03/27/2018-Mt. Carmel Police arrested 32 year old Brett A. Bethe of Mt. Carmel after police responded to the area of 9th and Plum reference a male subject chasing a female.Upon arrival Bethe was located and found to be in possession of drug paraphernalia.Bethe was arrested and transported to the Wabash County Jail where he
Traffic Stop Leads To Various Charges
03/28/2018-Mt. Carmel Police arrested 31 year old Clyde W. Wilkinson of Allendale after he was stopped by the Mt. Carmel Police Department.Wilkinson was stopped for a traffic violation in the area of Hinde and Mulberry Street.During the traffic stop Wabash County K-9 Roy arrived on scene and alerted for the presence of narcotics in the vehicle.A search resulted in police finding drug paraphernalia.Wilkinson was arrested and cited for possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of cannabis, possession of cannabis paraphernalia, and operating an uninsured motor vehicle.Wilkinson was transported to the Wabash County Jail and held pending the posting of bond.
Senior Citizens Center Receives Over $24,000 in Back Payments
There’s finally some positive news to report regarding back payments from the state and federal governments to the Wabash County Senior Citizens Center. Mt. Carmel Senior Citizens Commissioner Joe Judge tells us that the center on Tuesday received $13,400 from the state and $10,650 from the federal government. Judge said the payments don’t catch the state and feds up, but it does get them close. The senior citizens center was in jeopardy of closing its’ doors last month because of the backlog of missed payments. But, the community more than stepped up to keep the center open until government caught up in their payment. Judge said Tuesday’s money amounted to a little more than a month of missed payments.
City Council Approves Final Plat For Holly Brook Work To Start
The Mt. Carmel City Council has cleared the way for work to begin soon on the new Villas of Holly Brooks facility on the west side. At Monday’s City Council meeting, commissioners signed off on the final plat of the property the Charleston-based company plans to build the multi-million dollar facility on property west of the Super 8 on outer West 9th Street. City Clerk Rudy Witsman said the final plat will be filed with county to officially transfer from Haase Farms to Unique Homes. Witsman said company officials are anxious for the rain to stop and ground to dry so construction can begin. The Villas of Holly Brook is expected to employ 45 full time and 25-part time employees.
Righter’s jobs reform legislation focuses on recidivism, blighted areas
Springfield, IL – State Sen. Dale Righter (R-Mattoon) is co-sponsoring jobs reform legislation that focuses on helping reduce the tendency of convicted criminals to commit another crime, and ensuring neglected areas in communities receive honest advantages when it comes to tax increment finance (TIF) revenues.
Senate Bill 2282 provides protection for employers, specifically negligent-hiring liability, when they employ an individual with a nonviolent, nonsexual criminal conviction.
“By offering this protection, employers may be more inclined to hire someone released from prison,” Righter said. “The best way to address our prison overpopulation and issues with our criminal justice system is to keep people from committing and recommitting crimes. And the best way to do avoid prison is having a job. If more employers hire these individuals, it not only helps our state by reducing recidivism, but most importantly, it gives these individuals a sense of purpose and responsibility.”
Senate Bill 2880 would restrict transferring TIF dollars from one TIF district to another, and puts more restrictions on when a blighted area of a community can be considered for tax increment financing.
“The last thing we want is tax increment financing revenues to be used for areas in a community that really don’t need the investment – especially when another side of town is clearly in more need,” Righter said. “This legislation would ensure communities with the most need for improvement and new jobs would obtain TIF investment.
“Anything we can do as a legislature to help job creators and create jobs – especially for people and areas of our state that need it most – we should seriously take a look,” Righter said. “These are simple reforms that can make a big difference to employers and rehabilitating people and communities.”
Both bills await hearings before Senate committees. Lawmakers return to Springfield April 10.
Demo Derby Returns To Wabash County Fair
A long time favorite is returning to the 2018 Wabash County 4-H & Junior Fair. On today's Valley Update on WSJD, fair board member Mike Wilson announced that the demolition derby is coming back to this year's fair. The fair runs July 14th-20th. More details on the demo derby will be released at a later date.
Rodriguez Reminds Of No-No's For Trash Week
Next week is clean up week in Mt. Carmel and at last night’s city council meeting, garbage commissioner Rod Rodriguez issued one final reminder on what items won’t be picked up next week….
Rodriguez said any items on the banned list not picked up next week will need to be taken care of by the property owner. Mayor Bill Hudson also issued a reminder of the Rotary Clean Up Day from 8 to 11am on Saturday, April 14th.
WSJD File Photo
Steve McGill Saluted For 25 Years At WGH
A long time Wabash General Hospital employee was honored at last night’s board of directors meeting as chief financial officer Steve McGill was honored for his 25 years of service to WGH.
Also at last night’s board meeting, CEO Jay Purvis saluted a team of WGH runners and support crew that participated in this past weekend’s Ragnar Relay, a 200 mile relay from Chattanooga to Nashville, Tennessee. The WGH team finished first in the corporate division and 55th overall out of 231 teams.
Senior Citizens Center Survives Thanks To Community Support
With next to no help from the state and federal governments, the Wabash County Senior Citizens Center is still providing essential services to our community. At last night’s City Council meeting, senior citizens commissioner Joe Judge said the state and feds have combined for just $943 in funding so far this month. Judge said that’s why fundraisers like last week’s Rotary pancake supper that raised more than $1,240 are so important….
Judge said the federal government is now 2 and a half months behind in their payments while Springfield is two months behind that. Despite that, Judge said the senior citizens is still able to serve meals on a daily basis and still offer home delivery as well.
Man Arrested On Criminal Sexual Abuse Charge
On 03/26/2018, at approximately 5:40 am, Mt. Carmel Police were called to the 1200 block of Walnut Street reference an unwanted person inside of the residence. When police arrived on scene, the complainant advised she found 20 year old William L. Catt inside the bedroom of her 15 year old daughter. Catt was initially arrested for criminal trespass to a residence and transported to the Wabash County Jail. Further investigation resulted in Catt being charged with one count of criminal sexual abuse of a person between the age of 13-17.
Catt was currently out on bond awaiting sentencing in a 2017 Wabash County case where he was convicted of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a person between the age of 13-17. Catt is currently being held in the Wabash County Jail without bond.
