Suzie McCann kicked off the events of the May 21 meeting with a request from the Chamber of Commerce to use a the city’s parking lot east of the substation for free activities for children as well as a hand washing station for use after visiting the adjacent petting zoo during Newton’s Strawberry Fest May 31-June 2 and encouraged everyone to come out and celebrate.

The council approved a new five-year salary agreement for Police Chief Mike Swick with a four percent raise each year. A 4-cent-per hour raise for department heads was also unanimously approved.

Alderman Larry Brooks made a motion to take bids for spring and fall cleaning of city hall until June 11. Alderman Bob Reisner seconded and it was unanimously approved.

A three-year extension of the existing lawn care deal with Jasper Services Inc. was approved. Mowing will include the 5 Aprils subdivision at five dollars per lot. Due to having a deal with Jasper Services, the city voted to take sealed bids for the sale of two lawn mowers that have been “unused for a few years and are just taking up space” according to David Brown.

Mayor Mark Bolander stated that the cost for the foundation for the “mailbox hub” at the 5 Aprils subdivision would cost $2,565.

Jeff Ford announced that the police department had raised $15,000, which is enough money to purchase the K-9 officer, but still needed to raise about $4,300 for other equipment for the K-9.

And the June 4 meeting was a quick 15 minutes with no old business as well as no new business to discuss.

In statements by council members, Bob Reisner commented that despite the rain, “The Strawberry Fest was a little damp but everyone did the best they could and powered through.”

David Brown announced that things are going well at the city pool and they are getting a lot of good exposure from Facebook.

Jeff Ford stated that he had met with Chief of Police Mike Swick about concerning what to do with impounded cars

Mayor Bolander announced a joint water and sewer meeting will be planned for the next week as well as a Buildings and Grounds Committee meeting to be called by Bloomberg to discuss grants for a future Eagle Trail project.

U.S. DISTRICT COURT, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS—Press release from the U.S. Attorney:

A federal grand jury in Benton, Illinois, has charged seven individuals with methamphetamine related offenses, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today. Those charged with various methamphetamine offenses are:

Daniel E. Pickens, 30, of Wheeler, Illinois; Rachel S. Priest, 37, of Wheeler, Illinois; Justin Pocrnich, 28, of Wheeler, Illinois; Deborah S. Rogers, 47, of Wheeler, Illinois; Kimberly A. Barker (Depositer), 32 of Watson, Illinois; Joshua R. Rodgers, 22, of Hidalgo, Illinois, and Savannah L. Ellis, 20, of Newton, Illinois.

The 26-count indictment charges all of the defendants with conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. All of the defendants are also charged with possession of pseudoephedrine with intent that it bean used to manufacture methamphetamine. Defendant Pickens is also charged with maintaining a drug house with Rachel Priest and with several thefts of anhydrous ammonia.

Those charged with conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine face 10 years to life in prison and a $10 million fine. Those charged with the other methamphetamine related offenses also face up to 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.

An indictment is a formal charge against a defendant. Under the law, a defendant is presumed to be innocent of a charge until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to the satisfaction of a jury.

The investigation in this case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Illinois State Police, Southeastern Illinois Drug Task Force, United States Marshals Service, the Effingham County Sheriff’s Office; the Effingham County States Attorney’s Office, the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office and the Jasper County States Attorney.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tom Leggans.

End press release

Note: many of you regular readers will recognize those names from previous issues, where the hard work of Jasper County sheriff’s authorities, under the leadership of Sheriff Ed Francis, brought these people to the forefront and ultimately got them federally charged. There are more in this issue of the print version, which article you can read here by getting an online membership for only $5.99 a month; get clicking!

Three individuals have been charged with Methamphetamine Conspiracy.

Police say on April 9, Clayton M. Beavers, 23; Autumn H. Wilson, 23 and Anthony W. Stephens, 39, all from unknown addresses, agreed with Megan C. Brown and each other to produce more than 15 grams but less than 100 grams of a substance containing methamphetamine and committed an act of furtherance of the agreement, being one or more of the following: procured and possessed pseudoephedrine.

Beavers was said by police to have also participated in the manufacture of more than 15 grams but less than 100 grams of a substance containing methamphetamine and caused bodily harm to sheriff Edward R. Francis, knowing Francis to be a peace officer, using his fist Beavers struck Francis in the side of the head which earned him not only a charge of Unlawful Participation in Methamphetamine Manufacture but of Aggravated Battery.

A cash bond has been set in the amount of $15,000 for Beavers, who pled not guilty on May 2.

On April 16, Wilson received a cash bond reduction from $1,500 to $750 with conditions of her bail including she reside with her mother, Susan Wilson, at 3 Meadows Drive, Teutopolis.

A pre-trial conference was set for May 23.

A cash bond was set in the amount of $1,500 for Stephens who pled guilty on April 30.

He has a pre-trial set for May 21.

Use of property to make meth

In what appears to be a connected case, Charles A. Beavers, 48, of 205 Stanley Ave., Newton, has been charged with Use of Property.

Police say on April 9, Beavers used or allowed to be used, a structure and real property within his control, being a mobile trailer located at 205 Stanley Avenue, Newton, to be used to manufacture methamphetamine.

A cash bond has been set in the amount of $7,500

Syringe, needle and meth charged

Also busted on April 9 was Cameron Matherly, 45, of address unknown, who was charged with Unlawful Possession of a Substance Containing Methamphetamine and Unlawful Possession of Hypodermic Syringe or Needle.

Authorities say Matherly possessed less than five grams of a substance containing methamphetamine and a hypodermic syringe or needle adapted for the use of subcutaneous injection for the use of controlled substances.

On April 30, he pled guilty to the meth charge and was sentenced to six years DOC, while the other charge was dismissed.

All the fixins for a cook

Judy J. Houser, 59, of 604 Arca, Lot #13, Newton has been charged with Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine Manufacturing Material, Unlawful Possession of a Substance Containing Methamphetamine and Use of Property.

Authorities say on April 12, Houser possessed methamphetamine manufacturing materials being an HDL generator, plastic bottles, coffee filters, lye, ammonia nitrate and camping fuel with intent to use the materials for manufacturing meth and possessed less than five grams of a substance containing methamphetamine.

Also on April 12, Houser used or allowed to be used, a structure and real property within her control, being a mobile trailer located at 604 Arca, Lot #13, Newton.

A cash bond was set in the amount of $10,000.

Menaces officer

In unrelated cases, Trevor L. Lindemann, 23, address unknown, has been charged with Aggravated Assault and Obstructing a Peace Officer.

Police say on April 15, Lindemann slammed his fist on a booking table, tore off his shirt and approached correctional officer Garrett Miller in a menacing manner.

On the same day, police say, he obstructed the performance of corporal Greg Coker being the investigation of unlawful consumption of alcohol by various individuals at and within a residence at 603 ½ Barton Street, Newton, when he would not obey the instruction of Coker to step aside from the front door.

A cash bond was set in the amount of $2,000.

Arson charged

Brandon T. Robinson, 30, address unknown, has been charged with two separate counts of Arson.

Police say on April 16, Robinson damaged real property belonging to Ameren Energy Generating Company (a corporation) and leased to Ruth A. Rauch without the consent of the corporation.

By means of fire, Robinson is alleged to have damaged personal property belonging to Rauch being a Krone disc mower, antique box wagon and 10-wheel truck wheels on rim, without the consent of Rauch and the value of personal property is $150 or more.

A cash bond has been set in the amount of $15,000.

Daddyo bonded by Olney punk

A Newton man has been charged with Unlawful Possession of a Substance Containing Methamphetamine and Unlawful Possession of Hypodermic Syringe or Needle.

Authorities say on April 19, Larry J. Boyd, 45, of 503 E. Decatur St., Newton, possessed less than five grams of a substance containing methamphetamine and a hypodermic syringe or needle adapted for the use of controlled substances by subcutaneous injection.

Boyd was released from custody April 25, after a $700 cash bond was posted on his behalf by Jessica Boyd, of 805 E. Locust, Olney.

Jessica Boyd is the better-looking (but not by much) half of the infamous Richland County duo, Lil Nate and Jessica, who, as hangers-on of the violent Earp/Trout bunch, beat up a car owned by Danny English in 2009 over a pot debt and got their stupid butts in the kind of trouble even Earp-supporter David Hyde (Richland’s prosecutor) couldn’t ignore.

Even this late in the game, Boyd is on pay-or-appear for what appears to be the rest of her life, as she’s been paying on her $1,636.94 Richland County fine since late 2009 and STILL owes well over $800 on it…which makes it too bad that someone in charge in Richland doesn’t have the gumption to wonder how the hell she was able to put her hands on $700 to bond daddy Boyd out of jail in that county when Richland can’t collect anything but pissant fines and fees on her case THERE in the past three years.

Ray Diel of Snedeker Risk Management started off the April 23, 2013 meeting by addressing a possible agreement with the Health Department for the council members to receive blood work and other tests done there, instead of having to drive to larger cities to have it done; such tests, it was disclosed, were also less expensive to have done in Newton at the health department. It was noted that this would be discussed further at the Insurance Committee meeting.

Mayor Mark Bolander took time to recognize Sherri Hollingsworth and presented her with a plaque in appreciation and thanks for her 28 years of service with the police department as secretary. Visibly moved by the appreciation, Hollingsworth thanked her children in attendance as well as the council.

Expenditures

A motion was made by Alderman Jeff Ford to accept a bid from Webster Ford for a new truck for the Electric Department in the amount of $37,233.96. After a unanimous vote, Ford then made a motion to accept a bid from Drake-Scruggs Equipment Inc. for a truck bed for the new electric department truck in the amount of $27,563.00 and that also was approved unanimously.

The council voted unanimously to pay the invoice for the construction inspection for the IKE project by the Connor & Connor in the amount of $17,627.30.

Ed Webb was appointed to the zoning board of appeals for a two-year term effective May 1. After a motion made by Ford, the council voted unanimously to approve the annual department head appointments.

The council voted unanimously to keep the water rates and the electric rates the same for the city customers for the fiscal year beginning May 1, 2013 through April 30, 2014.

A motion was made by Alderman Rick Lindemann to approve Martin IGA’s TIF application for reimbursement of half of the TIF eligible expenses up to $2,500 and that was approved unanimously.

TIF applications were also unanimously approved for Webster Ford and Farley’s Insurance respectively.

Alderman Larry Brooks made a motion to approve the city budget for 2013-2014 and was approved by a unanimous vote.

May 7 meeting swearing-in

The Newton City Council meeting on May 7th saw the swearing in of Mark Bolander for another term as mayor, as well as Rosetta York being sworn in as the new city clerk. Treasurer Connie Tate and aldermen Rick Lindeman, Jeff Ford, Robert Reisner and Scott Bloomberg all were sworn in for another term. Lee Volk was sworn in as zoning board of appeals member. All were sworn in by deputy city clerk Alice Addis.

Also at that meeting, alderman Robert Reisner made a motion to accept multiple street program bids from Lee Kitner & Sons at $60,320 for seal coat, three bids for stone and sand from Charles Heuerman Trucking Co. for a total of $14,953.50, and a bid for salt from North American Salt Co. for  $6120.75, with all bids approved unanimously.

After a long-discussed revision, the council voted unanimously to have city officials use the Jasper County Health Department for many of their health care needs. Changes to the health care agreement will begin on July 1. All agreed that they believe this would be a good thing for all parties.

Banning synthetic drugs

The Council heard from Newton’s Police Chief Mike Swick, who spoke about the banning of synthetic drugs such as K2, which is used as a synthetic marijuana.

“We have noticed that these have been coming to Newton,” Swick told the board about the substances, noting he aims to get Newton more in line with other local areas that have already banned the synthetic substances.

The council voted unanimously to make “the purchase, sale or possession of ‘synthetic alternative drugs’ illegal.”

“The ordinance may need to be tweaked in the future, no pun intended, to cover all the substances it would include,” Swick told the council. The ordinance was approved by a unanimous vote.

Police Chief Swick announced that more than $12,000 had been raised so far for the purchase of the K-9 unit from fundraisers, with a raffle to take place in July to further help raise money.

Ray Vaughn, above, mayor-
elect of Olney, was but
one of the candidates that defeated incumbent mayors in southeastern Illinois.

SO. ILL.—The regional voter turnout had a wide range depending upon the number of offices up for grabs, this for the April 9, 2013 consolidated election.

Municipal and township races, as well as a handful of ballot questions, were the biggest draw for this go-round, but sadly, not big enough: an overall average of Disclosure’s main counties of coverage had a deplorable voter turnout. In the 13 downstate/south counties Disclosure regularly covers, most of it in the Second Judicial Circuit, the average among the 13 was 30.21 percent turnout. This featured a high of 47.95 percent in Gallatin County (where turnout is typically high) to what’s being called a “historic low” in Wabash County of 6.8 percent (where turnout is typically one of the lowest in the region)…meaning the nation’s apathy toward doing something about the political climate, one that begins with the reluctance to serve/run for office, might be fairly said to end at the ballot box when “there’s no one to vote for.”

Here now are the unofficial outcomes of the main counties in Disclosure’s coverage area for the Consolidated Election 2013; the totals in this, obtained on deadline, are not final and may change pending counting of absentee and provisional ballots.

Clay County

Clay County saw few contested races, most of what they did have contested falling into the realm of the townships’ trustee races.

However, there was a four-candidate race for three spots as Clay City village trustee. Mike Delonshaw came away from that with the top votes at 109; Rod Franklin next at 104 and Dan Patridge seated with 81 votes.

And the village of Xenia had a village trustee race, this one with three of five. Selected were Suzie Hosick, 48 votes, Thomas J. Henson, 43 and Bill Bradley, 39.

Also in the village of Xenia was a two-woman contest for village clerk; Dawn Cazadd prevails over Jenny Gould by one vote, 35-34.

A three-way race for highway commissioner in Xenia Township saw D. Allen Bonham emerging winner over Mike Burdine and Cody Gould, 47-33-31, respectively.

In Oskaloosa Township, that same position went to Rick Payne over Jason Guinn, 80-24.

Four trustees in Larkinsburg Township were selected from amongst eight: Wesley Horath, 85 votes, Louise Beccue, 76, Lloyd Weidner, 56 and Dale Wayne McKinney, 50. Four competed for the position of highway commissioner in Larkinsburg Township, and Ernest Elledge took the least at 66 votes, almost twice his next-nearest opponent, Dean McKinney with 26, while Eric Yingst and Glenn D. Yingst each received 18 votes. And a Larkinsburg Township supervisor was chosen: Claye Warren, who defeated Eric I. Bailey, 74-58.

Blair Township also saw a race for trustees, with Jon Vandyke, 120 votes, Dwaine Worthy, 116, Kenny Hilderbrand, 85 and Stewart Smith, 72, attaining those seats. Blair Township’s highway commissioner will be Ronald L. Kincaid, who defeated Alan Slagley and David McPeak, 89-50-23.

Louisville Township had one challenged office: Highway commissioner, which is now Matt Byers, defeating Tommy Ballard 230-140.

Harter Township has four trustees selected from six competing: Ted Whitehead, 600, Raymond J. Muhs, 526, Amy Sailer Leonard, 522 and Joe Gilliland, 492. Harter Township also had a race for highway commissioner, in which James S. Tackitt prevails over challengers Johnny R. Williams and Bob Meares, 472-259-223.

In Bible Grove Township, four of five were chosen for township trustee: Neil Gould, 82 votes, Reggie Birch, 71, Aaron L. Hardin, 69, and Darren Birch, 48. Also in that township, Cory Wendling defeated Andy Wood 54-49 for highway commissioner.

In Clay City Township, Darrell Britton defeated Kevin Henry for highway commissioner, 140-104. That county also had four trustees selected: Terry Woodrow, 138 votes, Rod Franklin, 133, Steve Spitzner, 122 and Bill Staser, 121.

On the Clay City Community Unit School Dist. (hereinafter all referred to as “CUSD”) 10 school board, Kelly Hance, Amy Dulaney and Darren Lewis will be seated. There were 43 write-in votes.

For Flora CUSD 35, Curtis Leib, Rick Porter and Justin Cook will be seated.

And the North Clay Unit 25 School Board will seat Darrell McKnelly, Ryan Ballard, Cecil Cochran and David Simmons; there were 23 write-in votes for that board.

Five people were elected to serve on the Xenia Fire Protection District Board of Trustees, this after a mass walkout last year of firefighters over real irresponsibility with department money courtesy of Daniel Edgington, who is now out: Shand Kanitz, Randy Hockman, Burl DeWayne Wesner, Joyce M. O’Donnell and William P. Moorman will serve where only three were serving last year, and will be elected instead of appointed by the county board. This was accomplished by a ballot question placed by citizens petitioning their government last year to rectify the situation, and they were successful in their endeavor.

Crawford County

Crawford saw a turnout of 33.39, prompted by mayoral/village president races in their various towns/villages.

Robinson saw the retention of their incumbent mayor Roger E. Pethtel over challenger Lon M. Smith, 923-375.

Flat Rock chose Larry Keeler over Brandi Weber for mayor, 77-32.

Palestine also kept their incumbent mayor, Pat Schofiel, over Candy Carter and Earnie Mendenhall II, 281-62-60.

Races on councils/boards came from Ward 2 in Robinson, where Karen Bowman bested Nikki Aldrich 117-79. In Palestine, three were selected for village trustee: Harry Gene Purcell, Ricky Stork and Lloyd Dunlap, 307-247-243.

In townships, Honey Creek had a race for supervisor: Greg Wampler defeated Daniel Gower, 279-220. They also had a selection for township clerk, with Lynn McCleave defeating Beverly Hemrich, 275-223. And for highway commissioner, Chris Bonnell defeated Ralph Weger, 341-167.

Hutsonville Township had competitors for township trustees; four of six prevailed: Guy Rumler, 199 votes, Mike Kraemer, 192, Ryan Love, 176 and Todd Seaney, 168, with Seaney narrowly defeating Rob Lowrance, 167, and Tim Terry, 164, for the final seat, the outcome of which could change upon official tally, it being so close.

Martin Township selected four trustees from a field of five: Bill Midgett and John Russell received 87 votes, Danny Mundhenk, 84, and Madeline Harris and Dewayne Mundhenk received 75 each, tying for fourth; no word as of press time was available on how that matter was going to be settled.

In Montgomery Township, a race for highway commissioner was decisively settled for Ed Carpenter over Michael Eakins, 200-49.

Oblong Township also had a highway commissioner race, and Jerry Ping took it over Jerry D. Lewis, 569-139.

In Prairie Township, a highway commissioner race saw Gerald Hill prevail over William Gamblin, 140-63. And in that same township, four trustees were elected: Lyle Crane, 146 votes, Chris Weck, 131, Charles Guyer, 127 and Derek Staley, 125.

In Robinson Township, a highway commissioner’s race had David Lachenmayr trouncing former Crawford County deputy Troy Love, 1,364 to 497. A township supervisor was chosen: Larry McCoy, 1313, over Debra Dix, 567. And four trustees were selected: Patrick J. Richards, with 1,097 votes, Lori Ann Hodge, 1,018, Shirley A. Berry, 1,003, and Gregory C. Wolfe, 942.

The Palestine Public Library had selected for them three trustees, Rhonda Kaye Eller, Terrie L. McDaniel and Robert F. Taylor.

Crawford County’s voters in the Hutsonville CUSD 1 chose Chad Guyer, Mike Knecht and Tina Callaway for their school board picks; in Red Hill No. 10’s District, Jim Legg outpaced Bob Christy and the third and fourth picks were Roger Kissen and Dixie Purcell; for Palestine’s school board, Crawford’s picks were Shari L. Eckert, Matt McCoy and Susan J. Hawkins; and Oblong School District No. 4 selected Todd Musgrave, Chad Pusey, and Michael Higgins.

Edwards County

In Edwards, the voter turnout was centered in Albion, where big ward races were going on and a “wet/dry” vote would enable those within city limits to buy and sell alcohol in a retail setting as opposed to just the clubs. Voter turnout, therefore, was a respectable 38.3 percent.

No mayoral race was on tap, as former mayor Ryan Hallam ceased to be an incumbent candidate in early February, which was predicated, it’s since been learned, on the possibility that he fraudulently signed a contract for construction of the new Albion fire station (see related story). As such, the only one on the ballot was former mayor Steve McMahel, who nevertheless received a symbolic 556 votes, displaying a showing of support for the town’s new mayor.

On the city council it was firefighter supporters versus supporters of the public’s right to have their tax dollars spent wisely, and it went fifty-fifty.

Ward 1 saw the peoples’ candidate, incumbent Aarol Stewart, prevail over former alderman Kevin Savage and firefighter supporter Rochelle Thomason, 151-107-73.

Ward 2 had two seats up for election, and saw firefighter candidate/former sheriff/former firefighter Scott Meserole take the seat over contender/peoples’ candidate Randy Speir, 101-72. While Meserole was ostensibly put up as a candidate by the firefighters, however, he indicated to Disclosure the day after the election his disgust with the fireman walkout, and how the churlish behavior was one of the things he saw during his tenure as sheriff…and was a big factor in his April 2008 resignation, as he “couldn’t get anything done” because of childish public officials in Edwards County.

Former firefighter Dana Mosson barely defeated the peoples’ candidate in Ward 2, David Works, 66-64. Since this is an unofficial total, it remains hopeful that there may be absentee/provisional ballots that could change this outcome over the next 30 days.

Edwards County doesn’t have townships, but instead has road districts. There were a couple of contests as such: In Road District 1, Mark Beehn prevailed over Tony Keortge, 83-44, and for clerk in that road, the ill-tempered Jackie Knackmus was finally ousted by the more gentle Robert E. Keortge, 69-59. In Road District 2, the only other contest, a write-in made a better showing than a ballot contender but both were still defeated when Robert Headley prevailed with 35 votes; on the ballot was Nancy Cowling who garnered 22 votes, but edging ahead of her was write-in Mike Greathouse with 29 votes. Tying with Cowling was another write-in, Robert Hayes, in that district.

Completely overlooked in all the mayhem was the fact that the village of West Salem has a convicted felon on the board. Only two board positions were open, and Don Cornelius and Logan Yates took those. Yates, however, is a convicted felon from a 2001 Burglary in Clay County. Disclosure checked with Clay County and the felony has not been expunged, as was what was reported to have been the case when Mike Ristvedt held a board position in West Salem after a federal weapons (explosives) conviction more than 20 years ago. However, when Disclosure checked with Ken Menzel at the Chicago office of the Illinois State Board of Elections, it was discovered that expungement doesn’t matter: in the state of Illinois, according to Illinois Municipal Code, a convicted felon of any length of time (one year ago or 50) cannot hold a city or village elected office. Disclosure is in the process of making a report to the Illinois Attorney General on the matter, as far too much of this kind of thing is going on in the state, and it’s being totally ignored by uninformed people and media alike.

Also in West Salem, two were selected from among a field of three for the coveted position of library trustee: Mary Jane McKinney and Kelsey Adam Schilt beat Elmer Ellsworth Lytle, 153-92-41.

And of course, the “wet/dry” vote went well for those who were looking to overturn the decades-long prohibition of alcohol sales in a place other than a club (or illegally out of the back door of certain residences) in Albion: voters elected to remove it 333-323, meaning the city can now reap the benefits of having a potential liquor store, or even a nice restaurant that sells wine, beer and mixed beverages with a meal, on their sales and other taxes. Amusingly, because of the backwards-sounding wording on the ballot question, Indiana television stations reported for hours on April 9 and 10 that the prohibition had been upheld and the town was still “dry.”

Gallatin County

The little southern county of Gallatin once again lead the pack in the Consolidated Election with voter turnout: 47.95, still low, but number 1 in the coverage area. Several contested offices in villages and townships, as well as a ballot question about the ubiquitous public safety tax, prompted the run to the polls.

In the village of Equality, Brittany Johnson took the office of village clerk with 135 votes, over Patricia Barnes, 58, and April Bilski, 25. A write-in on the village trustee ticket, Bruce Gowan, actually came in the third of three with 123 votes; Garrett Wargel and Billy C. Moore were the to two vote recipients with 173 and 131, respectively.

In the village of Junction, a write-in also lead the night, and landed the office of village president over incumbent Melinda K. Robbins, 23 to 18.

In the village of New Haven, a trustee race was on, with Zella Medlin, Amy Lashley and Brigitte Browning, 130-86-73. They are joined by Jackie Wicker, who was the only one running for a two-year unexpired term.

In the village of old Shawneetown, a trustee race found Kenny Oldham, James Back Jr. and Nell A. Moore-Rosser prevailing, 51-47-37.

In the village of Ridgway, Anthony Drone (204), Mike Kitchens (183) and Ardon Smith (160) took the lead in the trustee race.

In the city of Shawneetown, David Barker, who ran unsuccessfully for circuit clerk last year, prevailed in the mayor’s race, besting Robert Boon and Terry Williams 184-174-75.

Township races were heated in Gallatin, particularly in beleaguered Equality, where the Bayer-Glover combine has held sway for years and to the detriment of that area. While many of their supporters were retained as trustees, other offices were overthrown. In particular, that of highway commissioner in Equality Township was a big deal, and former Equality mayor Lee Parker handed Jimmy Bayer his butt on a platter with a vote tally of 195 to 154. For township supervisor, it was David Casey over Doggie Poshard narrowly, 165-156, that vote likely muddied by the presence of third candidate Bill Springer, who took 27 decisive votes away from the main two. And for township trustee, Cletus Wargel took top votes at 268, followed by the nasty-tempered Pat Frohock, 223, then Terry G. Wood, 172 and Don Collins, 169.

Ridgway township had a supervisor’s race: Robert McGuire prevailed against Barbara Stricklin Rodgers, 188-153.

New Haven Township had a highway commissioner race, where David Chamberlain received 93 votes to Jim Fromm’s 89.

Shawnee Township also had a highway commissioner race: Jay Barton won against Sherman E. Rider, Jr., 67-35. There also was a township trustee race, and Kimberly Bryson and Sandy Willis each received 52 votes, followed by Rhonda Twitchell (34) and Misty Hazel (30).

Members of the Gallatin County CUSD 7 board were selected: Rob M. Wood (954 votes), Gary Clayton (863) and Richard Case (819).

Gallatin voters also gave in to another public safety tax, passing it 1210-633.

Hardin County

A bit of confusion ensued at one polling location in Hardin County, marking a weird election there, where there was only a 33.5 percent turnout, very very low for one of the southeasternmost counties in the coverage area.

While county prosecutor Tara Wallace investigated and released press information the day after the issue, that didn’t seem to soothe those voters who received a ballot containing incorporated candidates for those voting in unincorporated areas.

It didn’t help that Wallace’s numbers for the outcome of votes in Rosiclare didn’t match the unofficial final tabulation Disclosure obtained from the county clerk’s office.

Wallace’s press release stated that the six ballots that were given to voters in unincorporated Rosiclare incorrectly wouldn’t have made a difference to the emerging candidates from the particular race of city commissioner, even if all those voters had selected candidates on that ballot—something they weren’t supposed to do, being that they lived outside Rosiclare city limits. However, they were handed ballots meant for those within city limits.

Wallace’s numbers had Bryan Keith Stone receiving 216 votes; Roger D. Brazell, 168; Final tabulation on the unofficial results released at 8:15 p.m. that night read Stone, 261; Brazell, 204; Oxford, 187; Williams, 173; Winchester, 172; Atkinson, 170; Stoker, 158; Lane, 165; and Hayden, 69.

In Rosiclare, the mayoral race wouldn’t have been affected by just six votes: Roy W. Tolbert prevailed over Rusty Warren, 250-172, although many news outlets were reporting the reverse on that night for some reason.

In the village of Cave-in-Rock, incumbent mayor Marty Kaylor kept his office against the challenge of Perry Foster, 57-34.

In Elizabethtown, the citizenry, remembering what Heck Rose did to them a couple of years ago, gave him a resounding “NO” for his bid (again) for the office of mayor—from which he’d “retired” (read: resigned) in 2011—and voted to keep incumbent Bertis Cook, 84-58.

They didn’t have much of a choice when it came to village trustee, as all three running were elected, but a message was sent to Heck’s sister, Sandra “Sandbags” Conkle: only her close friends and family were interested in having her back as a village trustee, all 27 of them. The other two running, Rebecca Barnard and Bruce Hemphill, had much better showings by comparison: 105 and 78, respectively.

Sandbags, regular readers will recall, had the distinction of enduring a slow-speed comeapart during the 2011 flood, wherein her true colors showed during the emergency of residents not having drinkable water, and Sandbags stubbornly refusing to distribute water hoarded at the village fire department, where her husband, the then-alive Ed Conkle, was fire chief.

A Hardin County school board race saw former HC Schools principal Jimmy Stunson, who also “retired” last year after numerous reports of kids on the school bus waving to him as he sat on a village barstool in the afternoons, exchange the barstool for a seat on the board. Top vote recipient for the school board race was Jerry D. Fricker with 839; followed by Ricky D. Williams, 702; Natalie Vaughn, 572; and Stunson’s 550.

And Hardin, too, passed a public safety tax like Gallatin did, displaying the power of the Democrats in both counties, who believe it’s okay to tax the citizens beyond their limit, then tax them some more. The PST, which will not preclude raising of property taxes if the county fathers believe it’s necessary, at least didn’t have a landslide victory like Gallatin: 561 to 472.

Hamilton County

A mayoral contest in McLeansboro and a few challenged seats on townships, as well as McLeansboro’s own wet/dry vote, were big enough draws to bring Hamilton County’s overall voter turnout to 38.13, on the higher end of the southeastern part of the state.

Long-time McLeansboro mayor Dick Deitz was a landslide over challenger Matt Bilderbeck, whom Disclosure learned has had numerous run-ins with the law and has a somewhat shady past, and only ran because he “wanted to prove he could.” Unlike Logan Yates, however, he doesn’t have a felony conviction, and therefore could run legitimately. Yet, he was stomped: 668-177, proving Deitz’ popularity and capability as the city’s mayor keeps the voters coming back to him term after successful term.

One contest was had in the city’s wards: Ward 1, where Dennis Crain defeated Billy Glenn, but not by much: 218-197.

The village of Dahlgren also had a mayoral race, with Steve Wilkerson easily sliding past David Wicks Jr., 99-26.

Township trustee races were held in Crouch Township, where Denise Hopfinger (67 votes), Brian Lueke (62), Richard Hatfield (55) and Ron Webb (54) edged in over Dwayne Smith (53 votes) for the four seats; and McLeansboro Township, where Dennis Johnson (645 votes), Kyle Ingram (642), Becky Cross (639) and Bill Ingram (585) prevailed.

A race for highway commissioner in Twigg Township had Jeffrey “Tinker” Wheeler squeaking past Randall Price, 115-113.

The vote for Hamilton County Board of Education had Tom Maulding with 1,335 votes, Randal Kirsch, 1,207, Larry Launius, 1,233 and Danny Anselment, 1,141.

And the wet/dry was decisively in favor of going wet, with 534 votes for “not prohibiting the sale of alcohol in the city,” 341 for continuing the prohibition.

Jasper County

Jasper County, in the Heartland area of Disclosure’s coverage, saw a voter turnout of 24.19 percent of registered voters, about mid-range amongst the counties and likely because there were no big challenges there. Mayors or village presidents ran unopposed in the municipalities: Mark Bolander in Newton; Jason Kirby in Hidalgo; Jack Thompson in Ste. Marie; Robert Flowers in Wheeler and Sanford Andrews in Yale.

A few village trustee races were on tap: in Wheeler, Charles Emmerich and Edward Schmidt each received seven votes, and Gerald Short received five, to attain the trustee seats there. And in Yale, Jerry Middleton (10 votes), Jamie Smith (9), Jerald B. Andrew (9) and Phillip Wagner and Nicholas Huddleston (both receiving 6 votes) vied for the positions; county clerk personnel said it was up to the village to determine who would fill the fourth slot between Wagner and Huddleston.

In townships, Crooked Creek had trustees selected: Christopher Parr (89 votes), Robert Young (74), Jeff Carr (68) and James Houser (66) prevailed there. Hunt City Township saw a tie vote for first place, Jerry Tharp and Tarry Birch (34 votes), Lafe Graham (31) and James Miller (28) win trustee seats. And Smallwood Township selected four: Paul C. Will (114 votes), Daniel A. Stark (109), Nicholas Milliman (90) and David Kistner (89) selected from six.

Fox Township had a road commissioner race, in which David Pilman defeated Robert Smithenry, 76-65.

In school board races, Jasper CUSD 1 had Gordon Millsap (921 votes), Holly Farley (863) and Mandy Rieman (792) emerge the top three; Casey-Westfield CUSD C-4 had a little input out of Jasper, with Robert L. Dougherty, Alan Hutton (whose name was spelled “Hurron” on some ballots) and Terri Cox being selected as their picks among voters for that district.

Lawrence County

A couple of major mayoral races highlighted ballots in Lawrence County, but voter turnout was still dismal there: 26.85 percent, amongst the mid-range for the coverage area.

The big story was the unseating of two-term Lawrenceville mayor Brian Straub, who’d fallen considerably out of favor over the past couple of years due to two debacles, one involving the water department, and one involving his own use of city credit cards.

Emerging victorious in light of this was the city’s clerk, Don Wagner, who’d signaled is intent to run as mayor after the credit card flap last summer.

Challenging both the incumbent and the city clerk was Ed Brumley, who in the early stages seemed to be an odds-on favorite but couldn’t quite muster the support either Wagner or Straub had.

As a result, Wagner pulled ahead in the final stages of the race (and it was somewhat tense at first, as he was lagging at the outset, and the count took several hours), and defeated the other two, 458 to Straub’s 338 and Brumley’s 208.

Lawrenceville had one ward race: Ward 3, where former county board member David Courtney stomped incumbent Don Goff, 333-158.

The other big race in Lawrenceville generated plentiful jokes about payment of water bills, and with good reason: Janice Laslie, running for the office Wagner was vacating in seeking the mayoral seat, was challenged for city clerk and was soundly defeated by Rodney Nolan: Nolan 729, Laslie 241. Laslie might have been the beginning of the nails in Straub’s political coffin in late 2010 when it was revealed that she and her husband Bruce were receiving special dispensation for a water bill they owed that exceeded $3,000. It was later shown to be that Straub himself owed a back bill dating over 90 days late, but he had never been charged the same late fees others would be were they late on their bills. In some cases, voters have long memories; the Nolan-Laslie matchup was one such case.

In Ward 1, Wendell Stevens; Ward 2, John Waldrop; and Ward 4, Janice S. Holcomb, all ran unopposed.

In other municipal races, the next big news was Bridgeport, where the new mayor received symbolic votes of support as he too ran unopposed. Brad Purcell received 241 votes, not challenged by outgoing Max Schauf or any other candidate. Of 1,205 registered voters in Bridgeport, approximately 300 in the incorporated area voted, meaning Purcell received an 80.3 percent turnout unopposed—a startling number, given that Schauf’s in 2009 was something like 16 percent—and that shows that Bridgeport voters do indeed have sense…when they have a decent candidate.

A ward race was up in Bridgeport as well: former alderman Robin Wirth was up against James Hamilton and David Hammel, but Wirth prevailed: her vote tally was 15, by comparison to Hammel’s 8 and Hamilton’s 5. Ldora “Button” Laughlin in Ward 2 and Tyler Griffin in Ward 3 each ran unopposed.

A mayoral race in St. Francisville saw the unseating of incumbent mayor Stan Williams, who lost to Donald Ravellette: Ravellette 117, Williams 105.

In township trustee races, Denison picked John R. Clark, 175; Rita Sue Tillotson, 157; Dora Glenn, 148 and Alfred Mushrush, 126; Lawrence Township selected Bruce Morey, 824; Don R. Myers, 744; Jenny Schick Chapman, 649 and Roger Orr, 610; and Russell voted in Amber O’Dell, 81; Sue C. Gerhart, 77; Joe Weber, 68 and Alan Thompson, 64.

Bond Township selected a clerk, Billie Taylor, over Cynthia A. Hays-Morris, 61-45; Bridgeport Township picked a road commissioner, Stevan J. Moore over Woody R. Rousey Jr., 224-133 and a township clerk, Lisa Lemeron, over Thomas Daniel Stanescu, 243-104; Christy had a race for township clerk, Jenny Roark v. former county board member Bonnie Hann, resulting in Roark 107, Hann, 93; Lawrence selected a township supervisor in Kimberly Yost Winningham, 763 over Becky Piper, 609, and a road commissioner, Bill Shick, who ran and won against David Mefford, 956-439; and Russell chose a township highway commissioner from amongst three: Gabe Foreman took ethe lead over Richard Churchwell and Keith Fisher, 58-44-34.

Red Hill CUSD 1 saw Bob Christy take the most votes for school board, 621, followed by Dixie Purcell, 619, Ashley Ryan, 517, and Jim Legg, 449.

Richland County

It was a mixed bag in Richland, with the good and the bad featured in a voter turnout of 28.78 percent: roughly twice the turnout of the 2009 race.

At that time, the city of Olney’s mayoral race was a face-off between the highly-detested and very detestable Tommie Fehrenbacher and challenger Mark Lambird. Lambird prevailed, bringing an end to the corruption that surrounded Fehrenbacher for eight years, which included sweetheart deals between the city and the county, and alleged under-the-table bids for state facilities being sited on property Fehrenbacher owned…for which he was briefly investigated by state agencies in his second term.

However, Lambird didn’t fare as well this go-round because the Fehrenbacher crowd was in force…this time backing an attorney, Ray Vaughn, to run as challenger against Lambird. Vaughn was Fehernbacher’s pick because he’s a likeable enough guy and has nothing shady in his history. The only problem is, he’s a mere figurehead so that Fehrenbacher can operate through him, behind-the-scenes, this according to many who keep an eye on Fehrenbacher and his doings in the city. The Fehrenbacher crowd was able to drum up enough support to thwart Lambird’s retention: 927-788. Sadly, with the minimal turnout, it’s apparent that voters could have turned this election around with just a little effort, had it come to light sooner that Vaughn was Fehrenbacher’s front-man, but it came a little late in the game, and the damage was already mostly done. Now Olney is back to under-the-table and backdoor doings, and, worse, is being run by attorneys: Vaughn, and city manager, city attorney Larry Taylor, the real brains of the operation as Olney does not have a “strong mayor” form of government.

A no-show at the returns this year was bi-annual pest Brian James O’Neill II, whose stench precedes him when he walks into the courthouse…but not this election. O’Neill ran for mayor against Vaughn and Lambird, delivering a massive diatribe to the Olney paper as his candidate profile which, as usual, made about as little sense as the five-minute speeches to which he’s now limited at public meetings. While many believe O’Neill is mentally challenged, the only real problem the man has is that he’s stupid and simply doesn’t know it, and uses his obliviousness to target certain people in the community and make them as miserable as possible. For whatever reason, O’Neill has a handful of jokers that vote for him in his district, and this year, besides himself and the woman he lives with, there were eight casting a vote for his mayoral challenge, meaning he’s lost someone in the district (four years ago he received 11 votes)…but whether by death, moving out of the area or gaining a modicum of common sense, is not known at this time.

Two incumbents were seeking another four years on the council—Bob Ferguson and Gary Foster—and apparently, Foster’s grumbling personality got him booted this year. Ferguson, propped up by the same Fehrenbacher crowd who put Vaughn in place, received the most votes of the four competing: 913. This was followed by John McLaughlin, who will replace Foster, with 843 votes; then Foster with 706, and challenger Jeremiah Brown, 570. What it will take to get Ferguson booted like Foster just was remains unknown but is a challenge for 2017.

Across the county, there weren’t many matchups. Two other mayoral races came from Noble, where incumbent Richard Clark took his fourth term over challenger John C. Mason by two votes: 70-68; and Parkersburg, where Tom Hanna defeated challenger Darlene Clark, 53-37. Also in Parkersburg was a race for village clerk, where Sandra Reich prevailed over Kelly Hanna, 63-26.

Otherwise, in Claremont, the legal status of their mayor (this year, by 13 symbolic votes, as no one ran against him and the voter turnout for the village was a dismal 14.1 percent) remains unanswered: John Joyce was found a few years ago to still have an illegal immigrant status when he announced that he couldn’t hold a liquor license for the village’s only convenience store because he was in the country illegally. The Illinois State Board of Elections also advised Disclosure that it is highly illegal for an illegal to hold an elected position in the state, so Disclosure is taking that matter up with the Attorney General’s office at the same time as the issue of felons holding public office following this election.

Township trustee races otherwise dominated the landscape in Richland: in Madison, Dave Bricker (129 votes); Austin Ridgely (128); Shawn Rose (122) and Franklin Dorney (102), the entire slate of Republicans, prevailed as trustees; in Noble Township, Gerg Amerman (228); Steve Hemrich (222); Mike Shan (196); and Brian VanBlaricum (186) were selected; in Olney Township, trustees selected were Jeff Fleming (1,230); Carmen Kowa (1,163); Heather Cecil (1,075) and Donald Barnett (863); in Preston Township, Dennis R. Graves (207); Wade Wilson (196); John R. Snider (176) and Kyle Henton (147) were chosen.

Township offices had matchups, these coming from Bonpas, where there was a highway commissioner race between Don Gayer (winner with 71) and James. M. McDowell (68); German where James Schneider prevailed with 76 votes over James L. Jones’ 10; Noble, where township highway commissioner went to Pat Morgan with 203 votes to Kenneth Wilson’s 183; Olney Township, where an assessor’s race was won by Kimberly J. Houchin 1,322, over Mary Kay Stoltz, 593; Preston Township, which had three offices up for grabs: township clerk, going to Kim Kuhl with 180 versus Donna Whitaker-Mitchell, 105; township assessor going to Michelle Kuenstler, 147, against Cathy Bromm’s 140; and highway commissioner, going to Phil Kuenstler over Chad Stanley, 186-106.

The only contested school board race was at East Richland CUSD 1, where Pete Seals and Alex Cline prevailed over incumbent Micah Grimes, 1,655-1,253-918.

The ballot question regarding raising Richland County’s sales tax another .25 percent appeared yet again and was defeated, despite county engineer Dan Colwell’s implorings in a mass mailing showing how high many of the county sales tax rates were all around Richland. Voters weren’t swayed, likely thinking “too bad for them!” and opted against any more raising of the tax, which is at 6.75 percent already. Colwell tried to convince voters that the money would be put to good use and used only for county road purposes. The reality is that all it would do is free up money in the larger funds, and county spenders would then have more to play with in their particular departments. So the voters sent a message to the county: Be more responsible with the money you have, and stop asking to get it from US.

Saline County

The feature of Saline County’s ballots this year was that there were so few offices being challenged, resulting in a dismal voter turnout of 26.63 for one of the more highly-populated counties downstate.

A single mayoral race came from Raleigh, where James W. Agin defeated Charles Maloney, 56-36. In that village was also a selection of three trustees; those were Jean Ellis, 53 votes, Ron Maloney, 51, and Athel Wiseman, 46.

A village trustee race was held in Galatia, where David L. Grant took top votes with 127, followed by Rickey Cates, 103, and Larry Kukla, 99.

Township trustee races occurred in Galatia, with Mike Triplett taking top votes at 174, followed by Larry Darnell with 155, Gerald W. Heflin with 150 and Merlina Pritchett with 139; Harrisburg Township, where Roger Angelly received 1,054 votes, Roger Craig, 1,051, Steve Horn 854 and Lovie Stunson, 699; and Raleigh Township, with Ron Bradley receiving 180 votes, Willard Prather, 156, Jack Whitlock, 146 and Sarah Davis, 137.

Township offices that were challenged were East Eldorado road commissioner, which went to Greg McKinney over Kevin Boulds, 744-331; Raleigh Township road commissioner went to Pervis Ellis, 173 over Dean Hutcheson’s 74; and the big race, that of Harrisburg Township road commissioner, wherein Bob Holmes defeated Harrisburg police chief Bob Smith, 973-880.

A selection of three for Carrier Mills-Stonefort CUSD 2 landed Stephen Scott Figg 186 votes, followed by Jeff Parks, 179, and Sammy J. Dudley 177…just edging out Georgia Cowger with 173 votes; however, Cowger, a long-time school board member, was saved from being booted off the board with votes from other CM-SCUSD districts, in particular, in Williamson County.

And a ballot question failed. Voters were asked if the sale of bonds should be made to build a new high school; the district was told NO 1,239 times, to a yes vote of 1,075. Reports were that a student at the polling place in the old high school accessed the public address system on election night and was asking people to vote for the bonds in question; he was shut down, but whether anything will be done about him remained unknown as of press time. The general consensus was that he should be given a stern talking to and it be done with…but electioneering is electioneering, and some believe the kid should be punished in accordance by existing state laws.

Wabash County

The reports of having an abysmally-low voter turnout in Wabash County—6.5 percent—repeatedly offended a large group of people…apparently, the populace of the county themselves. However, they were the only ones who could change that, by first putting up their own candidates and then getting the vote out…neither of which was done this election cycle.

While low contests were blamed, that should never be the excuse for not going to the polls, if for no reason other than to show everyone it can and should be done. But with only one mayoral race county-wide—in Bellmont, where it certainly did matter—that was a hard package to sell.

There, the office of mayor was finally appropriately filled, after pissy—and now, charged—Colby Rigg resigned in a snit in the summer of 2011. Rigg was appointed mayor in 2007 with the resignation of then-mayor Ed Bowman, and was then duly elected in 2009, but couldn’t stick it out. Bowman—father of convicted serial killer Greg Bowman, who is on death row in Missouri—decided to take a stab at it again this election cycle and ran against Larry Sloss for the office. Apparently Bellmont thought the wiser of putting Bowman back in charge—after all, he could potentially appoint Rigg back in, as Rigg isn’t convicted yet and can still hold public office—and voted in Sloss, 28-25.

The only other contests in Wabash came from road districts, specifically district 2, where Joe Hall defeated contenders Danny Deisher and Alan Marx, 70-36-22. District 3’s contest was between Derek Guisewite and Timothy Glick, 66-37.

There was a write-in win for school board in Wabash CUSD 348, where Teresa Hocking succeeded in that with 124 votes. On the ballot were Kyle Peach, 351, Jared Alka, 310 and Timothy Schuler, 303.

And for Allendale CUSD 17, Tia Speth Morgan received 72 votes, Beth Etzkorn 68, Richard D. Gochenour 63, and Mike Wilson, 36 as a write-in.

Wayne County

The big story in Wayne is the loss for incumbent mayor to a challenger, and that had Wayne’s larger precinct turning out in droves, resulting in a decent (for Wayne, anyway) turnout of 32.44 percent.

Mayor Mickey Borah lost to contender Chuck Griswold, and what a loss: Griswold 1,125 to Borah’s 429. Where all of Borah’s throngs of supporters were from 2001, 2004 and 2009, at which time he was supported by Fairfield’s paper and a host of RINOs (Republicans in name only) is unknown, but the choice of whether they stayed home, lost interest or defected could be any and all. Whatever the case, it was a stunner in a way, and yet again in a way, not: The Griswold family is well-known in Fairfield for being upstanding, decent citizens, and Chuck is very well-liked, as stated in last month’s issue. So the upset is certainly one to take note, as public sentiment can be fickle and sway with the wind.

Ward races were seen in Ward 1, where Ralph Barbre defeated incumbent Tom Tucker, 205-179; in Ward 2, where Jim Griffith defeated Clifford Reever, 176-130; Ward 3, Steve Robinson defeating Ron Rush 183-174 and Ward 4, David Fletcher defeating Phillip E. Williams, 273-174.

In village races, Sims had three trustees selected: Stephanie Harris with 32 votes, Billie Moyer, 31 and Donny Robertson, 27; Wayne City, where LaDonna McKinney received 190 votes; Benny Garner, 180, and Diana Wood, 142, and James G. Smith received 135 votes for an unexpired 2-year term over Shawntell Desch, 100.

For township trustees, in Elm River, Austin Lambrich took top votes at 42, followed by Frankie Molt and Rob Neikirk both with 38 and John Harrington with 36; Indian Prairie, Lawrence Pennington received 167 votes, followed by Randy Hilliard, 150, Jeff Barnard, 132, and Justin E. Smith, 117; Mt. Erie saw Jerald Hubble get 89 votes followed by Dennis Taylor’s 73, Randy Hedrick with 72 and Clayton Massie with 67; Orchard Township went to Donald Sharp, 93, Richard Greenwalt, 79, Inez O. Copelin, 76 and William Copelin, 74; and Zif township, where the Hosseltons hold sway: Larry Leon Hosselton came in with 36 votes, followed by Warren Scott Hosselton, 34, Claren Lee Hosselton, 33 and Lee Garrett Hosselton, 30.

Other township office races were found in Barnhill for highway commissioner, where Shular Smothers defeated Jerry Webb, 137-53; Big Mound’s highway commissioner went to John K. Jones Jr. over Jack Monroe, 275-192; Indian Prairie highway commissioner went to Mark A. Talbert versus Lyle Lee Allen, 57-50; a three-way race in Jasper Township for highway commissioner with Brent Opell taking the most votes, 325, over Matt Kinney’s 187, and Ray Webb’s 66; a highly amusing three-way race in Lamard Township, where incumbent Richard (Grant) Hoskins badly defeated his challengers, Craig Donoho (96) and convicted arsonist/operator (along with the vile and somewhat dangerous Rich Tuttle) of the ridiculous Wayne’s World website, Roy Finley, who managed to get 42 of his friends and family—most of them the west Wayne yellowhammers—to vote for him; Mt. Erie Township’s highway commissioner race went to Chris Massie over Steve Bass, 80-27; Orchard Township highway commissioner went to Kevin Greenwalt, 94 votes over Jesse Kidder Jr.’s 52; and Zif Township highway commissioner went to Loren Lee Kauble by one vote over Randall Gill, 26-25.

Geff CCSD 14 school board will be composed of Ken Taylor with 131 votes, Kim Belangee, 115 and Shannon Lambert, 90. Jasper CSD 17 will be Kimberly Liston with 241 votes, Anita Pond, 235, Connie Mitchell, 202, Christopher Otey, 180; Wayne CUSD 100 will be Denise M. Barbee with 503 votes, Andrea Lewis, 453, Karen D. Haile, 355 and Bruce Johnson, 299; Fairfield CSD 112 will be Heidi Hodges, with 1,104 votes, Andrew Miller, 91, Dan Coomer, 871, and Joe DiMaggio, 866.

White County

Another upset occurred in the city of Carmi, where a big mayoral race found the incumbent ousted; the contest assisted a 30.99 percent voter turnout county-wide.

Carmi’s mayor David Port was defeated by challenger, alderman Jeff Pollard, 774-758. Many have wondered if the vote weren’t split by the presence of another contender, Bill Mears, who garnered 466 votes. Nevertheless, Pollard, still espousing bringing a hospital to Carmi (after the previous one folded in 2006, unable to keep up with the illegal immigrant population in White and nearby counties flooding the emergency room as if it were a clinic so they could get free healthcare), appealed to the greater number, and he emerged victorious.

The Carmi city clerk position went to Brian Allen, 887 votes, over Dee Blazier, 787. And a couple of ward races were on the Carmi ballot: Ward 3 re-elected Steve Winkleman, 187 to challenger Doug Redman’s 116; and Keith Davis took 396 votes in Ward 4 to defeat Leon Groves, 307.

In Crossville, Konnie Harrington, apparently having dumped Tony Wolf (father of child sex offender Tyler Wolf from five years ago), was the top vote recipient with 142, followed by Jeff Spencer, 140 and Stephanie Martin, 89, to be seated as village trustees.

Township trustee races were in Carmi Township, where Jeff Bohleber received 1,083 votes, Anthony Huffer, 1,064, David Hall, 971 and Roger Heckler, 847; Emma Township has Terry Frashier with 76 votes, David Delong, 75, Tom Scates was almost thrown out this time with a reduced 61 votes and Anna Baumgart, 59; Enfield Township has Bill Williams at 69 votes, Karen McKinney, 66, Scot Weiss, 61 and Chris Mitchell, 52; and Phillips Township has Cindy Hodgson with 226 votes, Ruth Ridenour, 181, Nicholas Combs, 155 and Terry Oeth, 152.

Other township offices that were contested included Burnt Prairie highway commissioner, which is Alan Williams over Charlie Kempton, 84-52; and Phillips highway commissioner, Denny Coston, 195 to Thomas Murk, 155.

In Grayville, school board votes went to Vanessa Fullop, 128, Charles Turner, 100, and Robert Armstrong, 99.

Police say on February 18, Christian M. Baca, 20, of 402 N. Ludlow St., Olney knowingly and unlawfully had in his possession more than 30 grams but less than 500 grams of a substance containing cannabis with intent to deliver more than 10 grams but not more than 30 grams.

On Feb. 19, Baca was appointed William R. Hoffeditz as a public defender. A motion was filed by Kevin S. Parker on behalf of Hoffeditz that Baca be ordered to reimburse some of the expenses of his defense in an amount not exceeding $500 to Hoffeditz, a relatively new law in Illinois that subverts the Fifth Amendment right to free counsel “if you cannot afford one.”

Criminal history

Baca has been in area headlines since he was busted as part of a Richland County burglary ring in 2010.

In addition to illegal weapons, authorities recovered additional items included an HP computer laptop, two bows, deck furniture, numerous tools, paint-ball equipment, a bullhorn, stereo equipment, a four-wheel ATV, cameras, satellite equipment and iPods among the stolen loot.

After pleading guilty Baca was sentenced to weekends in jail and fined $500.

One week after the guilty plea he was busted on drug charges.

Baca is another of the area youth state’s attorney David Hyde seems either unwilling or unable to do anything about.

With the exception of 12 months court supervision for an uninsured vehicle charge, nothing has been done to slow Baca down in Richland County.

Baca was released on his latest charges in Jasper on Feb. 19, after Elizabeth Baca of the same Ludlow St. address posted a $1,500 cash bond on his behalf.

Arson charged

A Newton man has been charged with Arson.

Authorities say on January 24, Bradley W. Hazel, 37, of 907 ½ W. Washington St., Newton, by means of fire, knowingly damaged a 2001 Chrysler 4-door motor vehicle belonging to Tina Hazel, while it was located at or near 807 W. Washington Street, Newton.

Hazel was released from custody March 18 after Diane Ward, of 408 Westend Ave. #3, Newton posted a $1,500 cash bond on his behalf.

Hazel was given a court date set of April 23 at 10:30.

Conditions of his bond include he be at his residence from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. and call to check in to the sheriff’s department daily.

Charged with coke possession

An Indiana man has been charged with Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance.

Authorities say on March 1, Rich A. Caudill, 47, of Indiana knowingly and unlawfully had in his possession less than 15 grams of a substance containing cocaine.

On March 3, Caudill was released from custody after Ekco Wells, of 7995 N. 137th, Newton posted $1,000 cash bond on his behalf.

Sex offender charged 

with not registering 

Timothy D. Parkhurst, 46, of 10301 E. 2150th Ave., Hidalgo has been charged with Unlawful Failure to Register as a Sex Offender.

Police say on March 13, Parkhurst, being a sex offender, knowingly failed to register in accordance with the provisions of the Child Sex Offender Registration Act with the chief of police of Jasper County, within three days after he changed his residence.

On March 15, Parkhurst was released from custody after John Smith, of 8360 E. 1650th Ave., Newton posted a $350 cash bond on his behalf.

A preliminary hearing has been set for April 30 at 10 a.m.

Two counts of failing to register

A woman from Wheeler has been charged with two separate counts of Unlawful Failure to Register as a Sex Offender.

Police say on March 13, Gale M. Jones, 59, of 13274 N. Main St., Wheeler, being a sex offender, knowingly failed to register in accordance with the provisions of the Child Sex Offender Registration Act with the chief of police of Jasper County, within three days after she changed her residence after having been previously convicted as a sex offender on October 11, 2012.

Jones was released from custody March 28 after Joyce Jones, of 904 St. Hwy B.B., Millerville, Miss. posted $1,000 cash bond on her behalf.

A court date has been set for April 23.

Gives different name

Shane A. Reeves, 24, of 8277 E. 1800th Ave., Jewett has been charged with Obstructing Justice and Unlawful Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Authorities say on March 7 at 11:54 p.m., Reeves, with the intent to obstruct his arrest, knowingly furnished false information to Greg Coker, a police officer, when he related to Coker that his name was Eric Reeves.

Reeves also was said by police to have knowingly possessed a one hitter pipe, an item of drug paraphernalia, with intent to use the pipe to inhale cannabis into his body.

Reeves was released from custody March 10 after Valerie Reeves, of 1708 Ford Ave., Apt. A1, Effingham posted $500 cash bond on his behalf.

The accident occurred in Jasper County on CR 1300 North, a half-mile east of Highway 130 shortly after 5 p.m. Saturday, April 13. Derek Stanciu, 26, of Newton, was driving a 2008 Polaris Razor ATV with Andrea Weiler, 25, as a passenger. Authorities say Stanciu lost control of the ATV when it went off the right side of the road and into a ditch, and when he attempted to get back out onto the highway, Weiler was thrown from the vehicle, suffering severe head injuries; she was not wearing a helmet.

Weiler was first taken to St. Anthony’s Memorial in Effingham but was transferred to Carle Clinic in Champaign where she remains and is on life support.

Stanciu has been ticketed by the state police in the incident: DUI, Illegal Transportation of Alcohol, Improper Lane Usage and Improper Operation of an ATV on a Highway.

Weiler is a young mother; her daughter is two years old. Please keep her and her family in your prayers through this difficult time; we’ll have updates as we get them.

Andrea Weiler and her baby

So here is the sixth of the posts, which will conclude Monday and will be run alphabetically between now and then, continuing with Jasper.

Jasper County: Very low number of contested races

While there aren’t a lot of blank spots on the ballot in Jasper County (as there are on ballots in Edwards, Richland, Saline, etc), there aren’t a lot of contested races, either.

The Jasper County Courthouse, on the square, Newton

Mayoral candidates in towns and villages are running uncontested. In Newton, it’s Mark Bolander; in Hidalgo, Jason Kirby; in Ste. Marie, Jack Thompson; in Wheeler, Robert Flowers; and in Yale, Sanford B. Andrews.

There are only two communities with contested races for trustee seats: Wheeler, where three must be selected from candidates Joyce Jones, Gerald Short, Charles R. Emmerich and Edward Schmidt; and Yale, where four must be chosen from five candidates, Jamie Smith, Jerald B. Andrews, Jerry D. Middleton, Phillip E. Wagner and Nicholas Huddleston.

Township trustees, other offices

Township trustee races exist in Crooked Creek, Hunt City and Smallwood.

In Crooked Creek, it’s select four of six: Republicans Christopher Parr, James Houser, Robert Young and Jeff Carr, and Democrats David D. Ervin and Michael Evans.

In Hunt City, it’s four of five: Democrats Lafe Graham, Jerry Tharp, Tarry Birch and John W. Miller, and Republican James Miller.

In Smallwood, it’s four of six: Democrats Lindell C. Galloway, Scott Johnson, David Kistner and Nicholas Milliman, and Republicans Daniel A. Stark and Paul C. Will.

There’s a road commissioner race in Fox Township, between Dem Robert Smithenry and Rep David Pilman.

Smallwood Township has a road commissioner position up for grabs amongst three: Dem Michael Smithenry, Rep Alan Bollman and independent Frederick George Correll.

School board races

In Jasper Community Unit School District 1, three must be selected from Mandy S. Reiman and Jerry L. (Jed) Earnest in Twp 6N Range 9E; Gordon Millsap in Twp 6N Range 11E, Holley Farley in Twp 7N Range 9E, and H. Andrew Pullen in Twp 8N Range 8E.

In East Richland School District 1, two must be selected from three for an unexpired two-year term: Alex Cline and Micah Grimes in Twp 4N Range 10E and Pete Seals in Twp 3N Range 10E.

In Casey-Westfield Community Unit School District C-4, four must be selected from six: Alan Hurron, Jeff Gowin, Casey Overbeck, Terri R. Cox, Curtis E. Carver and Robert L Dougherty.

In Oblong Community Unit School District 4, three will be selected from four: Chad Pusey and Danny R. Swanger in Twp 7N Range 13W, Todd Musgrave in Twp 6N Range 14W and Michael Higgins in Twp 6N Range 13W.

In Cumberland Community Unit School District 77, three will be selected from four: Ben Bland in Twp 10N Range 9E, Robert Plummer in Twp 9N Range 8E, Kim Starwalt in Twp 10N Range 8E and Bob Blade in Twp 9N Range 9E.

Suspect(s) is/are still at large. The vehicle’s owners must pay for the massive towing bill.

JASPER CO.—The rash of vehicle thefts striking the region has hit Jasper County as of last Tuesday night (February 19, 2013) when in Newton, while Jason Ginder was at work, his van was stolen.

2001 Chevrolet Venture

The van was stolen from the parking lot of Ginder’s employment, being Total Printing Systems (T.P.S.), located at 201 South Gregory Drive, Newton. As of today, Sunday (February 24, 2013) Illinois State Police (ISP) and the Newton police still have not found the van. The only leads they have is video of a person, next door, in the parking lot of the Villas of Holly Brook (an assisted living facility) where the person appeared to be attempting to steal cars from that parking lot.

2001 Chevrolet Venture

If anyone has any information, they can contact the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department at 618-783-3057 or the Newton police at 618-783-4500.