The Illinois State Police Firearms Services Bureau announced today the option for customers to receive correspondence regarding their FOID cards and CCLs from the ISP by email and/or text message instead of by letter through the United States Postal Service.

ISP Director Brendan Kelly says this opt-out option from letters will make it easier and quicker for the public to receive notifications regarding their FOID card and/or CCL.

If an individual would prefer to receive correspondence from the ISP FSB by email and/or text message instead of by letter through the USPS, they can sign up online at the ISP FSB portal at www.ispfsb.com.

The opt-out option was made possible by new FOID/CCL legislation passed by the General Assembly in May and signed into law by Governor J.B. Pritzker in August.

The public can contact ISP FSB regarding the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act or the Firearm Concealed Carry Act at (217) 782-7980 or by email at ISP.AskFOIDandCCL@illinois.gov.

The City of Winchester appears to be having trouble with prowlers and Peeping Toms.

Winchester Police Chief Caleb Handy recently issued a warning in the Scott County Times to would-be night prowlers that they are the ones being looked for by local police.

Handy is telling members of the Winchester community to keep their vehicles and doors locked at night and their windows latched and curtains closed. Handy says his department has received reports of prowlers in the city at night, but currently don’t have any concrete evidence. A previous Winchester City council meeting also had reports of random graffiti popping up in the Winchester area.

Handy is asking members of the public if they see something, say something by calling Winchester Police at 217-742-3456. He says if you see a prowler or Peeping Tom on your property, don’t confront them or try to apprehend them on your own but immediately call police.

The Village of Murrayville will be getting a new fire chief in the coming year.

Current Fire Chief John Sonneborn announced on Facebook this evening that he is handing over the chief position to Cody J. Kitselman after 12 years at the post.

Sonneborn says he is not leaving the Murrayville Volunteer Fire Department but is simply going to serve in a different capacity from now on: “[Kitselman] reminds me of myself and has a passion of helping the community in anyway he can. I have served as a fireman for 26 years and chief for 12 years. I am not leaving just stepping down as chief. I will serve on the fire department just at a different capacity. Please join me by giving your total support to Cody, he’s going to do an amazing job as chief!”

According to Kitselman’s Facebook, he has been working with the fire department for 13 years.

After weeks of speculation, Congresswoman Mary Miller of Oakland announced today that she intends to seek re-election to Congress in the new Illinois 15th Congressional District. The 15th District stretches across over 30 counties in Central Illinois. Miller will now fight for the Republican nomination against 5-term incumbent Rodney Davis of Taylorville.

Miller made the announcement today while also announcing she had been endorsed by former President Donald Trump. Miller says she was inspired by Trump to seek her first term in Congress in 2020: “President Donald Trump inspired me to run in 2020 because our country needs principled conservatives in Congress who always put America first. Today, President Trump is endorsing me because I am a conservative fighter who is not afraid to take on the DC swamp. I am not a career politician, and running for office is not my life’s ambition. My life is spent in the real world, on my small family farm with my husband Chris, where we were blessed to raise our seven children and welcome our seventeen grandchildren. I bring those values to Washington, not the other way around.”

Miller’s home in Oakland is just outside the newly drawn 15th District. Her home currently lies in the newly drawn 12th District with fellow Republican Congressman Mike Bost. Members of Congress do not have to live in the district they represent.

Miller faces a somewhat uphill climb to gain support in the newly drawn 15th District. Davis has already been endorsed by 32 of the 35 GOP county chairmen in the new 15th District, as well as by two of his neighboring Illinois Republican congressional colleagues, including Bost and current 18th District Congressman Darin LaHood.

The Davis Campaign was also quick to issue a blistering response to Miller’s announcement today calling her a “carpetbagger,” citing her raising in Oak Park and Naperville area: “Mary Miller is only an outsider in the sense that she doesn’t live in the 15th District. Miller is so desperate to stay in Congress she’s running in a district she doesn’t live in, just like her husband. The Millers are taking a page out of the Springfield political insider playbook. Politics is their family business.”

The Davis Campaign also struck at Miller’s support of Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey of Xenia: “Even worse, Miller supports the Never Trump ticket for Illinois Governor and refused to vote against Nancy Pelosi’s sham 1/6 Select Committee. All Mary Miller has to show for her time in Congress is quoting Hitler and voting with Democrats like AOC and the far left squad to defund our military and block a pay raise for our troops. That’s shameful. It’s clear that Mary Miller is all talk, no action. Rodney Davis is a conservative who gets things done. He’s already been hard at work highlighting his conservative accomplishments and work with President Trump during his time in office. Rodney is an effective conservative member of Congress and Mary is not.”

Miller’s time in Congress has been mired in controversy. On January 5, 2021, just two days into her term, Miller issued a prepared speech to the conservative group Moms for America in which she quoted Adolf Hitler. A number of groups and politicians strongly condemned the comment, harshly criticized Miller, and exhorted the Republican party to do likewise. Miller would apologize on Twitter three days later but accused critics of twisting her words.

She has called for current President Joe Biden’s impeachment over border security concerns, sought the firing of Dr. Anthony Fauci over his handling of the pandemic, is a member of the Freedom Caucus that has had controversies of its own.

She objected to the vote counting of Arizona and Pennsylvania on January 6th, 2021 once Congress was able to certify the election. She has regularly called the 2020 Election “tainted” and supported conspiracy theories about voter fraud surrounding the election. In her video announcing her re-election campaign today she said she’s pushing for secure elections: “I’m fighting for ‘real’ election security so that voters decide elections, not the ballot counters.” Davis recently commented favorably on the amount of security at the ballot box across Central Illinois and is pushing for a possible Voter ID law as part of his next term.

On March 19, 2021, she was one of 14 House Republicans to vote against a measure condemning the Myanmar coup d’état that overwhelmingly passed, for reasons reported to be unclear. In June 2021, Miller was one of 21 House Republicans to vote against a resolution to give the Congressional Gold Medal to police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol during the riot on January 6th.

The GOP primary pitting Davis against Miller is June 28th.

A Jacksonville Police officer had his foot ran over after attempting to arrest two individuals early this morning after a disturbance.

Jacksonville Police were originally called for a large fight in progress at a business in the 800 block of West Morton Avenue at 2:12 this morning. Upon arrival to the business, there was no disturbance to report and the subjects who had been involved had left the area.

At 2:34AM, officers located the subjects’ vehicle from the prior disturbance in the 1000 block of South Diamond Avenue and ordered them to leave the area. The subjects refused and after interfering with investigation into the prior incident, their vehicle was blocking traffic. Officers then advised the driver, a 17 year old female juvenile that she was under arrest for disobeying multiple commands to leave the area.

The juvenile resisted arrest and fled the area in a vehicle, striking the officer with the vehicle by running over their foot while fleeing from the scene. After evading initial arrest, police pulled the vehicle over at 2:59AM further into the 1000 block of South Diamond Avenue.

The 17 year old female juvenile was arrested for obstructing justice and aggravated assault of a peace officer. A passenger, 25 year old Mankila Y. Hart of the 200 block of East State Street was also cited for obstructing a peace officer. Both are currently being held at the Morgan County Jail. Hart was also later issued a letter of no trespass to the business on West Morton Avenue.

Crimestoppers of Morgan-Scott and Cass County had a slight downward trend on tips and arrests in the fourth quarter, but wrapped up the year ahead of 2020.

Tips received to the organization was down by 14 between October 1^st and the end of the year in statistics released on Thursday. Arrests were down 4 over that same time period. Followers to social media was up and the number of cases solved was even with just 1 over the final 3 month period.

Overall for the year, tips were up, but cases solved were down and arrests were up. 45 arrests were made on cases over the year. $8,300 worth of property was returned to its rightful owner over the year and over $6,800 worth of rewards were paid out over the year.

Crimestoppers welcomed its first podcast in the past year, which saw over 200 downloads across its 7 episodes so far. Crimestoppers is also expected to install 3 new board members from the Beardstown area for the first time in January.

An arbitrator has ruled that the state can mandate the COVID vaccine for Illinois prison guards and staffers at state juvenile detention facilities.

The decision ensures employees in State Correctional Facilities and Juvenile Justice Centers must get their first shot by January 31^st unless they are approved for a religious or medical exemption.

Governor JB Pritzker had ordered the vaccine mandate in the fall for workers in those congregate care settings, but AFSCME fought the mandate, sending the dispute to arbitration. Pritzker says the ruling will protect inmates and state workers amid a surge in Covid cases: “The recent surge of cases brought on by the Omicron variant has brought a serious threat to our state, and I’m glad that this ruling will protect nearly 10,000 state workers and all of the people at these facilities. Protecting the health and safety of workers and residents across the state remains a top priority for my administration and I look forward to continued discussions with our labor partners as we move forward with the task of keeping our employees and residents of our congregate facilities safe.”

The ruling impacts nearly 10,000 state workers.

Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton said yesterday she’s tested positive for a breakthrough case of COVID-19. She becomes the highest ranking official in Illinois’ government to come down with a case of the virus.

Stratton said on Twitter yesterday that she had mild symptoms and “will isolate as I recover.” She was fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and had also received a booster shot. Stratton said she was thankful for the shots to keep her symptoms mild and urged residents to get vaccinated.

The state is under its highest spike of infections since the pandemic began. Earlier this week, longtime U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush announced that he had tested positive for a breakthrough case of COVID-19.

The 75-year-old Chicago Democrat said he had no symptoms, was fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and had recently received a booster shot.

Almost a quarter of Illinois’ population eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine remain unvaccinated.

The Morgan-Scott-Cass Crimestoppers are gearing up for one of their biggest fundraising events in the new year.

The 6^th Annual Crime Stoppers Trivia Night is scheduled for Saturday, January 8^th at Bogart’s Banquet Hall.

Crimestoppers Board President Brad Fellhauer says all the proceeds goes towards Crimestoppers’ efforts to produce tips for crimes in the three-county service area and to pay out rewards for tips that lead to arrests. At the event, there will be bar service and refreshments available for purchase. Teams are welcome to bring their own snacks. Doors open at 6PM with Trivia beginning at 7PM.

Fellhauer says that teams may call ahead to reserve a table: “They can call Bogart’s and leave a message if they wish to sign a team up. It is $100 per team, with up to 10 people to a team; or there will be enough room for people to sign up the night of the event. Teams who call ahead don’t have to pay in advance, but if they would like to be sure that they have a table, they are welcome to call 217-245-5757.”

Fellhauer says that with Covid restrictions over the last year and a half that fundraising has either stopped completely or slowed down. He says that the trivia night has been well attended in year’s past and he hopes that continues when it returns on January 8^th.