 school districts named in the Sangamon County suit last month.

The FBI is seeking the public’s help in locating a missing Illinois teen.

14 year old Addison Windbigler of Nauvoo traveled to Keokuk, Iowa on December 13^th and was last seen in that city on the following day.

She is a white female with a tan complexion who stands approximately 5’4” tall and weighs approximately 125 pounds. She has long brown hair and brown eyes. She has a pierced septum and a pierced left nostril along with pierced ears.

If you have any information concerning this case, please contact the FBI’s Omaha, Nebraska Field Office at (402) 493-8688. You may also contact the Springfield, Illinois FBI Field Office at (217) 522-9675.

Information may also be given to Lee County, Iowa Crime Stoppers at 319-795-3154 or through the Morgan-Scott-Cass Crime Stoppers at 217-243-7300. Tips directed through Crime Stoppers leading to Addison’s location may be eligible for a cash reward. Tips may also be submitted online at tips.fbi.gov.

The first of a series of required public meetings for the Grain Belt Express transmission line will be held tonight in Pittsfield.

Invenergy plans to run the transmission line of clean energy from the Great Plains to the East by passing through portions of Pike, Scott, Greene, and Macoupin counties on its way east to the Indiana border.

Current Pike-Scott Farm Bureau Director Blake Roderick told Quincy’s WGEM that he’s concerned the transmission line will disrupt the general flow of farming in the area. The company promises $1.2 billion in economic activity for Illinois, 2,200 construction jobs and $33 million in payments to local governments, all at no cost to Illinois residents.

Roderick encourages any farmers along the proposed easement of the line to attend the public meetings that are required by the permitting process by the Illinois Commerce Commission.

The first meeting will be held tonight from 5-7PM at the Pike County Senior Citizen Center located at 220 West Adams Street in Pittsfield.

An Illinois Senator is calling on aggressive diplomacy with Russia in the wake that the country may invade Ukraine in the coming days.

Tammy Duckworth says the US and NATO are watching the continued aggression of Vladimir Putin with the build up of troops along Ukraine’s border. She says trying to avoid conflict in the region is the best policy: “I still think that diplomacy is the best way forward. Sanctions is the best way forward. Let’s prevent Russian from invading. If Russia does invade, this is a real significant move on their part and NATO is united. That’s one of the good pieces I think is coming out of this is that NATO has reasserted – all member nations of NATO has reasserted that mutual defense pact.”

Ukraine is not a member of the NATO alliance but borders four NATO countries. According to the Associated Press, the Kremlin signaled yesterday it is ready to keep talking with the West about security grievances that led to the current situation in Ukraine. Washington D.C. says they have intelligence that Russia could invade the country by as early as Wednesday.

Routt Catholic High School is looking to grow its numbers for the 2022-2023 school year. Development and Enrollment Director Colleen Doyle says this coming week is the best time to come and check out Routt if you have questions about the school: “The first and foremost thing that I would want anyone to know is that Routt wants to grow. We want to see our building busting at the seams. We want to talk to the people that have never came to Routt. We wouldn’t have been able to be around for 120 years if not for those families that came first. We’re looking for new families, new students at any time. Now would be the perfect time to think about that if you, or you know a family member, friend, or neighbor who is currently an 8th Grader. I have the firm belief that if someone gives me 45 minutes of their time, I can make a pretty solid argument why Routt is the place to be beginning this Fall.”

Doyle says starting on Friday, February 18^th, Routt will be looking for incoming freshman with a day of introductions and a placement exam that begins at 8:15 in the morning: “We do offer a placement exam. It’s going to be taking place [this] Friday. The cost of the test is $15. We will be offering lunch. Other than [the test], it’s going to be a fun day to get on campus. We’ll be offering some other giveaways. Several 8th Graders in the area will be there. It’ll be a good opportunity to meet other 8th Graders considering a future at Routt. It will lead right into our registration that begins on February 23rd.”

The student who receives the highest composite score on the placement exam will receive a $1,000 scholarship towards their tuition at Routt. Placement exam results will be posted on March 2^nd.

For more information about attending Routt, contact Doyle at cdoyle@routtcatholic.com.

Illinois Republicans have been criticized over the last few weeks about their response to the Republican National Committee’s censure of Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger and Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney. The RNC, in their censure, described the January 6^th riot as “ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.”

Kinzinger, who is not seeking re-election to Congress this year, said recently that the US could enter another civil war while discussing the country’s partisan division and his censure by the Republican National Committee for taking part in the House January 6 commission.

Illinois’ five Republican gubernatorial candidates have yet to address the impact of former president Donald Trump’s clout over the party and January 6^th directly.

Two Illinois Congressman say that the questions need to be posed to the RNC.

18^th District Congressman Darin LaHood says that the January 6^th participants need to be prosecuted. LaHood says that Cheney and Kinzinger no longer stand for the Republican Party: “I see it as not being loyal Republicans over the last year and trying to undermine our party. Again, I believe there are some that believe that’s what they have done over the last year here. I will say this. There was a statement made that the insurrection was legitimate political discourse. I don’t believe that is accurate. I disagree with that statement. I think what happened at the Capitol, as I said a long time ago after it occurred, I said it was an embarrassing day for our country and our democracy, and every one of those insurrectionists need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

13^th District Congressman Rodney Davis says the questions surrounding the censure of Cheney and Kinzinger doesn’t belong with current elected Republican officials: “In the end, the question of the RNC censure lies with the RNC national committeemen and committeewoman here in Illinois. [Members of Congress] don’t have anything to do with that. Unfortunately, what we are seeing is not enough focus on what we should focus in on.” Davis went on to discuss problems with the Biden Administration and Congressional Democrats. Davis says he’ll use his position on the House Administration committee to get to the bottom of the security failures that allowed the January 6th riot to breach the Capitol.

The Chicago Tribune claims that the gubernatorial candidates and currently elected Republican officials have all done their best to dance around Trump and thread the needle of alienating neither Trump supporters nor anti-Trump moderates and independents leading up to the primary season this June.

It was the worst kept secret in Illinois politics, but it came to fruition yesterday.

Billionaire Ken Griffin announced his $20 million donation to the Richard Irvin/Avery Bourne gubernatorial ticket yesterday.

The contribution is one of the largest donations so far to the campaign. It is only surpassed by a $90 million donation that Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker made to his own re-election campaign one month ago and a similar $35 million from Pritzker in March 2021.

In the statement released yesterday, Griffin says he wanted to support Irvin because of Griffin’s business Citadel. Griffin says Pritzker’s policies are hurting his and Illinois’ business climate overall.

Illinois State Board of Elections filings of campaign finances over the last three weeks show that Irvin is gaining major support from several CEOs from around the state including Chicago’s Duchossois Group, Pathways.org CEO Shirley Ryan, and retired Abbot Laboratories CEO Miles White.

According to the same state board of elections filings, none of Irvin’s four competitors in the Republican gubernatorial primary have received donations larger than $30,000 since the start of the year.

Marnico Village residents are having problems with water run-off.

Situated off of U.S. 67 to the west of Jacksonville, the group of homes is experiencing back up in their sewer system.

The new president of the Marnico Betterment Association, Luke Marquardt, Jr. brought a petition to the Morgan County Commissioners this morning asking that the special service area tax assessed to residents of Marnico Village be used to fix the ditches to allow for better drainage: “Our ditches have not been maintained. The water is actually going into our sewer, and it’s overloading our lagoon tremendously. Since we don’t have ditches that run off, the water sits there. [It is causing] our roads to just fall apart. Everybody drives by one another so the road breaks off and slides away. We would like to possibly use some of the [SSA tax] money or have something done to get our water run off fixed.”

Marquardt says he’s not received any help or response from Road District #6 Commissioner Roger Ore when he’s brought the problem to him for answers.

Marquardt believes that if the problem persists, residents of Marnico Village are going to lose their property. According to Marquardt, the SSA Tax assessed by the county is used to pay the village’s electric bill for the year and for an oil and chip program for the village’s roads.

Marquardt says oil and chipping the roads does no good unless the drainage problem is fixed: “There is no sense of putting oil and chip on the roads if it’s going to erode because the water is just sitting there. Like I said, the water is not flowing and it’s going into our lagoon system and our sewer system and overloading it. Our back wall [to our lagoon] could possibly just [break] and then nobody out there would have sewer. Then, our land would be worth nothing because we can’t put septic tanks in.”

The county commissioners said they would facilitate a meeting between County Engineer Matt Coultas, Ore, Marquardt and someone from the commission to come up with a solution and answer the questions about the SSA funds in the coming weeks.

A Jacksonville man who fled police in an attempted traffic stop back in November pled guilty to one charge in Morgan County Court last week.

27 year old Marquis D. Carey-Nelson of the 800 block of Illinois Avenue did not yield to police and at one point reached speeds of more than 70 miles per hour in his attempt to flee police in Jacksonville on November 5^th.

Carey-Nelson’s vehicle was eventually detained at the intersection of South Main and Morton Avenue where according to police, Carey-Nelson refused to exit the vehicle and resisted arrest. No injuries were sustained by officers or Carey-Nelson during the scuffle.

During the investigation at the scene, Carey-Nelson was found to be in possession of a firearm without a FOID card along with cannabis. His Indiana driver’s license was suspended at the time, and there was no insurance on the vehicle.

Carey-Nelson was arrested and originally cited for Aggravated Fleeing or Attempting to Elude a Peace Officer, Unlawful Use of Weapon, no possession of a FOID card, Driver in Possession of Adult-Use Cannabis, Resisting/Obstructing Arrest, Driving While License Suspended, Reckless Driving, and No Valid Insurance after Officers attempted to stop him for driving reckless.

Carey-Nelson pled guilty to one count of possession of a firearm without a FOID card on Friday. He was sentenced to 1 year of probation, plus court costs. He was given credit for 3 days served in the Morgan County Jail. The court also ordered that the firearm seized in the arrest to be destroyed.