Martin County Man Arrested On Child Molesting Charge

Martin County-In late December 2020, the Indiana State Police was made aware of child molesting allegations against Ashton V. Pottorff, age 24, of Shoals. The Indiana State Police began an investigation into the allegations and Trooper Steve Nolan, of the Jasper Post, was assigned the case.

After an investigation, Trooper Nolan submitted charging information to the Martin County Prosecutor’s Office. On January 25, 2021, Martin County Circuit Court issued a felony warrant for the arrest of Ashton V. Pottorff.

On January 27, 2021, at 10:05 am, Trooper Nolan took Pottorff into custody on the warrant at his residence and transported him to the Martin County Jail, where he is being held without bond. Assisting in the arrest were Indiana State Police Detective Jarrod Lents and Martin County Sheriff Travis Roush.

Pottorff was charged with one count of Child Molesting, a Level 1 Felony.

Assisting agencies: Department of Child Services, Martin County Sheriff’s Office, and SWIACC (Southwestern Indiana Child Advocacy Center Coalition).

All suspects are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. 

State Rep: Illinois Restrictions Not Helping COVID Death Rate

An Illinois state representative says data and science show Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s COVID-19 mitigation, which was among the strictest in the nation, may have made the death rate worse in Illinois compared to neighboring states that had fewer economic restrictions.

Illinois is the tenth most restrictive state in the nation when it comes to COVID-19 mitigation, according to WalletHub. The consumer finance website ranked the states based on a range of factors like face mask requirements and workplace temperature screenings and more.

Illinois ranked No. 42 of all states and the District of Columbia. A detailed breakdown of some metrics for Illinois showed the state was 49th for reopening restaurants and bars, 34th for reopening non-essential businesses and 26th for large gathering restrictions.

Illinois state Rep. Tony McCombie’s district is on the border with both Iowa and Wisconsin, which ranked No. 3 and No. 8 respectively for least strict states by WalletHub. McCombie said for months consumers have been going to neighboring states, including herself.

“We were going over there for if someone wanted to go for a cocktail or if they wanted to go for a meal, or if they wanted to go shopping, consumers will find a way and they did,” McCombie said.

She said numbers she’s reviewed, the more strict restrictions in Illinois haven’t helped the state’s COVID-19 death rate compared to neighboring states.

The CDC pegs the Wisconsin COVID-19 death rate at 106 per 100,000. WalletHub ranked Wisconsin eighth least restrictive on COVID-19 mitigation. Iowa, ranked by WalletHub at No. 3 least restrictive, had 148 deaths per 100,000. Illinois’ COVID-19 death rate was 163 per 100,000.

McCombie, who’s Illinois district borders both Iowa and Wisconsin, said it doesn’t appear the governor’s mitigation in Illinois did any good.

“Wisconsin is ranked 8 compared to Illinois’ 42, so it just shows you that the increase of restrictions did not do what the intention was,” McCombie said.

The same holds true for neighboring Missouri. WalletHub said the Show Me state was the seventh least restrictive. The CDC says Missouri had a COVID-19 death rate of 106 per 100,000 cases.

Kentucky ranked No. 26 per WalletHub. The CDC reported 77 deaths per 100,000. Indiana's death rate was 144 per 100,000. WalletHub ranked the Hoosier state as the 20th least restrictive.

When comparing Illinois with neighboring states for total cases per 100,000, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin surpassed Illinois.

Another indicator of the impacts stricter mitigations are having on Illinois compared to neighboring states is the unemployment rate. Illinois’ unemployment rate is 7.6. That's more than double Iowa’s unemployment rate of 3.1 percent and higher than all neighboring states.

McCombie said what’s clear is the economic damage the mitigations in Illinois have brought.

“The businesses around my area, whether it be a small community like Savanna or Thompson compared to Rock Falls or Sterling or in the Quad Cities, they just want to be open,” McCombie said.

While 10 of Illinois’ 11 regions Pritzker carved up as part of his reopening plan can now allow some indoor dining, meetings are still limited to no more than 25 to 50 people. depending on the region’s status. McCombie said that continues to practically block conventions and associated economic activity.

Metro East Only Region Still Without Indoor Dining

Only one region of the state, the Metro East St. Louis region, can’t have indoor service, per Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s COVID-19 plan. As of Tuesday afternoon, Region 4 was still in Phase 4 Tier 2. The rest of the state can have either 25 percent or 50 percent indoor dining, depending on the region’s COVID-19 metrics.

Tax Filing Season Starts Feb. 12th

Tax filers can begin filing state tax returns to the Illinois Department of Revenue on Feb. 12. That’s the same day they can also file with the IRS. A filer filing an error-free return electronically could have a refund, if they’re owed one, directly deposited within four to six weeks. The state says of more than 6.4 million returns filed last year, 63 percent received refunds. More information can be found at MyTax.Illinois.gov.

IL House Convening Only One Day Next Month

The Illinois House has canceled all but one session day for next month. In a one-page memo, House Speaker Chris Welch canceled all days except Feb. 10. That’s when members could return to the capitol building, not the Bank of Springfield Convention Center, to possibly vote on the House rules. The Illinois Senate’s next scheduled day is Feb. 9. It’s unclear how the governor’s Feb. 17 State of the State and Budget Address will be handled amid COVID-19 concerns.

Complaints Mount On FOID Card Delays

The Illinois State Rifle Association says the Pritzker administration is operating outside of state law with continued delays in processing Firearm Owner Identification Card and Concealed Carry License applications. The average wait for both is around 122 days when it’s only supposed to take 30 days for FOID and 90 days for CCL. ISP said as of Jan. 19, there were 175,751 new FOID applications and 25,518 CCL backlogged.

Many Illinois Nursing Home Residents Still Awaiting Vaccine

As Illinois enters the second phase of its COVID-19 vaccination program, many residents of long-term facilities continue to wait for their first dose.

Illinois Department of Public Health data shows about 110,000 shots had been administered as part of a federal program that sends Walgreens and CVS Health pharmacists into long-term care facilities for vaccinations. More 530,000 doses have been allocated to the facilities, meaning just over a fourth have been administered.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the federal government is to blame for its partnership with two pharmacies, Walgreens and CVS Health.

“All the vaccinations that are necessary for that entire group have been taken out already of our allotment, and they sit on shelves because that federal pharmacy partnership is so slow at the job,” Pritzker said.

The governor said on Monday that Illinois is sixth in the nation in terms of the number so doses that have been administered. But a news report compiled by the New York Times based on CDC numbers shows Illinois is 44th in the country in the percentage of the population that has received a first dose at 4.4%.

Federal law doesn’t require nursing homes to obtain written consent for vaccinations, but CVS and Walgreens require to get verbal or written consent from residents or family members. This must be documented on forms supplied by the pharmacies, a process some say is slowing the rate of vaccinations.

The companies give second injections three to four weeks after the first shots. Pharmacists are supposed to visit a third time for anyone who missed the earlier vaccination. It is nearly impossible to track progress at individual nursing homes. Neither CVS nor Walgreens makes public a list of specific places they will visit and when.

The state has announced it expects CVS and Walgreens to have visited all facilities to provide at least the first dose by Feb. 15.

WGH Employees Receiving COVID Vaccine

Wabash General Hospital President/CEO Karissa Turner updated the hospital board this week on the distribution of the COVID vaccine to hospital employees….

In addition, Turner said approximately 60 additional staff at the hospital have requested the first dose of the vaccine and a clinic has been set up to administer the shots.

Raber Appointed To Vacant School Board Seat

At last night’s Wabash District #348 school board meeting, Kevin Raber was sworn in to replace Jared Alka on the school board. Alka resigned his seat on the board last month and Raber was appointed to fill out the remainder of the term that will end this Spring.

New District #348 school board member Kevin Raber (L) chats with school board president Tim Schuler and Superintendent Dr. Chuck Bleyer prior to Monday’s school board meeting.

Peter Issues Apology; Will Not Resign From School Board

A week long drama that began with a Tik Tok video seemingly came to an end last night as Wabash District #348 school board member Ryan Peter read a prepared statement at the beginning of the monthly school board meeting. In the now deleted video, Peter was critical of the Wabash County Health Department and their protocol for quarantining and isolating positive COVID-19 cases and those in contact to those cases and saying those contacted by the health department should lie about their contacts.

The video touched off a firestorm of criticism with many calling for Peter to resign. But in his two and a half minute statement, Peter left no doubt, he is not resigning…

Peter did apologize for the off color comments in the video and in the future he’ll be more mindful of the content in the videos. After Peter’s statement, there were no comments from any other school board members or superintendent Dr. Chuck Bleyer.

Despite the social media criticism, very few people attended last night’s meeting that included three local law enforcement officers on hand for security.

Full Text Of Ryan Peter’s Statement:

“I want to address our community, board, administrators, and teachers today by apologizing for off colored videos I created on my Tik Tok account. They have been permanently removed. “Hey kids” is how I greet my audience nearly each time I record a video and has nothing to do with actual children. Moving forward, I will be more mindful of my published content.

I am just like every other person, born with original sin and flawed. I apologize for my language. Jesus Christ would instruct no one to lie. I want to be clear, I have absolutely nothing against any individual at any health department. I am sure they are great people.

I am fully aware there are people in the community who disagree with me, and this is fine. I do not want them silenced. I have just as much right to my opinion as they do theirs. This is the beauty of free speech. But it should be known there are a lot of people in the community who agree with me. They stay in the shadows for fear of being publicly shamed and humiliated. I speak for them.

I pray daily for the repose of each soul we have lost to this nasty illness. I pray daily for people who are currently infected or are still recovering, that the hand of Jesus Christ bring them back to good health. I pray daily for our students, especially the ones who are missing so much time in a classroom, as well as losing pieces of their adolescent experience.

In closing, I would be happy to discuss this matter at a later date individually with anyone who would like. Currently emotions are running high and we have other matters at hand to deal with. It is time to put this behind us and move forward.

Mr. Shuler, under no circumstances will I resign, and I will finish serving my term. Thank you.”