Jacksonville Police are investigating a possible vehicle theft.

Just after 7:00 am Friday, a resident in the 100 block of Caldwell Street reported to West Central Joint Dispatchers that they had woken up and noticed their wife’s car was gone.

According to police reports, unknown suspect or suspects removed the complainant’s vehicle from their driveway sometime overnight. It was later recovered within the city of Jacksonville. Police say in the report that there are no suspects at this time.

Jacksonville Police are investigating a break-in and a stolen pet. Officers were called to the 200 block of West College Avenue at approximately 8:30 Friday night after a caller reported her residence had been broken into.

According to police reports, the victim said that a person known to her had forced entry into her home and took her dog. The break-in and dog theft occurred between 6:50 and 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

Anyone with information on this incident is asked to call the Jacksonville Police Department Investigations Unit at 217-479-4630. You can also leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers of Morgan, Scott, and Cass Counties by calling 217-243-7300.

The attorney for a Chatham woman who drove her vehicle through an after-school camp earlier this week says the incident occurred because of a medical emergency.

According to a report by WICS channel 20 in Springfield, attorney for 44-year-old Marianne Akers, W. Scott Hanken, says his client had a seizure of some type of degree while she was driving westbound on Walnut Street in Chatham at approximately 3:20 Monday afternoon.

Hanken says the episode rendered Akers completely and utterly incapacitated at the time, and as a result of that seizure, she has no recollection of what occurred.

According to camera footage from the area, Akers’ vehicle left the road and traveled across an open farm field at a high rate of speed and then crashed through a wall on the east side of the YNOT After School Camp on Breckenridge Road in Chatham.

The vehicle continued through the building, crashing through another exterior wall on the west side. The accident claimed the lives of an 18-year-old girl, two 7-year-old girls, and an 8-year-old girl. Six more children were taken to area hospitals, with one in critical condition

Hanken told WICS that Akers has no history of any seizure disorder or any type of medical condition that could induce seizures. She was not injured in the crash but was transported to an area hospital for evaluation.

On Thursday, Illinois State Police announced that preliminary toxicology reports came back negative for alcohol and controlled substances.

Hanken says Akers has 100% cooperated with law enforcement since the incident. He says the incident was a medical emergency that is a total tragedy for the Chaham community, and that his client is devastated.

A little rain in the forecast isn’t stopping one Jacksonville area organization’s first major event of the season.

Jacksonville Main Street has announced that due to inclement weather forecast for Saturday, the Blues and Brews Festival is being relocated to the Pavilion at the Morgan County Fairgrounds.

Main Street Executive Director Judy Tighe said in the announcement that, although the chances of rain are lowering, organizers of the event wanted to make arrangements today to avoid a washout.

Food trucks will be along the outside of the building. Music and the beer wagon will be inside. The event also marks the debut of the Jacksonville Bicentennial commemorative beer.

The event kicks off at noon with music by John G Drake, followed by David Berchtold at 1:00 pm, Reverend Robert at 2:00, and Devin Williams from 3:00 to 4:00 pm. Like all Main Street concerts, this is a free event, and attendees are encouraged to bring their lawn chairs.

The 2025 Jacksonville Main Street Blues and Brews Festival runs from noon to 4:00 pm Saturday, in the pavilion next to the grandstand at the Morgan County Fairgrounds. For more information, go to the Jacksonville Main Street Facebook page or the website at jacksonvillemainstreet.org.

The Jacksonville Parks and Lakes Department is reminding campers that time is running out for the 2025 season. Jacksonville Lakes Superintendent Brett Gilbreth says seasonal public campers that there are only a few days left to renew their leases.

Gilbreth says there will not be an extension on any leases. Public campers must have their leases renewed by this Wednesday, April 30^th, by 5:30 pm.

Lessees are asked to show proof of insurance as well, or the lease will not be renewed. For more information, call the Jacksonville Office of Parks and Lakes at 217-479-4613. Or log on to parks.jacksonvilleil.gov

The following story was provided and authored by Alex Nieten, World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series PR. WLDS News’s own Gary Scott speaks with Jacksonville Speedway Promoter Ken Dobson later this morning. Look for that interview soon in the WLDS.com broadcast archive.

JACKSONVILLE, IL (April 25, 2025) – Last year Kyle Larson was forced to settle for second at Jacksonville Speedway, and he simply wouldn’t allow that to happen again this time around.

It didn’t matter that a tougher road was ahead of him at Friday’s Hy-Vee Perks 40. Larson started on the front row in 2024 and led most of the way before David Gravel snuck by late. This year “Yung Money” lined up back in sixth for the 40-lap World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series Feature. But a climb to the front wasn’t going to halt the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion.

Larson methodically picked his way forward aboard the Silva Motorsports No. 57 through a flurry of early restarts. By Lap 8 he was on the podium, and three circuits later he was up to second. A Lap 16 slider on Carson Macedo gave him the top spot, and then he showed everyone why he’s one of the best race car drivers on the planet right now.

The Elk Grove, CA native absolutely checked out in traffic. He sliced through lappers and grew his advantage north of four seconds at times. When the checkered flag flew, Larson had lapped up through 11th place. No runner-up this year.

“For what Kyle Larson likes to do, yes that was a lot of fun,” Larson said. “It was a super challenging racetrack kind of all night. I was just waiting for above the cushion in (Turns) 3 and 4 to get loosened up. It barely did. After cautions I could kind of rip above it in (Turns) 3 and 4 really well and just wanted to stay committed to it just to try to clean it off up there as much as I could before I caught traffic. I felt like that kind of allowed me to get by lappers a little easier because I could have such a run on the frontstretch. Just a great car, great race, all of that.”

Larson’s win was his third in six tries this year with The Greatest Show on Dirt. He’s won six of his last nine in World of Outlaws action dating back to last year. The three times he hasn’t he still finished on the podium, making for an average finish of 1.44 over those nine races competing with the best Sprint Car drivers in the world. The 32-year-old has 38 victories in 150 career Feature starts, a remarkable 25.3% winning clip. He became the sixth different winner through six Series visits to Jacksonville.

“It’s always fun to get to race the 57, especially on a small bullring like this,” Larson said. “I hope the fans enjoyed it. I know I did from my seat. Thank you guys for coming out. That was a good one.”

The second spot belonged to Brady Bacon and the TKH Motorsports crew. The Broken Arrow, OK native had speed all night and got by Carson Macedo late to secure his fifth career World of Outlaws podium. “The Macho Man” built some momentum before he goes for a three-peat at Tri-State Speedway on Saturday.

“Carson and I, I feel like we were kind of close to the same,” Bacon said. “I was kind of right on him, so I could kind of try some different stuff in lapped traffic to get the bottom working and figured out especially in (Turns) 1 and 2. I was able to sneak by him, and then I got really backed up in traffic and got a little scared he was going to get me back. Just want to thank Kelly and Lora Hinck for giving us the opportunity to come out here and run some more wing races.”

It was a nice rebound for Carson Macedo and Jason Johnson Racing as they went from their first DNF of 2025 last Saturday at Knoxville to a third place finish at Jacksonville. The Lemoore, CA native led eight laps after taking the top spot from early leader Logan Schuchart but couldn’t quite hold back Larson.

“I don’t know how Kyle does it,” Macedo said with a laugh. “It’s pretty amazing. When I was behind him, pacing him after the restart, which wasn’t very long, he was running above it (the cushion). It looked like he was wall grinding the fence. I just don’t know that I can do that for all 40 laps and hold it all together and still finish these races.”

Logan Schuchart and David Gravel completed the top five.

A 23rd to 13th outing gave Chris Windom his third KSE Racing Hard Charger of the year with Sides Motorsports.

Heat Races went to Carson Macedo (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Sheldon Haudenschild (Real American Beer Heat Two), Bill Balog (WIX Filters Heat Three), and Logan Schuchart (TheGreatestStoreonDirt.com Heat Four).

David Gravel topped the Toyota Dash and received the SPA Technique #1 Redraw.

Giovanni Scelzi won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Zach Hampton.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars make their only Indiana stop of 2025 on Saturday, April 26 at Haubstadt’s Tri-State Speedway. Tickets will be available at the gate.

FEATURE RESULTS:

NOS Energy Drink Feature (40 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson[6]; 2. 21H-Brady Bacon[3]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo[4]; 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart[2]; 5. 2-David Gravel[1]; 6. 83-Michael Kofoid[9]; 7. 23-Garet Williamson[5]; 8. 2C-Cole Macedo[10]; 9. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[8]; 10. 15-Donny Schatz[12]; 11. 17B-Bill Balog[7]; 12. 27-Emerson Axsom[13]; 13. 7S-Chris Windom[23]; 14. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[21]; 15. 9X-Paul Nienhiser[22]; 16. 11-Parker Price Miller[11]; 17. 16C-Max Guilford[17]; 18. 99-Skylar Gee[16]; 19. 3N-Jake Neuman[18]; 20. 1-Rees Moran[24]; 21. 28M-Conner Morrell[15]; 22. 21-Tanner Holmes[20]; 23. 7A-Will Armitage[14]; 24. 6-Zach Hampton[19]

Attendees of local Jacksonville events this summer can try a taste of a new craft beer that is 200 years in the making. In a surprise announcement this morning, Jacksonville Main Street unveiled Celebrating 200, a Jacksonville Bicentennial Beer, which will be served during a number of local events.

Main Street Event Coordinator, Melissa Hebron, who came up with the idea for the beer, says they were looking for a surprise in honor of this year’s bicentennial when she contacted Brian Watts at Golden Eagle Distributing to see if they could help make a Jacksonville 200^th beer happen.

“They reached out to a larger distributor who declined on helping because we are too small of a town for what they deal with. So then I asked Brian Watts to reach out to others to find one willing to help us out, and he found Riggs out of Urbana who was happy to help us out.“

“They worked with us on a logo and wording we wanted on the can. They did a QR code that will take you straight to the bicentennial page, showing all the events going on all year long. They’ve canned it for us, and it’s getting picked up today, actually, so we’ll have it available for next week’s first event.”

Celebrating 200, the Jacksonville Bicentennial Beer, is an American-style lager made by Riggs Beer Company of Urbana. Riggs is known for using grains grown on the Riggs family farm, which has been in the family for more than 150 years.

Hebron says residents can get their first taste of Celebrating 200 at the Jacksonville Main Street Blues and Brews event coming up on Saturday, May 3^rd.

She says there is a limited supply of beer, but there will be enough to celebrate 200 years of Jacksonville all season long. “It will be until supplies run out, but we do have the opportunity to order more, though, if needed. And we will make sure that we have some for the Bicentennial on October 4^th.”

Hebron says special thanks are owed to Riggs Beer Company, Golden Eagle Distributing of Jacksonville, and Brian Watts for making the bicentennial surprise a reality.

Hebron also assures that the beer will be available during the Jacksonville Main Street Summer Concert Series, which kicks off with rock band Revel in Red on Friday, May 30^th.

The deadline for participating as a concert sponsor is this Thursday, May 1^st. For more information on Celebrating 200, or contributing as a sponsor of this year’s Downtown Concert Series, go to jacksonvillemainstreet.org or find Jacksonville Main Street on Facebook.

You can also find out more about Riggs Beer Company at riggsbeer.com.

April is Child Abuse Awareness Month, and a Jacksonville area foundation is working to spread the word and raise awareness.

The Crisis Center Foundation in Jacksonville continues to promote Child Abuse Awareness Month, which aims to raise awareness about child abuse and neglect, emphasizing the importance of families and communities working together to prevent it.

Community Educator for the Crisis Center Foundation, Naomi Trotter, says, any kind of abuse is difficult to talk about, but especially when it comes to children. “Especially in today’s society, with the things going on around the world right now, prevention is really key. So in the outreach program, we look at it as the more education and awareness we can bring to the community, the better the chances are of decreasing instances of abuse.”

According to the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Illinois, 222 cases of abuse are reported each day, and 1 in 10 children will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday, equal to 293,319 children in the state.

Trotter says children are not always the direct victims of abuse, however, the wounds can be the same. “They call the children silent witnesses. So they are overlooked a lot of times when it comes to domestic violence situations. I think it’s important for people to realize there are over three point three million children who witness some form of violent act in the home.

Children are very knowledgeable and more aware of things than we think they are. So, from our agency’s standpoint, we offer services to the victim/survivor, and we also provide the same services to children.

It can be emotional support, we can do individual counseling, we have group counseling, and we also have an excellent component, which is art therapy. With are therapy, we’re able to address those hard topics with children in a way that’s more creative. It helps them to communicate their feelings and emotions more.”

The Crisis Center Foundation continues to encourage everyone to wear blue on Fridays in support of Child Abuse Awareness Month, and is still looking for an area to place a Pinwheel Garden, which is a small area visible to the public where blue pinwheels will be place,d representing hope for any child affected by abuse.

If you are experiencing domestic or child abuse, contact the Crisis Center Foundation in Jacksonville by calling 217-243-4357. Representatives are on hand to answer, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you know or suspect someone you know is the victim of child abuse, call the Illinois Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-25-abuse. You can also find help via the Crisis Text Line at 741741.

Jacksonville Police are investigating multiple incidents that occurred in the city since Thursday.

Jacksonville Police are investigating a report of someone vandalizing a vehicle early this morning. Police were called to Gardendale Drive at approximately 3:00 this morning after a complainant reported that someone had just busted out his windshield. No further information was provided in the report as of press time, and an investigation into the incident remains ongoing.

Police are investigating a report of a break-in at a business that occurred at the Goodwill Outlet Store located at 211 Capitol Way on Friday. According to police reports, a complainant told police that they had noticed containers that were out of place in a trailer and then discovered a pair of bolt cutters in the area.

It was determined that sometime between 6:30 pm Thursday and 5:30 am Friday, someone broke into the trailer and removed merchandise without permission.

Jacksonville Police are also investigating a hit-and-run from yesterday morning. Officers were called to the 300 block of South Prairie Street at approximately 9:30 a.m. Friday for a report of an accident. According to a police report, an unknown vehicle was traveling northbound when it left the center of the lane and struck the rear bumper of a vehicle parked on the curb. The suspect vehicle then drove away from the scene. No injuries were reported, and the second vehicle did not require a tow. No citations have been issued at this time as the investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with information on any of these incidents is asked to contact the Jacksonville Police Department’s Investigations Unit by calling 217-479-4630 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers of Morgan, Scott, and Cass Counties by calling 217-243-7300. You can also leave an anonymous tip online by going to the Morgan Scott Cass Crime Stoppers Facebook page or via the website, morganscottcrimestoppers.com.

Jacksonville Police and Morgan County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a report of possible shots fired at a downtown tavern early Saturday. At approximately 12:30 am, police were called to the West Morgan Depot located at 213 West Morgan Street for a report of possible shots fired at the establishment.

According to the report, an employee said that they had seen a subject with a gun. After a subsequent investigation, officers determined no shots were fired. No arrests were made, and no further information was included in the report as of press time.

Employees of a Jacksonville coffee and doughnut shop found themselves out of a job this week.

According to a report by the Springfield Journal Register, on Thursday, managers and employees of the Dunkin’ Donuts on East Morton Avenue in Jacksonville received calls informing them their employment with the company had been terminated.

The Jacksonville store and three other Dunkin’ locations in Springfield were reportedly purchased by RKR Dreams Inc., a multi-state franchisee owner of locations in Illinois, Iowa, and Kentucky.

According to a temporary employee who spoke to the SJR, all four locations are currently staffed by temporary employees until at least the end of May as they transition to the new owner’s operations. Laid-off employees were told to reapply for their jobs and provided with a phone number for contacting the new owner.

RKR Dreams Inc. is operated out of Plainfield, Illinois. A link to the application portal can be found here.