When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. – The Declaration of Independence – 1776

The deep moral, cultural and political divide between the 11 counties of the Chicago metro area (Cook, Lake, Boone, DeKalb, Kendall, Grundy, Kankakee, McHenry, Kane, Will, and DuPage) and the other 91 counties in the present State of Illinois has become an unbridgeable gap.

The history of the present State of Illinois is a history of repeated corruption being the direct result of an absolute Chicago control over the rest of the State. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

The 11 counties of the Chicago metro area are 6,057.76 Sq. miles or 10.75 percent of the state of Illinois, but unlike the federal level of government, both the Senate and the House are population based.

The 11 counties of the Chicago metro area get 41 in the senate and 83 in the house, 70 percent of all representation, leaving 30 percent to the remaining 91 counties.

Some suburban school districts are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties for granting large end-of-career raises to retiring administrators and teachers. The state passed a law in 2005 that penalizes districts for driving up educator pension costs by granting raises of more than 6 percent in their final three years of employment. The law was intended to stop the practice.

The ever-repulsive mayor of Chit-town, Rahm Emanuel

Mayor Rahm Emanuel again has been able to attract major campaign contributions from Hollywood stars, thanks to his super-agent brother, Ari Emanuel.

More than 55 percent of contributions reported by the mayor’s political fund since the start of the year have come from out of state, according to documents filed this week with the Illinois State Board of Elections. – Sun Times April 16 2013 

In the Northern District of Illinois, which includes Chicago, there have been a total of 1,531 public corruption convictions since 1976. – University of Illinois at Chicago professor Dick Simpson

Since the 1970s, four of Illinois’ seven governors have been convicted (Otto Kerner, Dan Walker, George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich). In addition, dozens of Chicago alderman and other city and county public officials have been found guilty. – University of Illinois at Chicago professor Dick Simpson

Corruption is intertwined with city politics. Simpson found that about a third of sitting aldermen (in Chicago) since 1973 have been corrupt. – University of Illinois at Chicago professor Dick Simpson

Others on the elected official corruption list: (not a complete list)
Jesse Jackson Jr.
Cook County Commissioner William Beavers
US Rep. Dan Rostenkowski
Arenda Troutman
Paul Powell
Lennington Small
Isaac Carothers
Ed Vrdolyak
James Laski
Betty Loren-Maltese
Nicholas B. Blasé
Chicago Alderman Virgil Jones
Al Sanchez
John Briatta
Daniel Katalinic
Patrick Slattery

Oftentimes the representation from the Chicago land area seems to forget about the rural areas of the state and their way of life, and with a 70 percent vote, the rest of the state does not stand a chance.

On the date of the next general election, I want a non-binding resolution on the statewide Illinois ballot, to gather the general feelings of the people of Illinois as to whether the state should become two states: State of Chicago and the State of Illinois.

As well as Parks’ document, there’s also an online petition you can sign.

The next general election, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections, is March 18, 2014. Will this be a statewide referenda on that ballot? Let’s try to make that the case.

Soon-to-be-ex (but not soon enough) mayor Max Schauf is shown here with his buddy George Zellars when Zellars was on the city council. Schauf is constructing a building on Zellars property, in which it’s being said the two are hoping to place a bar before Schauf is out of office so he can issue it a liquor license—the one Zellars’ grandson Wes had at the Hilltop Tavern before the place closed down due to not paying sales tax.

BRIDGEPORT/US DISTRICT COURT, BENTON—The soon-to-be-former mayor of Bridgeport took one step closer to possible federal prison when his co-defendant in his Mail Fraud and Obstruction case entered a plea of guilty in Benton.

Paul Kramer, 62, Vincennes, has withdrawn his ‘not guilty’ pleas as to counts 5 and 6 in his November 8, 2012 federal indictment and has entered pleas of ‘guilty’ to both, this coming about on March 20, 2013.

Kramer is the owner of PK Auto Shop in Vincennes, where he likely came to know Schauf through Schauf’s business, AMS Tools, or through Schauf’s seedy Vincennes bar.

Court documents show Kramer’s exact association with Schauf as it pertains to the case, however.

“On August 5, 2011, Paul R. Kramer made materially false statements to agents of the FBI regarding an investigation taking place in Lawrence County. On that date, Kramer told agents that an invoice he faxed to agent regarding the rental of a Case 580M backhoe to the city of Bridgeport was prepared for him by a person by the name of ‘C.S.’ and that it was not prepared or given to him by Schauf. The statements and representations were false because he knew that C.S. did not prepare the invoice and that he had obtained the invoice from Max Schauf.”

Documents then show that on Aug. 12, 2011, “Kramer made materially false statements to agents of the FBI regarding an investigation taking place in Lawrence County: that he owned a backhoe that had been rented to the city of Bridgeport…when he knew at the time that the backhoe was owned by Schauf,” these statements being made by telephone from Vincennes to agents in Illinois.

Kramer is now considered a federal felon, under the auspices of 18 USC 1001, Making False Statements to Federal Officers.

Will he roll?

Why the agents were focusing on the backhoe to begin with is something up for speculation, but is part of the ongoing investigation uncovering intense corruption Schauf is alleged in being involved in for over a decade as mayor of Bridgeport.

Something that’s probably particularly worrisome to Schauf is the entry of a plea agreement between Kramer and the feds.

In pleading guilty, Kramer has signed documents that state that he will cooperate fully with federal agents as they go about investigating co-defendants (Schauf and possibly others). These documents, interestingly, are on file in Benton but are under seal by the federal court judge.

Kramer is currently undergoing a presentencing investigation and is set for sentencing June 27, 2013. Because he has limited criminal history and has taken full responsibility for his actions, his sentencing range is ten to 16 months, with a fine range of $3,000 to $30,000, parole of three years, and a special assessment fee of $200.

Who is “C.S.”?

There’s been no indication of who exactly “C.S.” is as referenced in Kramer’s paperwork. This is the second set of initials being used throughout the case, which kicked off in the early morning hours of Nov. 8, 2012, with Schauf’s and Kramer’s arrests.

Schauf’s arrest came shortly after a fire gutted his downtown Bridgeport “club,” and many residents, knowing fires were a plague for properties owned by the sawed-off mayor, wondered openly if his arrest wasn’t related to the latest fire.

However, they were soon to learn that the whole thing was federal, stemming from years of investigations going through Schauf’s records as well as records at city hall.

“C.S.” was likely reduced to initials because, as mentioned, there may be more indictments brewing. Speculation has it that “C.S.” might be either Schauf’s sister, Connie Schauf-White, or his brother, Charlie Schauf, both of whom have benefited from Schauf’s three terms in office since he first stepped foot in—and began systematically raping—city hall.

Already, one person identified in Schauf federal documents by initials only—“J.P.”, as in JP Stevenson, babydaddy to Schauf’s only grandchild—has had some puckering of the nether regions going on since the case started; more on that in upcoming issues of Disclosure.

Obsessed with alcohol; trial dates changing

Whatever the case with Schauf’s associates, at least one is still standing by him: The Zellars family, to include former ward alderman George Zellars, Schauf’s buddy.

Schauf, obsessed with all things alcohol (since having a bar in Vincennes, a bar in Westport, and until fire consumed it, one in Bridgeport; as well as attempting to run Bridgeport businessman Jamie Brunson out of business so Schauf could ultimately issue another package liquor license, preferably to himself or someone in his family), is very hastily putting up a structure on the west side of town near the former Hilltop Tavern (which Zellars’ grandson Wes ran into the ground last year).

The premise, say sources, is that he’s going to issue the existing liquor license once held by the Hilltop to the new facility to go into the pole barn, before his time as mayor is up (May 16).

County sources also advise that Schauf has been doing the hasty-building thing over in Russellville, too, on the east side of the county, where he hopes to set a bar.

Given that Schauf could go to prison for a very long time, and that his offspring (Sheila, Alisha and Mark, all under the age of 30) are ne’er-do-well and could even be dragged into the federal case, ergo might not be around to run his “businesses,” it’s really unclear who the bars would be going to once Schauf is out of the picture.

However, it matters little, as, it seems that Schauf is still operating with a brown thumb: everything he touches these days turns to sh!t.

It had appeared that Schauf had been on the fast track for a federal jury trial up to the date that Kramer entered his plea. Schauf had been set for a final pretrial conference on April 4, with the jury trial set to comment April 15.

That’s all changed now: Court documents show that Schauf has a final pretrial set for May 30, with a jury trial to commence June 10…a date that will probably change a couple of times before the next paper is on the stands.

Illinois State Police, investigating the situation, have advised that they’re asking the public for any and every possible thing they could know about the deceased person, who is reported to have stepped out in front of traffic at 3:08 a.m. yesterday, ending his life at about the 38 mile marker in the northeastern corner of Union Co.

UPDATE: Televised reports have one trooper having identified the body as that of a man, something press information seemed purposely vague about.

Nevertheless, they’re asking folks with possible information to call District 22 in Ullin at 618-845-3750, extension 292.

We’ll keep you as up to date as we can on the situation.

Illinois State Police Post 22 in Ullin has confirmed that very early this morning, possibly around 4 a.m. (the exact time is unclear), a body was seen by passing motorists, as it ostensibly lay alongside the interstate, at some point between the 37 and 38 mile marker of 57 in Union County.

This was in the southbound lane of the interstate, which was closed down while law enforcement attended to the discovery. There’s been no indication of whether it’s male or female, old or young, or what condition the body is in.

As more develops, we’ll bring it.

But the headline is one of them.

This was spoken by Percy, Ill., interim mayor Randy Aldridge this week in an article featured today in The Southern Illinoisan. He was defending his police department’s former possession of several high-powered weapons obtained through LESO (Law Enforcement Support Office), the innocuously-named, yet highly-questionable program that enables little bergs all over the country to receive military-grade weapons, tactical gear, vehicles and other items via GRANTS (your tax dollars). The weapons, including ten fully-automatic M-16 military rifles (among “other weapons”), are no longer in the possession of the police department of the village—which has only 950 residents—but are now in the possession of the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department. Who probably doesn’t need them, either….but hey, they had a hostage situation a few years ago, so apparently, that justified them in the minds of the local yokel cop force.

The weapons were discovered by a new hire in the department, David Rednour, who was going to be chief until a “controversy” arose in his hire, this according to another Southern article. Of course, no one fully explains the controversy. Think it has to do with the weapons cache discovery? Oh, possibly. No one will come right out and say so, though.

The problem with weapons like this—and the program that provides them—is the mentality of the paramilitarization of the police, as we at Disclosure have been warning about for YEARS. Little places like Percy (and like Elizabethtown in Hardin County, whom we FOIA’d two years ago over this very program and the weapons and items the village obtained through it) have NO NEED for such weaponry IF THE PEOPLE AREN’T ALLOWED IT AS WELL. And like the sentiment of the temporary mayor, the powers-that-be are a little overt in the fact that they don’t WANT the citizens to be well-armed. Only the POLICE need to have the “superior firepower,” right, Randy? You idiot.

It’s the mentality of such “leaders,” as well as the programs like LESO, that are an ongoing and encroaching abuse of our Second Amendment rights. They work in concert with each other to surreptitiously provide such firepower to those THEY believe “deserve” to have it (surreptitiously because, who knew? The citizens of Percy didn’t until Rednour spoke up), while at the same time denying it to the citizens—who are supposed to be the “well-armed militia.” Instead, you have long-time deputies like Lawrence County’s Dennis York having access to such weapons in what would be dubiously considered an “emergency” or “crisis situation” (who decides that status? People like Jess Angle??) and deploying them unnecessarily and illegally against the disarmed populace. Don’t think that’s a stretch. We believe that’s exactly what all this posturing over weapons bans and trying to keep the citizens of Illinois illegally disarmed is all about. And it starts in little villages the size of Percy…or E-town…or even more the size of a county like Lawrence.

But to have something as overt as the quote this temporary mayor gave…well, that proves that point. If someone (the police) is shooting an automatic weapon at me, you’re DAMNED STRAIGHT I’d like to “have one.”

It’s just a shame that the coverage on the matter is going to be as limited as it is…because this is truly a rally cry for those of us peaceful, law-abiding gun owners if anything ever was. So share this story and all the links; raise awareness. This is what your little bergs have access to, and what they’re doing. Submit FOIAs to them, like we have in the past, asking for an inventory of every piece of weaponry and equipment in the possession of your local police department, and see what you find. Then go to your board or council meetings and make sure that there is a modicum of responsibility behind those who are taking extreme advantage of the LESO program…before it’s too late for you to do so.

But more and more research, most of it being done by independent (and laymen, in terms of the scientific realms being delved into) journalists, since mainstream media seems opposed to even acknowledging that there’s even a story there, is turning up that TENSION might be exactly what’s causing these sounds.

And even then, that’s not necessarily good news. Because as can be imagined, “earth tension” can only mean a handful of things…and considering what we’re sitting atop of here in the Midwest, any one of those things could be a powderkeg if the very worst imaginable happens.

A week ago today—Saturday, March 16, 2013—at 1:44 p.m., a very large boom, followed by what has been described as shock waves, rumbling or rattling

Early on, Disclosure ruled out, via calls and emails, any seismic activity. Jessica Robertson with US Geological Survey advised that there was nothing on any monitors, ergo there was no seismic activity. Email inquiries returned by the Federal Aviation Administration advised that no one in the southern Illinois area had “requested permission” to execute any flight activity that would result in a ‘sonic boom,’ which has been effectively outlawed (via abatement; see link) for aircraft for a number of years. Illinois Mines & Minerals, when reached a couple of days later, advised that there was no mining activity, like blasting, going on at the time that could have resulted in a boom that was felt across the counties that it was. Those included, in order of their reporting to us, Saline, Gallatin, Williamson, Hardin, Franklin, Hamilton, Pope, Jackson, Jefferson and White. That’s a lot of acreage for someone fooling around with the legal explosive, Tannerite—also listed frequently as a reason for some of these ‘booms’—to be affecting…and the truth is, Tannerite might cause an adjacent county to hear the explosions (in early 2010, someone in Pond Creek in rural Edwards County was using Tannerite, and we could hear it when we were in Albion), but it wouldn’t be heard and felt, even if centrally located, in an area as big as this.

Counties affected are in this area

There was a suggestion that there was a meteorite event that resulted in the boom, and many in the Carrier Mills area of Saline County advised that they’d seen a flash of light on the clear sunny afternoon that didn’t have a real distinct point of origin; however, no calls have been returned from the contact we’ve tried to make with NASA. Probably funding cuts.

So that pretty much covered the logical bases. With the exception of NASA, we’d heard from, and ruled out, every common sense and gut reaction possibility for the boom—which rattled walls and windows, and which we ourselves, in our new hangout west of Harrisburg, felt for a sustained 7 seconds of shaking of some sort, most closely related in sensation to one of the early aftershocks of the earthquake that shook us April 18, 2008 in the very early morning hours, that aftershock coming at about 10 a.m. and registering 3.4 in magnitude.

But that wasn’t what it was.

So what was it?

There’s not been one definitive explanation that covers all the possibilities, especially given that another boom was felt and heard—and a flash of light seen, by several people in Saline County including in downtown Harrisburg—right before 10:30 that night, March 16, 2013.

But there are a lot of suggestions, and they’re all kind of wrapping up to one thing—electrical charge, discharging in the atmosphere.

Whether that electrical discharge is prompted by something in the atmosphere, something in the ground, or something in between, the premise is that it goes like this: you know what happens in the winter when you shuffle across a carpeted floor, then touch something metal. Zap. Sometimes there’s an audible crackle; oftentimes it hurts. Well, a lot of people think that’s been happening this winter—outdoors, and on a huge scale. Reports of booms and flashes, with nothing tangible to connect to them whatsoever (debris from the sky, debris from explosions on the ground, absence of thunderstorms, etc), could result from static discharge—and create a “boom.”

But why in the areas they’ve been reported? Evansville; Fort Knox; Flint, Mich.; Cottonwood, Ariz.; Gadsden, Ala.

We can’t speak for those other areas. But we know what’s beneath us here in southern Illinois. Let’s review what I wrote to Linda Moulton at Earthfiles last week, so you can get the picture in full:

One of the things I’m noticing about your reports from booms out west, and especially in Alaska, is that the booms are in the vicinity of dormant or active volcanoes. I’m aware vaguely that there is a lot of static discharge in the opening of volcanoes prior to their eruption. But…is there such discharge on a regular basis (months or perhaps years) prior to eruption? Can it be a constant state of static? And the big question: can a newly-forming volcano have that kind of static discharge…resulting in multiple “booms” over a period of time?

Many people don’t know about our “extinct” volcano, Hicks Dome, in Hardin County, just to the south of where the largest portion of reports about yesterday’s boom came (please view the map in “terrain” mode and zoom out from closest at about 2-3 clicks, you’ll see the distinct formation; or, you can see our comparison at this link on our site in a post I did some years back). The house where we stay when we’re down here is (in the southern part of Saline County), a bit north of the Dome. From our reports from several counties (Jackson, Williamson, Saline, Franklin, Jefferson, White, Hamilton, Gallatin, Hardin and Pope), it seems the boom was centralized (west of Harrisburg), Carrier Mills. This site shows there was some kind of meteorite event yesterday in CM, but I’m having a hard time believing it; it was a beautiful day here, many of the reports came from people who were outside, and few saw a flash or any light at all associated with this. In fact, we have yet to have a report of anything visible; this was only heard and felt.

So what I’m asking is this: we are in what’s called the “Illinois Basin,” an area that oil producers love because they don’t have to go so far down to get their oil. Granted, to the south of us in the Shawnee National Forest (FEDERAL reserve, no less), the land is significantly higher, but…despite what modern-day science wants people to believe about Hicks Dome (that it never erupted; that it was only a “bulge,” which is ridiculous, all one has to do is look at the topo maps to see that it did indeed erupt at some point in time), could there not be lava/magma beneath us, constantly moving, perhaps moving upwards…and, in a low-lying area like the basin, could it not have very far to go if it wanted to break free from the ground? And, if there is heavy static discharge in these vicinities, could this be what’s happening, and we’re getting static discharge from below-ground activity that isn’t necessarily seismic?

We here in southern Illinois are being lied to constantly about many different things. The next paragraph is about a mere fraction of the types of coverups we have going on down here.

Just this past September I was shown an incredible set of thermal maps shot of the Hardin and surrounding counties area that shows the dispersion of certain minerals underlying the soil, these shots taken in the mid-80s and in the possession of a property owner who paid a California company–which does this kind of aerial thermal imaging work for the fault lines out in that state–who was in a land dispute at the time with some power brokers in the area. The man wished only to prove that land his property sat upon had reserves of certain types of fluorspar (which is essential in enriching uranium, something that’s done at the Honeywell plant in Metropolis, Ill.), silver and other semi-precious minerals/gemstones (sapphire and ruby have been found in the vicinity of Hicks). Besides the fluorspar, he proved that a large amount of Thorium also was plentiful in the area. This, and a host of other elements discovered, indicated that there had not only been numerous eruptions at Hicks, but that it hadn’t been that long ago that it had erupted–as in millions of years, like the “experts” say. The possibility is greater that we’re looking at only a few HUNDRED years ago, before there were people in the area keeping records of what was going on. The Thorium is NOT as deep under the ground as the fluorspar. And as you can read here, “Thorium-232, when bombarded with neutrons, becomes Thorium 233, which eventually decays into uranium-233 through a series of beta decays; uranium-233 is a fissionable material and can be used as a nuclear fuel.” Very little wonder that the feds have a stranglehold on “their” property down there in the national forest…and that men like the one we interviewed last year with the maps is highly worried about those maps falling into the wrong hands.

Folks are not allowed to mine fluorspar down here. Folks are not allowed to mine for a LOT of different things in the Shawnee that they used to be able to. I’m of the opinion that there are things the ‘government’ doesn’t want people to find under the ground down there. I can tell you that electronics are badly disrupted in Hardin, Gallatin, Pope in Illinois and many of the counties in adjacent Kentucky, across the river. People who know about Hicks Dome and don’t subscribe to the mainstream view of it believe that whatever the volcano spewed out (Thorium, other elements) is sitting there just under the surface, being disruptive. But what if it’s static from ongoing lava/magma flow?

That’s about the extent of my premise. I ask only that you compare these booms to the possibility. I know very little about geological matters; I read quite avidly on the history of the area, and have written my own book about southern Illinois history, but certainly not geological issues. My history reading has turned up bizarre anomalies under the ground in our part of the state. Now I’m wondering if it’s not all tying in with these mystery booms. Please help if you can. I am deathly afraid of earthquakes and even more afraid of volcanic potential. It’s not out of the realm of possibility, I believe. A little over 150 years ago this report in Arkansas was documented in a local newspaper. What’s to say that it can’t happen abruptly like that, anywhere in an area where an ancient seismic event took place. And then we’re hearing from Dutchsinse that there are “plumes” occurring across the country.

What is all this?

Hicks Dome, Hardin County

That’s just part of the premise, actually.

Since I wrote that letter to Moulton (who has gotten back with me, and with whom I’ve been corresponding throughout the week about people’s experiences with our booms), other possibilities of static discharge have come to the fore. This YouTuber believes that fracking and seismic activity both precede and follow static discharge, meaning that if we hear booms, it’s likely the result of a quake having occurred in an area…or one, possibly a big one, coming. There’s a lot of debate as to how fracking plays into this…but it’s a known fact that when fracking was ended in Arkansas, the small earthquakes also ended. Our fracking in southern Illinois hasn’t begun in earnest yet.

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t something ELSE under the ground. We sit atop literally the convergence of two massive seismic zones, the New Madrid (NMSZ) and the Wabash Valley (WVSZ). Even if there’s no volcanic activity, there’s plenty of earthquake potential. And the bottom line is…we just don’t know what’s happening under the ground, all the time. There’s just not enough money to study it all…and there’s so much to study.

The US Geological Survey contends, on their website, that there might be some connection between these sounds and pending seismic activity. At this page on their website, they discuss Seneca Guns, “earthquake booms” that have been associated with seismic activity literally for centuries, and all over the country. Yet even this is not consistent. With the exception of the massive 1811-12 quakes that struck the Midwest, there haven’t been a lot of reported sounds like this, both in advance or following detected earthquakes.

At least, until now.

Are we in the process of seismic events pending? Or is something even more sinister going on?

We know only enough about the HAARP system to merely reference it here, and give you a few links. But the last possibility we’re going to cover has to do with this system. Here is the official explanation for the existence of HAARP: ionospheric study. The site would have you believe that Alaska is the only place this system is set up. Not so. Many states have HAARP stations. Coordinated, it’s been alleged that they could, and probably have, impacted not only the weather, but seismic activity (sending the energy waves down into the ground, just the same as they are capable of sending them up into the air.) What can this system do? Most people don’t know. But you can rest assured over this: Whatever is known publicly that it can do, it can in reality do ten times that nonpublicly. That’s the way government programs work. HAARP is said to be questionable by those considered to be conspiracy theorists. Perhaps. Just bear in mind that not all conspiracies are theories. Some are real.

And while we’re on conspiracy theories, let’s mention briefly the situation in Bayou Corne in Louisiana…which is a real situation—a sinkhole—with a real, possibly devastating outcome: a swirling vortex into liquefied salt reserves that suck down everything into that liquefied salt for miles above and around. It happened in 1980 at the Jefferson Salt Mine, Lake Peigneur. Read about that. Read about how big the salt reserves are beneath the Gulf states. And understand that sometimes, accidents happen…but if punctures into the salt reserves are intentional, such as done by fracking, and the salt liquefies and begins sucking down everything above…well, we could see the beginning of the U.S. Naval maps of the lower 48 that look like this:

?

The shifting of the New Madrid/Wabash Valley seismic zones; Yellowstone Caldera; West Coast (San Andreas) and East Coast fault systems, were they to happen all at once or sequentially, could produce such a nightmare scenario.

Liquefied, sinking salt reserves could bring it about.

Fracking, unchecked, could bring about the liquefied, sinking salt reserves.

Seneca guns/booms could indicate where the problem areas are, those problem ares being where the frackers are seeking to drill.

So keep your eyes and ears on those booms. We may not know exactly what they are…but they shouldn’t be blown off wholesale, and there may yet come a time when someone—someone who knows, and you know there’s someone out there who does—will finally get their crap together and tell us the truth, instead of leaving it all up to speculation.

Further, the selections for town/city council, aldermen, trustees, etc., as well as road districts, township positions, library boards and board of education officials are generally equally as slim and in some locations, nonexistent.

There are a few ballot questions in the southeastern Illinois area, mostly having to do with public safety tax and, in one instance (Albion), asking whether the citizens want to allow the sale of liquor within city limits. As well, the long-awaited new ballot selection, for Xenia Fire Protection District (affecting Clay and Wayne counties) appears on those two ballots, after much contention last summer to ensure placement and oust the current administration, which has been highly questionable with the peoples’ money.

This leaves the potential for an extremely low voter turnout, in what is actually a very important election, as the problems that have become so manifest in American government always start at the bottom and crawl up.

Still, it’s hard to get people to the polls when there’s no one to vote on.

Therefore it might be fairly predictable on a county-by-county basis as to where the numbers will be high and where they will be dismal, as presented here by the few places that actually have contests in the southeastern Illinois area.

Mayoral (and in some locations, village president) races have emerged in Lawrenceville and St. Francisville (Lawrence Co.), Elizabethtown, Cave-in-Rock and Rosiclare (Hardin Co.), Shawneetown (Gallatin Co.), Bellmont (Wabash Co.), Olney and Noble (Richland Co.), Fairfield (Wayne Co.), Browns (Edwards Co.), Carmi (White Co.), Flat Rock, Palestine and Robinson (Crawford Co.) and Raleigh (Saline Co.).

Alphabetically, here are the ballot highlights from counties across the region.

Clay County: Electing fire district trustees

The big story coming out of Clay County this election season is the appearance on the ballot of those to be elected to the Xenia Fire Protection District.

This comes after an incident a year ago in April, wherein the entire fire department walked out because of the irresponsibility in handling money, equipment, grants and other matters essential to the running of the department of Daniel Edgington, whose name happens to not appear on the ballot…nor do either of the other two trustees who were on the board when the walkout occurred.

Instead, five names appear for the five trustee positions—five because the ballot initiative last year (November) also increased the number of trustees from three to five, so that power would be more spread out instead of consolidated into a small number of trustees.

The five are Shane Kanitz, Randy Hockman, Burl DeWayne Wesner, Joyce M. O’Donnell and Williams P. Moorman.

This ballot appears not only on the applicable Xenia coverage locations in Clay, but also on the Wayne County ballot, as a northwesternmost section of Wayne is covered by that district.

Contested races in Clay exist in:

Clay City, where three village trustees will be selected from four candidates: Mike Delonshaw, Dan Patridge, Rod Franklin and Charles E. Felty.

Xenia, where two are vying for village clerk: Dawn Cazadd and Jenny Gould; and five seeking four seats as village trustee: Suzie Hosick, Bill Bradley, Thomas J. Henson, Frank Edwards and Velma Akes.

Many township races have a “select four” of five or more slates, including Larkinsburg, Blair, Harter, Bible Grove and Clay City.

Crawford County: Many mayoral races in the burgs

The distinction of mayoral races in almost every town in the county marks Crawford’s ballot features.

The city of Robinson has a face-off between two candidates, Lon M. Smith and Roger E. Pethtel (incumbent); village of Flat Rock has incumbent Larry Keeler seeking to keep the seat against challenger Brandi Weger; and village of Palestine’s mayor Pat Schofield finding her mayoral seat challenged by independent candidates Candy Carter and Earnie M. Mendenhall III.

There is only one contested race on the city council in Robinson: Ward 2 is sought by Karen S. Bowman and Nikki Aldrich.

Trustees in Palestine are the only ones that will see three selected among five (other villages have just enough—three—to fill the slate regardless): Harry Gene Purcell, Lloyd S. Dunlap III, Ricky A. Stork, George Harrison and Williams L. Snyder are the five seeking three seats on that board.

Townships in Crawford seeing races for the slate are Hutsonville, Martin, Prairie and Robinson.

Appearing on the ballot for the portion of Crawford to which the Casey-Westfield School District No. C-4 applies is a select-four of six: Alan Hutton, Jeff Gowin, Casey Overbeck, Terri R. Cox, Curtis E. Carver and Robert L. Dougherty.

In Oblong School District No. 4, it’s three of four: Chad Pusey (Oblong police chief, who continues the strange and ongoing southern Illinois trend of police officers getting placed on school boards), Danny R. Swaner, Todd Musgrave and Michael Higgins.

In Palestine School District No. 3, three of five will be selected for school board: Susan J. Hawkins, James L. Bush, Tara R. Vennard, Matt McCoy and Shari L. Eckert.

Hutsonville School District No. 1 sees a contest of four vying for three seats: Tina Callaway, John P. Cody, Mike Knecht and Chad Guyer.

And Red Hill School District No. 10 has a placement on the ballot, where there’s a four-of-five contest: Ashley Ryan, Roger Kissen, Dixie Purcell, Bob Christy and Jim Legg.

A library trustee race in Palestine exists, with Rhonda Kaye Eller, Robert L. Bowen, Terrie L. McDaniel and Robert F. Taylor seeking three seats.

Edwards County: Sour grapes forces races in Albion

The big story on the Edwards County ballots is the situation in Albion, where last month (February) mayor Ryan Hallam and city clerk Gary Mason resigned in a huff over questions arising about operations in the Albion fire department/rural fire protection district, particularly where it involves abiding by the Open Meetings and Freedom of Information Acts…which the department, run by Kent Nale for years, has been under the mistaken impression it doesn’t have to abide by them.

As a result of this, the backlash landed a couple of firefighters/firefighter supporters on the ballot running for alderman.

Om Ward 1, incumbent Kevin Savage is challenged by Rochelle Thomason (the firefighter sympathizer) and Arrol Stewart.

In Ward 2, Robert (Randy) Speir is facing former sheriff Scott Meserole, a sympathizer.

In Ward 3, David Works is being contested by Dana Mosson…who happens to be the person who was toting his kid around in a fire truck to the Edwards County High School prom in 2012, which action prompted all the questioning of proper and responsible use of fire department funds and equipment.

There are no candidates on the ballot for city treasurer and city clerk; those will have to be appointed by the new mayor with the advice and consent of the council.

The new mayor will be Steve McMahel, who was mayor before Hallam came to be in office (1997-2001). Hallam resigned rather than face McMahel, who was said to have been poised to send Hallam a whooping at the ballot box.

A ballot question for Albion is “Shall the prohibition of the sale at retail of alcoholic liquor be continued in the city of Albion?” This question confuses most people, worded according to statute, and so it needs to be clarified in this way: If a voter WANTS alcohol sales in Albion, they need to vote NO. If a voter DOESN’T WANT alcohol to be sold in Albion, they need to vote YES.

There’s a contest for village president in the little burg of Browns; longtime incumbent Harry Duncan is being challenged by the errant Todd Bailey. Conventional wisdom has it that Todd needs to stick to music; but one can never tell with voters these days.

As usual, the village of Bone Gap has no one running for president or trustee; only village clerk: Cheri Sutherland.

And in West Salem, the only contested ballot race is for that of two for library trustee, a coveted position there for some reason. Three seek it: Elmer Ellsworth Lytle, Mary Jane McKinney and Kelsey Adam Schilt.

Gallatin County: One serious mayoral race, little else

In Gallatin County, where there’s usually quite a bit of interest in public office, that doesn’t seem to be the case this go-round.

The city of Shawneetown will see a three-way race for mayor: Terry W. Williams, Robert Boon and David Barker.

No other municipalities in Gallatin have a race for village president, but they at least have candidates interested enough to take the job: In Equality, the perpetual (and perpetually annoying) Frank Sisk; in Junction, Melinda K. Robbins; in New Haven, Kevin J. Edmonds; in Old Shawneetown, Chris Oldham; in Omaha, Dennis M. West; and in Ridgway, Rebecca Mitchell.

In Equality, three trustees will be selected from six candidates: Billy C. Moore, William L. Barnes, Jermaie Sandor, A. Garrett Wargel, John Wren and Bill Springer.

In New Haven, Amy Lashley, Zella Medlin, Brigitte Browning and Matthew Edmonds seek three trustee seats.

In Old Town, James Back Jr., Kenny Oldham, Derek Chandler and Nell A. Moore-Rosser seek three trustee seats.

In Ridgway, Mike Kitchens, Bud Kimbro, Arthur Brown, Anthony Drone and Ardon Smith seek three trustee seats.

Two townships have contested races for four seats each as township trustees: in beleaguered Equality Township, Pat Frohock, Terry Wood, Cletus Wargel, John Wren and Don Collins are running for four; and in Shawnee Township, Rhonda Twitchell, Vulenia Johnson, Kimberly Bryson, Misty Hazel and Sandy Willis seek four seats.

In Equality Township, Jimmy Bayer is being challenged for his position as highway commissioner by former Equality mayor Lee Parker.

And harkening back to the debacle in 2009 in Equality Township and irresponsibility in such offices, the position of township supervisor is being challenged by three: David Casey, Doggie Poshard and Bill Springer.

Gallatin County authorities are once again using the threat of increasing property taxes as the reason to vote for the public question on the ballot county-wide, that of the public safety tax, which failed just last year, and which has been severely abused in other counties in downstate Illinois…so it’ll likely fail again, and taxes will likely be raised, which they are under PSTs anyway in most situations.

Hardin County: Oh Heck NO

As if residents in the village of Elizabethtown weren’t abused enough for many years under the Heck Rose administration—this coming to an abrupt end in 2011 with Rose’s resignation—they’re now faced with having to put up with his belligerence and cluelessness once again.

Yes, Eddie “Heck” Rose is on the ballot in E-town along with incumbent Bertis Cook for village president. And it’s not that Cook is doing such a bang-up job with the presidency, but villagers have expressed that he’s a damn sight better than Rose ever was, and they’re wondering why, if he resigned a year and a half ago stating it was for health reasons, would he once again put his health at risk by wanting the position?

Perhaps Rose feels he’ll be propped up by his sister, Sandra (“Sandbags”) Rose Conkle, who is another perpetual ballot name for village trustee, along with, this time, Bruce Hemphill and Rebecca Barnard, three for three on the slate.

Contested races in the little county’s other burgs are for mayor (village president) in Rosiclare: Roy W. Tolbert and James (Rusty) Warren; and for Cave-in-Rock, Perry Foster and Marty Kaylor.

Rosiclare also has a hot ballot for city commissioner. Vying for four seats are Bob Winchester, Margo Stoker, Bryan Keith Stone, Robert Brazell, Ricky Williams, Donald Wayne Lane, Brett Oxford, Wesley Atkinson and Waylon Hayden.

The beleaguered Hardin County School District is seeing seven candidates vying for four seats: Ricky D. Williams, Jimmy Stunson, Diana Kumorek, Natalie J. Vaughn, Christy L. McClenahan, Jerry D. Fricker and Bobby (Tubby) Ramsey.

The likelihood that at least one of those getting kicked off that slate—Jimmy Stunson—is a very good one.

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.

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

The same school board selections for Oblong District 4 exist for some Jasper residents: Chad Pusey, Danny R. Swanger, Todd Musgrave and Michael Higgins, of which voters must choose three.

Lawrence County: Where’s MAX??

The most significant feature on any of the ballots in Lawrence County involves the absence of a name—Max Schauf.

In 2013, for the first time in 12 years, Schauf’s name doesn’t appear on the ballot, but it’s not because of his federal charges, unfortunately. Apparently, the current Bridgeport mayor made the decision before he was federally indicted back in early November 2012 that he wasn’t going to run for a fourth term, likely because either A—he could smell the change of sentiment toward his administration and the problems it’s caused for the taxpayers of Bridgeport or B—he decided he’d (allegedly) raked about as much money out of the city coffers for his personal use as he could get away with and determined he was in good enough shape to let that little habit go.

It wasn’t good enough for the feds, however, who indicted him on three counts of Mail Fraud for allegedly taking said money to cover his own bills, and one count of Obstruction for allegedly telling his sort-of (ex) son-in-law to lie to the feds if they came around questioning.

While that case is dragging through court in Benton, Schauf is conducting business as usual sans the alleged thievery…and another Bridgeport man has stepped forward to run for mayor: Brad Purcell. Purcell ran unsuccessfully for county board this past November, but he faces no challengers for this office, so come May, he’ll be Mayor Brad Purcell.

Contending for the seat of Alderman in Ward 1 this election is former Alderwoman Robin Wirth; she faces challengers David Hammel and James W. Hamilton, but will probably slide easily to victory in this ward. No other offices in Bridgeport are contested.

In the city of Lawrenceville, the mayoral race has prompted much heat, particularly against incumbent Brian Straub, who’s been under fire from challenger Don Wagner openly for more than a year. The two will face a third contender, Ed Brumley, for the seat of mayor.

Wagner, on the mayoral ballot, of course isn’t running for his current position of city clerk; vying for that are Janice Laslie and James Rodney Nolan. Being that Janice Laslie has adequately pissed off every water user in Lawrenceville who has ever been late on their bill and had their water shut off (due to an incident in late 2010 wherein she and her husband Bruce ran up over $3,000 in late water bills until someone took notice of it, but never had their water shut off), Nolan is probably a shoe-in; the real question is whether, if Straub loses, whomever gets the job will finally get rid of the Laslies from the public teat in Lawrenceville.

One contest for Alderman exists in the ’ville: Ward 3, where David Courtney is challenging incumbent Don Goff…and will probably prevail, as Courtney is a proven leader, having held a position on the county board for a number of years, until about 2005.

The city of St. Francisville has a mayoral race: incumbent Stan Williams is being challenged by Don Ravellette. No council races are on the ballot, but at least all spots have a candidate.

And on the Red Hill School District No. 10 ballots impacting that area, there’s the same four-of-five as on the Crawford ballot in select locations: Ashley Ryan, Roger Kissen, Dixie Purcell, Bob Christy and Jim Legg.

Richland County: Mayoral races include the nutcase

As usual every two years, the poor Richland County ballot in some form or fashion carries the name of the ubiquitous nutball that everyone wishes would just disappear and take the smell with him: Brian James O’Neill II (deux, junior, etc).

This year, it’s the mayoral race, where O’Neill (who is not handicapped except by his own making; and he’s not some poor pathetic disabled person, but is instead a socially-awkward reject who makes himself even more so by being deliberately abrasive, obnoxious and repulsive, including not bathing) is once again going to receive his traditional 11 votes unless some of the people within the city of Olney wise up and stop giving the idiot the time of day.

Incumbent mayor Mark Lambird is once against seeking the office, challenged this year by attorney Ray Vaughn.

It has, however, been disclosed that Vaughn is nothing but a patsy for former mayor Tommie Fehrenbacher, who, over two terms, managed to alienate a huge chunk of Olney with his behind-the-scenes manipulation of properties and sweetheart deals from which he personally benefitted. Because of this, Fehrenbacher found he couldn’t be a viable candidate against Lambird, and so he put up Vaughn as his front-man. To this end, Vaughn, and Fehrenbacher’s errant kid, Morgan, have been sitting with their heads together at recent city council meetings, lobbing questions and snide comments toward Lambird at every opportunity.

Fortunately, it’s a sizable consensus of Olney citizens who are appalled enough that already, one attorney is pretty much running things in their city—Larry Taylor, who is not only the city attorney but now the city manager following the resignation of Randy Bukas some time back. So the thought of Vaughn as mayor, to this consensus, is rather unappealing. The fact that he’s so closely associated with Fehrenbacher strips away his favor the rest of the way, so it’s likely going to be Lambird for another four years.

Two council seats are up for election this go-round: Gary Foster and Bob Ferguson are looking to keep their positions on the council, but they’re being challenged by Jeremiah Brown and John McLaughlin, both of whom have run solid campaigns with a lot of exposure and may unseat both incumbents. This would be to the relief of many, as Foster has proven to be belligerent and disagreeable, not in the favor of those he represents, but for his own motives, especially when it comes to the city’s fire department.

And if anyone can term Olney “poor” on account of the presence of O’Neill, who isn’t qualified to hold a decent conversation with a sane person let alone an office, Claremont certainly can use the qualifier as well: only one person is again seeking the office of mayor there, and his immigration status still has not been put to rest, despite questions by Disclosure to someone who should know—the village’s legal counsel, Bart Zuber. John Joyce, who at least during the last election (2009) was on the ballot illegally as he was at that time an illegal immigrant from Ireland, still hasn’t been challenged by anyone who at least can challenge it, that being only someone in the village of Claremont. This, once again, is the apathy shown by voters, who just want to go about “letting someone else do it,” and in the case of Joyce, no one can complain about any alleged illegal status (on the ballot or otherwise) unless it’s one of the couple dozen registered voters of Claremont, this according to the Illinois State Board of Elections. So there he is, and no one runs against him, until someone in Claremont wakes up or develops enough sense to challenge/complain about the situation.

There is a mayoral race in the village of Parkersburg in south Richland County: K. Darlene Clark and Tom Hanna will each be seeking the office. For village clerk in P’burg, there’s actually a race: Sandra K. Reich versus Kelly Hanna.

And, in the village of Noble, a mayoral race between Richard Clark and John Mason is on the ballot.

A handful of Richland County townships have contested races for trustee: Madison, Noble, Olney and Preston.

A ballot question has raised the hackles of residents in Richland: the proposition for a special county retailers’ occupation tax for transportation purposes. This is yet another one of those “sales taxes” that authorities, who can’t handle the public’s money properly, places on the ballot with the threat that if it doesn’t pass, property taxes will have to be raised. However, the last sales tax increase, and worse the Public Safety Tax, went into effect and taxes were raised anyway. Further, the PST, imposed in 2001, was sold to the public as ONLY supposed to be utilized until the county’s new jail was built; then, it was promised, the PST would end and stop being collected. The jail was completed a couple of years ago…and the PST is still in effect, and the county STILL can’t manage the money it brings in. So voters are encouraged to send a message to the county stewards by voting “NO” on the sales tax question, and tell the county stewards to be a bit more responsible in their expenditures…including telling David Hyde to stop charging people who use force to defend themselves, some in their own home, so lawsuits won’t strip the county coffers dry.

Saline County: Trustee races in some villages

A few trustee races are the highlights of the ballots in Saline County; other than that, there’s not a lot of big draws for the various burgs down south.

The big race is in Galatia, where eight candidates are vying for three seats on the village board. David L. Grant, Rickey Cates, C. Larry Kukla, Cheryl Beers Stallings, Brandon Murphy, Eric D. Davis, Raymond E. Hutchison and William Braden are on the ballot for these positions.

A next big ticket for a little village is the race for mayor in Raleigh. Charles Maloney is facing James W. Agin for that seat. Also in the village of Raleigh, four candidates are seeking three seats on the village board: Vince Talkington, Athel Wiseman, Ron Maloney and Jean Ellis are contending for the three spots.

Townships in Saline County that are seeking challenges for four seats each are Galatia, Raleigh and Harrisburg.

One office in Harrisburg Township that has the dander ruffled on many a voter is that of Township and Road Commissioner.

Democrat Bob Smith is challenged by Republican Bob Holmes. Harrisburg residents are aware that Smith, police chief of the city of Harrisburg, doesn’t live within Harrisburg city limits as state statutes require a police chief to do. Two-year mayor Eric Gregg hasn’t rectified the situation yet, by either changing the regulations as to the statute, or forcing Smith to move into town.

These same residents who take issue with Smith’s residential status have a problem with him holding, and even running for, this public office…and are stating that they’re going to get out in force and ensure that Holmes prevails in this particular race, hoping to send a message to others who are abusing the taxpayers’ dollars with such violations.

A ballot question on ballots for Harrisburg Community Unit School Dist. 3 asks if the district shall be authorized to issue $29,000 general obligation alternate bonds of the district to demolish, reconstruct, renovate, alter, repair and equip all or a portion of the Harrisburg High School buildings and improve the sites thereof, as provided for by the resolution adopted by the Board of Education on September 25, 2012. The bonds are payable from one or more of the following revenue sources: collections distributed to the district from those taxes imposed by Saline County, and general state aid, unless those are insufficient to pay said bonds, in which case property taxes upon all taxable property in the school district without limitation as to rate or amount are authorized to be extended for that purpose.

If the city hadn’t entered into TIF districts—which are coming to a conclusion in April—this question might not even have had to be asked. Voters might hold off approving the sale of bonds, pending what might happen with the TIF district when the agreement ends and taxes get more evenly distributed following its conclusion.

Wabash County: The saga of the Cheeseboy in Bellmont

While there’s not a whole lot of ballot activity in Wabash County, there exists one election that has come to the forefront, once again because of the corruption of the person currently holding the office—that of village president in Bellmont.

The strange little former Wabash Emergency Management Agency second-in-command dude, Colby “Cheeseboy” Rigg, remains village president of Bellmont up until the newly-elected one is seated in May, even though in 2011, Rigg, in a snit of rage, scrawled “I quit!!” on a piece of paper and left it on the desk at city hall. That, unfortunately, wasn’t enough to remove him from office, and so there he is until either Ed Bowman or Larry Sloss prevails in this election.

However, Bellmont won’t be any better off if Bowman is elected: he’s the old guy who put Rigg in place in 2008 with his own resignation after his son, serial killer Greg Bowman, was finally hemmed up on charges of killing a girl in Missouri. Bowman set in motion the factors that got Rigg in office in the first place; then, when Rigg was charged last summer (August 2012) with multiple felony Theft counts from the county’s E-911 agency, it only compounded problems already present. So the common sense candidate is Sloss; but it remains to be seen which way Bellmont voters will go.

The board in Bellmont will be composed of Mike Berberich, Shawn Dorney, Peggy Walling, Shane Vaughan and James Stoneberger, as they are the only ones running, but most are incumbents and have done a fine job in the absence of their errant village president.

Wayne County: Mayoral race highlights county seat town’s ballot

In Fairfield, every four years since 2001, someone has challenged Mayor Mickey Borah’s office, and every four years, he wins by a landslide. That’s likely because the people of Fairfield believe Borah’s doing something right, and in the last couple of years, he’s not only shown this to be the case, but he’s been through some personal ordeals that have proven the mettle of his character as well.

This election year, he’s challenged by Chuck Griswold, a well-known and well-liked Fairfield guy who will no doubt give Borah a run for the money…but odds are still on the incumbent mayor to prevail.

There are four ward races in Fairfield as well: in Ward 1, it’s Ralph Barbre versus Tom Tucker; Ward 2, Jim Griffith versus Clifford Reever; Ward 3, Ron Rush against Steve Robinson and Ward 4, Phillip Williams against David Fletcher.

Capable Fairfield city clerk Tina Hutchcraft faces no opponent in this year’s election.

The races in the rest of Wayne County’s municipalities/villages are a mixed bag. No contenders are running against village presidents in Cisne (Roy Atwood), Golden Gate (Robert Chapman), Johnsonville (Robbie Brashear), Sims (Dava Austin) and Wayne City (Scott Clark). There are no candidates running for village president in the villages of Geff, Keenes or Mt. Erie. In fact, there are no candidates on the ballot at all for Keenes or Mt. Erie, showing again that apathy has taken a firm hold in rural southern Illinois when it comes to public office.

Contested races for trustee will be held in Sims, where five—Stephanie Harris, Michael Elliott, Nicholas Elliott, Donny Robertson and Billie Moyer—are vying for three seats on the village board; and in Wayne City, where six—Robert Jason Anderson, LaDonna McKinney, Benny Garner, Diana Wood, Kimberly Cooper and Timothy B. Piper—are also vying for three.

Township races for boards of trustees are only being held in Elm River, Indian Prairie, Mt. Erie, Orchard and Zif townships.

The Wayne County ballot features the same five names—Shane Kanitz, Randy Hockman, Burl DeWayne Wesner, Joyce M. O’Donnell and William P. Moorman—on those in the far northwestern corner of the county for Xenia Fire Protection District as Clay has on theirs in that district.

White County: Fierce mayor race?

It’s been a somewhat civil contest so far in the city of Carmi where the big ballot draw, as it was four years ago, is again that of mayor.

Incumbent David Port is facing challenges from Bill Mears and Jeff Pollard. However, Port has had a relatively smooth past four years since the mayor before him, Jimmy Gaines, created so much turmoil in the city with his bad habits (not the least of which was issuing derogatory comments about people and entities he didn’t like, from a barstool downtown). Whether Port has been an effective mayor or not is therefore less indicated by what he’s done than by what he hasn’t, so the prevailing sentiment is that he’s probably going to take the nod this election. People enjoy it when there’s an absence of grief and consternation in their city government, and Port has certainly provided that, to his credit.

A big-ticket item in Carmi is also that of city clerk. Four candidates are vying for the position: Harry Fey, Brian K. Allen, Dee Blazier and Irma O’Dell.

Carmi city Aldermen offices up for grabs this election are in Ward 3 (Stephen Winkleman versus Doug Redman) and Ward 4 (Keith Davis versus Leon Groves).

In Crossville, village president Henry Feldman is running unopposed for a second term. However there will be one of four on the ballot that won’t make it to village trustee, as three will be chosen from Konnie R. Harrington, Stephanie Martin, Jeff R. Spencer and Melody Nelson.

No contested races appear for village president on any of the rest of White County’s ballots in the villages of Burnt Prairie (Carroll Dozier); Enfield (Tom Harbour); Mill Shoals (Tim Isaacs); Norris City (Roy Kissell); Phillipstown (Stan Maurer); Springerton (Curtis Rush); and New Haven (Kevin J. Edmonds).

The village of Maunie has no candidates on the ballot for any office (village president, clerk, treasurer and trustees); and, as part of New Haven lies in Gallatin, a White County ballot will be produced that reflects Gallatin’s New Haven ballot and the trustee race there: four-for-three—Amy Lashley, Zella Medlin, Brigitte Browning and Matthew Edmonds.

Township races to be found on White County ballots will be in Mill Shoals, Enfield, Carmi, Indian Creek, Phillips and Emma townships.

The Grayville School District has a selection of three school board representatives from five from the incorporated areas—Robert Armstrong, John Stockton, Stephanie Hatcher, Charles Turner and Chad Alldredge—and two from unincorporated areas, Vanessa Fullop and David Kleinschmidt, on the ballots.

On nearly every ballot

On almost each ballot in each of the previously-mentioned counties will be selections for trustees to certain community college districts.

For Illinois Eastern Community Colleges (Frontier in Fairfield, Olney Central, and Lincoln Trail in Robinson) are William C. Hudson and John D. Brooks. For Southeastern Illinois College (in Harrisburg) are Pat York and Jimmy D. Ellis. For Lakeland Community College (in Mattoon) are David Storm and Bruce Owen. And for Rend Lake Community College (in Ina), it’s Larry A. Manning and the ever-offensive Benton attorney Bryan Drew. Unfortunately, each are “vote for not more than two,” so everyone named will be selected, regardless of how many votes they garner.

The same goes for the largely-unnecessary regional boards of education, which also has trustees, none of which have contested positions in this election, and probably which local citizens/taxpayers need to see about getting their representatives to do away with, as they take up much space and money on this year’s ballots.

I think the horror of going through any kind of abuse can only be exceeded by one thing: going through it again by the retelling, and in front of people whose very opinion of your retelling means your freedom or lack thereof.

Thus is my opinion of the Terry Payton nightmare in a nutshell.

We have, for years now, called the second trial of Julie Rea Kirkpatrick Harper a “travesty of justice” instead of a “trial.” That travesty, held in far-flung Clinton County in a courtroom that wasn’t big enough to warrant such a high-profile occurrence (but it was by God a new courthouse, with all kinds of nice amenities, which justified change of venue out of Lawrence County! so sayeth the talking heads who make such decisions), was made a travesty by the excoriation of available evidence—what we called “providing a sanitized version of Julie Rea.” The clueless jury didn’t get a chance to hear about Rea’s obvious insanity, coupled with extreme and bizarre immaturity, that lead her to (now allegedly, as she was first convicted in 2002, then acquitted in 2006) kill her ten-year-old son Joel in their home in Lawrenceville.

Rea was sanitized by her pro bono Chicago bleeding-heart-lib attorneys, and valid information was cut completely out of the state’s case because the state didn’t quite know how to argue the pieces of evidence, via in limines, the defense kept asking to be “excluded.” They asked for so many little incremental things to be excluded from being presented in court that by the time it got to trial, there were huge gaping holes in the state’s case. If you’re not provided with all the evidence, you can’t make an informed decision…and the jury decided to acquit Rea. Which is literally the short version of why we call it the “travesty of justice that was Julie Rea’s trial.”

But I’m beginning to believe that Terry Payton’s case was equally, if not more so, a travesty of justice. And it had less to do with what happened at trial than it did in the almost-18 years that lead up to it.

The heads-up in voir dire

I almost couldn’t attend the boy’s (and let’s face facts; a 17-year-old is a BOY, not a man) trial. In the days leading up to its start, I was miserable. Sick even. Because I knew that a large part of what I was going to hear was going to send me into flashbacks of 35 years ago, and the horror I endured at the hands of irresponsible parents who preferred to drink instead of tend to their very small children.

The first clue we had that I was going to hear stuff to flash back upon was even before a jury was selected, when a poor Mrs. Denison (sp? We didn’t get the spelling of many of the names throughout the duration of the trial; apparently they just don’t do that kind of thing for the court reporter up in Edgar County) revealed to the attorneys during voir dire (questioning of the potential jurors) that she couldn’t serve objectively on the jury because she had been the person to take Terry to the hospital for stitches when he was four after his mother had busted his head open with a Jim Beam bottle. Terry didn’t react when she said that; he probably didn’t recall it at all.

Yeah. Some episodes of abuse we don’t really remember, and when we question people about the scars later, even after reaching adulthood, we’re kind of stunned by the answers.

Like those small, mostly-circle-shaped scars on my back. Which I was later told were cigarette burns. Glad I don’t remember that, you know?

Things we do and don’t recall

I’ve been taken to task in recent weeks for the things I do remember, though. Things I remember distinctly, which happened after I reached adulthood.

Seems there’s a contingent in my circle who want to take issue with me over my recollection of some of the most traumatic moments of my life, those involving watching my mother and siblings get beaten, and having to fend off the attacker, my own parent, with a loaded weapon.

I’m years past having to recall those horrible moments to a therapist in order to learn how to assimilate them appropriately.

But I remember the first time I did have to recall, and speak aloud about, that specific incident, about four and a half years after it occurred. It was difficult. Heart-wrenching, actually.

So when on the final day of testimony in Terry’s trial—Wednesday, February 27, strangely enough that date being my own mother’s birthday—Terry took the stand in his own defense and was asked by his attorney to recount the times his mother locked him out of the house, I was prepared, but not enough.

Bob McIntire asked Terry to tell the jury the kinds of things his mother, the useless Kathie Payton, would say to him as she was removing the 11-year-old Terry from his own home to be locked outside and fend for himself at their housing projects apartment.

Terry began saying “She said, ‘Get out of my house, you worthless little son-of-a-bitch!’” and repeated that. I was writing in my convoluted shorthand and had my head down. And then Jack pressed his hand against mine, which startled me and caused me to look up…just in time to see Terry break down, recounting how a horrible mother probably irretrievably damaged her only child by forcing him away from safety, security (such as it was) and the only kind of affection he’d ever known—slim pickings, as it came from a hopeless drunk.

The agonizing moment

Reporters and journalists are “supposed to be” objective. Just tell the story, and deliver it in an impactful way, but don’t get involved.

At that juncture, I couldn’t NOT get involved. Because I recognized those heaving sobs.

Those were delivered from the heart of a child who knew that children shouldn’t be thrown out of their own home at the age of 11…but he also knew it had been done. And he knew he was telling this horrendous fact to a group of 12 people who literally had his fate in their hands, as they were there to judge whether he had, five years later, killed that same woman with intent, not in self-defense during one of her many attacks on him.

While I had never experienced the latter phrase of that sentence (there but for the grace of God; on January 16, 1981, it almost happened), the rest of it I pretty much knew. There are things that little kids shouldn’t go through. Tending to a newborn baby sibling because their mother is passed-out drunk is one of them. Watching their other siblings get beaten repeatedly over the years and being beaten yourself if you tried to protect or intervene is another. Being on a school bus and driving by your mother’s car upside down in a ditch, not knowing if her body—and that of your two-year-old sister—is inside is another.

I, and many in the courtroom, fell apart when Terry did. So much for being objective.

It was an agonizing, terrible moment.

And that bastard state’s attorney Mark Isaf almost didn’t concede when McIntire asked for a recess for his client to compose himself.

I think there were a couple of us who were ready to come over that partition in the courtroom and rip Isaf a new one over that idiocy.

Legal, lethal drug

The jury, as we all by now know, weren’t swayed enough by Terry pouring out his heart about the atrocities he suffered at the hand of his mother, and found him guilty but with mitigating circumstances (Second-Degree, not First-Degree, murder).

Not that I fully believe anyone intended for the jury to “buy” Terry’s story simply because he was crying in court over it.

But I think it’s a very sad commentary about the people of that county, and about people in general, when it comes to having an understanding of what alcoholism does to children, and the kinds of abuses to which it leads.

Jack pointed out to me that, during jury selection, practically no one admitted to drinking frequently, but just about everyone knew someone or themselves had been charged with DUI. Quite the contradiction, we observed.

Alcohol is a terrible, legal, lethal drug. Most of the time, it doesn’t kill the person who consumes it. It kills collaterally; others die because of it. And if they don’t die physically, something inside them dies in the effort to deal with the person who consumes.

Did those jurors understand what they had in front of them? This is something I doubt. There’s so much denial associated with alcoholism, even now in the day and age of “everybody’s got an addiction.” Kids grow up rougher these days with alcoholic parents. Nowadays, kids, whose every inclination is bad to begin with, will take off and do bad themselves when their alcoholic parents get to be under such an influence that they don’t know where they are (I used to call that “blotto” in my parents.) But they still don’t talk about it. Alcoholism in a family member is kept this dirty little secret still, that no one speaks of in polite company. Seriously. Some things never change.

One less alcoholic polluting

I’ve held for a few decades now that alcoholism isn’t a “disease.” I’ve often said “if it’s a disease, it’s the only one you can give yourself by a behavior, then simultaneously cure yourself of by ceasing that behavior.” But oh, the insistence of society is that it IS a disease. Because no one can take accountability for their own actions.

What alcoholism is is a weakness of character, of spirit. It’s the incapability of handling a certain set of responsibilities by falling back on something that alters feelings and perceptions of those duties so that they’re “manageable.” The alcoholic (or drug addict) is incapable of carrying out day-to-day responsibilities without that thing that makes them “able” to forge on. Yes, that’s sick. But it’s not a sickness. Unless a weak character is a sickness. And I don’t think it is. I think it’s just weakness; it’s a pathetic human being who’s better off having no one around him or her.

Maybe Kathie Payton knew she was so deplorable that she didn’t want her own child around her.

But even that’s a cop-out; I’m almost defending her actions with that assertion.

Whatever the case, she’s one less alcoholic polluting the world with her existence. And yes, that’s harsh. But I think of the damage done in the wake of alcoholics, broken people, broken families, and, objectively…it’s just a fact, harsh or not.

Now a 17-year-old boy may spend years of his life behind bars. The damage she left behind isn’t over. It’s going to go on for as long as Terry Payton suffers.

The onus is on the jury; a solemn promise

Ultimately the onus is on the jury in this situation. They should, as I’ve frequently said now, never have given up the presumption of innocence, and those who held on to it should have hung the jury. But they didn’t.

I have to wonder if they know that there are children still suffering in Paris, in Edgar County, in southeastern Illinois. Or have they closed themselves off to reality so much that, despite “not drinking,” despite “knowing someone who’s had a DUI (or having had one themselves),” despite being told what the law is and that they must use only that in their deliberations, they really believed their decision was justified.

Every day, there are little people like Terry being shut out of their homes. Finding their mother dead drunk on the couch, food burning on the stove. Coming home from school to find their baby sibling lying in a crib full of filth because the drunk mother couldn’t care for the baby. Going hungry because the booze comes first.

Terry Payton is the reality. A stubborn jury is the exception to reality.

A stubborn jury that doesn’t realize what’s going on all around them, and that they were the last line of defense between that reality and saving someone from it, unfortunately does happen, as unreal as it may seem.

My thoughts and prayers are with Terry Payton, along with this solemn promise: If nobody wants you when you’re released, we’ll take you in.

I’ve had a few decades of getting someone—myself—past the abuses of being a child of an alcoholic; two of them, to be exact. I think I’ve gotten in some good practice.

sleet accumulating on the ground in Harrisburg

Please be cautious if you have to be out in this weather for whatever reason. If you do not, stay in and keep warm. We have heard schools are closing early or have already closed for the day. Be safe!! We will have pics coming to you as this winter storm rolls through.

Closer view of the sleet on the ground in Harrisburg

Oh. Oh, Sheila.

Case in point: the recent announcement from our Lieutenant Governor Sheila Simon (that’s that attractive woman there in the pic) that she is going to create a “Firearms Working Group.”

Here’s a snippet from a newspaper in Galesburg (owned by GateHouse Media, as evidenced by the website):

Simon said Monday that she has about a dozen freshman representatives and senators who have said they will be members of her new Firearms Working Group. She will announce the members on Tuesday.

The group will focus on “anything that we learn about having a better conversation about firearms in the state,” Simon said in an interview.

Members will meet with advocates for both more restrictive and less restrictive firearms legislation, including gun owners, hunters, law enforcement officials, mental health professionals, families of gun violence victims, educators and firearm retailers.

Problem with this…?

Why do we need “re-education” about how to “use” firearms?

Gun owners, hunters, law enforcement officers and firearm retailers already know how to use their weapons. Mental health professionals, families of gun violence victims and educators don’t WANT them and don’t WANT to “use” them, so they are going to be resistant to any kind of “summit” that brings them in contact with the afore-named groups.

But somehow, magically, because Sheila is mitigating this, it’s going to “change” things. And, according to the news release, “Simon said she recruited members of the group from both the Democratic and Republican parties and from Chicago, the suburbs and elsewhere in Illinois. The group also will visit the Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ World Shooting and Recreational Complex in the southern Illinois city of Sparta to learn about firearm safety.” So that should make it all work, right? because SHE “recruited” the appropriate people, a veritable slice of every societal force throughout the state.

I don’t remember being interviewed for a position.

The solution to this, of course, is to ABIDE BY THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. I know that’s simplistic. I know that’s really beyond Illinois legislators and societal manipulators (like Obama, and Rahm Emanuel). But it’s pretty clear in the Second Amendment: In the U.S. Constitution, it states “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” In the Illinois Constitution, it states: “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Of course, there are two key words/phrases here: First, that arms (weapons, specifically firearms) is a RIGHT. That means it’s endowed to us—not GIVEN to us by any legislation or governmental entity. We just CAN. Because it’s a RIGHT. There are so few people these days that understand that. Let’s break it down as simplistically as possible—you have a RIGHT to breathe. No one has a right to take that away from you. That’s what the Second Amendment says about “arms” (specifically, firearms). We have a RIGHT to have them (“keep and bear” them). No one has a RIGHT to take them away from us, just like no one has a RIGHT to make you stop breathing. Why that’s so difficult to understand is beyond me, but that’s the brainwashing our government has exposed us to.

The other part a lot of people seem to miss is “shall not be infringed.” That means simply that it can’t be overrun, taken away from, messed with in any way. Yet that’s what our government here in Illinois continues to do. They have infringed upon a RIGHT by forcing us to NOT BE ABLE to “bear” arms (carry them on us.) They have made it effectively illegal for us to exercise that RIGHT (something no one is allowed to take away from us if we’re law-abiding citizens) by the draconian laws put in place forcing us to only carry our weapons upon our “fixed abode, business or personal property” (“fixed” meaning NOT OUR VEHICLES.) They have infringed upon a RIGHT by forcing us to abide by gun ownership laws as it pertains to the city of Chicago, where it’s illegal to possess certain weapons. And now they’re trying to infringe upon a RIGHT by “banning” certain weapons that it’s perfectly legal for only “certain” people (law enforcement/military) to use against US should the situation arise. If they ban one, the next will be easier, and the next, and the next…until they are all gone.

And therein lies the rub. Our government no longer serves us; they are a self-serving monster that has gotten out of control because of pussy wimps who just “want everyone to get along” and don’t think “everyone should own a gun, only the police or military.” They miss the point when they blame the gun for crime; they miss the point when they blame society; they miss the point about the mental health aspect of it, even, because it’s not the “mentally ill” that’s the problem; it’s the people who put folks on a cocktail of pharmaceuticals that render them incapable of differentiating their asses from a hole in the ground that’s part of the problem. But it’s not the whole problem. There is going to be evil. We can’t legislate evil away. We need to ensure our RIGHTS are upheld by our government so that we can fight evil on EVIL’S TERMS. That’s what good people DO.

Our government knows that the point of the Second Amendment there is to prevent TYRANNY. Our government knows that there may be certain factions that will rise up—rightfully so—to prevent more RIGHTS from being taken from us, and will use their weapons to do so—which is their RIGHT. So our government is trying to offset that by the gradual drip-drip-drip of erosion of our RIGHTS until we are no longer armed and can no longer prevent tyranny. And when that happens, tyranny is complete. It succeeds. History has shown it, time and again.

So let’s don’t let this nonsense unfold before us. Call Sheila Simon and tell her this is ludicrous: simply uphold the law as it exists for our RIGHTS. Our legislature has been ordered through the courts, via the appropriate checks and balances system, to enable us to carry concealed (“bear arms”) within 180 days from a December 2012 decision that our legislators have been VIOLATING OUR RIGHTS TO THE SECOND AMENDMENT BY PREVENTING CONCEALED CARRY.

All this posturing is getting us nowhere except to prove to the masses what tyranny really is.

You’d think they wouldn’t want to show their hand so obviously.