The bottom line is this: Illinois is not getting “Constitutional Carry,” which equates to any person being allowed to carry any weapon, loaded if they so choose, on their person at any time, concealed or open, unlegislated including ‘permits’ for this that or the other thing. That’s “the right to bear arms,” and it’s not supposed to be abridged by anyone, according to the Second Amendment. Yet Illinois has been abridging it in more intrusive and oppressive ways for well over 30 years now, and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change any time soon.

Will we, or won’t we, have permits?

Instead, an Illinois Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that state’s draconian gun laws are unconstitutional and that we should at least be allowed to carry concealed weapons on us was handed down last December, and the court gave the state until June 9 to make it so.

So the state has been scrambling to ensure they’re going to be on the receiving end of any expensive permitting process they can devise. Except no legislator has been able to devise something that’s passable.

Nevertheless, this week, ISP received computer and other equipment valued in the range of $175,000 as part of a “no-bid contract” undertaken on an “emergency basis” (way to go, Pat Quinn; get your buddies in on that “emergency basis” thing) so they could “get the permit process underway.”

Of course, if the legislators don’t meet the June 9 deadline, there may not BE a “permit process.”

It’s completely up in the air what’s going to happen if legislators don’t meet the deadline. We the people simply don’t know. And of course, those of us with common sense are concerned that we’re going to be carrying concealed—like we should be be allowed to do—and if the “rules” aren’t laid out via legislation, and then there’ll be the errant idiot—like Cook County’s Sheriff Thomas Dart—who’ll try to pass his own county ordinance regulating concealed carry as it pertains to permits, and the “law” will change from jurisdiction to jurisdiction…which endangers law-abiding citizens who travel and wish to carry, as they can’t be expected to know every little “law” of every little burg they go into, and might violate a law with one foot in one jurisdiction and the other in another.

This stupidity has to stop. Call or email your legislators, and indeed the legislators throughout the state, and tell them we the people demand the simplest of concealed carry anyone can think of. Doing away with FOID would be a good start: let those who currently have a FOID card be issued a permit immediately, from the state’s database and without any further “classes” or application process, as they’ve already been through ISP’s background check process. Then make it simple from there. The state doesn’t need $175,000 worth of equipment; they’ve already got FOID equipment in place; a few clicks of the mouse and the name of the process is changed. Otherwise, if you have a good idea on streamlining this, tell it to your legislators; and post it here. We’d like to hear it, too.

Maurice Gardner

SALINE CO.—An alleged crime that occurred in Evansville in early April has taken a local turn as of today.

A suspect in a possible drug deal that went bad and devolved into a robbery and shooting has been located near Harrisburg and has been taken into custody by U.S. Marshals.

Maurice Gardner, age unavailable, had allegedly been involved in an incident with two others, Kevin Antonio Washington and Rahim Abdulla Washington (relationship unknown) that stemmed from what authorities believe was a drug deal gone bad at 1014 Jefferson Avenue in Evansville. A Matthew Green ended up being shot one time in the leg after allegedly being robbed they the Washingtons and Gardner at the scene.

Green gave statements, and officials were able to determine that Gardner and his cohorts were the ones to look for. Kevin Antonio turned himself in to authorities shortly after the incident; Rahim Abdulla’s status is currently unknown but we’re researching that. A warrant was issued for Gardner’s arrest, and authorities went looking. Gardner was considered armed and dangerous while on the run.

It’s unclear where exactly “near Harrisburg” the suspect was located, as well as what authority, or who, if an individual, located him. We’ll get that hopefully for the print version; be sure to get your renews in if you’re a subscriber, or sign up for our e-Edition so you can read the entire print version right here on the comfort of your own computer. And as always, you can pick up a copy of the print version at these vendors.

Well it looks like it has finally happened. I figured it was only a matter of time but didn’t really think it would happen this fast and this early in what I call the “whole scheme of things.”

We now have an American citizen sitting in a prison cell because he dared to write derogatory things about an elected official.

And not just ANY elected official but one of the most catty, self-centered and powerful of elected officials—a judge.

Now, although this took place in our neighboring state of Indiana, it has a direct impact on those of us living here in the ONLY state in the union that doesn’t allow concealed carry of handguns, with some cities that have outlawed the owning of a firearm and which has in the recent past attempted to make lawmen believe they can arrest and imprison citizens for the video or audio recording of their actions when in public; in a state where rogue circuit clerks can wake up on the wrong side of the bed on any given day and decide they will keep public records from the public; a state in which county prosecutors spend more time covering up the corruption they were elected to prosecute than actually prosecuting their buddies; a state in which known cocaine-addicted judges remain on the bench and ascend to the powerful position of Chief Judge, state supreme court judge, federal judge and, with the way things are going, possibly worse.

Not just another rant

And just what is this thing of which I rant?

This thing is the arrest, prosecution and imprisonment of an Indiana man who dared to spew his feelings about the judge who took his parental rights.

When I first looked at this case I figured I would find that the (rightfully or not) angry father had threatened to kill the judge or someone in his family, or to blow the courthouse off its foundation, or something that would constitute a serious threat to general public safety or to the life of another individual.

NOPE!

That is not evident ANYWHERE in the case.

What is evident is the man spewed his feelings in his blog.

He spewed them over the course of the two-year ordeal.

According to published reports, Daniel Brewington, 39, is serving a two-year sentence at the Putnamville Correctional Facility after being convicted of Intimidation, Attempted Obstruction of Justice and Perjury for blog posts he wrote about a Dearborn County, Ind., judge.

The content has been described as “an unrelenting torrent of criticism” of the actions of the judge that cut off contact with Brewington’s children that Brewington described as “unethical, illegal and tantamount to child abuse.”

The Hoosier court community decided that THAT was “crossing the line.”

And why the hell wouldn’t they…?

I mean if you can stop citizens from criticizing a position nearly every attorney yearns for, why wouldn’t you?

Why wouldn’t they want to pad the very seat all their collective arses yearn to sit in?

This is some serious sh&t, people!

Just spend a week doing the same thing!

We just finished up covering the trial of a teenager accused of killing his mother. I believe the evidence showed it was self-defense and that the prosecution and jury were all derelict in their duty.

I believe the prosecutor Mark Isaf was nearly criminal in his targeting of this kid.

I believe the judge in the case, Steven Garst, was just as criminal and ethically corrupt for allowing a case to move forward in his courtroom after he told more than one person that he “didn’t believe it should ever get that far.”

Ang and I worked 18 hour days for about a week and a half, each culminating with posting stories on our website and recording podcasts picking apart the case, f^%k-ups as we saw them, on the judge’s part as well as Isaf’s part.

I called state police investigator Lisa Crowder one of the most worthless pieces-of-sh%t-investigators the people of this state have been forced to pay for, as well as her inept buddy from Fairfield, Matt McCormick who, I believe, intimidated and brow-beat the teenager like he was some 40-year-old serial killer.

I even went as far as to say the treatment of this kid by everybody involved was “unethical, illegal and tantamount to child abuse.”

Well… damn!

I wasn’t aware I might be running the risk of arrest or imprisonment in this country—and believe me, folks, if the state of Indiana gets away with it, Illinois will try their own version and may be gearing up to do just that if they haven’t already.

Hell, on our most recent video-cast I said something about Mark Isaf, a camel and other eastern garb I saw the last person I knew with that last name wearing in a desert several miles from Illinois.

Words of convenience

Have we moved into the realm of being critical of our elected officials now being called “hate speech”?

There are already laws on the books to take care of harassing behavior, etc., and I always have had a problem with the term “hate speech,” because it is just like the term “terrorism,” it has never been clearly defined.

And now we are moving into an area where criticizing elected officials is being dubbed “Hate Speech”?!

How freaking convenient!

Apparently it can also be called “Intimidation”!

Calling some pompous @ss sitting on the bench in a black dress passing judgment a pompous @ss is now “Obstruction of Justice”!

Being held responsible

We have published the names of jurors here in these pages because we are tired of jurors being these unknown, unnamed people, protected from whatever idiocy they unleash on the public that entities of the court wants to keep secret.

PEOPLE: You better run as if the Devil himself is after you if you start seeing regularly the words ‘secret’ and ‘court’ used in the same sentence!

It seems to me there is not only a standoff between citizens and the federal government, but the citizens and the locals elitists who are paid by us to pass judgment on us…

And to that I say “LET THE FREAKIN GAMES BEGIN!”

I’d rather die fighting on my feet that cowered on my knees…

And if any of this offends anybody, tough sh&t, you should have stopped reading before you got this far.

According to our sources at the scene, the fire began this morning about 6:30, and took out one building at the Posey County Co-Op (Farm Services) in Mt. Vernon; four vehicles were in that building and were lost; and tanks were exploding as we were on the phone to the source.

We’re being told that most of the explosions were attributed to diesel and were possibly also air tanks; however, there are chemicals housed there, including weed killer (atrazine) and others.

Firefighters are working the scene right now; updates as we get them.

Flames were over the top of a 120-foot silo

Video to come…

From Kurtis Waller’s facebook page

Kurtis A. Waller, 21, of Lawrenceville, reportedly hit a car around 2nd Street and Patrick Henry Drive in Vincennes, Ind., which escalated in a fight.

He then he took off and hit a parked car on main street. After hitting the parked car he went into Bottoms Up bar located at 102 Main Street in Vincennes where the cops went in and retrieved Mr. Waller.

According to reports, Mr. Waller’s blood alcohol content (BAC) was .16.

We’re working on whether he’s still being housed in the Knox County lockup, or if he was fortunate enough to have someone spring him after a night on the town.

Shot just before 10 p.m.

Shot just before 10 p.m.

Sure Clean fire, Vincennes shot just before 10 p.m.

Thanks to one of our readers!!

According to officials from out of both Wabash County (sheriff’s department and Mt. Carmel city police) and the Evansville Police Department, a missing persons report was made Sunday, June 17 at 2 p.m. for Katrina Dillworth, 15, most recently of Evansville but prior to that of Lawrence County, Ill. This missing persons report listed that Katrina was last seen the previous Thursday in the company of a male friend, Alexander Sparks, 20, of Mt. Carmel, and was suspected of being with him, primarily because it was being determined that she was texting and posting to Facebook with his cell phone, and because she had been told that Thursday night to get him out of the apartment she shared with her mother, Regina. Apparently instead of getting him out, the girl left with him. Their whereabouts remained unknown for the entire weekend at which time the family filed the missing persons/runaway report, which went into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database, this according to officials, as having last been seen with Sparks.

We’ve learned more about the whole matter since it unfolded. According to family, Sparks had actually been staying at the Dillworth apartment, having convinced the girl’s mother that he was younger than 20 (a crucial point in the story, as sex between two people when one of them is underage and the other is five years or more older than the younger one is a felony in most states), and the mother wanted him gone. The departure of Katrina occurred after a blowup about Sparks’ presence.

During the weekend, members of the Dillworth family searched frantically for Katrina and Sparks, as it was suspected that the girl was with her current boyfriend. On Monday the 18th, Facebook messages appeared that at least indicated the girl was alive and well:

screenshot

This was after information from NCIC appeared on Wabash Valley Communique Monday morning, with photos submitted by the family, which submission began at about 10:30 a.m., and prompted the little girl to realize that her family was completely panicked over her extended absence:

Screenshot of Wabash Valley Communique, information appearing Monday morning about 10:30 a.m.

Her family received messages from Sparks’ phone from Katrina stating that they were all “being silly” and that she was just fine.

However, it got worse.

On the evening of Monday the 18th, family reports, Sparks dropped off the girl at her friend Kaelyn’s house, where police arrived and picked her up to deliver her to the apartment she shared with her mother. The police officer, reported to have been about to go off shift, was told by Regina Dillworth that she did not want her daughter alone in her presence because she was, frankly, afraid of what the girl might do, as there’d been ongoing arguments about Sparks. The police officer reportedly told the Dillworths that they basically had only two years left to deal with Katrina’s bad behavior, then it was over because Katrina would be emancipated….and he left.

Katrina, back on home turf, proceeded back to her previous ways and got on her phone to contact Sparks. Regina refused to allow her to do this and took the phone away. At this point, Katrina allegedly grabbed a steak knife and began attacking her mother. stabbing her repeatedly. Regina sustained defense wounds across the backs of her forearms in an attempt to fight off the alleged attack, then turned to run out of her apartment, located behind Barnes & Noble in Evansville. At that point she sustained stab wounds to the back. Regina was able to make it outside, where neighbors heard her screaming. At some point she sustained a stab wound to the front abdomen as well. In all, she received a reported 53 stitches for the wounds, for which she was hospitalized overnight. Katrina was apprehended by police and taken to Cross Pointe in Evansville, in custody of the area Youth Correctional Center. She was initially held on a reported charge of Attempted Murder; however, when the matter was examined by the local prosecutor’s office, she was instead charged with Battery Causing Serious Injury (with a Knife), a Class C felony. Here’s what remains of local coverage of the case.

Katrina Dillworth remains in custody. According to those sources working the case, Sparks is still being sought for questioning; however, because the focus ceased to be on the missing child case and escalated to a serious Battery case, and because it involves a juvenile, Indiana authorities aren’t as willing to discuss the case, so it’s unclear how serious they are about his part in it.

The family, however, is serious.

From Stephani (Dillworth) Smith’s Facebook page

According to family, this is the second time Katrina has disappeared with Sparks, the first occurring either late last year or early this year, when she was only 14. The family has leveled many accusations against Sparks, including dope use in the Dillworth home, theft of items from that home, and of course, illicit sexual activity with the underage girl. They note that her behavior since becoming involved with him is atrocious, as evidenced by what she allegedly did to her mother, and they wish the authorities would do something with him. There is much, much more to the story that they are alleging, which will be withheld at this time pending further investigation. However, suffice it to say that despite Sparks’ attorney’s rantings that Sparks hasn’t been involved with Katrina or was in any way responsible for her absence, the family states unequivocally otherwise, as they’ve been there and know the truth.

Katrina Lynn Dillworth, found after being missing for several DAYS.

The Evansville teen was found asleep in a vehicle; reports aren’t clear whose vehicle it was, but it supposedly WASN’T the one belonging to the person in whose company she was last seen, Alec Sparks, 20, of Mt. Carmel.

However, we have learned that Sparks’ ex girlfriend, Stacy Steele of Evansville, was allegedly stalking and harassing the teen earlier in the year when she at that time supposedly was also running around with Sparks, and Steele found out about it.

According to last report, Evansville authorities were going through Steele’s apartment, looking for indications of where Sparks was. Whether he is wanted on charges relating to the disappearance of the teen or not is unknown at this time. Family sources have told Disclosure that the young girl was actually missing, not since only Sunday, but since last THURSDAY, and authorities may have made the family wait the requisite time before allowing them to file a missing persons report, as she had run away before. However, the person she disappeared with earlier this year was ALSO reportedly Sparks. So what will happen to the young man—who has a drug conviction out of Gibson County and pending Vanderburgh County charges—is unknown at this point.

The Dillworth family is large—seven kids—and the siblings have been very protective of Katrina. All are happy that she’s safe; what will happen at this point remains to be seen, but our well wishes go out to the family that the girl has been recovered.

Facebook photo rip from Gibson County Communique`

The post, from David Finley (the younger David Finley) is as follows: 4 LARGE BUILDINGS (4 & 5 STORY BUILDINGS) NEXT TO EACH OTHER ON FIRE ON MAIN ST IN VINCENNES – ALL AREA AGENCIES REQUESTED — BUILDING COLLAPSE!!!! ALMOST AN ENTIRE CITY BLOCK! (10:00 CST)

This is a bad deal…Vincennes is a very old town and the buildings are ancient…and historic.

Hope this is brought under control quickly…we’re fixing to turn in, so if we learn more in the morning, we’ll bring it to you.

UPDATE:

More from Gibson County Communique, 10:50 p.m.:
Report from the scene: fire appears to be contained to 3 primary buildings, all of which have had a partial or complete building collapse. Fire intensity is clearly reduced. I counted at least 6 aerial ladder master streams as well as multiple ground based master stream devices (monitors). No entry will be allowed. This will be a strictly defensive operation for now and likely require heavy equipment to pick the debris apart. This will be smoldering for days. -Charlie

AMAZING PHOTOS FROM NICHOLE CARIE, MAX 96.7 FM WFML (where we have advertised for YEARS, btw)

Downtown Vincennes, photo by Nichole Carie

Third photo posted at WFML's Facebook page, by Nichole Carie

They think they may have it under control…more as we get it.

Tara Tryon's mugshot

VALPARASO, Ind.—Just when you thought Tyler Wolf was an isolated incident, along comes Tara Tryon.

Regular readers will recall that Wolf was the 15-year-old child molester that graced the pages of our publication when we were in the early days of running photos (April 2009). We also were able to feature her here on the website when she was sentenced, a court setting that her family was doing everything they could to shield her from not only us, but local TV stations.

Wolf was convicted of molesting a very young girl (age 6), but the initial accusations were that she was also molesting even younger children, including potentially an infant boy in her care, dating back to when she was only 14.

Tyler Wolf

Tryon, 21, of Valparaiso, is now accused of not only molesting a 3-year-old boy she was babysitting, but taking copious photos and even VIDEOS of herself doing it.

Someone—a person obviously with a conscience as well as the ability to get hold of Tryon’s cell phone—contacted authorities and told them he/she was submitting an email containing this perverse stuff from the phone’s media card.

Here’s what the local media had to say about it:

The caller mailed memory cards containing the photos and videos to the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Department and the Valparaiso office of the Indiana Department of Child Services.

One of the memory cards was passed along to the Indiana State Police, which discovered 39 photos and two videos reportedly showing Tryon involved in various sex acts with the child. Police also identified the anonymous caller and the person who originally received the images.

The parents of this child were contacted by authorities and had to come in and identify their boy as the one in the pics and vids…something that personally neither one of us would be able to do without subsequently locating said alleged offender and availing her of some skin.

So Ms. Tryon now stands charged with five Class B felonies and a single Class C felony, all of them child molesting counts; she’s also charged with seven Class C felony Child Exploitation counts.

We’ve got to hope that if she is found guilty, she gets put away…because really, there’s no hope for someone that age who engages in that kind of behavior. We’ve got to believe that the light sentence Tyler Wolf got was enough to deter her…but that remains to be seen.