GREENE PRAIRIE PRESS
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Campbell Publications news offices will be closed Monday, May 25 in observance of Memorial Day. Deadline for news and ads for next week's edition is noon Friday, May 22. Marketplace classifieds and legal notice deadline is Friday at noon.
INSIDE NEWS
Peoples Bank & Trust donates to North Greene Food Pantry. See page A2
Local law enforcement rescue individual in Greene By CARMEN ENSINGER Greene Prairie Press Numerous law enforcement and rescue agencies were involved in a water rescue Monday afternoon in the area of rural Kane. According to Greene County Sheriff Rob McMillen, at approximately 3 p.m. the Greene County Sheriffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Office deputies responded to a 911 call of a subject stranded in a pickup truck on Providence Road approximately an eighth of a mile north of Mid City Road in the rural Kane. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Upon arrival, deputies and rescue personnel found Shane L. Wolfe, 28, of Hillsboro, stranded on top of his pick up truck with his dog, approximately 200 yards north of dry pavement,â&#x20AC;? McMillen said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Wolfe had been traveling northbound on Providence Road and had gone around a road closed sign, which was located at the intersection of Providence Road and Mid City Roads.â&#x20AC;? Wolfe continued northbound and entered into the water from Macoupin Creek that had overtopped the road-
way. departments. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As Wolfe continued northbound, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Greene County Sheriffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the strong current swept the pick- Department wants to remind motorup truck off the roadway and into ists that they should never drive a ditch area where into water that is it quickly flooded over the roadwith water and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sooner or later, way,â&#x20AC;? McMillen became disabled,â&#x20AC;? said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is the McMillen said. these types of danthird water rescue â&#x20AC;&#x153;The depth of the gerous driving habits that the Sheriffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s water at the point department has where it was swept are bound not to turn responded to this off the roadway out as fortunate as it spring. It is very dangerous, as flash was approximately has.â&#x20AC;? flooding and creeks 4-5 feet deep.â&#x20AC;? that get out of their The Sheriffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s banks can very easdepartment boat Rob McMillen was summoned to ily sweep a vehiGreene County Sheriff the scene, and a cle off the roaddeputy, along with way and into deep ditches or even the personnel from Carrollton Fire Department, were able creek itself.â&#x20AC;? As most of the incidents occur in to boat out to the truck and rescue rural areas, it takes emergency crews Wolfe and his dog from the vehicle. The Morgan County Rescue and a while to get to most of these calls Dive Team also responded to the scene and takes even longer to get a boat along with Greenfield Fire Department, in the water to rescue the stranded Greene County Ambulance Service motorists. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Sheriffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s department urges and Carrollton and White Hall Police
COVID-19 could devastate Carrollton School District finances
LOCALS
By CARMEN ENSINGER Greene Prairie Press
Dorothy turns 94. See page A2
I
tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no surprise that the COVID-19 pandemic is going to have a negative effect on school districts across the nation. Everyone is going to be affected by the loss of tax dollars from businesses being shuttered for at least two months.
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motorists to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Turn Around, Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Drownâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; when encountering water on the roadway,â&#x20AC;? McMillen said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Greene County has many roadways along the various creeks and waterways that routinely become flooded during heavy rains, especially during the spring season.â&#x20AC;? So far, there have been no fatalities in these rescue calls, and McMillen wants to keep it that way. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sooner or later, these types of dangerous driving habits are bound not to turn out as fortunate as it has during the last three calls,â&#x20AC;? McMillen said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We definitely donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to have to perform a recovery mission to locate someone who was swept off the roadway and succumbed to drowning. There is also a great deal of danger that emergency rescue personnel put themselves into when answering these calls.â&#x20AC;? As for Wolfe, he was cited for driving while his license was revoked and will appear in Greene County Circuit Court in August. The truck is a total loss and will be recovered when the flood water recedes.
Submitted photo
Local swimminâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; hole Miles Malin and Liam Lemons play in the â&#x20AC;&#x153;creekâ&#x20AC;? that formed along Briggs Street in Roodhouse during the torrential rains. The rain proved to be more than the storm sewers could handle forming the perfect â&#x20AC;&#x153;playgroundâ&#x20AC;? for children.
Carrollton School Board Superintendent Mark Halwachs addressed this issue at the May 18 regular school board meeting. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With the entire state on lockdown, there are going to be repercussions in funding to school districts,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We know we are going to lose one mandated categorical in the amount of $40,000 to $50,000, and next year the possibility of losing two more mandated categorical and five percent off the General State Aid, as well as a significant loss in sales tax money from businesses being shut down.â&#x20AC;? (See, FINANCES, A3)
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&KXUFK $ /RFDOV $ 2XU 7RZQ $ 1HZV $ 5HDO (VWDWH $ 6FKRRO $ OBITUARIES IN THIS ISSUE: NONE Š 2020
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County receives $105,000 grant for security and jail upgrades By CARMEN ENSINGER Greene Prairie Press Greene County Sheriff Rob McMillen announced at the May 13 Greene County Board meeting that the county had received a substantial sum of money to be used towards updating the jail and enhancing courthouse security. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was notified by Senator McClureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office that the grant that we applied for last summer for the courthouse security updating and some repairs at the jail that we had put in for had gotten approved, but the funding wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t available,â&#x20AC;? McMillen said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yesterday, I was notified that the funding is now available.â&#x20AC;? The county received $60,000 for courthouse security updating and $45,000 grant for jail updating. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have already done some of the things we had put in for, and I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know if we can get reimbursed for it or not,â&#x20AC;? McMillen said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We purchased the metal detector and made the upgrade to the elevator.â&#x20AC;? However, there are still a lot of updates that still need to be made at the courthouse. â&#x20AC;&#x153;One thing we put in for in the grant was for updating the doors in the individual offices to make
them more secure,â&#x20AC;? McMillen said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Right now, some of the doors have glass in them, and it wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take very much for someone to get through that door to get into an office.â&#x20AC;? At the jail, the updates include mechanizing the doors to the jail cells. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The doors to the cells right now are manually operated, meaning the correctional officer has to go into the room to open the doors,â&#x20AC;? McMillen said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;A lot of jails have it to where the dispatcher has a switch that will operate the doors, so the jailer doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to walk into a cell and secure a door â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it can be done from outside with electronic equipment.â&#x20AC;? McMillen informed the board of an incident that happened recently where the risks of the current setup were highlighted. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We had a situation a month ago where a correctional officer entered a cell and was attacked by two inmates,â&#x20AC;? McMillen said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is a video of it, and you can see how easily that can happen, but if we had this electronic door mechanism, we would not even have to enter the cell and lock the inmates down by shutting the door from outside the cell. It is a safety issue for the jail.â&#x20AC;?
Submitted photo
Proud graduate
Carrollton senior Brady Schnelten stands proudly after receiving his diploma last Friday during individual graduation ceremonies held at the high school. Each senior was allowed to bring a limited number of family members to the ceremony. Schnelten graduated with honors and was recipient of the Farm Bureau Scholarship. He plans to attend Mizzou to major in Animal Science and Pre-Vet studies.