Month: April 2025

By JEFF LAMPEFor The Weekly Post ELMWOOD – When Micki McCarthy looks out of her office window in Graham Medical Group’s Elmwood clinic, she is eager to see one thing sprout on the ag field that stretches to the north. “I’m so excited to see the little wooden posts with the flags,” McCarthy said. “The surveyor posts.”When she sees those, McCarthy will know her efforts and those of many others in the past decade have finally come to fruition in the form of a Community Wellness Center. That reality is growing closer, says McCarthy, who spearheads fundraising for an ambitious project…

By NICK VLAHOSFor The Weekly Post BRIMFIELD – A proposed wind-energy project in northwest Peoria County might receive government approval by the end of this year, according to developers. Permit applications regarding the Four Creeks Wind project are expected to be filed with Peoria County officials late this summer or early this autumn, according to Hanna Franklin. She is a development associate with Houston-based Repsol USA, which oversees the project. “We’ve been here for a couple of years. Now we’re starting to get serious,” Four Creeks Wind Manager Carson Robers said April 23, when he joined Franklin in addressing the Brimfield…

Painted by art students By MOLLY RICHESONFor The Weekly Post ELMWOOD – Billy the Bison is back on display in front of Elmwood City Hall. The city purchased the 62-inch tall, 100-inch-long bison statue for $2,000 to commemorate Peoria County’s bicentennial celebration. Art classes from Elmwood High School were recruited to design and paint the 100-pound fiberglass mold. Similar statues will be on display throughout Peoria County as part of the recently launched Bison Trek – an online digital platform (bisontrek.peoriacounty.gov) that provides a map of each statue’s location. People can earn digital badges by visiting the artworks.Elmwood’s design was unveiled…

Police reports• ELMWOOD – An Elmwood man who drew a gun while he argued with his neighbor was accused of disorderly conduct. Elmwood police were summoned shortly before 3:45 p.m. April 7 to the 100 block of N. Knox St. There, 36-year-old Brian R. Jones admitted he brandished the gun during an argument with Logan N. Sayles, 28, regarding their property line, among other things. Jones had a valid concealed-carry license, according to a police report. He said Sayles pulled out a section of fence Jones erected to block the entry to Sayles’ fence. A witness said he saw Jones…

Rambling through central Illinois, eagerly awaiting May, the finest month until November. • • • After a dry spell, we’ve had some real nice rain. And now, with warmer weather forecast for this week, bring on the morels. Not little ones, either. The big yellows should be up soon. Mushroom pictures are already popping up all over the Internet. Much better is to get into the timber and to find them there. The ones you find in person taste a lot better than those on Facebook that leave a bitter taste in the mouth. … Speaking of wet stuff, we…

By JOHN A. BALLENTINEFor The Prairie News WYOMING – A 51-year-old Wyoming man was arrested April 15 for one count of possessing and receiving child pornography and one count of child pornography distribution. David Dwight Shallenberger was taken into custody and transported to the Bureau County Jail. Wyoming Police Chief Jim Tiller and Galesburg Police Officer Eryn Pearson were the arresting officers. At a hearing on April 17 in Stark County Circuit Court, Judge Paul E. Bauer ruled that Shallenberger was to be released with a GPS monitoring device. The state had submitted a petition of non-release from incarceration.The Galesburg…

By CAROL TOWNSENDFor The Prairie News GALVA – A storm that took down trees here, damaged roofs and buildings and destroyed baseball dugouts on Sunday was part of a line of storms that spawned six tornadoes in Henry County. The National Weather Service reported Tuesday that the longest tornado of the six in Henry County had a path length of 16.4 miles and impacted Galva. The EF-1 tornado touched down about 1 mile west of Victoria at 8:39 p.m., where it snapped four power poles along Illinois Route 167. The tornado then proceeded to the northeast, passed through Galva and ended…

Bohanan says Farmington job eliminated By JEFF LAMPEFor The Weekly Post FARMINGTON – City Administrator Bettina Bohanan did not attend Monday’s meeting of the Farmington City Council and was not in her office on Tuesday. That’s no accident, according to Bohanan. “To my knowledge, my position was eliminated,” Bohanan said Tuesday. “That’s all the further comment I have at this moment.” Farmington Mayor Kenn Stufflebeam had no comment. Bohanan was hired Jan. 3, 2023, after longtime City Administrator Rollen Wright retired. A Canton resident, Bohanan was selected from a field of three candidates. There was no discussion of Bohanan’s position in…

By NICK VLAHOSFor The Weekly Post GALESBURG – The prosecution and the defense raised possibilities of another delay in the court case of a woman accused of murdering the former Maquon police chief. Still, the trial of Marcy Oglesby appears closer to commencing than it has in a while. Maybe. Oglesby first was arrested 2½ years ago regarding Richard Young’s death. Jury selection in Oglesby’s trial was expected to begin Wednesday, April 23. But following a motion hearing April 17 in Knox County Circuit Court, public defender David Hansen indicated the schedule might be adjusted. Adding credence to that was a…

By NICK VLAHOSFor The Weekly Post GALESBURG – A Williamsfield-area man led Galesburg-based law-enforcement personnel on a one-day odyssey of crime earlier this month. Dallas R. Hulse, 28, was released the afternoon of April 6 from the Knox County Jail. By day’s end, he was back in the jail. In between, Hulse stole someone’s prescription medication, burglarized two vehicles and caused disturbances at two Galesburg businesses and an apartment complex, according to authorities. Initially, Hulse was released from jail about 3:15 p.m. Reports from the Galesburg Police Department and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office didn’t specify why Hulse was arrested in…