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Alleged child abductor arrested after chase

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Joshua O. Spivey

LAWRENCE/RICHLAND COs. – Trouble predicted for an Olney man accused of taking off with a child half his age has finally come to pass: Joshua O. Spivey was arrested in early December after eluding authorities for a number of weeks while under arrest warrants.

Spivey, 29, who was the subject of a front-page article in the December Special Edition after he was alleged to have taken off with 15-year-old Makayla Casey of Olney, was apprehended during a somewhat spectacular arrest by Lawrence County authorities on the evening of Dec. 9.

On that day at about 6 p.m., Lawrence County Deputy Byron Middlecoat was on duty when the sheriff’s department received information that Spivey was en route to Lawrenceville in a U-Haul on old U.S. Highway 50.

Middlecoat responded when he observed the U-Haul, and began pursuing the vehicle, attempting to get the driver to pull over.

When the driver saw that the cops were following him, however, he sped up as he traveled away from the area of ATS and on into Lawrenceville, not pulling over for Middlecoat, who was decidedly in pursuit of the vehicle.

Middlecoat reported that he watched the fleeing U-Haul disobey all traffic control devices (stop signs and other traffic alert signs) on the way to Lawrenceville, driving dangerously at high speeds and almost striking an oncoming vehicle head-on as he traveled into town.

With the assistance of other police units, Middlecoat was able to follow the U-Haul down Sixth Street, still driving dangerously, and pull in behind him as he stopped in front of a residence neighbors have reported in the past as a “known drug house,” where residents on that street have advised that they’ve observed drug transactions going down on the front porch of the place in broad daylight, as recently as this past summer.

One source advised that it was understood the house was a rental owned by former Lawrenceville mayor Brian Straub, who has had drug problems of his own over the past two years.

However, nothing of the sort was occurring on December 9; instead, neighbors, alerted by the presence of many police vehicles, watched as a man jumped out of the driver’s side of the U-Haul and ran from the area.

Police and deputies gave chase on foot and located Josh Spivey in the vicinity of Third and Christy streets. He was taken in without further incident.

With Spivey in the U-Haul was a juvenile female. Authorities declined to state her identity, and it doesn’t appear she’s been charged with anything in connection with the crime.

However, Spivey wasn’t going to get out of the situation unscathed.

He was charged with a felony count of Aggravated Fleeing Police/driving 21 mph over the speed limit. In addition, he was cited with two other traffic offenses, Improper Lane Usage and Disregarding Traffic Control Devices.

He was booked in the Lawrence County Jail where he remained at press time.

Knox County, too

Lawrence officials were on the alert for Spivey, as were Knox County, Indiana, officials, due to an active Richland County warrant on his pending felony case there: Aggravated Fleeing/Damage to Property; and, on the day of his apprehension, a Knox County warrant was issued for a November 16 filing against Spivey: Resisting Law Enforcement/Intentionally Fleeing.

The Indiana fleeing charge was a result of an October 2 incident wherein authorities were looking for Spivey when Casey was with him.

He somehow managed to elude them and get away with the young teen, taking off with her for parts unknown. A missing persons alert had already been made on Casey, this by her own errant mother, Angel Phipps, whose February 2014 meth charges in Richland only were dismissed Dec. 4 and who hasn’t been the best role model for any of her kids, as most of them continue to be procreating at obscenely-young ages (Casey, if she is without a child as yet, would be the one to reach the oldest age without having given birth).

Upon deadline of the December Special Edition (November 29), Disclosure learned that Casey had made her way back home on or about Nov. 22.

There was no announcement of the whereabouts, if they were indeed known, of Spivey.

However, it was surmised that his freedom would be short-lived since he had recently (Nov. 17) failed to appear for the September fleeing charge there.

That came to be the case, and the warrant was issued and executed on the Dec. 9 date of the chase.

OPs allege giving meth to teen

A few other matters remain, however.

One is that there have been no charges filed against Spivey in connection with allegedly running off with Casey.

It remains unclear whether this would be an Illinois case or an Indiana case; apparently, it depends on where the two were when Spivey allegedly ran off with Casey; they were last seen in Bicknell on the October 2 date, but were suspected of being in Carbondale at one point.

Whatever the case, there also remains the issues of two Orders of Protection Phipps took out against him, with highly incriminating statements being made by the former meth suspect against the errant Spivey.

The first was taken out Sept. 28; at that time Phipps wrote that Spivey had “kidnapped” Casey at approximately 10:30 p.m. that day (apparently authorities didn’t take the matter seriously enough to file any kind of charge against him at that time.)

She iterated that on Sept. 16, “I had to put Makayla in Lincoln Prairie Hospital due to problems with him minipulating (sic – ed.) and her testing posititve for meth and pot, cutting herself because (of) Josh,” Phipps wrote.

“This has been an ongoing problem for month and half,” Phipps wrote. “There is an AMBER Alert out and police has Josh’s car I believe the found it with drugs in it.

“He’s a 32-year-old male that keeps taking off with her and feeding her full of drugs.” In the margin of the complaint page, Phipps scrawled “Johs has made comments to people about taking Makayla to Evansville, In., to live at his drug dealer’s house. I have several messages from Josh Spivey (illegible) his brother (illegible) he has supposedly moved to Carbondale, Carterville (illegible) and Evansville.”

No OP violations

The matter grew in intensity when on Nov. 17, a second OP was filed.

“Recently I found text on my daughter’s friend’s Shaniqua Holland’s phone from Josh Spivey at approximately 11:30a.m asking my daughter Makayla Casey to sneak off and meet him,” Phipps wrote.
He has been seen leaving McDonald’s bad with unknown items inside. I have repeatedly ask text called police asking for assistance in making him stop. He is a 30-year-old man minipulating (sic – ed.) a 15-year-old girl.”

She wrote asking that Spivey be further ordered: “He needs psychological help immediately before some little girl gets raped or worst killed.”

No OP violations have been filed against Spivey in Richland; apparently, authorities believe that the little girl was leaving willingly with Spivey, so no abduction charges can be claimed; and there’s apparently no indication of sexual contact, so no sexual abuse or assault charges can yet be filed.

As of press time (Dec 13) Spivey had yet to be set for a first hearing on both his Richland and Lawrence county charges.


Good Samaritan effort nearly leads to abduction

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RICHLAND CO. – A situation of Good Samaritanism could have turned extremely dangerous, extremely quickly, for an Olney woman on Friday, December 11…but as it turned out, a hijacker-wannabe was a little too strung out to do much more than scream at her.

The man was in custody within a matter of hours after the incident, which happened around 2-2:15 that afternoon, on the east side of the Fox River bridge on Illinois Route 250 between Noble and Olney.

At that time, Erin Hagen, 32, was traveling with her three-year-old daughter Kiara on 250 when she saw a young woman standing atop the ditch, just south of the shoulder of the highway, waving her arms over her head in an effort to flag down any passing motorist.

Hagen slowed and stopped.

The woman, who appeared to be in her early 20s, advised that she’d just had a wreck and that her car was down in the ditch, trapped by trees, and she needed a ride to go get help.

Hagen told her she’d give an assist, and as she was readying her vehicle for the woman to get in, she watched as the woman ran away from Hagen’s car and started motioning toward her own vehicle instead.

At that point, two young men emerged and ran toward Hagen’s vehicle.

Nightmare scenario

With the nightmare scenario happening in broad daylight, there was no one else on the highway to provide help and nothing for Hagen to do but try and stay calm as it unfolded.

One of the young men ran in another direction; but one entered Hagen’s vehicle, along with the initial young woman who’d served as “bait” for the passing car.

The young man began screaming at her to “drive!!” and Hagen took off, with the man screaming at her all the way…and the 3-year-old screaming, as well, in terror.

The young man yelled at the little girl to “shut up!” and the little girl shouted back in defiance that she was scared…but then added that her Mommy was not.

The young man, through bouts of screaming (and in what appeared to be drug-induced bouts of fitful behavior, including jerking and twitching), was telling Hagen that she was going to take him to where a “blue truck” was, which, he told her, he was going to steal. Many of his rantings, she said, sounded as if he wanted her to assist in the theft.

Kept her cool

Nevertheless, Hagen kept her cool, and when the young woman told her, above the din of the shouting man, to “stop here” at a house about a mile away from the wreck scene, Hagen did so.

The two bailed out at the residence, which the young woman mentioned was her mother’s house, and Hagen was able to get away once they cleared her car.

She drove straight to the police station in Olney, and made a report.

The sheriff’s department had Hagen back on the scene in order to point out where the crashed vehicle, a red car, had landed.

There was no one on scene.

However, within a couple of hours, the sheriff’s department had in custody one Daniel David Schick, 22, of Olney.

Hagen was called up to the sheriff’s department in order to identify Schick, and once she did, he was taken to the jail and booked on a charge of DUI; apparently, he’d been behind the wheel of the red car when it drove off 250 and had landed in a small grove of trees.

DUI isn’t something Schick is unfamiliar with; he received his first one two years ago in September, at the tender age of 20, and, thanks to the light prosecution provided by David Hyde, got a whole 18 months of Court Supervision, an order to attend DUI school (through which he learned, apparently, how to hone his DUI skills and graduate to actually crashing a car, not just drive it under the influence – allegedly, of course) and a fine of $2,098, all of which has been paid…which, along with Hyde’s prosecutorial skills, explains why he was out and about on the Dec. 11 excursion, since Richland is chronically cash-strapped.

More charges likely to follow

The DUI charge, however, is likely not the end of Schick’s problems.

Under prosecutor Brad Vaughn, there’s likely a plethora of charges Schick could face as regards using the young woman as a distraction technique and then effectively hijacking Hagen’s car, terrorizing her and her child, and possibly more infractions that can be tacked on to the incident.

There has been no word on who the young woman was, nor who the other man might’ve been; as well, there’s been no word as to whether they have been or will be charged in connection with the frightening incident.

Any updates will be made available at the website, www.disclosurenewsonline.com.

Schick remained jailed at the Richland County Detention Center as of press time (Dec. 13) on a minimal $100 cash bond.Screen Shot 2015-12-14 at 6.31.37 PM

SA candidate linked to suspected “gentlemen’s club”

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MOLLY DEARING

SALINE CO.— It appears that the notorious Robert Wilson’s niece, Molly Dearing, has been linked to the investigation into an alleged gentlemen’s club.

After poring over hundreds of documents that have flooded in, Disclosure has learned that a liquor license, granted by the City of Harrisburg, appears to be in the name of one Grady Gaskins.

Gaskins happens to be married to Robert Wilson’s daughter Taylor Wilson Gaskins.

Documents indicate that Grady Gaskins was the contact person for the status of the license which appears to have cleared the city’s checklist for approval either April 30 or May 1, 2015.

The cost for the license was listed as $1,250.

And it would seem that Harrisburg Mayor Dale Fowler, who recently announced his candidacy  for Illinois Senate, either picked up the approved license or hand delivered it himself.

Screen Shot 2015-12-14 at 6.35.34 PMPlaying the party game

Dearing has been eyeing the state’s attorney seat for the past several elections.

At one point Robert Wilson, a democrat, even suggested that a democrat sitting state’s attorney step down and name Molly, also affiliated with the democrat party, as his replacement in order for her to be a shoe-in in the next election.

Sources indicate that Robert was informed he could sexually abuse himself and at that point the meeting broke up and Wilson is said to have devised another plan to ultimately get what he wants.

And oddly enough, because Dearing would stand little to no chance at beating incumbent state’s attorney Mike Henshaw, who retired from the bench as a judge, in a democrat primary run-off, she has taken out a petition for the upcoming election, claiming that she is now a Republican.

“Robert has been wanting someone he can control in the state’s attorney’s office for a long time,” said one source familiar with Harrisburg politics.

Why Molly, why now?

While calls have gone unreturned in many cases, there are those insiders who believe that making a move now to get Dearing in office would short circuit any investigation into the alleged misdeeds of the suspected gentlemen’s club.

“Misdeeds” could very well be putting it lightly if, in fact, rumors of the goings-on inside the club are true.

Sources indicate that many of those considered the “upper crust” of the power brokers in the area are members of the club or at least have been invited by a man by the name of Adam (last name being withheld until confirmed), who issued personal invitations.

“Given the power of the individuals said to be members and added to that a new state’s attorney who would look the other way if she were told to and you have a club that can virtually get away with whatever unspeakable moral interests their special members have,” the source said.

It is the “special members” and the access they allegedly have that has piqued the interest of those looking into the case.

Reports have been fairly consistent that “regular members” have little or no clue what goes on within some of the exclusive rooms at the club.

There have been stories of a sex orgy room and any illegal drug one could imagine being made available only to “special members.”

Screen Shot 2015-12-14 at 6.35.40 PMUnlikely sources

While inside sources have, for the most part, claimed they are too scared to say anything about the club, one of several men recently involved in an overturned truck accident has seen fit to open a dialogue with Disclosure.

This source claims that a membership agreement, in capital, bold letters, proclaims: “IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT CAREFULLY. THIS DOCUMENT IS A CONTRACT. BY SIGNING THIS CONTRACT, YOU ACCEPT ALL TERMS OF THIS MEMBERSHIP AGREEMENT, AND THIS MEMBERSHIP AGREEMENT WILL BE A VALID AND LEGALLY BINDING DOCUMENT.”

Not surprisingly, some sources indicate that it very well could be Robert Wilson, who is also an attorney of sorts, who drafted the “Membership Agreement.”

What’s to protect from?

According to the source from the crashed truck, there is not a board per se that is in charge of the club.

“They call it ‘club management,’” the source said. “If you get out a line they can fine ya and kick ya out and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

The source, who became very nervous at the end of the interview, said the membership fee for the club is outrageous and members are threatened with fines if they tell ANYBODY ANYTHING about the club.

“Nobody’s suppose to talk about it on Facebook and stuff like that,” the source said. “And there aint no pictures allowed either.”

The source did show a photocopied piece of paper he claimed was from the membership agreement.

The slip of paper read: “Married Couples. Married couples may become Club Membership (‘Members’) together and each spouse, individually, will have full, unlimited rights as all other Members. Club is not responsible for any irreconcilable differences between spouses that may result in dissolution of marriage from entering into this Agreement.”

Other than alleged prostitution and a sex orgy room or a drug problem, it is unclear exactly what the concern over “irreconcilable differences” would be.

Offers to sell info

In keeping with most criminal trash, toward the end of the interview, the source held up several sheets of paper and offered to sell them to Disclosure.

When he was advised by publisher Jack Howser that his publication has never paid for information and didn’t intend to start now, the source said he believed that Howser would “out” his name because he didn’t get all the information he wanted.

“We don’t work like that here,” Howser said. “Nor would we ever consider bouncing a subhuman waste of flesh like yourself off the walls of this room and just taking those documents you have in your hand.”

“I see your point,” the source said and agreed to another meeting.

Public outraged over plea in battery case

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LAWRENCE CO. – The outrage over the resolution to a Lawrence County shaken baby case has reached public-office-impact levels.

The number of citizens stating they’ve come to an awareness that something is very wrong with the plea agreement effected by the state in the case of Amy Norton, 43, who was accused of shaking a 5-month-old infant in her care, has been growing since the day Norton’s agreement was finalized in court.

Norton’s plea agreement was finalized on November 24 in a courtroom crowded with people who were hoping that what they had heard in advance of the setting wasn’t actually going to come true: That Amy Norton, who had asked for a bench trial, had instead been offered a plea agreement that included a plea to a lesser felony (Class 4 instead of Class X), and in exchange she would serve a sentence of 30 months probation, periodic imprisonment (weekends in jail) and have a restitution cap of $10,000 in the Aggravated Battery of a Child under the age of 13 causing permanent disability case.

Supporters of the Borgic family, whose infant daughter, Adalyn, remains damaged after what her physicians say was most assuredly a shaking incident, say they are cognizant of where the ball was dropped in the matter, and are determined to make their voices heard at the ballot box next year, if the opportunity arises.

The object of their ire, however – Lawrence County prosecutor Chris Quick – says differently, and has explained that he negotiated the plea in the nearly-three-year-old case because the alleged “shaking” could never have been definitively proven, and he was only working in the “best interests” of justice, and of the child in question, who is now 3 years old.

Story through Facebook

The story of what happened to Adalyn Borgic has been told on a Facebook page set up by her mother, Kiley, called Adalyn’s Prayer Team, this shortly after the incident, which occurred in Lawrenceville, where Amy Norton was not only babysitting Adalyn, but was tending to her own one-year-old son.

Norton’s husband, Dann Norton, was also an educator in Lawrence County, where Kiley Borgic was also a teacher. It was the common work environment that caused the Borgics to come to know the Nortons, and to establish the arrangement that Amy Norton would provide child care once Adalyn was born.

“On the afternoon of February 26, 2013,” Kiley Borgic wrote, “I received a call from Adalyn’s babysitter (Norton, who was never once named on the page – ed.) She said that something was wrong, and she had called 911. I immediately ran from my classroom, through the school, and went a few blocks away to where Adalyn’s babysitter lived. The ambulance was already there, along with the police. The police motioned for me to go into the ambulance as I was running across the yard. While in the ambulance with my daughter, I could tell that something was horribly wrong –Adalyn was not acting like herself. I could tell she was in pain. Adalyn then had a seizure, which is now an image engrained in my memory that I will never forget as much as I may want to. Watching her having a seizure, I felt so helpless. As Adalyn’s mommy, I was always able to make her feel better with cuddles, singing, and kisses. This was different, I could tell she was hurting, and there wasn’t anything I could do. I cried and prayed as the ambulance took her to Lawrence Memorial Hospital. They prepared her there to be transferred to St. Mary’s Hospital in Evansville. Once we got to Evansville, they did a CT scan which determined that Adalyn had been violently abused and shaken while she was at the babysitter’s house. Adalyn had bilateral subdural hematomas (bleeding around her brain) retinal hemorrhages (bleeding around her eyes), and swelling of her brain. We spent 6 days in Evansville, and then we were transferred to St. Louis Children’s hospital.

“On March 6, Adalyn had brain surgery to help remove some of the blood and extra fluid/swelling from her brain. She also had throat surgery to help remove scar tissue caused by the breathing machine. Her little body wasn’t big enough to properly handle the breathing tube being down her throat.

“Throughout this time, Adalyn couldn’t breathe on her own for about 10 days and had no vision for approximately two weeks. At just over 5 months old, Adalyn could no longer hold her head up.

“All of this... Because of choice that her babysitter made. A choice to change the course of Adalyn’s life.”

The Borgics said they were sharing Adalyns story because they didn’t want any child to go through what their daughter had gone through (and continues to go through). “We don’t want parents to have to feel the pain we’ve been through, or feel the emotions that we have felt; emotions that are unknown to most people. No one should ever have to see their child, lifeless, not knowing what might happen next.”

Strange statements/actions following

In subsequent information, especially after Norton’s plea agreement, Disclosure learned more about the day of the crime:

Amy Norton said to multiple people (EMT, police, Kiley Borgic, etc.), “I think I bounced her too hard.”

The Borgics were informed that Norton had googled “Shaken Baby Syndrome” within minutes of the ambulance leaving her residence.

On the 911 call, the dispatcher stated, “Did the baby hit her head?” Norton said, “I think so.”

All of Adalyn’s doctors were said to have been of the belief that Adalyn’s injuries were from Shaken Baby Syndrome and that there was no possible way that it had been an accident. They were also adamant about the fact that this injury happened within minutes of seizures the 911 call.

Agreement made; doctor to be brought in

Nevertheless, the agreement was made between the state and the defense.Screen Shot 2015-12-14 at 8.14.22 PM

Quick and Mike Vujovich, who had been called in from the appellate prosecutor’s office to help newly-elected Quick handle the caseload at that time (Quick had a murder trial set to kick off at about the time the Borgic case emerged), had initially put forth the impression that the state had a very strong case.

However, defense attorney Daniel Shinkle was able to produce information from an expert witness the Nortons were able to hire.

This witness, Joseph Scheller, MD, a doctor of child neurology in Baltimore, rendered his opinion on June 24, 2014…without seeing Adalyn Borgic, or ever examining her, but instead only looking at her records.

Referencing her birth records, pediatric visits, ER visits and hospitalizations, as well as reviewing brain images including CT and MR scans, Scheller determined that Adalyn had been born with some kind of condition called chronic subdural effusions, a consequence of rapid head growth in the first few months of life that creates thick layer of fluid in between her brain and skull, which sometimes arises from a traumatic birth. Adalyn was born using vacuum technique, which can create the condition, he said.

It was his belief that Adalyn had simply suffered a seizure on that day due to the condition, and had not suffered any kind of shaking at the hand of Amy Norton.

Outlining her weeks of treatment after the February 26 date, Scheller minimized the subdural hemorrhage, subdural fluid and retinal hemorrhages (which, he failed to point out, caused temporary blindness in the baby, this according to her treating physicians).

All of this, Scheller said, was to a “reasonable degree of medical certainty,” something her treating physicians would also have stated – but in abundance, and from hands-on doctors, not someone who’d never seen the baby – were the case to go to trial.

Bench trial strategy

But Shinkle pulled a strategy: He removed the emotional upper hand from a jury, and opted for a bench trial for his client. This would take place in front of Judge Mark Shaner.

“Because the victim can’t speak and there were no witnesses other than the accused, we had to rely on the medical evidence,” Quick said about the decision. “In the end, it boiled down to the experts. Judge Shaner had to weigh the opinions from the doctors.”

The defense expert said the baby’s “injury” was in actuality a seizure caused by a pre-existing condition; the state’s expert said it was related to an injury sustained recently.

“How recently, couldn’t be confirmed,” Quick said. “Since the state’s burden of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt and the state has that burden, it was conceivable that Amy Norton would be found not guilty.”

Any guilty verdict at that point, then, including a lower felony in a plea agreement, was key. Further, the guilty plea would weigh heavily in a civil case the Borgics had filed earlier this year against the Nortons.

Effectively, if Norton was found guilty of a battery, that would be intentional. The insurance company, with deep pockets, would be off the hook, as they are not liable for intentional torts. That would leave only the personal assets of the Nortons, which have no doubt been depleted, and at which time, they could claim bankruptcy and get out of ever having to pay anything to the Borgics, even after a win in a civil case.

“Shaner felt that a local jail sentence and a cap of $10,000 in the out-of-pocket damages would cover the intent of the parties,” Quick noted.

“If this had gone to trial,” Quick said, “the probability is that she would have walked away free.”

Further, if an aggravated battery with prison time had been negotiated, the insurance company would walk free.

Disclosure learned that the Borgics expenses have amassed to $400,000.

A $10,000 cap on restitution is a drop in the bucket, comparatively.

Thinking of the child

How the child is doing, and will fare for the rest of her life, is the monumental thing, however.

Kiley Borgic has no recent photos of her child on her Facebook page, and when asked for comment about the girl’s current situation by Disclosure, Borgic would not comment.

Friends of the family have advised, however, that the Borgics are devastated by the outcome of the matter.

“Why was there no negotiating of this plea bargain?” one source asked. “The State’s Attorney simply offered a deal that made his job easy, but did not serve justice AT ALL.  It looks like he is clearly NOT looking out for the safety of Lawrence County youth.”

Supporters of Adalyn Borgic have vowed to make their voices heard at the ballot box, since Adalyn cannot.

Quick, a Republican who defeated the incumbent Lisa Wade in 2012 after Wade greatly disappointed the citizens of Lawrence in her four years, has filed a petition to run for his office again.

Interestingly, his former assistant state’s attorney, Michael Strange, has filed a challenge to Quick on the Republican ballot for the Primary, so the matter could actually be decided – and message sent to Quick – as early as this Spring instead of having to wait until November (no contender has filed on the Democrat ticket).

Strange’s father, Bill, was a long-time Lawrence County state’s attorney in the 80s and 90s.

Strange has left Lawrence County and has been hired by Richland County State’s Attorney Brad Vaughn as his assistant.

Norton is set for a restitution hearing on January 5, 2016.

She gets to decide for herself when she will begin spending her periodic imprisonment, according to what was said in the courtroom on Nov. 24.

STABBING IN LAWRENCEVILLE; SUSPECT APPREHENDED AT THE SCENE

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stabbing-no-death

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ill. - A stabbing last night at a Lawrenceville trailer park has left one person with minor injuries and one under arrest.

The incident occurred last night at about 9:40 p.m. at a trailer court at 1400 Cedar Street.

Authorities say the victim at the point has been treated for non-life-threatening injuries and is doing okay today.

The suspect was apprehended at the scene and the weapon was recovered.

Police have not issued any identities of either victim or suspect. When we learn more, we'll post it. Check back frequently.

SENTENCING IN WILLIAMSON COUNTY ANNOUNCED

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Damon Jones

Damon Jones

WILLIAMSON CO., Ill. - Williamson County State's Attorney Brandon Zanotti has announced sentencing of a man who abducted his own children last year.

Damon H. Jones, 38, of Johnston City, was sentenced today to 5 years in Illinois Department of Corrections for Possession of Meth and 364 days to run concurrently for Child Endangerment.

Jones is the man who, on Sunday evening January 14, 2014, took his two stepdaughters from there mother's residence in Johnston City. An AMBER Alert was issued for the two young girls. Jones was originally charged with Kidnapping, Reckless Conduct and Possession of Meth.

Several calls led Police to the Lake of Egypt area and Jones and the girls were spotted by a Williamson County deputy early the following Monday afternoon. Jones was taken into custody at King Tut convenience store. The girls were unharmed and reunited with their mother at the jail. She did not wish to press charges, hence the reason for the lenient sentence.

SEX OFFENSE RESOLVED IN WILLIAMSON COUNTY; OFFENDER HARMED MENTALLY IMPAIRED WOMAN

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Darrell Walker

Darrell Walker

 

WILLIAMSON CO., Ill. - Another sentence was handed down Friday in Williamson County Circuit Court, this one announced today by the state's attorney's office.

Darrel Walker, 57, of Carterville, was sentenced to 5 years in DOC along with various fines for a 2013 incident, this in a negotiated plea deal.

At the time, authorities allege that Walker, a bus driver for a social services agency out of Herrin called Our Directions, sexually assaulted a 32-year-old intellectually disabled woman was was a client of the agency, and was on the bus when the incident occurred.

Walker was given the sentence for Criminal Sexual Assault Of A Mentally Impaired Person, a lesser charge than the one with which he was originally facing.

Walker was allowed by the court to postpone sentencing due to the holidays, and will report to DOC on Dec. 26, this as part of the negotiation prior to the plea.

Walker will be serving 85 percent of his sentence.

VICTIM OF STABBING IS BROTHER OF ACCUSED

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Jeffery Frey, Lawrence County Jail mugshot

Jeffery Frey, Lawrence County Jail mugshot

LAWRENCE CO., Ill. - The man taken into custody last night (Monday, December 14) after an alleged stabbing is the brother of the alleged victim.

Lawrence County authorities have confirmed that Jeffery Frey, 31, is the one arrested for allegedly stabbing his brother, John Frey, age unknown, at a trailer park in Lawrenceville on Cedar Street last night, about 9:40 p.m.

John Frey was reportedly treated for non-life-threatening injuries; Jeffery Frey was taken into custody on an arresting charge of attempted murder and aggravated domestic battery with a weapon.

Frey's cash bond has been set at $100,000 (a million-dollar bail).

We'll have more as we get it; keep checking back.


WELCOME TO THE WORLD’S SECOND LARGEST PR FIRM – THE U.S. GOVERNMENT

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IT'S YOUR MONEY - PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL 
"To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical."
Thomas Jefferson

WELCOME TO THE 2nd LARGEST
'PR' FIRM IN THE WORLD -
THE U.S. GOVERNMENT
Telemarketers ($140,350); Interns ($183,581); Ad Boss ($1.1 Million)
Read our Forbes editorial, please click here
Forbes Editorial | December 15, 2015
BREITBART, Washington D.C. | Your Government Spends Billions Convincing You to Spend More of Your Money by John Hayward
Read the article at Breitbart click here | December 9, 2016

 


NEW YORK OBSERVER, New York City | Shocker: U.S. Government Spent $4.34 Billion on PR in last Seven Years | By Ken Kurson
Read the New York Observer here | December 9, 2015

One week ago, we released our comprehensive oversight report on federal agency public relations (PR) spending since 2007: OpenTheBooks Oversight Report - The Department of Self-Promotion, How Federal Agency PR Spending Advances Their Interests Rather Than the Public Interest.

From our Forbes editorial today:

  • Hilary Clinton led State Department spent $630,000 on a PR campaign to get taxpayers to 'like' the agency Facebook page.
  • $88.26 per hour billed to feds by PR firm Ketchum -- for their interns.
  • Million dollar ad executives - Booz Hamilton Allen bills agencies for $525 per hour for their 'management executive' - that's $1.192 million per year!
  • $214,395 per lot for a fancy 'z-card' - a wallet sized plastic card with foldout informational inserts.
  • Telemarketing firms billing the IRS for $70 per hour, while paying the employee $9 per hour.
And much, much more...

Last month on FOX News, we showcased the $160 Million EPA Spin Machine, click here to watch the segment.

Today, a legal ruling found the EPA engaged in "covert propaganda" and violated federal law when it blitzed social media to urge the public to back an Obama administration proposed rule on 'clean water.'

It's just what we've been saying: government doesn't have the right to spend $4.34 billion of your money on propaganda.

Please join our movement and subscribe to our email list, click here.

JOIN THE TRANSPARENCY REVOLUTION.  IT'S YOUR MONEY!

Adam Andrzejewski (say: Angie-f-ski)

Founder, OpenTheBooks.com

Matthew Tyrmand

Deputy Director

PS. Our new video describes how our data and technology can help you stop government waste!  Watch it here.

Help fund our movement with a special Crowdfunding donation of $1, $50, $100, or more,

  • $1 or more receives our OpenTheBooks bumper sticker
  • $50 - $74 receives a cotton OpenTheBooks.com baseball cap
  • $75 or more receives a hardcover copy of U.S. Senator (retired) Dr. Tom Coburn's book, The Debt Bomb.
Together, we are a strong team. Please click here to help our mission.

POLICE CHIEF ISSUES PRESS RELEASE ON STABBING IN LAWRENCEVILLE

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Jeffery Frey, Lawrence County Jail mugshot

Jeffery Frey, Lawrence County Jail mugshot

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ill. - Lawrenceville Police Chief Jim White has issued a press release on the alleged stabbing that occurred last Monday night in that town.

White said that on December 14 at approximately 9:54 p.m., 911 Dispatch received a call of a possible stabbing at 1730 12th Street, trailer court.

Officers from the Lawrenceville Police Department, Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department and medics from the Lawrence County Hospital responded to the scene.

Upon arrival at the scene, officers located a white male that had obvious lacerations to the head and neck area. Lawrence County medics secured the subject for transport and discovered that the white male had multiple stab wounds to include the chest and the back. Medics then made the decision to transport the subject to Good Samaritan Hospital.

Responding officers began the investigation and through interviews, discovered that the subject had been involved in an altercation inside the trailer with his brother.

Responding officers contacted the Illinois State Police and requested a Crime Scene Investigator respond to the location and at that time made the determination to secure a search warrant for the residence.

Responding officers secured a search warrant and along with the Illinois State Police began processing the scene. They located a knife with blood on it inside the residence and placed it into evidence.

Officers finished up interviews and found that the brother of the victim during the altercation stabbed the victim multiple times.

Responding officers then placed 31-year-old Jeffrey W. Frye into custody on preliminary charges of aggravated domestic battery and Attempted First Degree Murder.

Responding officers transported Frey to the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department for booking and learned that the victim had been transported to Evansville, Indiana, and was listed in stable condition.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hit our Facebook page (yes we still have one), and this post on it if you'd like to discuss this subject on Facebook; and be sure you check your "get notifications" selection under the 'like' button on our page; recent Facebook upgrades have booted many of our followers off from getting our posts. Also, check us on Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and Tumblr!

TEEN ARRESTED FOLLOWING HOME INVASION, ROBBERY IN HERRIN

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Austin Breault

Austin Breault

HERRIN, Ill. - The 19-year-old arrested Sunday after a morning home invasion and robbery in Herrin is now facing much more serious charges than it initially appeared upon arrest.

Austin M. Breault, of Herrin, is accused of entering the home of an elderly man in that Williamson County town early Sunday morning, December 13. The elderly man has not yet been identified by authorities.

At that point, officials say, Breault, armed with a knife, robbed the 85-year-old man, then forced him at knifepoint to drive to an ATM and withdraw more cash out of his account.

It's unclear how Breault was taken into custody, but he was apprehended and taken in on arresting charges of home invasion and burglary.

When it came to formal charges, however, he was charged with significant counts: Class X Home Invasion/Armed with a Dangerous Weapon; Class X Armed Robbery/Dangerous Weapon/no firearm; two Class X counts of Aggravated Kidnapping/Ransom; and a Class 3 felony Aggravated Unlawful Restraint.

 

A first hearing date has yet to be set for him in Williamson County.

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS MAN SENTENCED ON HEALTHCARE FRAUD-RELATED CHARGE

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bank fraud

U.S. DISTRICT COURT, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS - James L. Porter, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today, that on December 15, 2015, Terry L. Waeltermann, Jr., 30, of Mulberry Grove and Pocahontas in Bond County, and Vandalia in Fayette County, Illinois, was sentenced in the U.S. District Court in Benton on the charge that he engaged in a scheme to steal from a health care program. The district court sentenced Waeltermann to two years of probation with the first four months to be served in home confinement. He is also ordered to pay $6,660.75 in restitution to the Home Services Program.

Court records indicate that Waeltermann (also known as Waelterman and Waeltermen) admitted that he had submitted false and fraudulent bills in relation to his alleged performance of personal assistant services in the Home Services Program, a Medicaid Waiver Program designed to allow individuals to stay in their homes instead of entering a nursing home. Waeltermann admitted to falsely billing the program between April 14, 2013 and December 31, 2013, when he purportedly rendered personal assistant services to a customer when, in fact, he had not because he had moved away and forged the customer’s signature. As a result, Waeltermann improperly billed 573 hours of services and obtained $6,660.75 in payments for services not performed.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General, the Illinois State Police - Medicaid Fraud Control Bureau, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William E. Coonan.

If you suspect or know of an individual or company that is not complying with healthcare laws or public aid programs, you may report this activity to the local office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, or you may call 1.800.447.8477.

TWO LOCAL YOUTHS BUSTED, ONE WITH CHILD PORN, IN LAWRENCE COUNTY

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Caleb Gallion. How did he get that black eye? You'll be interested to find out!

Caleb Gallion

SUMNER, Ill. - Two young punks who have made names for themselves in other areas of criminality were arrested yesterday on significantly-worse charges than the more run-of-the-mill stunts folks are used to seeing them in.

Anthony J (AJ) Vantlin, 21, of Bridgeport, was arrested yesterday morning (Tuesday, December 16) and charged with with counts of Burglary to a Motor Vehicle.

Vantlin is the son of convicted murderer Connie Vantlin, who killed Norma Sines in the home they shared in Bridgeport in early 2006. AJ was present when the murder took place, and has been in and out of trouble since that time.

However, an even more major thing occurred at about the same time: Caleb Gallion, 19, of Sumner, was also arrested and charged with 5 counts of Burglary to a Motor Vehicle. Given the proximity and filing, it appears the two were engaged in the alleged Burglaries together, which is not surprising.

What WAS somewhat surprising, however, was the charge against Gallion of two counts of Possession of Child Pornography which have been filed in the wake of his arrest.

Sumner police issued a brief press statement about the matter: "The duo was arrested in connection to a week long investigation involving multiple agencies in the County, both remain incarcerated in the Lawrence County Jail awaiting a court appearance and are presumed innocent until proven guilty."

We're awaiting a little bit of more thorough information on it; Gallion, regular readers will recall, is the guy who took off with a young teenage girl earlier this year and managed to get as far as Texas in a stolen vehicle. He was working his way through the court system on that stolen car charge when he got in trouble with this situation. There's been no word as to who is in the child porn photos or vids, although some speculation has been given to it possibly being the child he took off with earlier this year.

We're expecting more information to come in on the matter, so be checking back.

WABASH COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT ASKS FOR HELP IDENTIFYING MAN IN PHOTO

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wabco sheriff photo id

WABASH CO., Ill. - The Wabash County Sheriff's Office is seeking the public's assistance in identifying this man shown in this photo.

Click the photo to enlarge.

If you have any information on who this person is, please call 618.262.4186 or Crimestoppers at 262-HALT.

FORMER CAIRO COP CHARGE WITH ATTEMPTING TO ILLEGALLY PURCHASE GUN

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Anthony Neeley, Alexander County mugshot (Tri-County Detention Center)

Anthony Neeley, Alexander County mugshot (Tri-County Detention Center)

CAIRO, Ill. - Authorities in Alexander County have charged a former Cairo police officer with attempting to illegally purchase a weapon.

Anthony Neeley, 42, was arrested by Illinois State Police authorities Tuesday night, December 14, in Pulaski County.

He is charged in Alexander County with trying to purchase weapons illegally at the Cairo Police Department in March of this year; he was working as a city police officer there at the time. The allegation is that he attempted to use his position as an officer by attempting to purchase weapons from an evidence custodian in Cairo.

Neeley was suspended from the Mound City Police Department in August for his involvement in a bar fight with a former Mounds Police Chief, and hasn't worked there since that time.

A special prosecutor with the Illinois Office of State's Attorneys has been appointed to handle the case.

Neeley is set to appear in Alexander Circuit Court next Monday, December 21.


TEEN CHARGED WITH SEXUALLY ASSAULTING 10-MONTH-OLD WITH MATCHBOX-LIKE TOY

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Screen Shot 2015-12-16 at 9.58.47 PM

Justin Atteberry

MARION CO.— A 16-year-old Salem teen has been charged as an adult in Marion County for allegedly sexually assaulting a 10-month-old baby girl with a “Matchbox-type car.”

Cash bond in the case of Justin Atteberry has been set at $25,000 after he was charged Wednesday, December 16, with Aggravated Criminal Sexual Assault resulting in bodily harm.

The charges stem from an investigation by Salem police, the Department of Children and Family Services into injuries to the infant, which sent her to the local hospital and then to Children’s Hospital in St. Louis, Mo.

According to information from authorities Atteberry’s mother is an at-home childcare provider in Salem and the infant was one of her clients.

State’s attorney Matt Wilzbach said that after the mother of the infant picked up her child from daycare Tuesday, she returned home and found blood in the infant’s diaper while changing her.

The mother took the infant to the local hospital, who then transferred the baby to Children’s Hospital where they discovered severe anal tearing and bruising.

Atteberry has reportedly confessed in a videotaped interview to using a Matchbox type car while he performed several acts on the baby.

Housing the suspect presented a bit of a problem for authorities, who pointed out that while the law prohibited Atteberry from being housed with adults, the conditions of his preliminary hearing forbade him being around juveniles and so authorities reached a compromise and housed him in a medical isolation cell at the Marion County Jail.

Atteberry is expected to appear in court next on January 5, 2016.

State officials immediately shut down the daycare facility run by Atteberry’s mother and pulled her license.

ACCUSED KILLER IN MARION HIRES BIG-GUN ATTORNEY FOR DEFENSE

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Jack Thomas Jr.

Jack Thomas Jr.

 

WILLIAMSON CO., Ill. - The man accused of shooting another man over a female in Marion back in April has gone all out to ensure a good defense.

Defense attorney  Morgan Scroggins

Defense attorney
Morgan Scroggins

Jack C. Thomas Jr., 35, former Hamilton County crim who was the subject of a manhunt after the shooting death of Mike Reed in Marion April 20, has somehow managed to hire Morgan Scroggins of Granite City to handle his defense on Williamson County murder charges.

Scroggins has appeared in such high-profile cases as that of John Curtis in 2010, Ricky Turner in 2013, and others (many of whom shouldn't be out on the street), particularly in Saline County but also in many in surrounding counties as well; basically, whomever can afford him...which is the point of the post here, as many can't fathom how it is that Thomas, who's been sitting in Williamson County since his arrest the day after the shooting, can afford him.

Thomas is next set for a hearing on January 25; we'll see if hiring Scroggins gets him anywhere, as we're hearing that he has a kind of unique defense brewing.

WILLIAMSON COUNTY TO SUE THE STATE OF ILLINOIS FOR FUNDS OWED

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wson co 1

Ron Ellis, Jim Marlow, Brandon Zanotti and Brent Gentry

WILLIAMSON CO., Ill. - At a press conference this morning, Williamson County Board Chairman Jim Marlow announces plan to file a lawsuit against the state of Illinois for funds that are owed to the county. The money for these funds have already been collected still the state refused to turn this money over to the county.

The Department of Revenue began hold the appropriations that were due to all counties within Illinois.

The first part of December, the state leaders decided to release a portion of these funds to Williamson and other counties in the state. Williamson received its share of the Motor Fuel Tax, Use Tax and Gaming Revenue.

However the salary reimbursements of the State's Attorney, Lead Public Defender and Supervisor of Assessments are still being withheld totaling $139,892.04. Those salaries are currently being paid from the general funds already budgeted. The county receives 90 percent of the State's Attorney's salary. Percentages are based on the size of the county so they receive more than the smaller counties.

Ron Ellis

Ron Ellis

Commissioner Ron Ellis said they were told by the Department of Revenue that you would have to sue us to get your money. A special meeting is to be held this afternoon to appropriate the budgeted funds.

Recently St. Clair County filed suit and was able to recoup the monies owed to them.

Brandon Zanotti

Brandon Zanotti

State's attorney Brandon Zanotti stated Count 1 is Forcing the agency to release funds. Count 2 is a Declaratory Judgment.

The suit would likely be filed later this afternoon or tomorrow by State's Attorney Zanotti and Assistant State's Attorney Wendy Cunningham and not hiring outside attorneys would save the taxpayers' money.

THIS MONTH’S PRINT HEADLINES, DECEMBER 2015-JANUARY 2016!

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End of the year...and we're personally glad to see this one be done with!

We've had a HUGE number of papers this year, some of it to our detriment, but we've been bringing you the news that no one else will print, and it's all useful, so we hope you've enjoyed them! There's no end in sight, as there's plenty to tell you about in our 24 downstate southern Illinois counties, so we hope you keep up with us as we continue a series of articles we've begun a couple of issues ago..and here's the latest, December 2015-January 2016!

Print Headlines are the way we keep you up with what's going on, and are presented also as a way for you to be able to visit any article directly from this post to read at your convenience, or see if you find it of enough interest to get out and pick up this issue. Print Headlines are presented by dateline (the place where in material in the article took place), headline (with link off of it to the e-Edition piece), and then a brief synopsis in our own snarky Disclosure style. They are presented by Front Page, Back Page (second front page), Pages 2 and 3, Features if any (generally presented on page 12 or 13), then sections: Egypt, Heartland and Central, finished with Op-Ed. And now, without further ado, here's THIS MONTH'S PRINT HEADLINES!!

FRONT PAGE

adalyn single shot

LAWRENCE CO. - Public outraged over plea in battery case: A nightmare scenario played out for a Lawrenceville family in early 2013, and they have been in a fight for justice ever since. However, they, and many in Lawrence, feel like justice was denied Adalyn Borgic just a few weeks ago with a plea for the person who battered her. What will be the result of this situation...? We may know in March. Check the article to see what we mean.

SALINE CO. - SA candidate linked to suspected "gentlemen's club": More names have been connected to the mysterious "gentlemen's club" in Harrisburg...but is that really what it is? Are the ones involved - at least on paper, and by their relationships to the bigwigs - really involved...? Or is this yet another shell game the "players" are so good at?

schick, d

RICHLAND CO. - Good Samaritan effort nearly gets local woman abducted: The above Marcher is the guy in question following the incident last Friday that occurred between Noble and Olney on Highway 250. This is a big front-pager; don't miss it, as there's likely more to come.

LAWRENCE/RICHLAND COs. -Alleged child abductor arrested after chase: Josh Spivey is in custody. Find out what he's facing - as well as how he was brought in - by reading this article.

BACK PAGE

SALINE CO. - Theft at Clearwave charged: When you pore over court files, you find the most interesting things. There's not much to this one...but hey...dots are being connected, you know?

valentine, mike for judge

Mike Valentine turning in his petition for the Edwards County judicial race, in Springfield a couple of weeks back

EDWARDS CO. - Judicial race pits incumbent against the man he replaced: A former Edwards County politician is seeking the seat the Party he represents said they'd never back him for again; meanwhile, the successful prosecutor who unseated him in 2008 is also seeking that seat. This promises to be a big, heated race. We hope you'll be watching our coverage of it as it unfolds.

WAYNE CO. - Sex offender shot dead in Fairfield altercation: All the details of the death of Jeffery Scott Montgomery, for our print readers...which our online readers should read, too, as we have a little more detail.

PAGE 2

HARDIN CO. - Excavation of water main in E-town results in lawsuit against village: We'd say some people are lawsuit-happy...but not in this instance, as it appears these folks have a valid complaint.

SALINE CO. - Eldorado Legion sues Carmi woman in small claims court: Not sure of the basis of this one, but watch the court files and see if this woman's name doesn't pop up again.

SALINE CO. - Harrisburg city detective sued over mowed-down soybeans: Curt Hustedde has some splainin to do to a Harrisburg farmer over some soybeans.

PAGE 3

Brandon Atwood...former Elbow Lane resident #1

Brandon Atwood, former Elbow Lane resident #1

Shasta K. Atwood, Elbow Lane resident #2

Shasta K. Atwood, former Elbow Lane resident #2

RICHLAND CO. - Elbow Lane issue resurfaces; lineage hinted at in recent dope connections: The big page 3 story that's sure to get some apparently mental people fired up...and also goes a long way toward connecting the dots in one of the most dope-ravaged counties in downstate Illinois.

SALINE CO. - IDNR could stand to gain big after Cummins bust on McD's parking lot; forfeiture order filed: Remember Billy (Mikey) Cummins and his arrest last month...? Guess who might be getting some forfeiture items...? Hint: It's not Cummins.

PAGE 12

Screen Shot 2015-12-14 at 6.03.03 PM

WILLIAMSON CO. - Long-time county commissioner objects to contender's petition for his office: This is kind of a big deal in Williamson, as it's fairly infrequent that someone objects to a candidate's petition for office...but Brent Gentry's doing it.

EGYPT

SALINE CO. - Eldorado authorities respond to report of violence - "He's beating the hell out of everyone so be ready!": Violent crim report number 1 in the Saline County lineup...and every single one of them is a good one; start with this one and read em all!

Briannah Davis

Briannah Davis

HARDIN CO. - Nothing but female crims busted in Hardin County this go-round: And guess who leads it...? A familiar face down in Hardin. Despite all the protestations of her errant babydaddy.

SALINE CO. - Charged with beating married woman pregnant with his child: The second of many bizarre and violent crim reports out of Saline this issue. This one with the additional sleaze factor.

SALINE CO. - Twisted tale: Barrall saga continues with violence, sex and a crashed SUV: The third of the SalCo violence reports, with the presence once again this issue o (ta-dahhhh) Robby Barrel and his ne'er-do-well wife Tanya.

SALINE CO. - Man who hallucinated his daughter to be dead trashes his mom's house: The third  of the SalCo violence reports...and we never did find out where his kid was, after all.

GALLATIN CO. - Troubled Equality teen sentenced on drug charge in Gallatin County: The GallCo crim report, fwiw.

SALINE CO. - Two arrested during traffic stop after neither claim drugs, paraphernalia: Which is really a dumb thing to do, considering.....

SALINE CO. - Stolen box of diapers cost suspect $1K: And believe it or not, there are people who think that this kind of activity is worth it.

SALINE CO. - Chrome-dome burglary suspect nabbed again: This guy had one identifying characteristic. Granted, he grew his hair back after the first story, but no worries...we just went ahead and used the old mugshot.

SALINE CO. - Dollar General shoplifter hides painkiller under her pits: Because pits are a pain at times, dontchano.

SALINE CO. - Boosted cash from Kroger: Why anyone would do such a thing (allegedly, of course) to one of Harrisburg's finest businesses is beyond me....but here it is.

SALINE CO. - Mills man earns fourth Saline County arrest this year: And then there are the crims that just can't stop repeating...

SALINE CO. - Harrisburg teen takes crowbar to borrowed car after her weed is stolen: Only in Saline County would someone A - withhold someone's weed because he's mad and then gets his vehicle beaten up because B - the person the weed belongs to is apparently psycho.

SALINE CO. - Busted for boosting underwear and lingerie: Hey...she might've had a hot date that night, ya know?

SALINE CO. - Pair of women charged with fibbing to cops after crash: Didn't anyone learn from the debacle with lil Bill Bonan's truck...?

HEARTLAND

COLES CO. - Sun Elite closes its doors, no bankruptcy; coach's videotaping case goes forward: The ongoing saga of Zac Lawson, he who felt like he needed to strenuously object when we first reported his story back in March.

JASPER CO. - Violence breaks out at River Park Motel: The violence report from Jasper County.

CRAWFORD CO. - Synthetic dope and stolen vehicles charged: You'd think that by now, these Marchers would figure out to STOP MESSING WITH SYNTHS. But noon....

CRAWFORD CO. - Officer attacked: Jeff Besing incurs the wrath of a suspect, gets the suspect charged with a much more serious crime than what he was being taken in for.

EDGAR CO. - County insurance contracts should be bid...but county board won't do it: And speaking of ongoing sagas...why the Edgar County Board continues to operate the way it does - with the ongoing possibility that every last dang one of them could be indicted for abuse of state funds or some like thing - is absolutely beyond many. But they do...and we keep writing...and one of these days, they're all going to be front page. Word of advice to you, county board: Stop everything you're doing and hire the Edgar County Watchdogs as consultants. We reckon you'll be out of trouble in no time flat.

CRAWFORD CO. - Unemployed Lawrence doper charged in Crawford County: One of many crossover crims this mont.

JASPER CO. - Slim situation in Jasper County with misdemeanor charges: The misdemeanor report coming out of Jasper County, with "slim" being that there wasn't a lot to report on, which can oftentimes be a good thing.

JASPER CO. - Witness intimidation alleged in violence case: When you have a witness in your case, don't make direct threats. That's about as clear as it can be. Why people don't get it is...wellll...probably why they were charged int he first place. Because they're stupid.

CRAWFORD CO. - Drunk drivers confess they had been drinking: This is a rarity. But then, it's hard to say whether or not they knew that's what they were saying at the time...

CRAWFORD CO. - Crawford misdemeanors: Keeping those fines and fees flowing: The misdemeanor report out of Crawford, done up in our own snarky Disclosure style...because who wants to read dry, boring crim reports, right?

JASPER CO. - Sex offender charged with not registering: This gal is only the latest to learn that, whether you like it or not, if you're a convicted sex offender, you have to follow the rules of registration. Don't do the crime if you can't follow the rules.

JASPER CO. - Three busted for various driving infractions: Jasper County bad driver's report, apparently.

CRAWFORD CO. - Kentucky native arrested for attacking family members: Just in time for the holidays!!

CENTRAL

WHITE CO. - Multiple drug convict looking at return to prison: The White County crim report with a big lead.

WHITE CO. - White rehab loser gets another shot at sobriety: Hey. We calls em as we sees em. Don't forget...we've got failed rehabbers in OUR family, so don't pull your crap about "What if somebody called YOUR loved one 'loser'??" Our "loved one" IS a loser. So get ovah yaself.

WHITE CO. - Lawrence doper accused of biting in Grayville case: Jessica Aten, of Lawrence County, not looking so good in the White County lockup...what's she got going on two whole counties away from her safety zone, anyway? Being a cannibal, apparently...or a zombie...

CLAY CO. - Flora couple accused of being meth cooks: Authorities in Clay County are always on the lookout for the meth makers, and now, they claim to have found some. With all the narking going on in Clay and Richland, this is not surprising.

RICHLAND CO. - Claremont man who posted thousands in case for someone else owes $1,587 in his own case: I have an idea. Let's just turn Claremont into Richland County's penal colony. Most of em living there are already convicted, anyway.

HAMILTON CO. - White drug suspect collared in Hamilton: Another crossover. Justin Hood won't cut any more slack than Denton Aud would; why anyone would think so is a mystery.

WHITE CO. - Pair of convicted dopers get sentenced, one headed to prison: White County dope crim report.

HAMILTON CO. - Wife held against her will at Dolan Lake: Yes, you can commit such a crime  against your spouse. Yes, holding someone against their will is a crime. Doesn't matter if it happens at your nice lake cabin.

RICHLAND CO. - Benefactor has now shelled out $20,000+ in cash bond - Three more suspected drug dealers busted in Olney: More of that big doper news in Olney, which, between there and Claremont, is a hotbed of activity...and people having enough spare cash lying around to post bond in these amounts. Don't these people know this focuses the authorities on you even more so??

CLAY CO. - Clay County misdemeanors since early November; a sparse lot: They might be sparse, but they are amusing. You gotta read it.

RICHLAND CO. - Richland County drunk driving arrests include one local woman and one foreigner: The RC DUI report.

WHITE CO. - Enfield doper appears to get her stupid on: Again: Yes, we would write about our "loved ones" that way. Get a grip. And stop doing dope while you're at it.

LAWRENCE CO. - Bridgeport druggie fronts $10,000 cash bond: Again with the huge bond. We're gong to start publishing the phone numbers of these wonderful benefactors. That way, if people are in a cash crunch (especially after the holidays), they'll know who to call.

WHITE CO. - Hamilton doper/arson suspect faces drug charges in White: A dope AND arson suspect. Wow.

CLAY CO. - Possible pugilists...? Or did trio just yell at each other in Clay City?: One of the guys in this article is a regular crim out of Wayne County. Why he's still allowed to function in polite society, however, is unknown...so he apparently had to get around UNpolite society.

HAMILTON CO. - 'rado woman lies about who she is to police: And yet ANOTHER crossover crim, not too far out of her stomping grounds.

OP-ED

COLUMNS
SURLY & UNCOOPERATIVE (Jack): My famous last words: "I has an idea"
ICY (Ang): What was I doing when I was their age...?
MINKUS INK (Bubba): Politics, penitents and trading one cardiac-causing event for yet another
VOICE OF THE PEOPLE: Letters

FORGERER, BURGLAR, SENTENCED TODAY IN HAMILTON COUNTY COURT

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gavel, justice stock

HAMILTON CO., Ill. - Hamilton County State’s Attorney Justin Hood had some activity in his courtroom today, sending two defendants to Illinois Department of Corrections.

The first was Jeffrey S. Crowe, 29, of Bixby, Oklahoma, who plead to 5 years D.O.C. with 1 year of M.S.R.(parole), this on a Class 3 felony for a Forgery. He received an Impact Incarceration recommendation.

The defendant went through a drive thru window at Peoples National Bank in McLeansboro on July 18 of this year and attempted to cash a check from Farris Family Restaurant made out to Cash for the amount of $700.00. The teller at the bank suspected a forged check and called McLeansboro City Police to come and investigate the case. Jeffrey Crowe was identified as the suspect who tried to attempt to cash the check.

The next was Kaiden M. Akin, 18, of Macedonia, who plead to 5 years in D.O.C. with 1 year of M.S.R. on his Attempted Burglary Count I, Class 3 felony and 5 years D.O.C. and 2 years of M.S.R. on his residential burglary, Count III, Class 1 felony. The sentences will run concurrent to each other. He received a Impact Incarceration recommendation.

The defendant went to Hunt’s Hardware located in Dale, Hamilton County, Illinois on June 29, 2015 and attempted to break into the building. There was video surveillance showing Akin attempting to open the drive thru window and enter the building while the store was closed. The defendant later stated to a Hamilton County Sheriff Deputy that he went to Hunt’s Hardware to break in steal from the store.

Akin went to a residence owned by Harold Trausch located in Dahlgren, Hamilton County, Illinois on June 25, 2015 admitting to Hamilton County Sheriff deputy that he entered the residence and committed a theft while inside the residence.

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