A Jacksonville man was arrested Tuesday night after he fled the scene after hitting a parked car in a fast food restaurant parking lot.

Police were called to the Wendy’s parking lot located at 901 West Morton Avenue at approximately 7:45 pm after a caller reported to West Central Joint Dispatchers that a vehicle had struck another and then fled the scene.

According to police reports after a subsequent investigation, a vehicle driven by 36-year-old Eleodoro Hernandez of the 100 block of Westminster struck another vehicle in the parking lot causing moderate damage to both vehicles, and then left the scene without reporting the incident.

Police later located the vehicle and Hernandez was arrested and booked into the Morgan County Jail on charges of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol, driving under the influence, leaving the scene and failing to report an accident, operating an uninsured motor vehicle, no valid drivers license, and having no insurance for operator under suspension.

Hernandez’s vehicle was towed from the scene. He remains held at the Morgan County Jail pending an appearance in court.

AAA is reporting today that Illinois gas prices have decreased 7 cents from one week ago.

Today’s state average for a regular gallon of gas is $3.48. The price of gas is 17 cents less than a month ago and 54 cents less than this time last year.

AAA spokesperson Molly Hart says “The good news is drivers this Thanksgiving can expect cheaper gas prices, and while there could be some fluctuations in the coming weeks, AAA expects gas prices to remain low through the holidays, unless oil prices suddenly spike.”

Locally, the average price of a gallon of gas in Jacksonville sits at $3.22 and remains the cheapest place to buy gas in the listening area. Elsewhere the price swings from between $3.28 in Brown County to $3.46 in Cass as of Monday morning.

According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand decreased from 9.49 to 8.95 million barrels a day last week. The EIA’s estimate for demand is unusually high for early November, but when the EIA releases monthly demand data in a few weeks, it could be revised.

Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 1.5 million barrels to 215.7 million barrels.

Lower gas demand, alongside declining oil prices, has contributed to pushing pump prices down. If gas demand and the cost of oil remain low, drivers can expect further pump prices to drop ahead of Thanksgiving.

Jacksonville Police are investigating a report of a break-in that occurred over the weekend.

According to a police report, a resident in the 200 block of East Wolcott Street reported that sometime between yesterday afternoon and Friday, someone broke into their shed and removed several items.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Jacksonville Police Department at 217-479-4630 or leave an anonymous tip with Morgan, Scott, and Cass Crime Stoppers at 217-243-7300.

A Winnebago County woman was arrested over the weekend at the Jacksonville Correctional Center.

Police were called to the prison in the 2200 block of East Morton Avenue at approximately 2:30 pm after the prison shift commander reported a vehicle in the parking lot may contain crystal meth and the occupants are being detained at the front gate.

Upon arrival and subsequent investigation, 41-year-old Dana L. Papini of Durand, Illinois was arrested for possession of methamphetamine after being found in possession of the drug in a state-owned parking lot.

The driver of the vehicle was not detained by police. Papini has been released from the jail with a notice to appear in court.

Shoppers in the Jacksonville area are reminded to shop local as the holiday shopping season heats up.

Black Friday savings start a week early today and tomorrow as downtown businesses host the second annual Pinkmas to help shoppers kick off the season by shopping small businesses first. The event, presented by the downtown business group, runs from 10 am to 5 pm today and tomorrow with great deals to be found in your favorite local businesses.

Executive Director of Jacksonville Main Street Judy Tighe says you can increase your savings by going to Pinkmas, and also by picking up a Main Street Santa Stroll Hat.

“Come downtown and be prepared to encounter a lot of specials and see what’s all available for Christmas. Santa Stroll is going on now all the way through the holidays. You can pick up a hat for ten dollars and it’s filled with more than thirty-five coupons to different businesses throughout town, but a lot of them are downtown. I mean you’ll save hundreds of dollars with these coupons.”

Tighe says the coupons can be used at Pinkmas as well as the many other events happening soon downtown that include the Mistletoe Market on December 1^st and 2^nd, and the Santa Mile also happening on December 2^nd.

The Santa Parade returns the evening of Black Friday giving shoppers another chance to support small businesses in Jacksonville. Tighe says the need to support your local businesses can’t be emphasized enough.

“It’s absolutely crucial for our entire community and our small business owners. It’s a really big deal, it’s make or break. Small Business Saturday really isn’t just one day a year, it’s got to be spread throughout the year, and you know, we have so many shops it’s hard to hit them all in one day.

So come many times. Buy that Santa hat full of coupons, they are available at the Jacksonville Chamber of Office, our office (Jacksonville Main Street), the Convention and Visitors Bureau, and also both Farmers State Bank and Trust locations.”

Tighe says a major reason to shop local is because the majority of your money stays local. “Studies show that over seventy percent of the dollar you spend in a local business stays in your community.

These are the businesses that sponsor local sports teams for kids. They are the ones donating prizes for raffles and benefits. They are the ones supporting all of the community events that happen here in our town, and they deserve our appreciation for all of those efforts.”

For more information on local business shopping opportunities this holiday season, go to Jacksonville Main Street’s website and Facebook page, as well as Pretty City Jacksonville’s social media and your favorite local business pages.

Firefighters with the Jacksonville Fire Department responded to a report of a vehicle on fire on West Morton Avenue Wednesday morning.

A fire crew along with Jacksonville Police were called to the Shell Station located at the corner of West Morton Avenue and Westgate at approximately 7:45 am.

According to reports, authorities arrived to find a 2014 Ford Fusion sedan with fire in the area of the trunk. Officials say the fire appeared to have started near a subwoofer box inside the trunk.

No estimate of damages was available in the report and the vehicle is likely to be a total loss.

A Cass County man was found deceased after a 22-hour search in rural Chandlerville last week.

According to an announcement by Cass County Sheriff Devron Ohrn today, last Wednesday, November 8^th, Cass County Sheriff’s Deputies, were dispatched to an area north of Chandlerville between the Village and the Sangamon River for a missing person.

It was reported that the subject had been looking for a 4-wheeler that had become stuck a couple of days earlier at a nearby location with the exact location unknown. The area is dense in some parts and also contains areas with ponds and ditches.

Ashland Fire, Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Chandlerville Fire, and Illinois State Police Air Ops searched the area for the subject and Ohrn says additional resources were requested from neighboring counties and across the State of Illinois.

He says after approximately a 22-hour search, 47-year-old Shannon F. Graham of Beardstown was located deceased. Ohrn says the case is currently being investigated by the Cass County Sheriff’s Office.

He says many search teams and personnel from neighboring counties and areas across the entire State of Illinois came to help and he and his department are very thankful for their assistance and appreciative of their response.

A visitation for Graham has been scheduled for this Friday from 11 am to 1 pm at Colwell Memorial Home in Beardstown.

The Jacksonville Fire Department’s leadership officially changed hands last night.

The Jacksonville City Council unanimously approved a resolution to confirm Mayor Andy Ezard’s recent appointment of Matthew Summers as Chief of the Jacksonville Fire Department during the regular session Monday night.

Summers succeeds now former Fire Chief Doug Sills who held the top post for nine years, capping off a 34-year career with the Jacksonville Fire Department.

Sills, who announced his retirement in late October, spoke to the City Council last night, thanking the current and former councils, members of the public as well as his wife Sherry for the many years of support he was given over the years. Sills said he is proud of how far the department has grown in that time.

He also commended Summers for his work in helping the department achieve continued training goals, and that he would match the Jacksonville Fire Department against any department in the state.

The council then voted unanimously to approve Summers’ promotion to Chief. Mayor Ezard says he enjoyed last night and looks forward to the future of the department. “It was a good evening. You know we said goodbye to Chief Sills and welcomed our new Chief Summers in. It was a neat night for his family and for Matt to get pinned by his daughter Bella.

Moving forward, he’s got a great group of firemen that he is going to lead and we look forward to good things continuing with our fire department like they’ve done in the past. I think the skill set of this group, not just Chief Summers, but all the personnel, everybody has unique skill sets. Our community should be proud that we have a good force like them.”

Chief Summers says he is grateful for both the opportunity and the chance to work with all the great guys in the department.

Summers is in his 21^st year with the department having joined in 2002. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 2018 followed by Captain in 2020 when he was assigned to oversee the department’s continuing tech rescue training program.

He says one of his first goals as Chief is to see that training path continued in the department so the staff is even more capable in all situations. “We are constantly trying to send the guys to more and more schools and more and more training to help make every level of firefighter better.

We have hose man rank, firefighter rank, driver/engineer, lieutenants and captains, and the chief’s position. And I suppose the best thing I can tell you to answer that is we’re going to try to increase the training even more and some of the requirements. Which we’ve been doing, we’ve been increasing the training since Doug took over as chief nine years ago, and we’re going to continue in that path.”

Summers says with continuing retirements on the horizon within the department, there is also the continuing need for new recruits as a number of promotions are up for approval by the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners before the end of the year.

He says he is grateful the Jacksonville Fire Department has been seeing more and more good applicants come in and apply. He says anyone who has an interest in being a firefighter with the Jacksonville Fire Department should contact him for more information.