A Pike County man was killed in a single-vehicle crash in rural Pike County last week.
According to a report by the Pike County Sheriff’s Office, on Friday, November 24th at approximately 5:45 pm, deputies responded to a report of a single-vehicle crash on County Highway 7 north of Nebo.
The driver of the vehicle, 36-year-old Michael Knight of Pittsfield was pronounced deceased at the scene. Pike County Sheriff and Coroner David Greenwood said in a press release this morning that an investigation into the crash remains ongoing.
Assisting at the scene were the Spring Creek Fire Department, Pike County EMS, and the Illinois State Police.
Illinois Route 104 east of Waverly is closed at this hour after a semi rolled over.
According to a preliminary report from the Illinois State Police, Troop 6 officers responded to the area of Route 104 just west of Waverly Road in Sangamon County just before 1:00 pm.
According to the report a truck tractor grain hauler rolled over. One person was transported to an area hospital with minor injuries.
State Police officials say 104 at Waverly Road remains closed and motorists are urged to avoid the area and seek alternate routes. They say the investigation is in its infancy and no further information will be released at this time.
We will bring you more information as it becomes available.
A special remembrance ceremony for veterans of the Vietnam War will be held in Springfield next weekend.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) will host the annual Christmas Remembrance Ceremony for Illinois soldiers listed as prisoners of war or missing in action (POW/MIA) during the Vietnam War on Saturday, December 2nd.
The ceremony will be held at the Illinois Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield beginning at 1 p.m. and is open to the public.
Organizers say family and friends of soldiers will have the opportunity to hang handmade, heart-shaped ornaments with the names of loved ones on a tree near the memorial.
The Black Tiger Honor Guard will serve as the color guard. The names of the POW/MIA soldiers will be read aloud, and the ceremony will also include music courtesy of the Land of Lincoln Chorus.
To find out more information about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Springfield, visit veterans.illinois.gov/memorials.
Jacksonville Police are investigating a hit and run that occurred in the early morning hours of Thanksgiving Day.
Police were called to the 300 block of West State Street after a caller reported their vehicle had been hit at approximately 12:45 am Thursday. According to a report, the vehicle was parked in a parking lot when an unknown vehicle struck it and then left the area.
The complainant’s vehicle sustained damage to the rear driver’s side light. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Jacksonville Police Department at 217-479-4630 or leave an anonymous tip with Morgan, Scott, Cass County Crime Stoppers at 217-243-7300.
Jacksonville Police responded to a single-vehicle crash after a North Main Street resident reported a vehicle was in their neighbor’s front yard on Thanksgiving night.
According to police reports, at approximately 9:30 Thursday night, a vehicle that was traveling southbound in the 800 block of North Main Street veered off the roadway and struck a utility pole.
Upon arrival and subsequent investigation the driver, 23 year Andrew L. Thomas of the 1100 block of North Diamond was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and driving under the influence of drugs.
Thomas was also cited for operating an uninsured motor vehicle, improper lane usage, and improper use of an electronic communication device. Thomas was released from the Morgan County Jail with a notice to appear in court.
Volunteer bell ringers are urgently needed in the Jacksonville area this holiday season. The Jacksonville Salvation Army has issued a plea for help during this year’s Red Kettle Campaign.
Major Chris Clarke with the Salvation Army of Jacksonville says even though the campaign has been going now for a number of weeks, they are in dire need of volunteers to help catch up.
“The campaign started on November 3rd and it’s running through Christmas Eve this year and we’re looking to raise one hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars this year. We’re off to a bit of a slow start though, and we’re not getting the coverage that we really need to be able to hit that target.
About forty percent of the bell-ringing days have passed by and we’re only at about seventeen percent of our goal so we are definitely behind where we need to be. But we are also just so thankful to everyone who already has rang the bells and who has already signed up to do that in the future. We just need a little more help.”
Clarke says currently they are only able to cover between two and four of the ten total kettle sites in the Jacksonville area. Clarke says about half of the kettle locations are indoors, so volunteers won’t necessarily have to brave the cold to help out.
Clarke says there are a couple of ways volunteers can sign up to ring in an effort to help people be able to sign up in whatever way is easiest for them.
“So people can go online anytime at registertoring.com, or they can just give the Salvation Army a call at 217-245-7124 and we can sign them up.”
Volunteers can ring for anywhere from one to two hours shifts, to all day if they so choose. They can also pick the day and time that works best for them.
Bell ringing locations include HyVee, Midlands, Walmart, JC Penny, both Walgreens, Buchheits, Bealls, & Ace Hardware.
An area EMS service is again assisting area residents to be Home for the Holidays.
LifeStar Ambulance Service in Jacksonville will be giving free rides home for Thanksgiving to residents of assisted living facilities or those unable to be transported in a personal vehicle during the company’s annual “Home for the Holidays” operation.
The service is running tomorrow and is free of charge. To schedule a pick-up, drop-off, and return to the residence for you or a loved one, contact LifeStar of Jacksonville at 217-245-7540.
The holiday season’s newest area attraction gave a sneak peek Tuesday ahead of the official kick-off this weekend.
The Jacksonville Festival of Lights has taken over the majority of the Morgan County Fairgrounds over the last few weeks. The event is a drive-through Christmas-themed light display that invites participants to enjoy the elaborate light display from the warmth of their vehicles.
Tia Kephart (kep-hart) with Jacksonville Festival of Lights says a lot of effort has gone into making the event become a reality. “A lot of work behind the scenes, a lot of work. This has been in motion since the beginning of the year actually and we didn’t really go public for a while because we needed to get things lined up.
The first thought is now it gets real crazy because honestly now we have six weeks of every weekend and we’ll be out here along with volunteers. We couldn’t do this without volunteers honestly. I’m very excited, it has been a lot of work but it’s worth it. It’s absolutely worth it, it’s something that we believe in, the community needs this, and it’s something to bring everybody together. Holiday spirit brings everyone together.”
The Jacksonville Festival of Lights is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and Kephart says several local service organizations have also chipped in by donating time or funding or both to help see the idea come to fruition.
An official ribbon cutting and media preview was held Tuesday evening. Mayor Andy Ezard says he is happy that the project came together as well as it did. “We’re very happy to be a part of this as a sponsor, you know, to help Sarah and her crew out and all the work that she has done and along with all money that came in from the community.
This is a long time coming and at this time at the fairgrounds is a logical choice. The infrastructure is here easy roads to work and get around. And it’s just another example of the community working together to make something happen. We’ve got a good track record of that and we look forward to kicking this light display off.”
Sarah Shellhammer with the Jacksonville Festival of Lights says the goal of the first year is to make the event self-sustainable so it can continue each year thereafter.
The project cost more than $75,000 to put on thanks to major sponsorship support from the City of Jacksonville, Village of South Jacksonville, Prairie State Bank, Casscom, Amvest Post 100, and Nestle of Jacksonville to name a few.
The project is in partnership with Eric & Nicole Dooley of Carthage who put on the Quincy Festival of Lights as well as in a few other communities. Not all of the lights were up in time for the sneak peek as rain earlier in the week put a damper on set-up work. However, Shellhammer says all of the displays will be set up and ready to go by Friday’s grand opening.
She says if proved successful at being a self-sustaining project, the decorations would be switched out from year to year with a different theme. Shellhammer says in the future, if the event were to become profitable, she would like to see it one day be able to provide charitable donations to an area charity.
For she says she hopes the event is a success and people enjoy the show. The Jacksonville Festival of Lights kicks off this Friday, November 24th, and will run weekly Thursday through Sunday from 5:00 to 9:00 pm through New Year’s Eve.
For more information, go to the Jacksonville Festival of Lights Facebook page or call 217-291-5722.
The filing period for election hopefuls opens in Morgan County next week.
County Clerk Jill Waggener says candidates for office can officially file starting on Monday. “Monday the 27th, anyone who is running in the March 19th primary election, the 27th will be the first day you can file your petition. My doors will be open at 8:30, not before and we will accept petitions through December 5th at 5:00 pm.”
Waggener says the March 19th primary looks to be a big election with primary contests for President, state, and local races. Morgan County has a number of contested races already with candidates vying for County Commissioner, Circuit Clerk, and Coroner having already announced their candidacies.
Waggener also says that her office is nearly finished in sending out new voter registration cards for the coming year. “We received the rest of our voter registration cards yesterday via UPS from our vendor.
So we will finish printing the rest of Woodson and get those sent out hopefully by the end of next week since we are working a short week this week. So definitely by the first week of December, everybody should have received a new card and if you have not, please let us know.”
Waggener says if you have submitted a name or address change to her office, once they are finished sending the last cards out next week, her staff will begin to enter the changes and send out those updated cards.
Crime Stoppers of Morgan, Scott & Cass Counties are requesting information to assist the Jacksonville Police Department in its investigation of a recent burglary.
Sometime between last Friday, November 17th, and 4:00 pm Sunday, November 19th, an unknown person(s) entered a shed located in the 200 block of East Wolcott Street and removed several items.
Among the items taken were a Ryobi Sawzall, an Orange Warrior grinder, and an air compressor, according to police reports.
Jacksonville Police are asking that anyone who has information concerning this incident or any other crimes within the three-county area submit an anonymous tip online by going to the Morgan, Scott, Cass Crime Stopper Facebook page and clicking the Contact Us button, or by calling Crime Stoppers at 217-243-7300.
Tips may also be submitted anonymously by texting to the word CRIMES (274637). The first word of the text tip must be “payout”. Crime Stoppers says if your tip leads to an arrest, you are eligible for a cash reward.
