Greenfield Police made an arrest yesterday evening in connection to an ongoing investigation to multiple burglaries and car burglaries.

According to the Greene County Sheriff’s Department, 18 year old Darrius D. Williams of Greenfield has been arrested on multiple charges and is being held without bail in connection to these various incidents. A 16 year old juvenile has also been arrested and charged in connection to these incidents as well.

Greenfield Police says they are continuing their investigation to recover and identify stolen property. The Greenfield Police also wish to remind the northern Greene County area to keep valuables out of sight in parked vehicles and to ensure vehicles, outbuildings, and garages are locked.

Further details and information on charges against Williams are forthcoming from the Greene County State’s Attorney’s Office.

A lightning strike from a severe storm moving through the area yesterday afternoon burned a home to the ground north of Carrollton.

Homeowner Rodney Flowers told WLDS he was two weeks away from moving into his retirement home with his wife, which had just been built in the 300 block of Jameson Road, approximately 1 mile north of Carrollton on Route 67. Flowers said that he was on the back porch of the home moving things into the house at around 3:30 yesterday afternoon when he heard a loud pop and smelled smoke. He ran to the northeast end of the structure and found it fully engulfed after a lightning strike. Flowers said the home was fully involved in less than 15 minutes.

Carrollton, Greenfield, White Hall, Roodhouse, and Eldred fire departments all responded to the scene. The fire departments all had representatives on the scene this morning suppressing hot spots. No injuries were reported in yesterday’s fire. Flowers says he’s thankful for the community and the fire departments for their swift and able support in this tough time for him and his family.

A Beardstown landmark is in danger of coming down.

The Cass County Star Gazette says that the former International Organization of Odd Fellows Building located at 121 Main Street in Beardstown is showing significant cracks in a column in the front facade of the building, revealing damage to the integrity of the building.

Beardstown Mayor Tim Harris told the Star Gazette that the condition of the building has worsened over the week. He said structural engineers have determined that the building is in danger of imminent collapse. A portion of the downstairs of the building was currently housing the Main Street Tap bar. Utilities have been shut off to the building and a safety fence now surrounds the perimeter of the building. The bar has moved out its equipment and operations since Sunday.

The building was built in 1889 by the Odd Fellows as their meeting hall. The Star Gazette says the Bley Family purchased the building in 1965. It has had several ventures in the building since then. The Odd Fellows symbol still sits on the top of the building.

It’s the second historical building in Beardstown’s downtown riverfront district that may come down in the year after a fire consumed the old Meyer Hotel on East Fourth Street in May.

A well-known Jacksonville restaurant that’s gone through a carousel of owners since it opened more than 30 years ago has yet another new owner.

Lonzerotti’s, located in the old Chicago & Alton Railroad station at 600 East State Street has been purchased by Joe Standley. The Springfield Business Journal reports that Standley, a 2011 Routt graduate and Jacksonville native, has spent his last decade in Chicago working in the hospitality industry.

Standley told the Springfield Business Journal he intends to offer contemporary American cuisine and source some menu items from local farmers.

Standley says the famous Lonzerotti Italian dressing will still be available in stores and is currently owned by a separate business in St. Louis.

Standley says he’s been making and selling his own salad dressing as a way to produce income while he renovates the East State location. Standley says he will be renaming the restaurant to Proud Richard’s and hopes to open the location some time this Fall.

The Virginia School District is planning on issuing a bond to increase it’s working cash fund.

The Journal Courier says that the bond would allow the district to keep paying outstanding bonds already set from previous years’ construction and making funds available to continue the day-to-day operations of the school district.

There will also be an extension of outstanding bonds attached to recent construction, so issuing the bond would ensure students have access to modern technology and curriculum. The working cash fund bond would ensure that the student-teacher ratio remains low so that one teacher isn’t overwhelmed with students. Currently, classes set between 15:1 and 20:1.

The school district intends to issue bonds in the aggregate amount of $1.8 million, hoping to not raise the district’s property tax rate.

An email asking for comment from Superintendent Gary DuPatis on the specifics of the bond has not been returned.

The Illinois Department of Agriculture today announced that Opening Day events at the Illinois State Fair this evening are cancelled due to inclement weather. The announcement of the cancellations was prompted by the severe weather advisories in the area.

The Illinois State Fairgrounds are located in Sangamon County, which is currently experiencing severe thunderstorms. To protect fairgoers from the extreme weather conditions, the annual Twilight Parade and the Sammy Hagar and The Circle concert this evening are cancelled this evening.

Two area hospital systems are updating their visitor policies due to the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases in the region.

Hospitals within HSHS Illinois and Memorial Health System will only allow one visitor in most situations – with some exceptions – beginning at 7 a.m. Tomorrow.

In a press release from Memorial Health Systems, they say the decision was made as part of the hospitals’ ongoing efforts to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus and protect patients and health care professionals. Family members and other support persons will be able to call each hospital for assistance in checking on patients and should give nursing staff their contact information.

The new guidelines for both hospital systems are as follows:

• At HSHS IL hospitals, visitors under the age of 18 continue to be prohibited, unless they are the parent of a child receiving care. Memorial Health System prohibits visitors who are 16 years old and younger unless they are the parent of a child receiving care.
• Emergency department: One visitor who must remain in the patient’s room for duration of visit.
• Inpatient adult: One visitor during the hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. One overnight visitor permitted at MHS hospitals.
• Inpatient at end-of-life: Two visitors. Please call the appropriate hospital (see list below) for guidance in specific situations.
• Inpatient obstetrics and maternity: Two support persons; one overnight visitor at MHS hospitals.
• Pediatrics, inpatient and outpatient: Two parents/guardians.
• Surgery/procedure, inpatient and outpatient: One visitor in the waiting area only for the duration of the surgical procedure.
• Outpatient services: Patients being provided outpatient services are encouraged to come alone whenever possible or have visitors wait outside until services are complete.
• Any patient with intellectual and/or developmental disability or cognitive impairments: One support person.
• No visitors are allowed for patients being treated or evaluated for COVID-19 until a COVID-19 infection is ruled out.

The two health systems will also continue the screening process for anyone entering their hospitals. People entering will have their temperature checked with a forehead scan thermometer and answer a brief set of questions. Medical-grade masks are required in all health care settings.

Individuals will not be allowed to enter if their temperature is above 100.4 F, if they display symptoms of acute respiratory illness, including coughing, shortness of breath and sore throat, or if they refuse to wear a mask.

Family members and friends can call hospitals for assistance. Each hospital will also have limited access at designated entrances.

Freedom Fest in South Jacksonville currently is in limbo. The village’s budget committee met for three hours last night, with one third of that time being spent on the festival.

Trustees were given a paper budget that was gone over by village intern Clay Johnson. Trustee Paula Belobradjic-Stewart was concerned about all the different events and pieces surrounding the festival, scheduled to begin several days ahead of the ultimate event on Saturday, September 11^th.

Belobradjic-Stewart voiced concerns about all that needs to be done between now and the festival and the costs to the village’s tourism fund: “There is a lot of moving parts and the more you add, the harder it gets to orchestrate all of it. My suggestion would be to let’s see how we can make it work. We are a month out, but it going to have to (and it’s just my opinion)…going to have to be scaled back. You’re talking about an $85,000 budget right now and I don’t even know if that includes everything [we need].”

Belobradjic-Stewart went on to remark that she believed the budget was bigger than any of the Concert In the Cornfield. Treasurer Tiffanee Peters said that approximately $8,000 had already been spent on advertising for the event.

Trustee Stacy Pinkerton and Belobradjic-Stewart also brought up the recent uptick in COVID-19 transmission in the county. Pinkerton along with Police Chief Eric Hansell said they would be reaching out to entities, including the Morgan County Health Department on what if any restrictions to the event would have to be made. Between questions concerning the budget of the event, a simple lack of volunteers, and the current high rates of transmission the board came to a consensus in that they may make a decision on the scale of the Freedom Fest later this week, with a possibility the event may be canceled all together.

Streets and Sewers Superintendent John Green told the committee that it was time to move on the project if they wanted his department to have time to prepare things for the event. Chief Hansell and Fire Chief Rich Evans, Jr. said they would continue to ask their department for volunteers to help work the event.

When asked for comment after the meeting, various trustees said they would rather make comment after a majority decision is made later this week.

Illinois’ Senators say that the state will receive $15 billion if the new federal infrastructure becomes law.

U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin announced yesterday that the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act would invest approximately $1.2 trillion in federal resources over the next 5 years, including $567.4 billion in new infrastructure spending and $93.5 billion in additional funding authorizations.

Duckworth and Durbin say that Illinois could expect $9.8 billion for federal-aid highway apportioned programs and $1.4 billion for bridge replacement and repairs, and $4 billion over five years to improve public transportation options across the state.

Broadband connectivity is also expected to receive a boost. The bill would provide a minimum allocation of $100 million to help provide broadband coverage across the state, including providing access to the at least 228,000 Illinoisans who currently lack it. 2,926,000 Illinoisans, or 23%, will be eligible for the Affordability Connectivity Benefit, which will help low-income families afford Internet access.

It’s also expected to provide $149 million over five years to support the expansion of an electric vehicle charging network in the state. Illinois is eligible for $2.5 billion in competitive EV charging grants.

The bill also authorizes Duckworth’s bipartisan Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act (DWWIA), which would help rebuild the nation’s water infrastructure and a modified version of her All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP) Act to help make transit stations more accessible to the permanently disabled and handicapped.

The bill passed the Senate on Tuesday by a bipartisan vote of 69-30. The House is currently on 7-week recess for what is considered “work time” in their districts, but some are asking they come back to Washington D.C. within the week to make a standalone vote on the massive infrastructure deal.

Illinois has established an online portal that will allow users to verify their vaccination status and prove it to employers or others who may require them to show that they’ve received the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Vax Verify system requires users to sign up and verify their identity. The system uses the Experian credit rating service to verify an individual user’s identity. Individuals who have placed a freeze on their credit will need to unfreeze their credit with Experian® and wait 24 hours before completing the registration process. After completing registrations, individuals can re-freeze their credit by contacting Experian®.

After the verification process, individuals can see their own record in the Illinois Comprehensive Automated Immunization Registry Exchange known as I-CARE.

IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike says the portal will make it easier for people to prove vaccination status to employers, entertainment venues, or others who may require such proof.

You can sign up at idphportal.illinois.gov