On 12/17/21, Mt. Carmel Police arrested Jeffery S. Metz, age 24, of Lawrenceville, for Retail Theft and on a Lawrence County Forgery Warrant. Police were called to Rural King in reference to a shoplifter. Police contacted the suspect Jeffery Metz and found that he had concealed a jacket from the store underneath his other coat. Metz was placed under arrest where it was then discovered he had a Lawrence County Warrant as well. Metz was transported to the Wabash County Jail where he was issued a charge for the Retail Theft and later transferred to the Lawrence County Jail due to the outstanding warrant.
Family Dispute Leads To Arrest Of Kentucky Man On Golden Aces Way
On 12/13/21, Mt. Carmel Police arrested Grant Lingerfelt, age 36, of Sturgis, Kentucky, on a Kentucky warrant for Non-Support. Police were called to the 200 block of Golden Aces Way in reference to a dispute between family members. While police investigated the dispute, they discovered Lingerfelt was wanted on a warrant. Lingerfelt was placed under arrest and transported to the Wabash County Jail where he was issued the warrant and held with no bond.
Mt. Carmel Man Arrested After Refusing To Leave McDonald's Drive-Thru
On 12/14/21, Mt. Carmel Police arrested David L. Helderman, age 55, of Mt. Carmel, for Resisting/Obstructing a Police Officer following an incident at McDonald’s. Police were called there due to Helderman refusing to move his truck from the drive thru while also yelling profanities at the staff through the intercom. Helderman had parked his truck there around 3:40am and remained there until police were contacted and arrived just after 5am. Helderman made allegations against a McDonald’s staff member that was unrelated to the business. Helderman explained he was trying to make a point about this individual’s conduct. Officers made numerous attempts to reason with Helderman into moving the vehicle from the drive thru with no success. Helderman was ordered to move or face arrest; however, Helderman still failed to cooperate. Helderman finally complied and exited at which time he was placed under arrest. Helderman was transported to the Wabash County Jail where he was charged and held pending the posting of bond.
Last Week's Storms Prompt City To Review Disaster Plan
Last week’s deadly tornado outbreak in the region has spurred Mt. Carmel Mayor Joe Judge to look at the city’s own disaster plan should tragedy strike here…
Tomorrow, a semi trailer full of supplies will leave the Mt. Carmel Fire Department headed to Dawson Springs, Kentucky. Organizers have said no more donations are being accepted at the fire department for the time being.
MCPD & WCSO Taking Friday School Threats Seriously
The Mt. Carmel Police Department and the Wabash County Sheriff’s Office are aware of a warning on various social media outlets regarding nationwide threats of school violence on Friday, December 17th, 2021. This threat was first observed on TikTok and has quickly spread across social media platforms. Both MCPD and the WCSO take all threats seriously and are in contact with Wabash County school personnel to ensure the continued safety of all students and staff. It must be stressed that currently, there are no viable threats to schools in Wabash County.
MCPD and the WCSO will continue to monitor the situation while taking appropriate measures to ensure safety for all involved. If anyone has any information regarding this or any other threat, do not hesitate to contact the Mt. Carmel Police Department at 618-262-4114, the Wabash County Sheriff’s Office at 618-262-4186, or by calling 911 immediately. Thank you to all community members who notified us of these concerns, and we ask that you continue to be observant of anything suspicious during the day tomorrow.
Wabash County Commissioner Agenda
REGULAR MEETING Monday, December 20, 2021
AGENDA
1) Call to order:
2) Approve minutes of previous meeting:
3) Commissioner’s reports:
4) Officer’s reports:
5) Old Business:
6) New Business:
a. Ordinance No. 33-ARPA 01 and Ordinance No. 33-ARPA 02.
b. Resolution No. 2021-11, a resolution authorizing the Board to issue a deed for real estate and Resolutions No. 2021-12 and 2021-13, resolutions authorizing the assignment of the Tax Sale Certificate on mobile homes.
c. Applications for Special Event Liquor Licenses by West Berwick for the Wabash Valley College Foundation Crystal Ball and St. Mary’s City Lights.
d. Circuit Clerk Angie Crum has some chairs to be declared Surplus Property.
e. Assessor Connie Larry will give an update on the GIS aerial.
7) Executive Session:
a. Opioid Litigation
8) Correspondence:
9) Approval of payment of claims presented:
10) Adjournment:
This agenda is subject to change prior to the time of the meeting if necessary.
The meeting will be held upstairs in the Courtroom.
State Reverses Course On Allowing Remote Learning For Snow Days
Local school officials are scratching their heads over a recent decision from the state board of education to reverse course and not allow school districts to use snow days as remote learning days. Last school year, any day that would’ve been lost to snow was allowed to be used at a remote learning day. But, a frustrated District #348 superintendent Dr. Chuck Bleyer had a blunt assessment of the state’s change of course…
Bleyer told the school board this week, that the district had spent upwards of $350,000 to make remote learning possible. He said no reason was given by the state for policy reversal and even more perplexing was an exception to the rule….
Last year, Bleyer declared that the days of the traditional snow day were over, but now the state has taken that decision out of the control of local districts.
IECC Board Of Trustees Meeting Report
The Illinois Eastern Community College District No. 529 Board of Trustees held its monthly meeting on Tuesday night, December 14th at Wabash Valley College, Mt. Carmel, Illinois and approved a resolution to partially abate taxes for tax year 2021. A review of cash balances in the District’s bond funds revealed that sufficient resources existed for repayment of principal and interest of the Series 2020D bonds for the tax year 2021. The resolution will instruct the County Clerks of the twelve counties in IECC’s district to abate $250,000 in taxes. This action will result in a reduction of the tax levy passed in regular Board of Trustees meeting held on November 16, 2021. All trustees were in attendance, including John Brooks, Gary Carter, Brenda Culver, Al Henager, Jan Ridgely, Barbara Shimer, Brady Waldrop, and Student Trustee Sania Borom.
Student Trustee Sania Borom was honored for her service to the board. Ms. Borom will graduate from Wabash Valley College in December and will begin her studies at Florida International University beginning January 2022. She thanked the Board for the opportunity to represent the students of the Illinois Eastern District.
An affiliation agreement was approved with Good Samaritan Hospital of Vincennes, Indiana.
Because of current auto industry supply chain disruption issues, the purchase of fleet vehicles for the District has become very challenging. In an effort to streamline this process, the Board gave temporary approval for District administration to seek bids and quotes to procure vehicles that meet District specifications. This will allow the initiation of purchase of used vehicles and trailers for the colleges.
Trustees approved an easement with the City of Olney for roadway improvements.
The semi-annual review of closed meeting minutes was conducted as required by the Illinois Open Meetings Act.
In other action Tuesday evening, the board awarded a bid to Consulab for a hybrid drive train simulator and awarded a bid to Lake County Auctions for a digger derrick truck.
The Board approve employment for Cheryl Michl as Title III Advising Specialist at Olney Central College effective January 3, 2022; for Sibyl Janello as Coordinator, Registration & Records for the Workforce Education Program effective December 15, 2021; and for Ashley Gonzalez as Office Assistant at Frontier Community College effective January 3, 2022.
The Board ratified resignations from Amy Dulaney as Director of Transition Center & Perkins at the District Office and for John Watson as Lead Custodian at Lincoln Trail College, both to be effective December 31, 2021.
Next regular meeting of the Board of Trustees will be Tuesday, January 18, 2022, at 6:15 p.m. at Lincoln Trail College, Robinson.
Allendale School Board Meeting Notes
At the December 2021 Allendale School Board meeting held in the library of Allendale School, the board:
Adopted the 2021 Payable 2022 Tax Levy with an aggregate increase of 4.99%.
Each board member received a document to begin the Superintendent Evaluation process, which will be gathered and presented next month.
Adopted a policy for extracurricular ejections of fans from ballgames.
Approved the extension of the co-op sports agreement with St. Mary’s for FY23 and FY24. This will be for baseball, softball, girls cross country, boys cross country, girls basketball, boys basketball, cheerleading, volleyball, girls track, and boys track.
Approved the hiring of Mike Ile as head baseball coach for the 2022 baseball season.
City Council Cleaning Up Ordinances
An effort to clean up a variety of municipal ordinances off of the city books resulted in one obsolete ordinance being rescinded by the city council this week. Since the city now longer owns the former city hall, the council voted to rescind an ordinance that allowed the city to sell alcohol in the now defunct community room.
WSJD File Photo of former Mt. Carmel City Hall