The Village of South Jacksonville is dealing with water issues this morning.

According to a report by the Jacksonville Journal-Courier, the village is currently running on water from the City of Jacksonville after a pump broke at the Village’s water treatment plant near Oxville.

Village President Dick Samples told the Courier that parts for the pump have been ordered however, it is expected to be out of service for at least two weeks. Residents of the Village have complained about the quality of the water coming from their faucets and at times a dark or even brown color to the water at times.

Samples said in the report that continued water quality testing has shown that the water is clean and safe for consumption and that the complaints have dropped off considerably in recent weeks.

The Village Board of Trustees is expected to approve a contractual agreement with All Service Contracting Corporation to replace the media filtering material at the Oxville plant during a special session tomorrow during the regularly scheduled Committee of the Whole meeting. Samples has said previously changing out the material will help increase the quality of the water coming through the system.

Some village residents suffered another blow to their water needs yesterday morning. Residents in the southernmost portions of the village reported losing most or all of their water pressure. WLDS News spoke with Samples at the time who confirmed a water main had been struck by a work crew.

Subsequently, a boil order has been issued for all South Jacksonville residents who live south of Prairie Power Incorporated, located at 2109 South Main Street until further notice.

Anyone with questions or concerns has been directed to call the South Jacksonville Village Hall at 217-245-4803.

A Greene County man is one of several individuals arrested by Illinois State Police during a recent anti-human trafficking operation in the Springfield area.

According to the announcement by the State Police this afternoon, between August 9^th and 10^th, 2023, the ISP Division of Criminal Investigation Trafficking Enforcement Bureau led a human trafficking suppression operation focused on identifying individuals seeking to engage in commercial sex acts with minors.

As a result of the operation, 52-year-old Shannon C. Morrow of White Hall was arrested for indecent solicitation of a child, traveling to meet a minor, and sexual exploitation of a child.

Also arrested and each on the same three charges were 41-year-old David L. Kraemer of Lovington, Illinois, 34-year-old Cody R. Jones, 32-year-old Edgar G. Mendoza, and 37-year-old Zebei D. Zhu, all three of Springfield; 43-year-old Phillip J. Smith of Rochester, and 45-year-old Kory W. Tobias of Chatham.

28-year-old Timothy E. Smith of Springfield was arrested on two counts each of indecent solicitation of a child and traveling to meet a minor.

State Police Director Brendan F. Kelly said in the release that “ISP is increasing its efforts to protect those who are vulnerable to human trafficking, forced labor, and sexual servitude,” He goes on to say that “ISP conducted a similar operation in June in which seven people in the Metro East were arrested.

He says the operation was part of a multifaceted approach by ISP aimed at stopping human trafficking in Illinois.

If you suspect human trafficking, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373- 7888 or text *233733. For more information visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org. You also email ISP.Crime.Tips@illinois.gov

A recent traffic incident has Jacksonville city leaders considering possible changes in the downtown area.

Last week, an out-of-state semi-truck became stuck after it struck a concrete post and section of fencing while trying to turn north from the square onto North Main Street. The truck also drove up onto the center median.

During the Jacksonville City Council meeting last night, Mayor Andy Ezard brought up the center medians under new business for discussion by the council. Since the downtown was reopened to traffic more than ten years ago, there have been a number of incidents, especially with semi-trucks at the medians.

Superintendent of City Hall Plaza & Maintenance, John Green says he has had recent discussions with the Mayor and Streets Superintendent Les Ballenger about the issues with semi-trucks trying to navigate the North and South Main Street entrances to the square.

He says the consensus so far has been to increase the amount of signage warning semi-truck drivers that Main Street through the downtown square is not a through truck route. “We’re looking into doing a little more signage and taking it a little further out to the south and the north so the trucks have more of a warning, more of a head up.

Right now it’s too close to the square, so once you get close, they are committed and there’s no turning them around at that point. Even though it’s not a truck route, their GPSs send them that way, so we’re going to try and do better signage that’s a little bigger, and a little further out to give them more of a heads up.”

Green says the plan would be to include placing the additional signs farther down North and South Main including at the Interstate 72 interchange with Main Street. He says the current sign is near Morton Avenue and once a semi crosses Morton heading north, there is virtually no place to reroute them.

Another suggestion Mayor Ezard said he wanted the council to consider in the coming weeks is if the center medians need to be removed. Green says as pleasing as the medians are ascetically, they have become a common hazard as shipping traffic needs to be able to flow through town.

“It’s not easy. They’ve got to get from one end of town to the other. But with these islands, I’m proposing to possibly move, and that’s going to have to be up to the council. It’s just that the road is not wide enough for them.

They look very nice on the architectural end of it, but it’s not practical, the road is just not wide enough. Fire trucks, buses, you and I in a pickup truck and a trailer, let alone a semi that gets up there, which they’re not supposed to be, but they get up there and things happen.”

Green told the Council last week’s incident caused approximately $14,000 worth of damage. He said luckily the semi-truck owner’s insurance will be covering the cost, but there have been other instances when the vehicle got away and the city was left stuck paying the bill.

After a brief discussion without official action, the council members were in favor of seeing if the placement of additional warning signs would have any effect on the issue and moving the idea to committee for further discussion.

A Nevada man is behind bars in Pike County after a nearly 18-month child pornography investigation.

According to a press release by Pike County Sheriff David Greenwood this afternoon, on July 19^th the Pike County Sheriff’s Department and Pleasant Hill Police Department announced the arrest of 57-year-old James B. Knight, of Elko, Nevada, and formerly of Pleasant Hill, Illinois, on an original arrest warrant for seven counts of unlawful possession of child pornography.

Greenwood says the investigation began in late January of 2021 when authorities were notified of Knight being in possession of child pornography. Law enforcement authorities recovered 47 images of child pornography.

The case was investigated by Chief Deputy Zack Orr who indicated that Knight moved away from Pleasant Hill, Illinois in the summer of 2019. Chief Deputy Orr said the case continued and a warrant was issued for Knight.

Chief Deputy Orr said he was notified that Knight had been arrested on the Pike County, Illinois warrant on or about July 19^th, 2023, in Elko County, Nevada, and later extradited to Illinois.

Knight remains lodged in the Pike County Jail on a $100,000.00 bond.

Blood center officials are hoping an upcoming area blood drive will pump a little life into area blood supply levels as some have reached a critical level.

ImpactLife officials are responding to an immediate need for additional donors to support this region’s blood supply.

They say during the weeks between the Fourth of July and Labor Day, projections for blood collection show 600 to 800 fewer donors per week than in the Spring and Fall, representing an approximately 20% decrease in the rate of blood donation.

Public Relations Manager for ImpactLife, Kirby Winn says, the decrease in people donating blood means some blood types have fallen to critical levels in the area.

“We’re looking at about one day to one and a half days on our Type-O positive and O negative red blood cells. The B positive and B negative are in about the same place, but truly all blood types are needed because we’ve had a run of several weeks here in this mid-summer period with low donations and that’s just not sustainable over the long term.”

Winn says ImpactLife’s goal is to collect enough blood to have a five to seven-day supply at any time of each type. ImpactLife is hosting a blood drive on Monday at Jacksonville Memorial Hospital from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm.

Winn says they are encouraged that the drive has a strong schedule of donors who have registered, but there is plenty of room for more who would like to give. “We’ll be there at the hospital for a good chunk of the day and then there’s other events and local blood drives. Folks who go to Springfield can visit our donation center there if that’s convenient.

But what we want to do is be out in the field, in the community we serve, and certainly, right there at the hospital is a good example. Because you could have somebody giving blood in one room and under the same roof here’s somebody else receiving a blood transfusion, possibly in surgery or the emergency room.

So it really does bring it home, that connection between blood donors and the recipient right there in the community.”

Winn says it is preferred that donors register for an appointment to donate ahead of time, but if you happen to find yourself with unexpected free time Monday, walk-ins are always welcome.

If you can’t make it on Monday, the Prairieland United Way is holding a blood drive during their 2023 week of giving on Tuesday, August 22^nd, from 10:00 am to 5;00 pm at CNB Bank & Trust.

To help increase the rate of blood donation through September 10^th, all donors who give blood at ImpactLife donor centers or mobile blood drives will receive a voucher to redeem for the donor’s choice of an electronic gift card or an equivalent value contribution to AdoptAClassroom.org.

The value of the gift card or contribution ranges from $10 to $50. To find out more information, or to register go to bloodcenter.org, or via the ImpactLife mobile app.

You can also find out more information by searching ImpactLife on your favorite social media platform.

The Prairieland United Way will be kicking off this year’s annual campaign in two weeks with an evening full of events.

According to a press release by Executive Director Karen Walker, this year’s campaign theme is “What’s Raised Here, Stay’s Here” and officially kicks off on Friday, August 25^th at 4:00 pm at Future Champion’s Sports Complex.

The Business After Hours will be followed by the Annual Guns & Hoses Softball Challenge between the local Fire and Police Departments, and then a performance by the band, Buk caps off the night.

The Prairieland United Way also announced that campaign Co-Chairs for 2023 are Kristin Jamison and Kristen Reed, who are both Illinois College Alumni and live in Jacksonville.

Kristin Van Aken Jamison is the current President of the Jacksonville Regional Economic Development Corporation (JREDC). She and her husband, Adam, opened Jamison’s Future Swings in 2018, and Jamison’s Future Champions Sports Complex in 2020. They live in Jacksonville with their two children.

Kristen Reed was born and raised in Beardstown, and has spent her career in the Office of Admission at Illinois College in many capacities, and currently serves as Project Manager. Reed resides in Jacksonville with her husband Brandon and their two daughters.

Prairieland United Way helps local people by raising and distributing funds for health, education, and employment-related service programs in Morgan, Scott, Cass, and Northern Greene counties across 23 agencies and 30 programs.

This year’s campaign goal is $467,000. The fundraising officially kicks off at 4:00 pm on August 25 at Future Champions. Business leaders and United Way employee campaign coordinators are especially encouraged to attend but everyone is welcome.

For more information on the Prairieland United Way, you can contact Executive Director Karen Walker at 217-245-4557 or stop by the office located at the Jacksonville Municipal Building, 200 W. Douglas Avenue in Jacksonville.

You can also visit prairielandunitedway.org or the Prairieland United Way Facebook page.

Crime Stoppers of Morgan, Scott & Cass Counties are requesting information to assist The Jacksonville Police Department in two separate incidents of Criminal Damage.

Sometime in the overnight hours of July 26^th, unknown person(s) slashed the tires on two separate vehicles. Both were parked in the 300 block of South Clay Street.

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 at www.morganscottcrimestoppers.webs.com, or by calling Crime Stoppers at 217-243-7300.

Tips may also be submitted by texting to the word CRIMES, that’s the number 274637 (CRIMES). 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.

A Springfield area mental health center now has a new name, and the cause for the change is rooted in a struggle between two former Jacksonville residents more than 160 years ago.

This morning, Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) announced the McFarland Mental Health Center is now officially the Elizabeth Parsons Ware Packard Mental Health Center.

The new name was an initiative by IDHS Division of Mental Health staff to honor Packard, who in 1860, at age 43, was admitted to the Illinois State Asylum for the Insane in Jacksonville.

At the time, Illinois law allowed men to have their wives involuntarily committed. Packard disagreed with her husband, a Calvinist priest, over religious doctrine, and on issues including women’s rights and slavery. She spent three years at the hospital before gaining her release.

Following her release, Packard became a fierce and visible advocate for the rights of women and psychiatric patients and successfully advocated for the passage of a “Bill for the Protection of Personal Liberty” in 1867. She also founded the Anti-Insane Asylum Society and pushed multiple states to reform their laws to better recognize the rights of mental health patients.

Dr. Andrew McFarland became superintendent of the Illinois State Asylum for the Insane in Jacksonville in 1854 and was one of Packard’s doctors during her time there. McFarland opposed Packard’s efforts for reform, lobbying against the passage of the “Bill for the Protection of Personal Liberty”, as well as against independent state inspections of mental health facilities.

Pritzker said this morning during the ceremony, that changing the name from McFarland, rights a wrong done to more than just Mrs. Packard. “And in 1869, a legislative investigation into the conditions at the Illinois State Asylum under McFarland’s leadership revealed horrific practices used to treat patients- including something that today would have been considered waterboarding.

As a result, in 1870, McFarland was forced to resign and Elizabeth Packard was hailed as one of the greatest change-makers of her time. Nearly one hundred years later, despite the facts of McFarland’s history, when this center was built in 1968, the Illinois Legislature officially named it in his honor. With that designation, the state didn’t just let Elizabeth down, it let down millions of Americans struggling with their mental health.”

Pritzker says the group gathering today felt like an important milestone. “Today we are putting a spotlight on the real hero associated with this institution. Someone who in truth better expresses our proud history of positive reform. Someone who changed our world for the better.”

“”In Elizabeth Packard’s own words- “We should set our light blazing as an example to others and not set it under a bushel.” Well now on this building, her name will literally be lit for all to see.”“

On signage and in common use, the facility it will become known simply as the Packard Mental Health Center.

Upon leaving the Illinois State Asylum Dr. McFarland established Oak Lawn Retreat, a private asylum also located in Jacksonville. According to the Sangamon County Historic Society, the time during the legislative investigation into McFarland’s administration of the Illinois State Asylum was controversial, with much of the Jacksonville community and a number of influential newspapers from around the state.

McFarland continued to operate Oak Lawn until his death in 1891 when reportedly suffering from depression, he hanged himself at the facility.

Parents who may need some help making sure their children have everything they need for the start of school can get a hand this weekend.

The Jacksonville Chapter of the NAACP is sponsoring its annual Back to School Giveaway this Saturday at Minnie Barr Park. Polly Williams, President of the Jacksonville Chapter of the NAACP says backpacks and supplies will be given away free of charge while supplies last.

“We will start giving away backpacks at 10:30 Saturday morning. They do have to sign for them, the kids’ names who are picking them up. And we’ve got them all lined up from kindergarten to high school, so when they come through, just tell me what grade your kid is in and they can get it.”

Williams says several organizations are coming together to make the day possible, but special thanks are owed to one group in particular for help with the school supplies. “The Lions Club donated school supplies for us too, and I mean the backpacks full this year. Everything the school asked for, the kids got.”

The Pilot Club will also be handing out bike helmets while supplies last. The event runs from 10 am to 2:00, with the backpack distribution from 10:30 to 11:30.

Williams says once those are all distributed, there will be a free lunch of hotdogs, chips, and a drink for the kids starting at noon. She says there will be games and other activities for both kids and parents.

“The police will be there with the kids. They always like to play basketball with them. The Morgan County Health Department will be there for anybody who needs a shot, they are going to set up appointments for them so they can just go down to the health department and get their school shots.”

Other organizations contributing this year include MCS, JACIL, the Boys and Girls Club, Walmart, the Cass County Health Department, Mt. Emory Baptist Church, and the House of Worship among others.

The NAACP Back to School Giveaway is from 10:00 to 2:00 at Minnie Barr Park at 300 Walnut Court this Saturday. For more information, call 217-414-5059, or 217-473-5911.