Joliet 8-14-19

AU GUST 14, 2 0 1 9 VOL . 1 1 I SSU E 4 9

# JOLI ETB U GLE YOUR COMM U N I T Y. YOUR NE WS .

IN THI S I SSU E E VENTS

Calendar Events Upcoming events in your area SEE PAGE 4

SP ORTS

Shake-up

New conferences all over football landscape SEE PAGE 5

jolietbugle.com

NEWS

YOUR COMMUNIT Y. YOUR NEWS. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019 | BUGLENEWSPAPERS.COM

LOCAL NEWS

Joliet police seize guns

Six guns from seperate incidents this month are off the streets

BY BRIAN STANLEY Bugle Staff

@BugleNewspapers bstanley@buglenewspapers.com

Joliet Police have seized six guns from suspects on the street during separate incidents this month.

The first occurred about 3 p.m. Aug. 1 when officers allegedly saw a car ignore the flashing red light at Joliet and Clinton streets. When police pulled the vehicle over at Joliet and Van Buren streets, Darius C. Turner, 23, reportedly ran out while clutching his waistband. Turner ran into the Harrah’s Casino parking garage while the unoccupied vehicle ran over a sign before getting stuck on a concrete island at Harrah’s parking lot.

Witnesses reportedly told police Turner was carrying a gun while run-

ning towards Jefferson Street. Turner was spotted on the bridge and caught near Broadway and Oneida Street.

Police said a gun was found in the 100 block of Jefferson Street and a stolen firearm was located in the vehicle.

Turner, of Plainfield, was arrested on charges of being an armed habitual criminal, possession of a stolen firearm and unlawful use of a weapon.

At 2:34 a.m. Aug. 3, a driver allegedly ignored the stop sign at Fifth Avenue and Gardner Street. When the vehicle was pulled over in the 100 block of Linden Avenue, two men fled before being caught nearby, police said.

“A search of the vehicle located a loaded firearm on the driver side floorboard. There was also an open liquor bottle and another loaded firearm located on the passenger side floorboard,” police said.

Devin M. Montgomery, 29, of Joliet, was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and unlawful possession of ammunition.

His passenger, Cameron M. Moffett, 21, of Joliet, was arrested on the same charges. Montgomery was also wanted for parole violations, according to police reports. At 12:35 a.m.

Aug. 4, Jason V. Yantz, 25, of Joliet, was arrested on an outstanding warrant in a parking lot in the 700 block of Collins Street. Yantz allegedly had a loaded firearm in his waistband. He was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful possession of ammunition and possession of a weapon by a street gang member.

On Aug. 6, tactical officers reportedly saw a 16-year-old boy carrying a gun while with a group of people in the 300 block of Western Avenue.

The group fled when police approached and a uniformed officer saw them in Bicentennial Park.

“While being chased the subject pulled a firearm out of his pants and turned toward the officer,” police said. “(He) refused commands to drop the weapon and the officer fired his duty weapon once at the subject.”

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NEWS

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2019 | BUGLENEWSPAPERS.COM

LOCAL NEWS

National Night Out bring police, community together Shorewood raised money, bonded with the community

BY BRIAN STANLEY Bugle Staff

@BugleNewspapers bstanley@buglenewspapers.com

It’s not unusual to see a dunk tank when the police department hosts the National Night Out as Shorewood did Aug. 6. But the Shorewood Police may be more efficient than most when it comes to raising funds for Special Olympics Illinois. For a $5 donation, you get a few balls to throw at the target while an officer is in the tank, for a $10 donation, you get more ammunition.

“And for $20, you can just walk up and knock them on it,” Deputy Chief Jason Barten said. “I came on for my turn in the tank and they lined up with

$20 bills coming out of their hands.”

The “Night Out” is designed to show the police department and the community can come together to have fun and learn about each other while promoting safety and crime prevention.

Outside the police station, a DJ played music as volunteers sold pizza and popcorn. Kids were given a chance to jump in a bouncehouse and climb into police and fire vehicles and sound the horn on a tow truck.

“This gives residents an opportunity to see us as normal people while having a good time,” Barten said. “I think they’re more comfortable to ask us questions compared to when we’re out on a call.”

Inside the station, groups were taken on tours and take target practice with pistols identical to what Shorewood officers carry - except these register hits on a computer screen instead of firing bullets. The recoil is also the same,

Barten noted.

Several times, rookie police officers and firefighter volunteers were used for Taser demonstrations in an area of the parking lot covered by a mat.

The first responders were electrically stunned for five seconds as spotters stood nearby to help them fall. Though no one complained of pain, everyone acknowledged their ability — and desire - to fight with a police officer was effectively stopped.

Chief Aaron Klima said Shorewood Police have held National Night Out for almost 10 years and hope to add a new “attraction” each year. This year had both the dunk tank and demonstrations by the department’s new canine, Rookie.

“I think some people may be tired from (the village’s) Crossroads Festival (which ended two days earlier), but next year National Night Out will be before the festival,” Klima said.

LOCAL NEWS

County Clerk begins accepting credit, debit card payments from customers GovPayNet headlines easier payments at Clerk s Office

BY RYAN OSTRY Bugle Staff

@RyanOstry_BR18 rostry@buglenewspapers.com

Currently, there is an estimated 1.27 billion credit and debit cards in use.

Americans configure roughly 183 million people who do have credit cards.

Now, Will County Clerk Lauren Staley Ferry’s office has begun accepting credit card or debit card payments from visitors who purchase copies of birth, marriage, or death certificates.

“It was very important to have this convenience for our customers,” Staley-Ferry said. “Since I’ve been in office, I’ve realized we have only taken cash and check and most people that I know don’t even carry those two things any longer.”

Staley-Ferry had promised to modernize operations in the interest of convenience for local taxpayers be-

fore she took office in December.

One of her first steps after the Consolidated Election was to open discussions with GovPayNet, an Indianapolis-based company that is a leader in accepting credit and debit card payments on behalf of government agencies.

Previously having to deny customers because they did not accept credit or debit cards, too go along with having a $4 service fee for the ATM, Staley-Ferry is excited about the change that has taken place.

“What’s most important is the convenience for all of our customers here,” Staley-Ferry said. “The people at the front desk and I are very excited for the change.”

After finalizing an agreement with GovPayNet and organizing the training of her staff, the County Clerk began accepting credit and debit card payments on two weeks ago.

The first visitor to use a credit card Friday morning was Ashley Granlund, who came to the Clerk’s Office to pick up copies of her marriage certificate.

“The feedback has been great every since we started,” Staley-Ferry said.

“We have around 30 credit card trans-

actions a day which is a lot, and the reaction has just been very positive.”

Though credit and debit cards are now accepted, it still comes with a tiny price.

Cardholders pay a small service fee at the time of their transaction, which is $1.50 for payments of up to $50, and it increases as the purchase amount rises.

The fee schedule is clearly posted at every customer station, and there are no charges to the County Clerk’s Office for participation in the GovPayNet service. GovPayNet accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover, and GovPayNet also has a fully staffed, bilingual call center available around the clock for customers convenience.

With more than one million cardholders annually make payments to more than 2,000 agencies in more than 40 states through GovPayNet, the company processes nearly $200 million annually in payments to government agencies.

“It’s a great vendor,” Staley-Ferry said. “We are certainly seeing more traffic in our office and we hope to continue that pattern down the line.”

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BASKETBALL SOCCER CROSS COUNTRY FOOTBALL SOCCER TENNIS BASEBALL SOFTBALL VOLLEYBALL TRACK & FIELD SWIMMING CHEERLEADING DANCE BOWLING FOOTBALL

CONFERENCE

CHANGES Many local football teams will find themselves in a new-look conference this season

BY DRAKE SKLEBA For the Bugle

@BugleNewspapers sweditor@buglenewspapers.com For 18 of the 21 Voyager Media Publications’ football squads this fall, some small and some not-so-small changes, have taken place.

With the exception of the West Suburban Conference Gold and Silver Division area members, Downers Grove South and Downers Grove North and Independent Westmont, all of the other area schools have had their conferences realigned, or have moved on to new conferences.

The former East Suburban Catholic Conference and members Benet Academy, Joliet Catholic Academy and Notre Dame will all have new looks.

Back in May, the East Suburban Catholic Conference and the 101-year old Chicago Catholic League, formed the new CCL/ESCC Football Conference.

The new conference has six, fourteam divisions, Blue, Green, White, Orange, Purple and Red. Thus, the schools will play three Division games to determine a Divisional champion.

Many of the six non-conference games, for each school, will be played among all CCL/ESCC members, as CCL/ESCC Crossovers.

Defending IHSA Class 5A State Champion, the CCL/ESCC White member, Joliet Catholic Academy, will open season, at the CCL/ESCC Blue’s St. Rita on August 30.

Notre Dame is in the CCL/ESCC Green Division and Benet Academy, is in the CCL/ESCC Orange Division In the Central Suburban League,

one small change has taken place.

Glenbrook North, moves to the CSL South and Niles North moves on to the CSL North in 2019-20 school year.

Maine East, Maine South and Niles West remain unchanged.

Lisle will move on to the new Illinois Central 8 Conference after many years in the Interstate 8. For the Lions, this fall, the name of their football conference has changed but their conference opponents, Wilmington, Coal City, Herscher, Reed-Custer, Peotone, Streator and Coal City all were part of the Interstate 8 Conference, last season.

The Southwest Prairie Conference welcomes in the Blackhawks of West Aurora and the Foxes of Yorkville.

The SPC will break down into two, six-team divisions, the SPC East and the SPC West.

The SPC East will be comprised of Joliet Central, Joliet West, Plainfield South, Plainfield Central, Plainfield East and Romeoville.

Plainfield North and Minooka will be part of the new SPC West.

For each of the 12 SPC schools, their first four, nonconference games, will be SPC crossover games, with four from the opposite division. The final five games of the season will be divisional games.

For Bolingbrook and Lockport, their SouthWest Suburban Conference, which had 13 football schools, in 2018, has now just an even 10.

With the departure of Thornton, Thornwood and Thornridge to the Southland Conference, the SWSC will have each school play seven SWSC games following two nonconference battles in Week 1 and 2.

FILE PHOTO

JCA and other members of the ESCC joined with the Chicago Catholic League to form a new conference this season.

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