Scott County Times
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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2020
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Times NEWS Two vehicle accident sends three to hospital. See page A2 Boosters announce raffle prizes. See page A3
SPORTS
Rings for the champions! See pages A6 Eighth graders take second. See pages A6
WEEKEND WEATHER FRIDAY, JAN. 3
45 28 High
Low
SATURDAY, JAN. 4
36 28 High
Low
SUNDAY, JAN. 5
50 30 High
Low
Scott County Times
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Scott County Times Obituaries listed in this issue: Baird All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
WINCHESTER, IL 62694
VOLUME NO. 153 NUMBER 1
Serving our readers for more than 151 years
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Thieves strike on Christmas Eve By CARMEN ENSINGER Scott County Times The safety of living in a small rural village was all but wiped out Christmas Eve as burglars broke into homes, vehicles and garages stealing everything from Christmas presents to guns and ammo. There were more than 20 burglaries reported between the hours of 1:30 and 5 a.m. in Scott County with most of them concentrated in the areas of Alsey, Glasgow and Manchester. According to Morgan, Scott and Cass Crime Stoppers burglars broke into over 20 unoccupied, unlocked vehicles and homes taking money and purses. They entered garages and residences and removed presents, weapons and cash. “We have found some of the purses and wallets in ditches,” Tom Eddinger, Scott County Sheriff, said. “The money was gone but the credit cards and other information was there. No guns have been found. Additional burglaries were also reported in Morgan, Alexander and Franklin counties during this same time frame. “In some cases, individuals left their keys in their cars and then locked their house when they went to bed,” Eddinger said. “The suspects took the keys out, found the house key and entered the residence.” It should be noted that the subjects are now armed. In Manchester they took six to eight guns and ammo. Crime Stoppers is asking anyone with outside security cameras or deer cams to check the footage from these cameras between the hours above and contact the Scott County Sheriff’s Department if they see any suspicious activity. Eddinger said burglaries occurred in other places the same night and this is a multi-agency investigation. “We have some strong leads,” Eddinger said. “We hope to have an announcement soon.” If anyone has any information to lead to the capture of these individuals, please call either the Sheriff’s Department or Crime Stoppers at 217-243-7300. Information can be submitted online at www.morganscottcrimestoppers.webs.com by clicking on the leave a tip button on the home page. Tips may also be submitted by texting 274637 (CRIMES). The first word of the text tip must be “payout”.
Carmen Ensigner/Scott County Times
MEALS
Site manager Carie Winningham makes up a home delivered meal at the Nimrod Funk Building Monday morning for the Bread of Love senior meal program. Winningham said not as many seniors show up at the meal site during cold weather opting for the home delivered meals. A menu for Bread of Love meals is on page (THE Locals page, whatever that is.)
Clearing up some misconceptions surrounding the Depot By CARMEN ENSINGER Scott County Times There are some misconceptions floating around Scott County about the Historical Society, the Depot and the fact that the Bread of Love no longer use it as a meal site. Scott County Historical Society member Merrilyn Fedder said that the Historical Society has not disbanded. “We are still a functioning group – we just don’t meet regularly anymore,” Fedder said. “We hae loaned a lot of our artifacts to the Old School Museum because they have more room to display them and more people will see them.” For more than 30 years, the Bread of Love senior meals has used the Depot, but that all changed earlier this
year when the meal site was moved to the Nimrod Funk building. “A lot of people think we asked them to leave but that was not the case at all,” Fedder said. “We really don’t know why they chose to move.” In fact, it was the Bread of Love who provided the money to repair the depot back in 1985. “The Historical Society got a grant of around $40,000 from the Bread of Love to restore the Depot because it was falling down,” Fedder said. “The stipulation was that they were supposed to be there for 10 years. Well, it’s been more than 30 years and we thought it was a good place for them.” Another misconception is that the Bread of Love paid towards the utilities and the upkeep of the Depot. “They didn’t – that was all part of
the $40,000 grant,” Fedder said. “We have been doing some fundraising and people think that we got a monthly fee for them using the building but we didn’t.” Stevie VanDeVelde and Sonnie Hoover, granddaughters of Audrey Peak have stepped up to the plate and are trying to raise funds. Recently, they had a home tour showcasing some of the more majestic homes in Winchester. “Audrey Peak was the one who spearheaded getting the Depot restore,” Fedder said. “Her granddaughters didn’t want to see the Depot fall into disrepair again so they decided to take over the fundraising to keep it going.” Fedder said it costs around $6,000 a year to pay for utilities and insurance
on the building. “The fundraising is going to be ongoing because we really would like to get a bank account going for any needed repairs that might come up,” she said. “It’s not a super expensive building to keep up but one of these days it will probably need a new roof again so we would like to have some money available in the bank.” One way to raise some money is by renting it out for parties. “I know they have put it out on social media to rent it out for graduation or birthday parts or even a wedding reception,” Fedder said. “We have done that all along but we would like more people to know that it is available to rent. We want people to use it because it is a really nice building.”
A look back at 2019 Some of Scott County’s more memorable moments of the year 2019, includes: Jan. 7: Bluffs received $46,000 from the Jack Moore estate. They planned to use part of the money to build a new flag pole at city hall with a plaque on it, giving Moore credit. Jan. 16: A foot of snow closed schools, caused accidents and played havoc with the area in general. Jan. 23: The West Central Lady Cougars won the North Greene Lady Spartan Classic and the Cougar boys claimed the title of their own Winchester Invitational Tournament. Feb. 6: Winchester EMS was asking for a special service tax to help fund the ambulance service and to enable the group to hire some EMTs to give relief to the overworked volunteers. The idea finally passed through the Scott County Commissioners and a public hearing on the
matter is set for Jan. 15 at the courthouse. Scott County received $239,898 from Dakota Pipeline for damages they caused to Scott County Roads during their construction project. Feb. 13: Winchester received a $335,000 grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The 50/50 grant ill allow the city to make necessary improvements to the Winchester Pool. March 6: A stabbing in downtown Winchester had the community on edge for only a short while. it was determined the incident was an isolated, targeted attack. Matthew Richardson, 39, attempted to attack Jason Pittman and Jaimie Taylor but Pittman was able to turn the tables and stabbed Richardson. It was found Richardson was facing a number of federal charges and his case in Scott County was closed. Feb. 20: The Great
Scott Community Market announced it would offer delivery service. The Cougar Boosters paid off their $160,000 loan for the new bleachers at the football field. Nearly a third of the money came from the onecent sales tax collected by the district. April 10: The Bluffs Picnic Committee was ramping up their plans for the August event. A carnival, a kids baking contests, a pie making contest, a power wheels derby, pageants, entertainment and of course the grand parade were all lined up for the one day event. April 17: After numerous law enforcement officers and other emergency workers from around the state were killed or injured while on the job, Scott County State’s Attorney Mike Hill announced he would not drop, negotiate or recommend supervision for anyone violating the Scott Law, where motorists are required to slow
down and change lanes when there are vehicles on the side of the road. May 8: Above average rainfall in the area and heavy rainfall to the north, the Illinois River was bank full and threatening the levee. A car washed off the road in flood waters near Naples and sandbaggers were working diligently to build up the levees. Winchester’s Austin Young brought home second place in the high jump from the Illinois State Track Tournamentt Young jumped 6”5’. June 11: Community members were doing their best to help feed the members of the Illinois National Guard who were called to assist with the sandbagging efforts along the Illinois River. June 18: Mark McDonald and the filming crew from the popular television show “Illinois Stories” was in Winchester. They did portions of their show at the
Winchester Library, the Old School Museum and the home of Elmer and Marilyn Fedder. June 26: Winchester Grade School teachers voluntarily came into school to attend a class on improving test scores in their building. WGS was labeled an underperforming school and with the help of a $30,000 grant, personnel from the Regional Office of Education were brought in to find ways to improve test scores. July 3: Scott County State’s Attorney Mike Hill announced he would not be seeking re-election. Within a few days, Rick Crews, Bethany Doolin and John Paul Coonrod announced their candidacies for the office. July 30: Royalty from the Winchester Picnic included: Miss Bailey Mason, Junior Miss Olivia Krauschhar and Little Miss Lilly Ann Kline. Aug. 7: Royalty from the (See, LOOKING BACK, A2)