Four members of former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s inner circle are set to go to trial late next Fall.
U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber said today that trials for Madigan confidant Michael McClain, former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore, onetime ComEd lobbyist John Hooker and ex-City Club President Jay Doherty are scheduled for September 12, 2022. All four have plead not guilty to charges that accuse them of a long-term bribery scheme to curry favor with Madigan.
The Chicago Tribune reports that Leinenweber also questioned Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker about the ongoing possibility of a superseding indictment — which could add new allegations and defendants to the case. Streicker told the judge that no further information about an indictment was available today but the investigation remained active and ongoing. Prosecutors said presenting their case would take about a month.
Prosecutors also said Tuesday they’re still in the process of turning over records and evidence in the case, with the most recent “large production” made in late June. Streicker said today another discovery production was being loaded up for defense currently. The feds had previously turned over more than a million pages of records in discovery as well as discs containing wiretapped calls and other electronic evidence.
Many have anticipated that the superseding indictment may include Madigan, but so far the former House Speaker has not been charged and has plead his innocence on numerous occasions. A pre-trial hearing for the four has been set for October 21st.
A West Central Illinois hospital has agreed to pay the government over $2.8 million to resolve false Medicare and Medicaid claims over unnecessary procedures performed by a doctor.
Blessing Hospital in Quincy, Illinois, has agreed to pay approximately $2.82 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by submitting claims for medically unnecessary cardiac catheterization procedures performed by a physician who no longer practices in the Central District of Illinois. Today’s settlement resulted from a voluntary disclosure by Blessing Hospital.
The settlement resolves allegations that Blessing Hospital obtained payments from Medicare and Medicaid for the facility component of cardiac catheterization procedures performed between August 1, 2012, and August 30, 2018, in which the physician implanted medically unnecessary coronary arterial stents. The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.
The settlement was the result of a coordinated effort by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois, the Civil Division of the Department of Justice, the Inspector General’s Office of the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Illinois State Police Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Hoelzer and Department of Justice Senior Trial Counsel Laurie Oberembt represented the government during the settlement process.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is praising a recent court decision surrounding transgender discrimination.
Raoul says he’s pleased with the 2nd District Illinois Appellate Court affirmation of transgender persons’ rights under the Illinois Human Rights Act in the lawsuit against Hobby Lobby.
The Illinois Human Rights Commission ruled that Hobby Lobby violated the Illinois Human Rights Act when it denied Meggan Sommerville, a transgender woman, use of the women’s bathroom at the store where she works in North Aurora. The Appellate Court affirmed the commission’s determination that Hobby Lobby violated articles two and five of the Human Rights Act, which prohibit discrimination based on gender identity in the terms and conditions of employment and in the provision of facilities in a place of public accommodation. The commission had awarded Sommerville $220,000 in damages and required Hobby Lobby to grant Sommerville access to the women’s bathroom.
Raoul explained, the law defines “sex” as “the status of being male or female,” and does not draw distinctions based on reproductive organs, genetic information, or the sex marker used on a birth certificate. Raoul also argued that Hobby Lobby could stigmatize Sommerville by requiring her to use a single-occupant, unisex bathroom that, during the litigation, was built at the store where she works. Raoul encourages individuals to report instances of discrimination or harassment by calling his Civil Rights Hotline at 1-877-581-3692.
Illinois Republicans say that census numbers prove they were right about the state’s re-map.
Illinois Republican Chairman Don Tracy says that the Democratic-drawn map is in violation of federal law and provisions in the Illinois State Constitution.
State Democrats drew a new map during the Spring legislative session on the basis of 2019 American Community Surveys statistics rather than the 2020 decennial census information, which was released this past Thursday.
According to analysis done by the GOP, the Democrats proposed House districts have a population range of 29.88%, which is three times the allowable limit allowed by federal law made by the U.S. Supreme Court in equal representation rulings in 1975 and 2016.
Republican leaders have asked the federal court to declare the remap signed into law by Governor J.B. Pritzker on June 30th as void so that a bi-partisan Legislative Redistricting Commission can redraw the map.
Area lawmakers’ reactions to the U.S.’s withdrawal from Afghanistan has fallen along party lines.
18th District Congressman Darin LaHood says that the evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and the fall of the Afghan government is disappointing but expected. LaHood says that President Joe Biden has ignored warnings about a hasty pull-out from the country would cause chaos. LaHood blames Biden for Afghanistan’s return to a pre-September 11th condition.
13th District Congressman Rodney Davis spoke in similar tone, saying that Biden was attempting to score points politically rather than take stock of what Davis called a “humanitarian crisis” unfolding in Afghanistan.
Illinois Senator Dick Durbin answered with just the opposite, saying that Biden understands the history of Afghanistan and was fulfilling the withdrawal agreement by former President Donald Trump to have American troops out of the country by this year. Durbin says the cost of the war in money and lives was not sustainable. Durbin accuses Republicans of hypocrisy since they echoed Trump’s call for an even faster withdrawal from the country within the last two years.
The City of Jacksonville has gone through some major changes over the last ten years. The most glaring change has been the population decline.
Jacksonville’s 2020 census reveals that 1,830 people left over the last decade, leaving the current count at 17,616. It’s a 9.41% drop in population compared to 2010. According to the State Journal Register, it was Illinois’ 17th largest percentage reduction in population for a municipality.
According to the census data, the city got more racially diverse with large jumps in the biracial, Asian, and Latino population while white, black, and Native American populations declined.
Mayor Andy Ezard says that he’s disappointed with the report of the population decline because he believes good things are happening in the city: “As mayor and working with our council, we will continue to do what we can to make Jacksonville as far as making Jacksonville attractive with infrastructure improvements and recreational opportunities to try to at least keep those folks here as we have now but potentially lure some new individuals. One thing this pandemic has taught us that folks may want to get away from the city. Now, a city like Jacksonville may be appealing that they can work out of their home. In turn, our initiative that’s finishing up – the community-wide broadband – they have that potential to work out of their home with good broadband with good capabilities. The things we are doing as far as recreational like the lake improvements, the parks, the swimming pool, new sidewalks, roads, the sewer plant update, the water plant update – those all play into it. We just have to keep the pedal down, so to speak, and try to attract people here.”
Ezard said he expected the numbers to be down, but didn’t expect them to be that significant. Ezard hopes that the path forward is continued amenities and improvements to the city’s infrastructure: “Finishing up Phase IV of our Downtown project and pushing forward for Phase V in the completion of Downtown is significant. There was initiatives that I’d like to see – a Phase VI so to speak – but that’s on the city’s responsibility, which is getting South Main from Morton Avenue to the Square looking better as far as curbs, gutters, and sidewalks. Those are important to me and that’s going to be a lot of money.”
Ezard hopes that a recent bill signed by the governor will help the state unload the Jacksonville Developmental Center and get that property cleaned up. He says he has concerns over down enrollments at ISVI and ISD are also concerns in the near term. Overall, Ezard says he’s still believes Jacksonville is one of the best places in the state to raise a family and retire to: “I’m not negative. I’ve got to be positive. I’m the cheerleader for the town. There is other cheerleaders out there as well. I still think this is a very good town even though some folks have left. This is a very good town to live in and raise your children and grow old in. I think by just keep pushing the positive daily and getting that word out that we will be okay.”
Jacksonville wasn’t the only municipality in Morgan County to take the hit. South Jacksonville lost 29 people, but saw major increases in all ethnic diversity classes in the city. Waverly, Chapin, Meredosia, and Murrayville netted losses of 100 or more. Markham and Pisgah rural precincts were the only places that saw areas of growth in the county.
City/Precinct/Township
2010 Census
2020 Census
Jacksonville
19,446
17,616
South Jacksonville
3,331
3,302
Waverly
1,307
1,194
Meredosia
1,044
826
Franklin
610
610
Murrayville
587
567
Woodson
512
498
Chpain
512
475
Concord
167
150
Lynnville
117
96
Morgan County Census Numbers 2010-2020 Courtesy U.S. Census Bureau
WLDS News has learned that Chapin Village President Kenneth Drake has resigned effective immediately.
We are still attempting to gather information and circumstances surrounding the resignation. Drake was re-elected for another term to the position in April.
The Chapin Village Board of Trustees has called a special meeting for Tuesday night at 7PM to select a president pro-temp from among their members.
A Greene County man is behind bars in Jersey County after a high speed chase damaged the Joe Page Bridge in Hardin.
According to the Tri-County Scanner Page, Grafton Police attempted a traffic stop on a late-model red Mustang Convertible near Pere Marquette State Park at approximately 9:20 Saturday night. The vehicle sped off on Illinois Route 100 northwest towards Calhoun County.
Calhoun County Sheriff Bill Heffington says that he was monitoring calls on other emergency channels while watching the Kampsville Celebration wind down: “I was scanning another police agency where they were in pursuit with a guy armed with a knife and possibly had held people under restraints with that knife. When I heard the chase come in off of Illinois Route 3 into Grafton heading northbound at a high rate of speed by Pere Marquette Park, I got ahold of my guys and let them know there was a fleeing vehicle from police officers coming up Route 100. We decided to head to the bridge. We notified the bridge that they could put the gates down for us so they could catch this guy. We had one officer on the east side of the bridge waiting, and I and the chief deputy was set on the west side bridge where we had spike strips and I was sideways on the bridge and got everybody off the bridge because the gates were down. We didn’t want to put anyone in harm’s way.”
Heffington says a short time later after he had cleared the bridge that he could hear the suspect’s vehicle crash the gates on the bridge. The suspect then attempted to side-swipe his vehicle once it came off the bridge to turn northbound out of Hardin. Heffington said he doesn’t know how he avoided being t-boned off the bridge at that rate of speed, and considers himself lucky. Heffington says he then notified the North Calhoun Fire Protection District to help stop the vehicle just about 2 miles south of Kampsville: “I thought he had me, but somehow he missed. I don’t know, I was very lucky. He got sideways and went bouncing sideways. I followed him while he was bouncing sideways as he headed back north. I called ahead to the North Calhoun Fire Department. Those guys did an excellent job. They got the big fire trucks there by the American Legion building coming into the south village limits [in Kampsville], and got the road blocked off. I told them that if this guy goes through Kampsville at 75-80 miles an hour, there’s going to be people and kids getting killed, because their festivities for their annual celebration was winding down. The fire department just got their vehicles lined up and this guy was coming on, running without lights on, and the driver decided not to hit the fire trucks and went off road through a right-of-way road and an embankment. I stayed right with him. He lost control and went into a neighbor’s yard just north of the American Legion and crashed into a utility shed, which was on blocks. He knocked it about 10 feet before coming to a stop.”
Heffington says he placed his front brush guard alongside the driver’s side to keep the driver from escaping the vehicle and took the suspect, who was alone in the vehicle, into custody. Reported speeds in the chase reached over 110 miles an hour at certain points. Some witnesses say that the driver discarded objects from the car during the chase in and around the Nutwood area along Illinois Route 100.
Photo from the crash site south of Kampsville.
40 year old Christopher N. Raines of White Hall was then taken into custody and determined to need medical attention. Calhoun EMS transported Raines to Boyd Memorial Hospital in Carrollton for non-life threatening injuries. Raines was later released and taken to the Jersey County Jail. Heffington says that Raines had outstanding warrants in St. Louis County, Missouri for theft and burglary and an outstanding warrant in Madison County for drug charges. Raines has now been charged with two citations of aggravated fleeing and eluding police, criminal damage to state supported property, possession of methamphetamine less than 5 grams, possession of a controlled substance purported fetanyl, illegal use of a weapon, and unlawful possession of hypodermic needles. Heffington says more charges may be pending. Raines is being held on $100,000 bond at the Jersey County Jail.
The Joe Page Bridge in Calhoun County remains closed at this time pending repair of the bridge’s arms. Riverbender says that inspections and new permits would also be part of making the bridge accessible to Calhoun residents again. For now, residents will have to exit the county eastbound via ferries in Brussels and Kampsville until access is restored.
UPDATE 2PM Monday, August 16: The Joe Page Bridge has been reopened to traffic.
A well-known chef in West Central Illinois will soon be opening a new venue in Jacksonville on the Downtown Square.
Andrew Deuel, the Executive Chef at Hagel 1891 in Mt. Sterling, will be opening a new venue some time this Fall in Jacksonville on the northeast corner of the Square called the Little Stove. Deuel who has been the executive chef at Hagel 1891 since April 2016 has been a resident of Jacksonville since that time.
Deuel and his wife Liz Tracy will be co-owners of the new venue will be taking some inspiration from a Chicago location.
Tracy presented the idea to the Jacksonville City Council on Monday night when the city council approved extending the new venue a liquor license: “We are hoping to open an Italian market and wine bar in Downtown Jacksonville. If you have been to Eataly in Chicago, that is sort of one of the big inspirations behind it. You’ll be able to come in and eat, but you’ll also be able to shop and take food home. Andrew is the chef at Hagel. Now, he has left Hagel to come here.”
The venue will be located at 30 North Central Park Plaza just across the street from the Illinois Theatre. It was had been the home to Just Good Trade and Newman’s Shoes.
No word is out yet on a menu or location, but the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce Facebook says the venue will open some time this year.
