A three-generation family business is celebrating eight decades of feeding the greater Jacksonville area this weekend. Jones Meat & Locker is celebrating 80 years in business with an open house this Saturday at their facility at 2108 East State Street.

Owners Terry and Marcy Jones purchased the business from Terry’s father in 1992. Terry says it has been a family affair from the very start. “It started in 1943, my grandparents got a little money and decided to buy some hogs.

They raised the hogs and said well let’s just butcher them and cut them up, bring them to town, and try to sell it. They sold the meat and started the business. It was out on Sandusky Road and they were there until sixty-eight. My dad took over about that time, and we bought the place where we’re at on State Street and we’ve been here ever since.”

Terry started working for his father right out of college in 1982, and Marcy has been involved since they got married. She says she worked for the business when their kids were little before eventually going back to work as a graphic designer.

Marcy Jones was serving as the Director of Communications and Marketing for MacMurray College when the school closed in 2020. Since then she has been back with the family business full-time.

Terry is a past President of the Illinois Association of Meat Processors, a recipient of the National FFA Organization Honorary Section, a Jacksonville Agri-Industry Hall of Fame inductee in 2019, and a recipient of the prestigious University of Illinois Sleeter Bull Award.

The Jones are known as strong supporters of the Jacksonville community with both Terry and Marcy having served on many boards and committees over the years.

The focus remains solid on the meat & locker however, especially after the Covid pandemic caused a rush on demand for processing that Terry says is still being felt today.

“It has slowed down, but we’re still very busy. People found out and now realize that there’s a difference. We have a higher quality of meat and then other people found out that to buy their meat from a farmer is really much better and they can have it in their freezer to make it more convenient.”

Terry says he doesn’t know how many awards the business has won over the years for its various products, but probably well over 100 over the years. This year Jones Meat & Locker took home the Grand Champion award from the State Fair for its beef jerky.

Last year they brought home eight different awards from the Illinois Association of Meat Processors Convention in Effingham.

Some of those awards along with memorabilia from over the 80 years in business will be on display this Saturday during the 80^th Anniversary Celebration. Terry says there will also be the most important item for the celebration- free samples.

“If you’re free come on out and see us from ten to twelve on Saturday. We’ll have samples of a few of our varieties of brats, and you can sign up for some door prizes. We’d love to have you come if you have the time.”

Jones Meat & Locker is located at 2108 East State Street off Old State Road, just up from the WLDS/WEAI studios.

Jacksonville Police are investigating another vehicle theft, and report of criminal damage to a vehicle that both occurred Sunday night.

According to a police report, officers were called to the 1100 block of North Diamond Street yesterday after a complainant advised West Central Joint dispatchers that sometime between 9:00 pm Sunday and 6:30 am Monday her vehicle was stolen. Police say there are currently no witnesses or suspects as of the time of the report.

Police are also investigating an incident of criminal damage to property incident from overnight Sunday. Sometime between the hours of 10:54 pm Sunday and midnight, someone broke the windows out of a vehicle in the 900 block of West College Avenue.

Police reports gave no indication that the incidents were in any way related. Anyone with information on either of these incidents is asked to contact the Jacksonville Police Department at 217-479-4630 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 217-243-7300.

Four officers from the Western Correctional Center in Mt. Sterling were recently honored for helping to save the life of one of their own.

The Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Live Saving Award was presented to Correctional Officers Casey Brunnen and Johnathon Richmiller, and Correctional Sergeants Drake Schild and Keenan Smith for their actions in May of this year.

According to the FOP announcement, Officer John Beaty was traveling on Illinois Route 107 in Brown County on May 21^st on his way to work at the Western Illinois Correctional Center when his motorcycle collided with some farm machinery.

Beaty was seriously injured and his leg was bleeding profusely. Officer Brunnen and Sergeant Schild, who were also on their way to work, encountered the scene and made a tourniquet from a belt to stop the bleeding.

Sergeant Smith arrived on the scene and immediately directed traffic away from the rescuers, and Officer Richmiller arrived and assisted with first aid efforts to keep Beaty from going into shock. He was then transported to the hospital.

Beaty lost his leg as a result of the accident. FOP officials say, however, that the actions of his four fellow officers at the scene undoubtedly saved his life.

The four correctional officers are all employed at the Western Illinois Correctional Center and are members of FOP Corrections Lodge No. 263.

Jacksonville Police are continuing to investigate after responding to a report of a stolen vehicle over the weekend.

Police were called to the 800 block of East State Street at 8:00 Saturday night after a complainant told dispatchers that his truck was missing.

According to police reports, the truck was recovered sometime later. The incident remains under investigation, and anyone with information is asked to contact the Jacksonville Police Department at 217-479-4630 or leave an anonymous tip with Morgan, Scott, Cass Crime Stoppers at 217-243-7300.

Fire Department Crews from Woodson and Murrayville responded to a call for the sound of an explosion and a fire near a Woodson grain storage facility Sunday.

At approximately 12:15 p.m. Sunday, crews responded to the 400 block of East Main Street. Woodson Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief Dave Jensen says the incident involved a semi-truck and trailer that was offloading grain at the time.

“We were notified that there was an explosion and a fire on a semi-truck at 403 East Main Street, which is an elevator. When we arrived the truck was involved around the rear passenger side duals. The corn in the hopper was not affected and we extinguished it in about three minutes”

Jansen says a brake overheated which ignited the tires directly behind the passenger side of the cab. The fire caused the tires to explode.

Jensen says the driver of the semi was struck in the shoulder by part of the tire and suffered minor injuries. He refused medical treatment. No firefighters were injured in the incident and crews were on scene for approximately one hour.

Victims of suicide along with those left behind will be the focus of an evening of remembrance and hope next week.

Monday is the start of National Suicide Awareness Week and the Jacksonville group S.T.A.R.S. for Suicide Prevention is hosting its annual Walk Out of the Darkness event on the Central Park Plaza in downtown Jacksonville on Thursday.

Kelley Cannon with S.T.A.R.S says there will be music, a candlelight walk, luminaries, and the lighting of the memorial candle along with other activities to help remember loved ones who were lost to suicide.

We try to do this annually and what we do, we think of this as a night of hope and remembrance of those who have lost their lives to suicide. We will have luminaries, people can take one and write the name of their friend, loved one, or family member who has lost their life to suicide.

We will put those then around the statue area in the center of the plaza. Then later on towards the end of the program, we will be having the candlelight walk around the inside area of the downtown plaza, just for a time of remembrance.”

An alumni of Illinois College, and well-known speaker, songwriter, and storyteller, Heather Harlan will be the guest speaker for this year’s Walk Out of the Darkness event. Harlan is a public health educator in Columbia, Missouri, who lost her son to suicide in early 2019.

In Morgan County, 36 people lost their lives to suicide from 2015 to now, with three of those in 2023, according to Morgan County Coroner Marcy Patterson. Cannon says suicide is something that is hard to talk about, but definitely needs to be talked about.

“It’s always hard to say what triggers it, but each person handles issues differently. What I suggest is the best we can do is to be there for people who are struggling.”

Cannon says suicide needs to be talked about in a way that there is hope so people who are struggling know there are people who understand and want to listen.

The S.T.A.R.S. for Suicide Prevention’s Walk Out of the Darkness begins at 6:30 p.m. this Thursday, September 14^th on the plaza in downtown Jacksonville.

The event is free and open to the public, and attendees are asked to bring their own chairs. Refreshments will be served immediately following the event.

In the event of rain, the event will be moved to Central Christian Church, located at 359 W. College Avenue, in Jacksonville.

Julie Gerke and The Source Contributed to this story.

A juvenile was arrested at an area football game last night.

Jacksonville Police responded to the Kraushaar-Rosenburger Field located at 315 West Walnut Street at approximately 9:00 p.m. Thursday.

According to a police report, a caller to West Central Joint Dispatchers said their daughter had been assaulted at the football game.

Subsequent to arrival and investigation, a 14-year-old male juvenile was arrested for aggravated battery after he allegedly struck another juvenile several times while on public property.

The status of the juvenile was not made available in the report.

One person was arrested yesterday afternoon after a late-night pursuit of an unrequited love interest led to a hit-and-run incident.

According to a report by the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to an area near Highway 123 and Old State Road just after midnight Thursday morning, after a complainant told dispatchers that her ex-boyfriend was in a truck and following the vehicle she was in with other occupants.

According to Morgan County Sheriff’s Office investigators, deputies happened across a wrecked truck while en route to speak with the complainant, who later confirmed that the ex-boyfriend had wrecked the truck while following them.

After further investigation, 33-year-old William J. Sanders of Alexander was arrested and booked into the Morgan County Jail at approximately 5:45 Thursday evening on charges of leaving the scene, and failure to report a traffic crash, criminal damage to property, reckless driving, operating an uninsured motor vehicle, and driving on a revoked license.

Recent reports online of an attempted child abduction are untrue according to the Jacksonville Police Department.

According to a release overnight by Jacksonville Police, officers received a call of a suspicious white van that was allegedly following some children in the area of North Diamond and Railroad Street at approximately 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

JPD officials say that prior to police locating the owner of the van, a social media post was made by persons not related directly to the incident that indicated the driver of the van had attempted to abduct children.

Officials say the locally viral post was not accurate and after further investigation by police, the driver never exited the van or made any attempts to abduct anyone.

After further investigation, Jacksonville Police located the owner of the van at approximately 7:00 pm Thursday, who provided proof that they were a self-employed electrician who was attempting to find an address for a job and at the time did not realize they were in the wrong hundred block.

According to the report, the owner of the van gave an accurate description of what was reported to JPD in regard to circling and stopping in the area.

The Jacksonville Police Department does not suspect any foul play at this time and believes the owner of the van did not have any intent to commit a crime.

The Jacksonville Police Department also says they have contacted who they believe created the social media post to explain the situation and it has since been removed.

Anyone with questions or concerns can call the Jacksonville Police Department at 217-479-4630.