A 36 year old woman found dead in a home in Thayer on Tuesday afternoon was a child protection specialist with the Department of Children and Family Services.

WCIA reports that Deidre Silas was stabbed to death in a home in the 300 block of West Elm Street in Thayer yesterday afternoon while performing a home visit.

According to a report from Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell six children ages 1 to 7 years old, were present in the home.

Police officers from Pawnee, Divernon, Auburn, and deputies from the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office all responded to the scene and had to force their way inside the home where they found the victim’s body, but no sign of the suspect.

32 year old Benjamin H. Reed was later taken into custody by Decatur Police at a Decatur Hospital at around 6:30 last night and later extradited back to the Sangamon County Jail where he awaits formal charges. He was in court this morning to face a bond hearing. Preliminary charges for Reed included first degree murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

DCFS Director Marc C. Smith announced Silas’ identity in a post this morning. WCIA reports that Silas was a Springfield native and has two young children. According to state records, she had just taken the job with DCFS last Fall.

An unidentified woman was found stabbed to death in a home by Sangamon County authorities this afternoon.

Several Springfield media outlets report that Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputies were notified of a possible stabbing at a residence in the 300 block of West Elm Street in Thayer at 4:11PM today. WICS Newschannel 20 reports that when Deputies arrived on scene they found what appeared to be blood on the door to the home and discovered a 36 year old woman dead inside the residence.

After executing a search warrant on the house, Sangamon County detectives said they found information leading to a possible suspect.

A 32-year-old male suspect was located at a Decatur hospital and arrested by Decatur Police around 6:29 p.m. Law enforcement from Sangamon County then traveled to Decatur and interviewed the unidentified and unnamed suspect. The suspect is reported to have been treated for a minor stab wound and then transported to the Sangamon County Jail.

Authorities said everyone involved in the case has been accounted for, and there is no threat to the community. The Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s Office is reviewing possible charges.

The identity of the victim has not been released at this time.

A former federal prosecutor and Sangamon County State’s Attorney announced today he’s running for Secretary of State as a Republican.

John Milhiser announced today he’s seeking the Republican nomination for Illinois Secretary of State. Milhiser’s previous post was as the chief Attorney for the federal court in Illinois’ Central District. Prior to his appointment to the federal prosecutor position, Milhiser was a prosecutor in the Sangamon County State’s Attorney’s Office for 16 years, of which he served 8 years as Sangamon County’s State’s Attorney.

Milhiser resigned from the Central District of Illinois prosecutor’s position in February after President Joe Biden took office. Milhiser was appointed to the position in 2018 after being nominated by former President Donald Trump. Milhiser received bi-partisan support for his nomination in 2018 including support from Illinois Democratic Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin.

Currently, Milhiser is teaching high school government, history, and English at Lawrence Education Center in Springfield.

Milhiser will now challenge Republican State Representative Dan Brady of Bloomington in a primary in June. Brady announced his intention to run for the seat in November. Brady has been a state representative since 2001. Also running for the office on the Republican ticket is William J. Kelly, a reporter and broadcaster who announced his bid for the office earlier in November.

The Democratic slate of candidates vying to succeed outgoing longtime Secretary of State Jesse White includes former Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia, along with Chicago Aldermen Pat Dowell and David Moore. Valencia today picked up a key endorsement from Senator Dick Durbin, while Giannoulias is still considered the main front runner on the Democrat ticket.

White announced his retirement in August 2019. He has held the post since 1999 for a record 6 terms.

A Montgomery County family is desperately searching for a missing family member who was last seen in Jacksonville over the holiday weekend.

The family of 26 year old Austin Corrado say that he’s been missing since New Year’s Eve and that the Jacksonville Police Department, the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department, and Hillsboro Police Department have been notified. He was last seen in Jacksonville on East Morton Avenue near the Knight’s Inn at the time of his disappearance. The family believes he was attempting to walk home along Illinois Route 104 to get back to Hillsboro on Friday.

The family believes his mental health issues place him in danger and they don’t know of his whereabouts. He was last believed to be wearing a gray hoodie and blue jeans. Corrado does not have a cellphone and has no way to contact family members.

Corrado stands 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs between 120-130 pounds. He has dark brown hair and hazel eyes.

Members of the public are asked to call the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department at (217) 243-6123, the Jacksonville Police Department at 217-479-4630, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department at (217) 532-9514, or the Hillsboro Police Department at (217) 532-6120; or call or text pertinent information to 217-512-3969.

One of Illinois’ longest serving Congressman is set to retire.

According to NBC-5’s Mary Ann Ahern of Chicago, long-time 1st District Congressman Bobby Rush of Chicago is not going to seek re-election in the upcoming year. Rush has represented the first Congressional District since 1992. NBC-5 sources report that Rush is making phone calls to inform friends and elected officials about his decision.

In 2000, Rush beat then-Illinois State Senator Barack Obama in the Democratic primary for the 1st Congressional seat after having unsuccessfully run for Mayor of the City of Chicago against Richard Daley.

In 2004, Rush faced an ethics investigation over paying family members for years as well as questions of vague campaign finance reports.

Several Democrats have already announced their intention to run for Rush’s seat in Congress next year.

A formal announcement is expected some time today.

The House and Senate Redistricting Committees released late yesterday updated judicial subcircuits that reflect suggestions gathered during the public hearing in December. The subcircuits allegedly allow for greater opportunities for diversity on the bench. Subcircuits were also drawn for Cook, DuPage, and Madison counties. According to Capitol Fax, there was a push for Champaign and Peoria as well, but those did not make this final proposal.

One of the redrawn circuits was the 7th Circuit which encompasses most of the listening area. The 7th was redrawn into 3 subcircuits. The subcircuits are proposed to allegedly give minority communities a better opportunity to elect candidates of their choice and influence elections. These new subcircuits will help improve the diversity of opinion and background of judges, while giving everyone a voice in electing a bench of judges they feel best represent their communities.

The proposed drawing of subcircuits will not impact the tenure of current circuit court judges.

Members of the public may provide testimony or offer suggestions through email at redistrictingcommittee@hds.ilga.gov and redistrictingcommittee@senatedem.ilga.gov. If anyone wishes to submit their own proposals, they may do so through the online map portal located on the House and Senate redistricting websites. For that tool and to view the proposed maps, visit www.ilhousedems.com/redistricting or www.ilsenateredistricting.com.

Subcircuit 3 in the 7th Judicial Circuit encompasses all of Morgan, Greene, Macoupin, Scott, and Jersey County. Subcircuit 2 covers all of the rural portions of Sangamon County, with subcircuit 1 covering the greater Springfield area.

The embroiled former Chief of Police in Virginia who resigned last year over allegedly sending inappropriate text messages to a teen has found a new job near Springfield.

Springfield Leaks reports that ex-Virginia Police Chief Bryce Kennedy has been hired on as a full-time police officer at the Grandview Village Police Department. Kennedy was first placed on administrative leave in September 2020 and an investigation was started by Cass County Sheriff Devron Ohrn after inappropriate social media messages came to the attention of former Virginia Mayor Reg Brunk. Kennedy resigned from his position as Virginia Police Chief on October 7, 2020 after alleged inappropriate messages between him and a 13 year old girl were made public.

In released documents from the Grandview Police, it was revealed that 20 year old Devan Rice of Virginia, who was arrested on June 14, 2021 by Illinois State Police for Solicitation of Child Pornography, Traveling to Meet a Child , and Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse, allegedly had a relationship with the victim of the messages and leaked to them public in an effort to get back at Kennedy. Kennedy allegedly had given Rice a cannabis citation while serving as Police Chief in Virginia in 2020. Rice pleaded guilty to one count of solicitation of child pornography in Cass County Court on December 15th. Rice is due for sentencing on February 24th.

According to Kennedy’s personnel file obtained by Springfield Leaks, he worked as a security guard at HSHS St. John’s Hospital in Springfield prior to being hired by the Grandview Police Department as a full-time officer on September 7, 2021.

Grandview Village Mayor Maria Ray told Springfield Leaks that she nor the Village of Grandview Board of Trustees were aware of the inappropriate messages that occurred while Kennedy served as Police Chief in Virginia until after Kennedy was hired and started working. May says she and the Board of Trustees are currently working on better transparency between Village Administration and the Police Department.

May says her and the board were made aware of text messaging incident in November 2021 and began questioning Grandview Police Chief Kirk Beatty, several officials in Cass County, and The Illinois State Police and the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board. After completing a review of Kennedy’s conduct, Springfield Leaks reports that Ray placed the following note in his personnel file: “Cass County Sheriff’s Office and the Cass County State’s Attorney’s office was contacted. No warrants arrests, or charges against Officer Bryce Kennedy. The action of Officer Bryce Kennedy may appear improper, it was fully investigated by Cass County. As it stands, there are no reasons or prohibitions for Officer Kennedy to be a police officer. Kennedy was confronted by the Village of Grandview’s President about this incident and was honest and forthcoming during this review. Neither the underage girl’s Mom or Dad reported anything according to the Sheriff. The Sheriff report the family and Kennedy are on first name basis. Kennedy’s professional references were okay according to Chief Kirk Beatty and report Kennedy to have never been in trouble, which match conversation the Village of Grandview President had with Sheriff Devron Orhn. The Sheriff reported that Kennedy is a good worker and Sheriff Orhn never had any problems with Kennedy. Both Officer Bryce Kennedy and Sheriff Devron Orhn’s stories regarding how the snapchat screen shots were released match. The boyfriend of the underage girl received a marijuana citation from Officer Kennedy and the underage girl’s boyfriend released the screenshots to the media. Information on boyfriend who leaked information to the media and recent arrest [were found in local media].” A link to Devan Rice’s arrest was attached to the review.

According to further reporting in the Springfield Leaks report, the review did not address a question on the Grandview Police Department’s employment application asking Kennedy if he ever resigned or left a job by mutual agreement following allegations of misconduct or unsatisfactory performance. An alleged screenshot copy of Kennedy’s supposed application has the box marked “no.”

Grandview Village Administration says that they have since adopted the ILETSBEI hiring protocols for all current and future police. In addition to the changes, Springfield Leaks reports that Village Police Chief Kirk Beatty submitted his resignation/retirement letter on December 9th with an effective date of December 31st. A replacement is on the village’s agenda for later this month.

The Greene County Health Department has expanded a program for young mothers and infants and those seeking immunizations into Roodhouse.

Greene County Health Department Administrator Molly Peters says that the Woman, Infant, and Children Program, commonly known as WIC, and an immunization clinic for the flu, Covid, and other illnesses will be open in the former JCH Medical Group building where Dr. Randall Voigts practiced for several years at 205 Morse Street in Roodhouse. The building is just one door north of the Roodhouse Post Office.

Peters says that the WIC clinic will be open one day a week: “We had the opportunity to rent Dr. Voigt’s old office in Roodhouse, and this is probably a short-term [plan] for a year rent. What we wanted to do is try out and see if our WIC office would be of more convenience with a Roodhouse location to see if our client base for WIC would increase. So, we are watching that information. We are scheduling appointments for WIC in that office if this is a convenient location for [our clients]. We are also able to offer COVID-19 vaccinations there along with flu vaccine, and the WIC appointments are scheduled on Wednesdays. We are trying to just provide more services in the Roodhouse area and allow that community to come in and have a more accessible location.”

Peters says that there used to be more women enrolled in WIC when there was a a clinic located in the White Hall area a number of years ago. She says she wants to test the Roodhouse clinic to see if the program’s numbers increase again due to accessbility to North Greene area clients and to see if a long-term option is needed.

Peters says even in the time of remote meetings and social distancing, there is still a need for some families to schedule in-person appointments: “There are still individuals that come in, especially if you can tag a WIC visit with other immunizations for younger children – we are able to do both things and schedule that out. It’s just allows the Health Department to set a schedule that is maybe more convenient, more accessible for parents to come in and have less of a drive if they have transportation needs.”

Clients and potential WIC recipients should call the Greene County Health Departmetn at 217-942-6961 and make an appointment ahead of time. Funding for rent of the location has been paid for by federal CARES Act money.

Peters says she’s already seen appreciation and use of the walk-in vaccination clinics from people in Roodhouse who no longer have to drive all the way to Carrollton: “We were able to receive some mass vaccination funding for grant purposes. So, to utilize that, we are offering the location as a vaccination site, which Roodhouse is appreciate of. We had several people that came in for their first vaccine [when we opened in December]. We are kind of combining resources so that we are able to access the community more and provide additional resources with one fund.”

Peters says she hopes to offer more adult immunizations at the site some time this year. She hopes the northern Greene County community continues to utilize the clinic so that the Illinois Department of Human Services presents future funding to keep the clinic going beyond 2022.

Peters says the Greene County Health Department is focused on prevention, and she hopes with both the flu and Covid vaccines available that illness will decrease in the county. As of last week, Greene County currently sets at 37% of its total population as being considered fully vaccinated from COVID-19. Peters says that convenience and proximity of the Roodhouse clinic has caused some people in the northern Greene County area to come in and get vaccinated recently.

She says that hospitals in the are are saying that severity of illness is greatly decreased when someone gets the Covid vaccine and it’s helping keep the hospitals from being fully overrun: “The severity of illness, it’s just been seen in hospital after hospital sharing that your risk of severe illness is lessened greatly by participating in vaccination, and it’s not political. In crisis, everybody wants to take all measures to save themselves and this is a measure to save yourself now. Participating is key to preventing severe illness.”

The Greene County Health Department in Carrollton also will continue to offer Covid vaccinations every Wednesday and Friday of the month of January from 9AM-Noon and 1-3PM.

A bipartisan group of senators aims to introduce a bill to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) when the Senate reconvenes this month.

Illinois Senator Dick Durbin joins Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst, a domestic violence survivor herself, and California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein and Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski in reaching a bipartisan framework to reauthorize and modernize VAWA. The previously reauthorized bill expired in 2019.

The current draft would strengthen rape prevention and education efforts and expand and authorize programs to ensure access to survivors in rural areas, those who seek culturally specific services, and LGBT survivors. It also builds on the 2013 reauthorization by expanding criminal jurisdiction to tribal courts to cover non-Native perpetrators of sexual violence and other offenses.

Durbin says the statistics about violence against women are alarming, and the bill provides critical support to all women around the country: “We are coming together on supporting the simple premise that VAWA will save lives. We need to ensure every survivor, whether they live in rural Alaska or urban Illinois, can reach out for a lifeline in a moment of crisis. It is a statistic that should shock us all. Nearly 1 in 3 women living today, nearly 1 in 3, have experienced some form of physical or sexual violence. That finding came from the WHO surveying women in 160 countries across the globe. It proves that this crisis of sexual and domestic violence touches every community in the world, but our responsibility first, is here at home.”

The reauthorization has been stalled previously by controversial provisions like stricter gun restrictions, which Republicans oppose. Ernst, a Republican, says that the bill isn’t a gun control bill but rather a violence against women bill. The four-member group plans to reintroduce the bi-partisan reauthorization when Congress returns to session this month.

Several state colleges will be starting their Spring Semester on remote learning.

The decision has largely been fueled by the rapidly-spreading omicron variant of the coronavirus making its way through the United States.

The University of Illinois-Champaign-Urbana will start the spring semester remotely for at least the first week, beginning in-person learning on Jan. 24, with the University of Illinois Chicago moving to remote learning for at least the first two weeks. University of Illinois-Springfield though still plans to return to in-person classes on Jan. 18. UIS students, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, will be required to undergo COVID-19 testing once they return to campus according to interim chancellor Karen Whitney. Whitney says testing requirements for fully vaccinated UIS personnel will end Feb. 10 unless otherwise announced. Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated individuals must continue to test twice a week.

For Illinois State University, in-person teaching and learning is currently set to begin on Jan. 24, although ISU offices and facilities will reopen as scheduled today for remote learning.

Northwestern is offering remote learning through Jan. 17 and Southern Illinois University-Carbondale said on its website that in-person classes will proceed on Jan. 10^th. All on-campus employees and students, including those who are fully vaccinated, must be tested for COVID-19 upon return to campus.

All Southern Illinois University Edwardsville community members regardless of vaccination status are similarly expected to complete a COVID-19 test upon return to campus with classes starting today for the School of Pharmacy and the School of Dental Medicine, followed by Jan. 10^th for all other remaining students.

University of Chicago and Loyola University have said all eligible students and staff are to be boosted before the spring semester. Loyola said though that Spring classes will be online and remain that way until at least January 31^st.

Illinois College in Jacksonville has not yet made an announcement on any postponements or changes in schedule for the return to campus on January 17^th. Regular hours for Lincoln Land Community College began today. LLCC’s Spring Semester begins on Jan. 8 with weekly classes starting Jan. 10.