Morgan County, IL

The following are being sought on arrest warrants, according to various sheriff’s departments. The addresses listed are the last known addresses provided by the warrants and may be outdated. • Howard S. “Peewee” Mitchell, 43, of 602 N. Clay Ave. is being sought on a warrant accusing him of failing...

• Toney L. Prather, 24, of 650 S. Prairie St. was arrested at 1:13 a.m. Saturday on a charge of violating an order of protection. • Ashley N. Thady, 27, of 315 N. Westgate Ave. was arrested at 10:07 p.m. Friday on charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia after a car in which she was a passenger was stopped at South Clay and East College avenues. She was also arrested on a Greene County warrant accusing her of contempt of court, a Cass County warrant accusing her of failing to appear in court on a dangerous drugs charge, and a Morgan County warrant accusing her of failing to appear in court on a dangerous drugs charge.

A man charged with first degree murder in Morgan County will now represent himself at trial. 21 year old Dustin Finlaw’s motion to waive counsel and defend himself pro se was accepted by 7th Circuit Associate Judge Jack Davis II in Morgan County Court this morning. Prior to the granting of the motion, Judge Davis re-admonished Finlaw on all charges, explained to Finlaw his responsibilities in his own defense, and reminded him of the maximum penalties he faces on all charges.

Property transactions recorded in Morgan County from June 2 to June 7:. Michael G. Nelson and Hannah A. Nelson to Wilson Family Enterprises LLC, 1520 S. Main St., $87,500. George Maynard Stice IV to Mark A. Wilson, 610 Kosciusko St., $39,000. Beth A. Brickey and Clayton T. Tefteller to Chad...

Crime Stoppers of Morgan, Scott & Cass Counties are requesting information to assist the Jacksonville Police Department in their investigation of a recent battery of a juvenile. In the early evening hours of June 6, a juvenile was battered by an unknown male at West Chambers and Gladstone. The suspect...

Divorces recorded in Morgan County from June 2 to June 7:

Marriage licenses issued in Morgan County from June 2 to June 7:. Joseph A. Kuhlman and Alicia L. Newcomer, both of Jacksonville. Jason A. Birdsell and Victoria O. Fellhauer, both of Jacksonville. Quinn S. Rose and Vianey L. Bustos, both of Jacksonville. — Compiled by Shirley Bilyeu.

The coordinator of Crime Stoppers of Morgan, Scott and Cass County has been re-elected president of the state Crimestoppers organization. Loren Hamilton was named president of Illinois State Crimestoppers during its annual conference. He will be serving his third term as president.

The Murrayville and Woodson communities came together last night to hear talking points on the Vision 117 plan for the area schools. A power point presentation given by Jeremy Johnson, a member of the Murrayville community, says that Murrayville-Woodson is a viable option for being renovated or having a new school built all together. Johnson says now it is up to the community to get involved and call District 117 school board members to voice their concerns and tell them that the community needs the school to stay put: “After the emails about Vision 117 sent out by Superintendent Steve Ptacek, we tried to mobilize as soon as we could. We got a little group put together and said, ‘Let’s spitball and see what we can do to try to get the community involved and do they even know about it.’ It was just an email. We weren’t sure if the word was really getting out there adequately. It’s a big decision. I mean it’s a huge decision [to possibly close the elementary school.] To not have a good community involvement [in the process], does a disservice to the scale of the decision that’s being made.”

A state preservation group will provide funds to assist two west-central Illinois projects. Landmarks Illinois announced Thursday it has awarded Morgan County Historical Society $2,500 and the Pike County site of New Philadelphia was given $3,500. The historical society will use the money to restore windows in the old post...

Glenda Mason of South Jacksonville fishes Tuesday at Morgan Lake in Nichols Park. The lake is stocked with rainbow trout in the spring and fall, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

MORGAN COUNTY, Ill. (WICS/WRSP) — Three more COVID-19 cases have been reported in Morgan County. According to the Morgan County Health Department, these cases include:. Morgan County has now reported a total of 4,035 COVID-19 cases. Of these, 3,918 have been released from restrictions and 104 have died.

The first installment of property tax payments are due in Morgan County next week. The first installment is due by next Friday, June 18th. Morgan County Treasurer Kim Mitchell says there are multiple ways for people to pay: “You can come into the courthouse now and pay your taxes in the Treasurer’s Office. There is also a drop box right outside the door on the north side of the courthouse. We just ask that you put it in an envelope [addressed] to the Treasurer with the pay stub inside. You can also use the local banks. Just drive through and use your stub and pay your taxes at the bank, all except US Bank. Most banks in Morgan County will accept payment. Then, we pick those up and process them here in the Treasurer’s Office. You can pay online by visiting the Treasurer’s website on morgancounty-il.com. There is an online payment option there. You can also pay with a credit card or debit card.”

MORGAN COUNTY, Ill. (WICS/WRSP) — Two more COVID-19 cases have been reported in Morgan County since Friday. According to the Morgan County Health Department, these cases include a woman in her 20s and a woman in her 50s. Morgan County has now reported a total of 4,032 COVID-19 cases. This...

The state is switching to a new phase in the COVID-19 pandemic. With that change, Passavant Area Hospital and the Morgan County Health Department are switching up their response. Passavant President and CEO Dr. Scott Boston says that at the height of their mass vaccination clinics, the hospital vaccinated approximately...

A Jacksonville Fire Department training exercise allowed a Jacksonville man to steal a fire engine yesterday morning and take it for an illegal drive. Jacksonville Fire Chief Doug Sills says that fire department members were going through their regular maintenance routine on the Big Eli fire engine with a new trainee for orientation yesterday while the engine was running in the front drive of the firehouse at 200 West Douglas Avenue. Sills says it was while the ride along employee and one of the driver engineers were on the floor of the apparatus going through an orientation that 30 year old Cory M. Fisher of the 900 block of Doolin Avenue walked by and then decided, for an unknown reason, to get into the cab of the engine. Sills says it was just a routine the fire department goes through every day: “Every morning, the driver engineers will start the rigs, pull them outside, and every morning they go through all of the equipment and make sure all of the gas-powered equipment runs, and all battery-powered equipment runs. It’s just basically daily checks on the rigs. So, the apparatus was sitting on the front ramp running. We had a job shadow candidate in with us yesterday. As they were on the floor of the rig just kind of doing an orientation and going through some of the specialty equipment that we carry. A gentleman came by and decided to get into Big Eli, our lead truck. Nobody noticed him in the truck because they were busy on the apparatus floor. One of the driver engineers noticed somebody had gotten into the truck but assumed it was the other driver engineer who was just going through the daily checks.”