Mystery still surrounds the death of a Greene County woman in Springfield this week.

Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon says that 39 year old Randa Davidson of Hillview died from hypothermia, according to preliminary autopsy findings from yesterday. Allmon says there was no evidence of injury or trauma. Davidson’s death is still pending a toxicology studies.

Davidson’s body was found near a pond by a Sangamon County detective in the 3100 block of Robbins Road in Springfield’s extreme west end yesterday around 5PM. Davidson had been missing for approximately a week after her car was found abandoned along Farmingdale Road along with her personal belongings and her dog.

Davidson’s death remains under investigation by the Sangamon County Coroner’s Office and the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department.

Morgan County’s property taxes have been issued a multiplier for the year by the Illinois Department of Revenue.

Morgan County has been issued a tentative property assessment equalization factor of 1.0. The property assessment equalization factor, often called the “multiplier”, is the method used to achieve uniform property assessments among counties, as required by law. This equalization is particularly important because some of the state’s 6,600 local taxing districts overlap into two or more counties. If there were no equalization among counties, substantial inequities among taxpayers with comparable properties would result.

State law requires property in Illinois to be assessed at 1/3 of its market value. Farm property is assessed differently, with farm homesites and dwellings subject to regular assessing and equalization procedures, but with farmland and farm buildings assessed according to standards based on productivity. The equalization factor is determined annually for each county by comparing the sales price of individual properties sold over the past three years to the assessed value placed on those properties by the county supervisor of assessments/county assessor.

If this three-year average level of assessment is one-third of market value, the equalization factor will be 1. If the average level of assessment is greater than one-third of market value, the equalization factor will be less than 1. And if the average level of assessment is less than one-third of market value, the equalization factor will be greater than 1.

According to the Department of Revenue, Assessments in Morgan County are at 33.38 percent of market value, based on sales of properties in 2018, 2019, and 2020. The equalization factor currently being assigned is for 2021 taxes, payable this year. Last year’s equalization factor for the county was 1.0233.

The tentative factor is subject to change (1) if the County Board of Review takes actions which significantly affect the county assessments or (2) if local officials or others can present data showing that the Department of Revenue’s estimates of the average level of assessments in the county should be adjusted. A public hearing on the tentative multiplier will be held between 20 and 30 days after the tentative factor is published in a newspaper of general circulation within the county.

A change in the equalization factor does not mean total property tax bills will increase or decrease. Tax bills are determined by local taxing bodies when they request money each year to provide services to local citizens. If the amount requested by local taxing districts is not greater than the amount received in the previous year, then total property taxes will not increase even if assessments may have increased.

The assessed value of an individual property determines what portion of the tax burden a specific taxpayer will assume. That individual’s portion of tax responsibility is not changed by the multiplier.

A former Village of South Jacksonville trustee may be returning to the board.

In an agenda released today, Village President Dick Samples appears to be appointing Todd Warrick to the open trustee position in South Jacksonville left by the resignation of Megan Davidson.

Davidson resigned from the board at the December 28^th business meeting during a special session in which Samples was appointed Village President.

Warrick was originally elected to the position for a 4-year term in 2019. Warrick resigned from the Village Board on May 28^th last year after Warrick had conflicts with former Village President Tyson Manker. In a resignation 6-page letter presented to the board in June of last year, Warrick accused Manker of intimidation, verbal abuse, and for removing him from committee assignments without input from the board. Manker would go on to appoint current trustee John Stewart to fill Warrick’s position.

Warrick later went on to file an ethics complaint against Manker in August of last year. According to the Journal Courier, the complaint alleged Manker had been involved in improper contractual violations, Freedom of Information Act and Local Records Act violations, First Amendment violations and sexual and verbal harassment. Manker would eventually resign as Village President on August 26th of last year.

Warrick’s appointment to return to the board will have to be voted on by the village board at their regular scheduled monthly meeting on Thursday.

Governor J.B. Pritzker has issued a state disaster declaration ahead of the anticipated winter storm expected to hit the state earlier this afternoon.

The declaration has activated approximately 130 National Guardsmen to ensure all state resources are available to deal with the heavy snow, ice, and blizzard conditions expected over the coming days.

The declaration also provides specific instructions to the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, the Illinois Department of Transportation, and the Illinois State Police.

Pritzker said in a press release today that he wishes to support local government disaster response and recovery operations wherever necessary with state-supported resources. Pritzker has also asked all citizens to listen to local authorities to stay up to date on the latest conditions and has asked citizens to get essentials for their household in an effort to stay home ahead of the storm.

IEMA’s State Emergency Operations Center in Springfield has been activated. Representatives from relevant state agencies will staff the SEOC 24 hours a day throughout the storm and quickly deploy resources to impacted communities. The activated National Guard are assigned to support specifically in Central Illinois and will serve as a force multiplier for State Police in 18-man platoons.

Ameren-Illinois has activated its Emergency Operations Center in Collinsville at 9AM this morning across its service territory to respond to power outages that may occur. Residents are encouraged to report downed wires and power outages immediately by calling Ameren toll free at 1-800-755-5000.

Stay tuned to WLDS/WEAI for round-the-clock coverage on cancellations and further response to Winter Storm Landon.

The Crisis Center Foundation is encouraging everyone to wear orange for Teen Dating Violence Awareness month.

Anna Sprague, a Child Teen Domestic Violence Advocate at the Foundation, says that teen dating violence has become more of a common problem in recent years: “I really encourage parents and anybody who is interested in [this topic] to go to LoveIsRespect.org. It’s very informational. I’ve used it for the past few years because it gives you an outline where kids are at today. It can be a taboo subject because parents say to themselves ‘That’s not going to happen to my child’ or teens says to themselves ‘That’s not going to me in my relationship. My boyfriend/girlfriend or whomever loves me.’ You don’t really know what may be happening in a violent or abusive relationship until your questioning it and maybe experiencing it.”

Sprague says with the rise of social media and dating apps, it’s made the problem that much worse. According to LoveIsRespect.org, one in 3 teens in the US will experience physical, sexual, or emotional abuse from someone they’re in a relationship with before they become adults, and 43% of college age women report experiencing violent or abusive dating behaviors.

The Crisis Center Foundation is planning informational posts and live session on Facebook throughout the month of February.

An Illinois Senator is defending President Joe Biden’s announcement that he will nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court. Liberal Justice Stephen Breyer announced he would be resigning at summer recess in late June after 28 years on the court.

Senator Dick Durbin, who is Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, dismissed Republicans objections that it’s an affirmative action quota or a race and gender litmus test.

Durbin says Biden is simply following other past presidents, including Republican presidents: “I would remind [Republicans] to take a look back at history and recall that it was Ronald Reagan who announced that he was going to appoint a woman to the Supreme Court, and he did – Sandra Day O’Connor. And it was Donald Trump who announced that he was going to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg with a woman nominee, as well. So, this is not the first time that a president has signaled what they are looking for in a nominee.”

Durbin, who will oversee the confirmation process, declined to comment on which of Biden’s nominees he personally favored.

National media has speculated that the list of potential nominees include: U.S. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, U.S. District Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner – the sister of Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams – and U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs, the choice floated to the president by Democrat House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina.

Durbin says his committee will be ready to act quickly with hearings once the pick has been made.

1099-G Tax Forms are now availbe for those who collected state or federal unemployment benefits last year.

Illinois Department of Employment Security Acting Director Kristin Richards says if you received unemployment last year, you’re going to need the form prior to filing your taxes: “To access their form online, claimants need visit www.ides.illinois.gov and follow the links to 1099-G information, including how to access their 2021 form. Over the course of the last month, we have been reaching out to claimants via email to remind them that tax season is on the horizon. Forms are now available for download. For additional information claimants can visit the department’s website.”

Claimants who have already opted to get the form electronically should have gotten an email with instructions. Everyone else will get a paper form in the postal mail. Last year, the department saved over $1 million in postage and production costs by making the 1099-G form available online.

A Greene County Superintendent is clearing the air about district grant funding.

Greenfield-Northwestern Superintendent Kevin Bowman sent a letter to Greenfield parents this week clarifying the terms of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief grants received by the district.

The funding was made available to school districts across the country by the federal government through the American Rescue Plan to help schools improve and reopen during the Covid-19 pandemic. Schools are currently on their third round of the funding.

Bowman says a number of concerned citizens asked about the third round of funding at the Greenfield School Board’s business meeting on January 24^th. Citizens were concerned that the school board had locked the district into a district-wide mask mandate until September 2024.

Bowman says that it is not the case. Bowman says that the district is set to operate with a mask optional policy after Governor J.B. Pritzker’s emergency executive orders and guidance from the Illinois State Board of Education’s guidance are allowed to expire. Bowman says the district is obligated to follow the law under the terms of the grant funding agreement.

Bowman goes on to say in the letter that the grant funding is not solely focused on mask compliance but helping the district remain in-person for learning and to supplement any learning loss that may have occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bowman highlighted a number of projects in the Greenfield district that the first two rounds of funding have paid for including chromebooks for all students in the district, new Promethean boards at the elementary and high school, upgrading HVAC at both buildings, and paying for extra staff to cover regular staff who may have to be absent due to Covid infections, among other things.

In total, Greenfield has received over $1.4 million in ESSER funding. Bowman reiterates throughout that at no time did the school board agree to keep masks mandated until 2024. He says the 2024 date is the deadline in which the funds must be obligated for projects.

More information about Greenfield’s ESSER funding projects can be found at greenfieldschools.org.

More information has been released about a missing Greene County woman.

39 year old Randa (Long) Davidson was last seen near the intersection of Wabash Avenue and West White Oaks Road in Springfield on foot heading southeast by herself on Tuesday evening around 11PM. She has not been seen nor heard from by family members since.

All of Davidson’s belongings were found in her vehicle on Farmingdale Road, just north of Bunker Hill Road just south of Springfield where she had ran out of gas.

Davidson was last seen wearing black leggings with colors, a blue top, and a waist-long black jacket with brown fur on the hood. She has no cell phone, money, or transportation. Her family believes she is in danger.

Anyone with any information may call the Greene County Sheriff’s Office at 217-942-6901, the Two Rivers Crime Stoppers Unit and leave an anonymous tip at 1-800-300-2590, or the Morgan-Scott-Cass Crime Stoppers unit at 217-243-7300. Tips may also be submitted anonymously online at morganscottcrimestoppers.webs.com. Simply click on the “leave a tip” button on the home page and fill out the form. Anonymous tips may also be left by texting to the number 274637, the first word of the text tip must be “PAYOUT.”