The Sangamon County Fair will be getting a date on a performer who needed a raincheck during the fair this year.

Country musician Riley Green will perform a free concert Oct. 6 in a show of appreciation from Sangamon County Fair directors. The one-night event at the fairgrounds in New Berlin will not require a ticket.

According to the Journal Courier, Green is making up the date from June 18th. Green’s performance was cut due to a storm that damaged equipment and instruments that shuttered the grandstands.

Parking for the October 6^th date will be $10. Food and drink will be available for purchase. A raffle drawing will also be held to win a guitar autographed by Riley Green. Additional details will be posted at a later time to the Sangamon County Fair’s social media pages and website.

The Illinois Teacher Retirement System is shedding a bit of light on why several of their top executives were either terminated or resigned last year.

A recent Office of the Illinois Inspector General investigation focused on conflicts of interest held by a former TRS employee has been released. You can read the full report here.

The OEIG investigation revealed that former Chief Information Officer Jay Singh was actively involved with the awarding of work to candidates provided by a subcontractor of which he was the President and Chief Executive Officer. According to the report, Singh claimed to have resigned from his company Singh 3 Consulting, Incorporated and severed all ties when TRS hired him full time. Singh’s company had been hired on as consultants for TRS’s and specifically Singh was hired on October 1^st, 2018 to be project manager of the new Gemini project, a pay-period reporting program for the state’s teacher retirement system.

The OIEG report maintains that Singh and his relatives remained involved with the company. In addition, more than $30,000 in payments were made by the company to a credit card account through transactions that referenced Singh after he became a full-time TRS employee. The OEIG concluded that the employee violated TRS’ conflicts of interest policy.

The OEIG also said in its report that senior TRS management, including former TRS Chief Financial Officer Jana Bergschneider and former TRS Executive Director Richard Ingram failed to perform a detailed analysis of whether Singh had truly severed ties with his company. Singh has now been blacklisted from ever being hired by the State of Illinois and his company to ever contract with the state ever again.

The OEIG recommended that TRS implement more detailed conflict of interest policies for its organization.

TRS has responded to the report saying that the payment of benefits were not disrupted by the conflict of interest or by the OIEG investigation. TRS praised the 8 whistleblowers within the organization who filed complaints against Singh beginning in 2019. TRS says that an internal investigation also yielded similar findings, resulting in 5 executives leaving the system last year which include Chief Financial Officer Jana Bergschneider being terminated in June and Executive Director Richard Ingram’s resignation in August as well as Singh’s resignation and resignations from general counsel and the chief human resources officer all taking place in August of last year.

The Illinois Times reported in October that TRS paid nearly $700,000 on lawyers to investigate both Bergschneider and Ingram in the case. Since November 2020, Bergschneider has worked as the chief fiscal officer and human resource director at the state’s Office of the State Appellate Defender. According to the Illinois Times, the FBI expressed interest in the matter last year but nothing further has been released on the matter.

TRS also terminated several outside consultants and developers who played a part in the scheme. TRS has also implemented a new whistleblower hotline to allow employees to raise anonymous complaints involving any type of impropriety to eliminate retaliation. Singh nor any of the resigned executives have been charged with any crimes in relation to the case.

With $53.4 billion in its investment portfolio, TRS is the state’s largest pension system. In the 2020 fiscal year, TRS’ assumed rate of return for its pension investments was 7%, but the actual rate of return was only 0.6%, according to a final report published by the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability earlier this summer.

The Illinois House is expected to reconvene in special session this week. 99^th District Representative Mike Murphy told WTAX this morning that the house is expected to come back to Springfield on Thursday.

The likely reason: the outstanding energy bill that the Senate passed during special session last week. The bill, which was filed over the weekend, includes an amendment requiring a 100 percent reduction in carbon emissions for municipal coal by 2045 with the additional goal of reducing emissions by 45 percent by 2035. The amendment apparently has the support of Governor J.B. Pritzker.

In addition to a specific timeline for the closure of coal plants, this bill as amended also includes interim carbon pollution reductions for the Prairie State coal plant and CWLP’s Dallman coal plant in Springfield. Many groups have said the new legislation will cause utility prices to rise considerably over the next 5 years.

The Virginia Masonic Lodge wraps up its annual schedule of cookouts this weekend.

The Virginia Masonic Lodge will conclude it’s season of cook-outs on Saturday with proceedings benefiting the Virginia School Performance Based Incentive System (PBIS) initiative.

The cook-out will feature fresh grilled bratwurst and jumbo hot dogs. It will be held at the Fast Stop located on the northwest corner of the Ill. Rtes. 125 and 78 junction in Virginia. Food service will begin at 10 a.m. and run until 1 p.m. or when supplies are exhausted.

Lodge Master Brad Bowman said this final cook-out reinforces our support and the community’s support for Virginia schools.

Bowman says the PBIS is to create a positive school environment that supports learning and the importance of positive behavior by addressing behaviors that are not desirable or appropriate, and that positive behaviors also lead to better academic performance.

Bowman wishes to thank the Cass County and Virginia community for continuing to support the cookouts annually.

Morgan County Coroner Marcy Patterson has released the name of the decedent from the Sunday morning death on the Prairieland Heritage Museum grounds.

58 year old Edwina Teubener of Jacksonville was found unconscious and not breathing on the grounds of the Prairieland Heritage Museum near the intersection of West Michigan Avenue and Tendick Street. The caller reported that citizens who were on the scene when the woman was found had begun performing CPR. A short time later Teubener was pronounced deceased.

Details surrounding the incident have not been released by police. 48-year-old Michael O. Bailey of South Jacksonville has been arrested as the lone suspect in the case. Bailey was taken into custody on charges of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and failing to report it; concealment of a homicidal death; aggravated reckless driving; and, driving under the influence of alcohol. He is currently being held at the Morgan County Jail awaiting a first appearance in court.

The South Jacksonville Police Department, Illinois State Police, and Morgan County Coroner’s Office continue their investigation into the events.

A suspect in the death of a woman in Palmyra, Missouri may be in the Springfield area according to police.

Palmyra, Missouri Police say they responded to a medical call in the 100 block of East Jefferson Street in Palmyra, Missouri at 10:45 a.m. this morning. According to WGEM in Quincy when police and EMS crews arrived, they found a woman dead in a parked car.

Palmyra Police Chief Eddie Bogue told KTVO hat the death is considered suspicious. Just after 9:15 p.m. Palmyra Police say they are now looking for a person of interest in the unnamed woman’s death. Raymond Dean Gum, Jr. is believed to be traveling in or around the Springfield area tonight. Gum is described as a white male, 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 240 pounds, with short brown hair.

Bogue said the man was last seen in an older model silver Buick Le Sabre. The possible registration could say Missouri VE3-N7F or Illinois BE99074. Police said they don’t know which of the two registrations might be on the vehicle. Bogue believes that Gum is heading to the Springfield, Illinois area tonight.

Gum is considered armed and dangerous. Police are advising the public not to approach him. If you have seen Gum or know of his whereabouts, contact your local police department or the Palmyra Missouri Police Department at 573-406-3708.

The Marion County, Missouri Sheriff’s Office and the Missouri State Highway Patrol are also assisting in the ongoing investigation.

The Village of South Jacksonville will have a new leader a new budget. The Village Board of Trustees have selected Trustee Mike Broaddus to be the president pro temp of the village until the next municipal election. Broaddus was appointed to his trustee position by former Village President Tyson Manker to fill the seat vacated by Jason Hill back in June. Broaddus will officially be accepted at the next official board meeting.

Broaddus said after the meeting that he wants to heal the village and begin working on the local economy: “I’m honored they chose me. I’m looking forward to healing the village and getting us back to normal. Right now, I think what we should do is try to get stuff along better lines of communication, work on more things with [village] employees, and like I said, just get things back to a normal standard of operation. I think the main thing right now is just make sure we try to get back to drawing more businesses down here to South Jacksonville. That is one of my number one goals is getting more businesses down here – restaurants, stores, and so forth and basically try to balance the village’s budget.”

The village did pass their Fiscal Year 2022 budget during the meeting after several weeks of contentious debate on particular line items. Revenues appear to be fairly flat across the village. Village Finance Committee Chair Megan Davidson says the main sticking point for the last several weeks were salaries and particular line items in the administration: “The main reasons is just the unknown of the salaries and their increases. I think we understand that now, and we’re working on a raise, and figuring that all out. I think that was the biggest issue.”

The trustees did vote to table a 3.5% percent salary increase for certain village employees until the next meeting.

In other action items, the only two events surrounding Freedom Fest that are continuing under unanimous board approval are the dedication and ceremony surrounding the new American flag site and Little Ms./Little Mr. Pageant. Trustee Stacy Pinkerton asked if the board wanted to partially dedicate the flag to former Mayor Tyson Manker. Trustee Tom Jordan disagreed with the idea that it was for everyone in the village and not just one person, so the idea was dropped. Public Works Superintendent John Green is working on identifying if a proper building permit was issued for the flag project and is expected to get back with board of trustees in the next few days. The board is also going to communicating with the billboard company Lamar to change the Freedom Fest billboard graphics to identify the event’s changes.

The board also approved the purchase of a new Code Enforcement vehicle for around $10,000 and approved trading in the former car to Auto Mart in Jacksonville. The board also approved a $25,000 tourism grant to the Prairieland Heritage Museum for its upcoming Steam Show festivities.

The board tabled new language to be included in certain code enforcement ordinances. Those changes will be listed on the agenda and voted on individually for the board’s next business meeting.

A murder trial in Morgan County was delayed today because a defense attorney was tied up with another case in a nearby county.

38 year old Joshua E. Wilson is facing three charges of first degree murder in the shooting death of 26 year old Malcolm V. Fitts in late February in the parking lot of the Turner Hi-Rise Apartment Complex. Wilson has plead not guilty in the case.

In today’s hearing in Morgan County Court, visiting Macoupin County Judge Kenneth Diehl charged Wilson’s defense counsel with a continuance to be determined, because Wilson’s private counsel, Marcus Shantz of Springfield, was not able to be in attendance due to a bench trial in Sangamon County Court in which he was defending a client.

Shantz had made a prior entry of appearance in July, but according to his defendant, Shantz has not been in contact with him since some time in August. Diehl ruled that a teleconference would be set up with Shantz at a later date to determine the next time Wilson is to appear in court for a pre-trial hearing.

Public Defender Tom Piper, who is representing Wilson on 2020 cases for traffic violations and felony domestic battery will also be included on the call to determine if all the cases will be tried together or separately. Piper also asked Judge Diehl to consider a waiver for appearance for Wilson at the teleconference hearing if they are only setting up court dates. Diehl said it would be under discussion with Shantz when they are able to set a time to talk.

Wilson will next appear in Morgan County Court a time to be determined.