Prospective college students can find out more information during an open house event next month in Jacksonville.

The Lincoln Land Community College Outreach Center in downtown Jacksonville will be hosting an open house event on Monday, February 19^th.

Anyone interested in starting or going back to school is invited to attend the event. Lincoln Land officials say visitors can speak with faculty and staff, view exhibits, tour select areas of campus, learn about the basics of college and choosing a major, and apply for admission at the event.

LLCC President Charlotte Warren says in the announcement, that whether a student is looking to earn a degree or train for a hands-on career, they are invited to join them at this event to explore majors, and the low-cost and personalized services that help students reach their goals.

The open house in downtown Jacksonville is just one of several that will run the same day at locations in Litchfield, Taylorville, and the main campus in Springfield.

The event runs from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm on Monday, February 19th. Officials say registration for the event is encouraged and available at llcc.edu/open-house or by calling 217-786-2292.

Some area residents will have a choice when it comes to fire and EMS during the upcoming election.

The formation of a Waverly Fire Protection District will be on the March Primary Election ballot The Waverly Volunteer Fire & Rescue Squad requested for a full fire protection district to be formed in the wake of increasing financial and worker strains.

Waverly Fire Chief Jason Shumaker says the all-volunteer organization is 90 to 95% funded solely by donations. “With the way things are changing like the population and everything, a lot of those that were big contributors to the department have died off or left the area, and therefore a lot of our donations have dried up.

We’ve been fortunate to have some businesses that have been able to donate some money off and on. But still, it takes a lot to keep things going to update equipment and that sort of thing. So unfortunately we’ve had to seek a different route and this is the way we ultimately had to go in trying to get a fire protection district.”

Schumaker says Waverly Fire and EMS now handles more EMS calls than fire calls on average, with an estimated 100 to 120 in 2023, and with the continued shortage of EMTs and Paramedics area and nationwide, that need is expected to continue to grow.

The group has two ambulances as well as a rescue vehicle at their disposal, and Shumaker says the calls for EMS and fire have continued to increase. “There’s times we’ve had to respond to neighboring areas because they are not available.

We’ve been to Murrayville, we’ve been into Sangamon County, and had to go over to Virden once when they had the big accident on the interstate. We were the coverage for that area because everybody was tied up over there so we were mutual aid for that. We’ve been on standby with the fire department to go into Loami for fires. So ambulance-wise we do that. Fire department-wise we go into Sangamon County and Morgan County for mutual aid, anywhere they call us.”

If approved by the voters, just under a 0.4% tax would be added annually to fund the Waverly Fire Protection District with both equipment upgrades and personnel needs, as well as increasing insurance costs.

Schumaker says the funding for a fire protection district would not only help keep the fire department equipped but would also aid in providing as much 24-hour ambulance service as possible.

He says as a resident of the area, he sympathizes with those who do not want to pay yet another tax however, he also wants to make sure that local fire and ambulance service can be provided to his community. “I’m included in that because I live there in town. So I have to look at it on what’s best for me and my family and my neighbors. A little bit of extra once a year to know that we’re going to have that coverage and availability for someone to be here potentially, versus not having the service at all.

I have to look at it in that way and I really hope that the citizens do too. Because our reward is going to be that we have the service there to help us when we need it versus not knowing if it’s going to be someone from there in town coming if we have the funds to continue if we had to go a different route, or if it is a neighboring department coming in and having to wait for them.”

The Waverly Volunteer Fire and EMS is in the process of scheduling some town hall meetings to help answer any questions residents have on the fire protection district and the proposed tax needed to fund it.

Shumaker says an announcement of when and where those will be held will hopefully be made available soon.

A Springfield woman who walked into a Central Illinois bank indicating she had a bomb with her was sentenced in federal court on Wednesday.

Back in October of 2021, 44-year-old Heather Horrighs and 52-year-old Theodis Parnell, both of Springfield, were arrested in connection to a Sherman, Illinois bank robbery that occurred in September of that year.

According to a federal complaint following the arrest, Horrighs entered the Alliance Community Bank carrying a box with a note attached to it. The note claimed the box contained a bomb and demanded money.

Parnell was accused of acting as an accomplice and getaway driver. The pair made off with nearly $13,000 in the robbery.

Horrighs pleaded guilty to bank robbery in January of last year, and on Wednesday of this week was sentenced to serve four and a half years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

Parnell has already been sentenced to serve years and three months in federal prison.

Both Horrighs and Parnell faced up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Crime Stoppers of Morgan, Scott & Cass Counties are requesting information to assist the Jacksonville Police Department in their investigation of a recent burglary.

Sometime between Sunday, December 31^st, and Monday, January 8^th, unknown person(s) broke a window to gain access to a garage located in the 200 block of Finley Street and removed several items. 

Among the items taken included a Green Ryobi 40V battery charger, a black & green Ryobi Impact driver drill, a Black & green Ryobi 18V power Inverter, a Black and green Poultan chainsaw, and two pairs of Jordan golf shoes.

The 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 Stoppers Facebook page or calling Crime Stoppers at 217-243-7300.

Tips may also be submitted by texting to the word CRIMES (274637). The first word of the text tip must be “payout” Crime Stoppers says if your anonymous tip leads to an arrest, you are eligible for a cash reward.

A Greene County family could have lost everything in a structure fire last night had it not been for a family pet.

The Roodhouse Fire Department was called for a report of a structure fire in a residence just south of the fire station at 1267 North US 67, at approximately 10:15 Wednesday night.

Fire Chief Terry Hopkins says the fire was contained to an attached garage and a preliminary investigation indicated a possible cause of the blaze. “It was something electrical in that corner, in that southeast corner, and I don’t know exactly what was in there, what was plugged back in there. But that’s where it started and made a perfect V triangle right up the side of the wall and got into the attic.

Of course when it got into the attic and blew out the eave boards and everything, well then it got air and really started roaring. But we had already been there and we got it going on the downside pretty fast on that.”

Hopkins says the fire would have been much worse had it not been for the efforts of one of the smallest members of the family. “Their little dog is what woke them up. The smoke alarm didn’t go off until after they called the fire in. But it was a newer house so it was tight. The fire was in the garage and even with it closed up it was struggling for oxygen to get a burn going.

If it had been an old garage where it has some air coming around the doors and stuff, we’d have probably lost the whole south end of it. But as it turned out there is quite a bit left. I believe both vehicles are if not totaled at least real close to it I think.

Of course, they were in bed and their little dog got them up. So I told them they need to get that little dog some dog biscuits, he needs treats. He done a good job.”

An estimate of damages was not available as of press time. Hopkins says the fire was contained to the garage however, the house sustained significant smoke damage.

The White Hall Fire Department also responded as mutual aid and was on scene for approximately one hour. The Roodhouse Fire Department cleared the scene a little over an hour and a half after arrival.

–Ben Cox contributed to this story.

UPDATE January 11th: Keller was found safe. Please refer to Facebook and/or subsequent posts for immediate updates on Missing Persons cases.

Police are asking the public to be on the lookout for a missing area teenager.

Morgan, Scott, Cass Crime Stoppers are assisting the Jacksonville Police Department in gathering information on the whereabouts of 16-year-old Haiden M. Keller.

Keller was reported missing and is believed to be in the Jacksonville area staying with friends or acquaintances. He is described as being approximately 5′ 10” tall, weighing 135 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information about Haiden’s whereabouts is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 217-243-7300.

Crime Stoppers reminds that all tips are anonymous and any person who commits the offense of harboring a runaway could be charged with a Class A misdemeanor per state law.

Emergency snow routes have been activated in the area ahead of Friday’s predicted storm.

The City of Jacksonville has issued a snow route emergency from 8:00 am Friday, January 12th, to 8:00 am Monday, January 15th.

Emergency snow routes will be activated for West Lafayette, South Diamond, East and West College, North and South Church Street, North and South Clay Avenue, and North and South Westgate.

The Village of South Jacksonville will be under a snow emergency starting Friday at noon until Monday, at noon in anticipation of significant snowfall.

Emergency snow routes will be activated. Parking on snow emergency routes is prohibited during that time and vehicles may be towed to ensure efficient and safe snow removal.

Affected roads in South Jacksonville are East and West Greenwood, East Vandalia, South Diamond, Lincoln Avenue, and Hardin Avenue.

Officials in both the city and the village say it is recommended that people not park on the streets at all if possible, and do not put trash receptacles into the street.

Drivers are asked to watch snow removal crews and give them room to do their work. Those clearing private parking lots and sidewalks are reminded not to plow snow into the streets.

One of South Jacksonville’s storm sirens remains out of commission. South Jacksonville Police Chief Eric Hansel updated the Board of Trustees Thursday on the status of the village’s storm warning siren located near the water tower on West Vandalia Road.

Ongoing problems with the siren have become more frequent over the last year, with the unit failing to operate when needed at times, as well as one time last year when it turned on but then wouldn’t turn off.

The siren is an older model and Hansel says parts are becoming harder to obtain. During the December trustee meeting, it was decided for Hansel to continue to look into options to fix the existing siren and procure bids for a new replacement.

Hansel says they have made some progress on a possible repair to get it back online. “On the 12^th we met GTSI out there and ran a couple of tests including an audible test and function tests just to make sure it moved because the siren actually spins in a circle to actually put out the sound to everybody.

We think what is possibly wrong with it is the power supply which converts from 12 to 120 volts. So we pulled the power supply out, we pulled the motherboard out and they are going to test those in a controlled environment and see if that is the issue with it. Hopefully, we will get replacement parts for it and get it repaired until we can get a new replacement siren installed.”

Hansel says for now, the siren is not operational and he does not have an estimated time of when it could be back in service. Hansel says there are still ways residents in the area can be warned of possible weather emergencies, one of which is the Village’s Code Red mobile alert service.

“It is if they signed up for the weather warnings, if they didn’t sign up then they won’t get them. From where I’m at on West Vandalia, you can still hear the other two tornado sirens and the sirens in Jacksonville but it’s not as loud as it would be if there was one going over there.”

The Village of South Jacksonville is currently covered by three emergency storm sirens, one at the maintenance garage on Hardin Avenue, the one next to the water tower, and the newest unit which is located at the Love’s Truck Stop.

So far the village has received two bids for new replacement sirens ranging from $21,000 to $36,000. Hansel says he is still researching potential bids for a replacement. To find out more information about, or to sign up for the Code Red alert service, log onto southjacksonville-il.gov

The South Jacksonville Police Department is feeling the strain of supply and demand after two squad cars were heavily damaged last fall. Back in October, South Jacksonville Police responded to assist the Jacksonville Police who were in pursuit of an SUV that had fled from an attempted traffic stop.

Two South Jacksonville Police squad cars were hit by the SUV during the course of the pursuit. One was sideswiped by the fleeing suspect at South Main and Michigan, and the other was struck head-on by the SUV at East Michigan and South East Street.

Neither of the South Jacksonville Officers sustained injury in the crash. The two squad cars however were heavily damaged and put out of commission, leaving the South Jacksonville Police short on vehicles.

Chief Eric Hansel updated the Village Board of Trustees during the January meeting Thursday night on the status of the department’s fleet. Hansel says they were lucky with one of the squad cars, but not both.

“The first car that was damaged, car number four, it had damage to both passenger side doors, and they have been replaced. We actually salvaged those off of the other car that was damaged. We got it back on the road within about a two-week period. The other car was totaled out it had too much front-end damage so it needs to be totally replaced.”

Hansel says compounding the problem is another vehicle in the fleet was due for replacement in the regular vehicle rotation so his department needs to acquire two new vehicles, which is something he says is nearly impossible right now.

“But right now the problem is getting two new squad cars. With the auto workers’ shutdown and supply chain issues, we’ll probably be waiting six or eight months for two new cars. But we’re plugging along, we had one extra car that was a spare car, but we can’t afford to lose any extras.”

The six-week United Auto Workers strike last year caused the shutdown of Ford Motor Company’s Chicago Assembly plant between mid-September and late October where all Ford Explorer SUVs are made, including the law enforcement fleet vehicles.

Hansel says the squad due for regular replacement was already factored into the budget and insurance will help with the totaled vehicle, so the biggest problem right now is time more than funding.

The Village of South Jacksonville will be looking harder at a water rate increase in the new year. The village is still utilizing water from the City of Jacksonville as repairs to the village water treatment plant in Oxville remain stalled due to supply chain issues.

Public Works Superintendent Brian English updated the Village Board of Trustees Thursday night on the continuing work to bring the water treatment plant back online. English said the village remains on water from the City as the water plant project has been stalled due to continuing supply chain issues.

Last month the City of Jacksonville raised water rates for the new year between an average of $2.50 to $6.00 per customer. South Jacksonville Village President Dick Samples says between the cost of water from the city and ongoing expenses to get the village plant back online, the village’s budget is stuck between a rock and a hard place. He says the village’s current water rate charge is far too low to cover costs.

“Our current rates, which have not been raised since 2004, are approximately one-half of what it costs us to buy water from the City of Jacksonville. And there is nothing wrong with what the City of Jacksonville is charging us. But it’s a matter that we haven’t kept up.”

Samples says the average water customer in the Village currently pays $4.70 per 1,000 gallons used, compared to the $10.58 the City charges for the same amount. The total averaged approximately $13,000 in shortfall during December.

Samples says water rates will need to go up in the village to stop the bleeding as it could take as much as a year to get the village plant back online, with much of that being due to setbacks with delays in getting materials.

“We are looking at trying to get the stuff we had ordered, and that stuff being the media, which is the cleaning product. It’s still going back to Covid and the problems they experienced there and you just can’t get the materials.

We have two electric motors that have been on order forever and neither one has come in yet. We have a generator that’s been on order and it hasn’t come in yet. The only thing I can tell you is it’s ordered because that’s the only thing they are telling us- it’s ordered.”

Samples says it could cost upwards of half a million dollars to get the Oxville plant back online when all is said and done.

The trustees will next meet in Committee of the Whole on January 18^th where they will have further discussion on a possible water rate increase.