A Jacksonville man convicted of first-degree murder in a 2014 shooting serving 50 years in prison had a motion denied in Morgan County Court this morning.

26 year old Avery T. Berry filed a post trial motion back in February for relief due to ineffective counsel during his 2015 murder trial. Berry’s motion argued that now retired-Springfield attorney Bruce Locher was not effective in defending him at trial for the shooting death of 24 year old Marcus Jackson.

Locher was chided by Circuit Judge Peter Cavanaugh at the October 2015 sentencing hearing for Berry for arriving late to the hearing. During a 2019 filing with the State Appellate Court, Berry said that Locher failed to investigate his mental health history and fitness for court proceedings. The 2019 motion argued that Berry had been diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Sangamon County Circuit Chief Judge John Madonia, after reviewing evidence and hearing testimony from witnesses, denied Berry’s motion for ineffective counsel. He was remanded back to the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections, but still has appeal options left in the case.

A Morgan County Commissioner has passed away.

Morgan County Coroner Marcy Patterson announced the passing of Commissioner William “Bill” Meier at his home today. He was 72. Meier had been battling a lengthy illness.

Meier became a commissioner in 2004 and was serving his 3^rd term at the time of his death.

The family will meet friends from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, November 12th at Williamson Funeral Home in Jacksonville. A memorial service will be conducted at 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 13th, at the funeral home.

The Illinois Attorney General’s Office Public Access Counsel has determined that the Village of South Jacksonville violated the Open Meetings Act in August.

Pursuant to a Public Access Complaint filed by WLDS News on August 11^th about the Village’s August 5^th meeting, the Attorney General’s Office said in a determination late yesterday evening that Village Attorney Rob Cross improperly advised the board to close the open meeting and hear public comment from 4 members of the public behind closed doors under the guise of protections that protect boards and public bodies of discussing personnel matters in open meetings.

Cross and then-Village President Tyson Manker believed that the comments were all in concern of Manker’s unilateral firing of Village Police Chief Eric Hansell the previous week. According to the Attorney General’s PAC counsel, the four individuals wishing to speak on the matter had the intent of being heard in open session, and therefore closing the session violated the Open Meetings Act.

Citing previous binding decisions dating back to 2018. the Attorney General’s office advised Cross and the Village of South Jacksonville to refrain from requiring the public to address it in closed session in the future and that by voting to release the audio recordings and comments by board vote on October 7^th, no further remedial action would be required. As of this morning, copies of those comments and the audio recordings of the comments had not been posted on either of the village’s websites found here and here.

A massive solar farm project on the Morgan County line is drawing ire in a neighboring county.

WMAY reports that the Sangamon County Board has approved a major solar farm project next to the Morgan County line, despite objections that the project will take thousands of acres of productive farmland out of service.

Double Black Diamond Solar Power LLC says the 592 megawatt solar farm is slated for completion in late 2023, and is estimated to generate more than $2 million in tax revenue per year over the life of the project. Power generated from the project is estimated to power 85,000 homes in the state. The project is being underwritten by Swift Current Energy, who has offices located in Springfield. Swift was responsible for a large scale wind project in Logan County, as well as a similar sized solar project in Christian County. A third Illinois project is mentioned on Swift’s website, but a location to that project entitled Triple Black Diamond has not been revealed.

According to WMAY, critics say the 4,100 acres of land will be turned into an industrial site, and say the county’s zoning ordinance did not envision such a massive project. Sangamon County’s zoning board approved the project and according to the report, said the zoning ordinances were purposely left ambiguous to allow for future, larger scale projects.

Governor J.B. Pritzker put his signature to amend the Health Care Right of Conscience Act yesterday afternoon.

According to a press release, Pritzker signed the amendment into law yesterday at the request of Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul. Senate Bill 1169 was passed mostly along party lines during last month’s veto session. According to that release, the amendment attempts to clarify the legislative intent of the HCRCA so that it cannot be abused or misinterpreted to jeopardize workplace safety. The press release says that the amendment also attempts to enshrine the long tradition of vaccine requirements by employers, including the COVID-19 vaccine.

Pritzker said in the press release he was happy the General Assembly passed the amendment and accused those who have cited the HCRCA as a way to refuse the Covid vaccines, as interpreting the intent of the bill in a wrongful manner. Pritzker’s Office says “the HCRCA has been improperly invoked to evade employers’ requirements for testing, masking, and vaccines. The misuse of the law’s original intent has put customers, staff, and community members at risk by exposing employers to legal retaliation for enacting life-saving public health measures.”

The press release about the bill signing says that the law still explicitly reiterates federal protections of sincerely held religious objections to refuse to receive or participate in healthcare services that are contrary to personal beliefs, including religious or moral objections to specific services.

The bill becomes effective on June 1^st of next year.

A local company recently featured on Good Morning America is expanding its operations.

The Nothing Fancy Supply Company has added two new employees and taken on a dedicated manufacturing space in Jacksonville.

Owner Colleen Flinn was featured on the Saturday, October 30^th “Deals & Steals” segment on Good Morning America for the company’s sustainable beeswax handmade food wraps.

Flinn says she began making the wraps in her home to sell at The Old Capitol Farmers Market in downtown Springfield three years ago and didn’t imagine the business would expand to a national market.

Flinn has moved her business from a shed in her backyard to a warehouse location at 200 East Douglas Avenue that has over 3,000 square feet of warehouse and production space.

According to a press release, it’s been a massive year for Nothing Fancy Supply Company, which was featured in Midwest Living Magazine this past Spring and exhibited at AmericasMart in Atlanta, Georgia in July. In addition, Flinn was awarded the Snail of Approval Slow Food Award for her wraps and was a Springfield business Journal Forty Under 40 recipient this year.

To celebrate success, the company is is hosting an open (ware)house event on Saturday, November 20^th. More information about the event can be found by visiting Nothing Fancy Supply on Facebook.

There was little to say about ongoing litigation discussions between the Village of South Jacksonville and Jacksonville Affordable Housing last night in a special session.

The two sides met in closed session for a little over an hour to discuss the five-year litigation case over water billing and rates for residents of Labor Drive.

Both sides refused to go on record for requests for comment last night. Jacksonville Affordable Housing’s counsel John Wolters said the following, asking not to be recorded: “We were happy that the Village Board invited us, and we hope that this meeting moves us closer to resolving the matter.”

Previous administrations have made multiple attempts to settle the dispute, but little progress has been made.

South Jacksonville Village President Mike Broaddus declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation.

The pending litigation is set to be heard for status in Morgan County court in January.

A White Hall man who failed to register as a sex offender in August of last year was sentenced in Greene County court on Friday afternoon. 53 year old Hillery E. Stuller of White Hall plead guilty to one count of violating the sex offender registration act on September 1^st. Stuller remained in custody at the Greene County Jail for the past two months awaiting sentencing in the case after pre-sentencing investigations and testimony from local law enforcement was given at follow up hearings.

Greene County Judge Zachary Schmidt sentenced Stuller to 30 months of adult probation, a $500 county fine, plus court costs per the September open plea. Schmidt also ordered Stuller to comply with recommended sex offender treatment; ordered a drug & alcohol evaluation and treatment, and prohibited Stuller from purchase and/or consumption of alcohol for the duration of his probation. Stuller was given credit for 90 days served.

The gas pump price in Jacksonville is volatile all over town, as nationally the average price continues to creep up.

The average price for a gallon of gas in Jacksonville is currently $3.46. That’s four cents higher than the national average of $3.42 a gallon. Gas prices haven’t been this high in 7 years. The latest decision by OPEC and its oil-producing allies to maintain their planned gradual increase in output will not help lessen supply constraints, so any relief will most likely have to come from the demand side, according to AAA.

The prices locally and nationally are over 15 cents higher than a month ago. Despite the high prices locally, Jacksonville bests Springfield by a nickel, who sits at an average of $3.51 a gallon. Morgan and Scott Counties as whole are the best places to get gas in the region, with the rest of the listening area averaging above $3.50 a gallon.

By comparison, neighboring Missouri prices hover just above $3 a gallon. AAA says with daylight getting shorter, some demand may lower over the next few weeks. Energy Information Administration statistics say that demand rose across the country to 9.5 million barrels per day last week, so any lowering of demand or price is likely to be slow over the next few weeks.