Governor takes clemency action

CHICAGO  — Gov. Bruce Rauner yesterday granted 10 and denied 78 clemency petitions.

This is the twenty-second set of petitions the governor has reviewed since taking office. Each person granted clemency has recently undergone a criminal background check through the Illinois State Police’s Law Enforcement Agencies Data System.

A granted clemency request for a pardon with expungement allows the petitioner to seek expungement of their conviction through the court system.

For additional information on the granted clemency cases, please contact the Prisoner Review Board at (217) 782-1610.

ILLINOIS STATE POLICE PREPARE FOR HOLIDAY TRAVEL

State Troopers to Strictly Enforce DUI, Speeding, Seatbelt, and Distracted Driving

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois State Police (ISP) Director Leo P. Schmitz is reminding motorists to take the necessary safety precautions to prevent senseless tragedies during the upcoming Christmas and New Year season. ISP will be working to reduce fatal crashes and arrest impaired drivers.

The ISP will be doing their part in keeping the roadways safe for those traveling through the state. The ISP will be strictly enforcing the four most common causes of fatal traffic crashes. “The Fatal Four” includes: DUI, Speeding, Seat Belt, and Distracted Driving.

You can do your part to make travel safe this holiday season. If you are going to be at an event with alcohol, please make sure you designate a driver. Keep your eyes on the road away from cell phones, “Give Them Distance” when approaching flashing lights on the shoulder, watch your speed and buckle up every trip.

“DUI is one of the most preventable factors in holiday fatal traffic crashes,” stated Illinois State Police Director Leo P. Schmitz. “Throughout the holidays, the ISP will conduct extra patrols and roadside safety checks with an emphasis on removing impaired drivers. Our goal is to make sure all Illinois motorists travel safely, with no tragedies this season. Remember, Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.”

We are confident that voluntary compliance of Illinois traffic laws can lead to a safe and enjoyable holiday season for everyone.

50 Influencers of Rend Lake College: Board Member Eric Black, Leading into the Future

By Reece Rutland

First elected to a four-year term in 2011 and then re-elected to a six-year term in 2015, Mt. Vernon pharmacist and pharmacy owner Eric Black has made his presence felt in his time on the board.

Most notably for Black’s tenure so far are the three years he has served as the board of trustee chair, leading the board in that capacity from 2013-16. He currently acts as the board secretary.

He was just 31 when he ran unopposed to fill the four-year term on the RLC board vacated by Kelly Woodrow, who had been appointed the previous year. Black was elected board chair at the November 2013 meeting following the resignation of Bryan Drew.

“Although I did not study at Rend Lake College,” the Black said, “I know from many of my patients and friends, and from some of my own family, the importance of this institution to our area.”

“The Board experience has been wonderful. I appreciate the other past and present Board members who have helped me transition. I’ve enjoyed serving the community through the Board and continue to look for ways to make the college more effective and efficient.”

The President/Director of Pharmacy of The Medicine Shoppe in Mt. Vernon, aka Mt. Vernon Community Pharmacy Inc., Black is a second-generation pharmacist and pharmacy owner who was the first home-educated student ever to be accepted by St. Louis College of Pharmacy.

CHINN, DAVIS, REAZIN NAMED SOPHOMORE ALL-AMERICANS

By John Lock – siusalukis.com

Complete HERO Sports FCS Sophomore All-America Team

Southern Illinois football sophomores Jeremy ChinnD.J. Davis, and Lane Reazin were named FCS Sophomore All-Americans by HERO Sports, the organization announced Monday. Chinn and Davis were named to the 28-man First Team. Reazin was named to the honorable mention team.

All three were earned All-MVFC honors after the 2017 season. Chinn and Davis were also named Freshman All-Americans after the 2016 season.

Jeremy Chinn, Safety

Chinn led the MVFC in forced fumbles and was sixth in interceptions. He led the MVFC in combined forced fumbles and interceptions, and he was ninth in passes defended. On SIU, Chinn was third on the team in tackles (66) and broke up six tackles. He also recovered one fumble. Chinn earned a spot on the 2016 MVFC All-Newcomer team and was a Freshman All-American by HERO Sports. He was named second-team All-MVFC after the 2017 season.

D.J. Davis, All-Purpose

Davis, a sophomore, was an honorable mention All-MVFC pick for a second-straight year. This year, Davis led the MVFC in kick return yardage (700). He ranked second in the MVFC and 19thnationally in all-purpose yards. He averaged 21.7 yards per kick return, which ranked fourth n the MVFC. He led all MVFC running backs in receptions (35) and had a 140-yard receiving game vs. Missouri State. After just two years, Davis is already third in SIU history in career kick return yards. He was named honorable mention All-MVFC after the 2017 season.

Lane Reazin, Punter

Reazin led the MVFC and ranking seventh nationally in punting average (43.6). Reazin led SIU to a net punting average of 38.3 yards, which was second in the MVFC in and 16th nationally. Reazin’s punting averaged was fourth in SIU history for a single season and 14th in MVFC history. He was named first-team All-MVFC after the 2017 season.

 

50 Influencers of Rend Lake College: Board Member Larry Manning, leading into the future

By Reece Rutland 

INA, IL – Larry Manning, owner and operator of a 3,000-acre family farm in Belle Rive, officially took his seat as part of the RLC Board of Directors in May of 2013. He owns the farm alongside his brother and son, Paul and Steven Manning.

He has been on the Tri-County Electric Cooperative Board for 15 years and served more than 16 years on the Bluford Grade School Board. He said one reason he chose to run for the RLC Board is that his service in Bluford was coming to an end and it was time for a change.

Larry Manning

“I think being on the Rend Lake College Board is something new and exciting for me so I thought I’d try it,” said Manning. “I want to thank all of those who supported me in the election.”

Manning is dedicated to local youth and their education beyond high school.

“I didn’t go to college,” he said. “I didn’t think I had the time. I don’t want any more young people making the mistake I did. I think the more education the better.”

Manning’s ties to RLC span generations. His wife Debra, son Steven and daughter Mary are all RLC alumni.

Debra graduated in 1980 with an Associate in Applied Science from the nursing program.

Steven graduated with a perfect 4.0 GPA from the agriculture production and management program in 2001. Steven served as RLC’s Student Trustee on the Board, and he was the recipient of multiple scholarships, including the Doug Leeck Memorial, Citizen’s Scholarship of America, Bluford FFA, and Jefferson County Farm Bureau Foundation. Steven transferred to Murray State University where he earned a master’s degree.

Mary – now Mary Minor – was also an outstanding student at RLC. She graduated with dual degrees in Science and Arts in 2004, transferred to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, and now teaches at Waltonville High School.

Manning replaced retiring Board Member, and fellow Influencer, Marvin Scott – a mainstay of 35 years of service to the RLC District.

“He is a very good choice,” Scott said of his successor. “I think he will look out for the students. He’ll be a good board member. He will do his job. I think he’s a good citizen and he will have the right interests as a board member at Rend Lake College.”

NOTE:  This is an excerpt from a piece recognizing the RLC board as one unit.  Each board member will be featured over the next few days on the website. -sd

Franklin County Sheriff’s Report 11/23/17

BENTON, IL –  The public is reminded the alleged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law.  Sheriff Don Jones.

11-8-17 at 3:56 pm Deputies-responded to a two vehicletr-af-fic crash-on State Hwy. 37 at Marcum Branch Road. A 2005 Chevrolet Trail Blazer driven by Barbara J. Tinker age 48 of Ewing was north bound on Rt. 37 and rear-ended a 2006 Ford Mustang driven by Carla D. Whittington, who was stopped in traffic  attempting to negotiate a left turn onto Marcum Branch Road. Carla Whittington was uninjured. Barbara Tinker received non-life threatening injuries and was transported to a local hospital by Abbott EMS. Tinker was also cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.

11-13-17 at 2:00 pm Deputies responded to a reported disturbance in rural Thompsonville. The investigation resulted in the arrest of Christopher C. Deaton age 29 of Stonefort for obstructing a peace officer.

11-14-17 at 10:48 am a Deputy attempted a traffic stop in West Frankfort. The suspect initially fled, driving recklessly at high speeds and the Deputy terminated the pursuit. The investigation continued and approximately two hours later, the suspect’s vehicle was located at a West Frankfort residence. The investigation resulted in the arrest of Bradley J. Braden age 33 of Elgin, charged with aggravated fleeing and attempting to elude (Class 4 Felony), driving on a suspended license, possession of drug paraphernalia and resisting a peace officer.

11-16-17 Deputies investigated a theft in Logan that resulted in the arrest of Donald L. Singleton age 40 of Logan for felony theft and felony possession of cannabis. Also arrested was Candice L. Singleton age 40 of Logan for possession of a felony amount of cannabis and obstructing justice.

11-18-17 at 9:29 pm Deputies responded to a reported disturbance at the skating rink on Rt. 37 south of Benton. The investigation resulted in the arrest of David R. Pearson age 45 of West Frankfort for aggravated battery.

11-19-17 at 3:07 am Deputies responded to a reported vehicle in a ditch on State Hwy. 14 in Buckner. The investigation resulted in the arrest of a 17 year old male juvenile for felony driving under the influence, driving while license suspended and illegal consumption of alcohol. A passenger, Cody l. Arrowood age 18 of West Frankfort was also charged with illegal consumption of alcohol.

11-20-17 at 9:43 am Deputies responded to a two vehicle traffic crash on State Hwy. 154 1/2 mile east of Rend City Road. A 2014 Ford Pick-Up Truck driven by Derek M. Smith age 22 of Johnston City was east bound on Rt. 154 and crossed into the west bound lane forcing a west bound 2007 Mack Truck, driven by Steven D. Dale age 49 of Dowell to exit the right shoulder in order to avoid a collision. The Ford Pick-Up Truck continued into the west bound lane and struck the rear axle of a dump trailer being towed by the Mack. The Pick-Up continued off the north side, striking a guard rail, then continued across the highway before coming to a stop after impacting the guard rail on the south side. The driver of the Mack was uninjured and the driver of the Pick-Up received minor injuries but refused medical treatment. He was believed to have fallen asleep. He was cited for improper lane usage.

11-21-17 at 6:37 pm Deputies responded to a domestic dispute in rural West Frankfort that resulted in the arrest of Sarah C. Couture age 18 of West Frankfort for domestic battery.

WARRANTS

11-7-17 Brienne E. Johnson age 23 of DuQuoin. Failure to appear from criminal trespass to state supported property.

11-8-17 Shelly R. Clutts age 32 of West Frankfort. Failure to appear on traffic charges.

11-9-17 Anthia J. Mason age 28 of Benton. Violation of probation.

11-9-17 Kyla E. Jones age 25 of Herrin. Failure to appear for aggravated D.U.I.

11-9-17 Robert J. Roberts age 29 of DuQuoin. Failure to appear on traffic charges.

11-15-17 Anthony J. Priest age 35 of Benton. Failure to appear for aggravated battery.

11-15-17 Bradley W. Murphy age 26 of Benton. Failure to appear for unlawful delivery of a controlled substance.

11-17-17 Claudie E. Rickett age 36 of Murphysboro. Failure to appear for domestic battery.

11-17-17 Jennifer A. Ware age 37 of West Frankfort. Failure to appear on traffic charges.

11-17-17 Dave C. Bradley age 40 of West Frankfort. Failure to appear on traffic charges.

11-17-17 Cyrstal L. Sutton age 26 of West Frankfort. Failure to appear on traffic charges.

11-21-17 Nathaniel M. Goldstein age 25 of St. Charles Missouri. Forgery and Theft.

11-22-17 Mikaela G. Morris age 20 of Zeigler. Failure to appear for unlawful consumption of alcohol.

The public is reminded that all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Late run pushes Saluki Men’s Basketball past UIS, 69-64

CARBONDALE, IL. — In an unexpected nail-biter, Southern Illinois rallied to beat Illinois-Springfield, 69-64, on Saturday night and improved to 49-5 all-time in home openers at SIU Arena.

Aaron Cook – siusalukis.com

Aaron Cook had a career-high 20 points to lead the Salukis (2-0), but it was teammate Eric McGill who hit the game’s biggest shot — a 3-pointer with 2:43 remaining that helped SIU regain the lead.

The contest was classified as an exhibition for the Division II Prairie Stars, but after falling behind, 7-0, they stood toe-to-toe with Southern the rest of the way. A 3-pointer by Eddie Longemeyer with 3:15 remaining gave them their first lead, 58-57, and sent a chill through the crowd of 4,166.

On SIU’s next possession, Cook found McGill wide open in the left corner, and the junior college transfer — making his home debut — found the bottom of the net. McGill came off the bench to scored 13 points. The bucket started a 7-0 run that gave the Salukis some breathing room, although UIS came as close as three points on a layup by Longemeyer with 21 seconds remaining. Cook then iced the win at the free throw line with a pair of makes.

“If we’d have won tonight by 20 or 30, it wouldn’t have helped us at all,” said Salukis head coach Barry Hinson, who improved to 13-0 all-time against non-Division I opponents. “The scenarios that came up tonight where we had to come from behind, and we had to win the ballgame and the pressure. Do you know how much pressure there was not to lose this game?”

The stat lines for the teams were remarkably similar. Both clubs made 23 field goals and both shot 33 percent from 3-point range, but SIU had a 16-10 advantage at the charity stripe. Southern had a size advantage over UIS, but had difficulty exploiting it, as the UIS defense sagged in on 6-foot-10 center Kavion Pippen, who finished with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

“We couldn’t throw the ball inside, because they just said beat us from the perimeter,” Hinson explained. “I would have told you going into the game that if anyone would have done that to us, I’d have told you that will never happen. I was a little surprised at that.”

Hinson said he saw flashes of FloorburnU during the game, as the defense held UIS to 39 percent from the field, and multiple players dove on the floor for loose balls. During one sequence in the first half, both Tyler Smithpeters and Sean Lloyd ended up on the hardwood in a mad-scramble for possession. Lloyd slid across midcourt to retrieve the ball, fired it back to Smithpeters, who drilled his 100th-career 3-pointer.

“We guarded tonight,” Hinson said. “Tonight’s lesson to our team was, never be upset with getting a win, and there’s going to be a lot of nights where you don’t play well offensively, and it’s proven you can win it on the defensive end of the floor.”

Starting guard Armon Fletcher, who is nursing a knee injury, did not play in the game, but dressed and stayed loose by riding a stationary bike, in case he was needed. Hinson said Fletcher will play Tuesday at Louisville.

Box score link

http://siusalukis.com/boxscore.aspx?id=7931&path=mbball

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR ALL OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNTIL 5:00 p.m.

The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of
Southern Illinois
Central and Southern Indiana
Western Kentucky
Southeast Missouri
Western Ohio

* Effective this Saturday afternoon and evening from 1205 PM
until 600 PM EST.

* Primary threats include…
Widespread damaging wind gusts to 70 mph likely
Isolated large hail events to 1.5 inches in diameter possible
A tornado or two possible

SUMMARY…A fast-moving line of thunderstorms will sweep across the
watch area this afternoon, posing a risk of locally damaging wind
gusts. Some risk of hail and a tornado or two also exists.

The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 80
statute miles east and west of a line from 45 miles north northeast
of Muncie IN to 45 miles south of Cape Girardeau MO. For a complete
depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update
(WOUS64 KWNS WOU6).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

REMEMBER…A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are
favorable for severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area.
Persons in these areas should be on the lookout for threatening
weather conditions and listen for later statements and possible
warnings. Severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce
tornadoes.

Special Weather Statement issued from the NWS for high winds

…Winds 40 mph to locally 45 mph expected through 200 pm CST…

A band of winds, with gusts of 40 to 45 mph, and possibly up to 50
mph are expected to develop quickly along and ahead of a line of
storms currently working through western sections of Southeast
Missouri.

These strong winds will be ahead of a line of showers and
thunderstorms that are expected to develop and move through Carter
and Ripley Counties through 1130 am CST, reaching western Perry
County Missouri by 1130 am CST. The line of storms will likely
move near a Perryville to Poplar Bluff Missouri line by noon, and
a Marion Illinois to Sikeston Missouri line by 1 pm CST.

Although the storms were moving east around 40 mph at this time,
the storms may accelerate even faster as they move through the
remainder of Southeast Missouri into Southwest Illinois.

Damaging winds, hail, and the potential for an isolated brief
tornado may be possible with the line of storms. Higher wind gusts
will be likely with any showers and thunderstorms.

If you have any loose outdoor objects that may cause damage, bring
them indoors. Travelers driving high profile vehicles will likely
experience some difficulty in controlling their vehicle due to
high winds.

Storm Prediction Center discussing putting Southern Illinois under a weather watch

Storm Prediction Center – Norman OK

 

The Storm Prediction center has all of Southern Illinois outlined for watch issuance in the next hour or so.  This is my speculation only it will be a Severe Thunderstorm Watch instead of a Tornado Watch

The SPC has also expanded all of Southern Illinois now in the area for a slight risk of severe weather.  There is a chance for large hail now, which was not included this morning.  The Tornado Threat is still minimal.

Please check the website as well as the Facebook page for further updates.

Benton, West Frankfort, Illinois News | Franklin County News