By JOHN A. BALLENTINE For The Weekly Post ELMWOOD – The Elmwood City Council met March 15 without an agenda item listed. Therefore, the meeting was limited to discussion of topics that included a notification system, extending a Tax Increment Financing district and a tree in Central Park. City Clerk Bethany Lovingood informed the council that the city could purchase a texting notification system for $4,800. The council suggested tracking just how many notifications, such as boil orders, street closures, etc., that the city would utilize in order to determine if it would be enough to justify spending nearly $5,000 for…

New filing rules a hot topic in Illinois By JEFF LAMPE For The Weekly Post In a state too well known for political corruption, any law that seeks to curtail those problems is a good one, right? Perhaps you haven’t met Illinois Public Act 102-0664, an ethics bill designed to increase transparency involving elected officials and government employees. As part of the bill, effective Jan. 1, Illinois elected officials, appointed members of board, some government employees and pension fund board members must fill out a revised Statement of Economic Interests form. Previously, the form asked officials to disclose relationships with businesses…

Goldfinches earned my admiration Saturday morning. Having collected nearly 100 purple coneflower seedheads last fall, I finally set about to taking the sharp, piercing little seeds off the head. In years past, we’ve merely thrown entire seedheads out onto our prairie with limited success. A better answer seemed to be spreading the seeds individually, since they are smaller and more likely to find their way into cracks and crevices than a big old ball-o-seeds. But plucking coneflower seeds is a formidable task. “How do the goldfinches do it so effortlessly?” my mind pondered, as blood started trickling from numerous little…

NOTE: Charges are merely an accusation. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. High-speed chase nets Canton man charges FARMINGTON – A slew of charges were levied against a Canton man who was involved in an alleged theft in Canton and fled from police at a high rate of speed through Farmington, according to a police report. On March 21 at approximately 4 a.m., police were advised to look for a red Mitsubishi that had reportedly been used in a theft in Canton earlier in the day. The vehicle, which had a passenger, was…

NOTE: Charges are merely an accusation. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Traffic citations & Ordinance violations 3-7 – Patricia J, Grant – Driving 21-25 mph above limit. 3-9 – Barbara J. Norris – Driving 15-20 mph above limit. 3-9 – Katy I. Enloe – Driving 15-20 mph above limit. 3-6 – Alfonso D. Duff – Driving 15-20 mph above limit. 3-10 – James B. King – Disregarding an official traffic control device. 3-12 – Ashton J. Potter – Operating an uninsured vehicel and failure to reduce speed. 3-9 – Christine L. Clewell…

By JEFF LAMPE For The Prairie News PEORIA – Facing a federal indictment that could send him to prison for up to 30 years, Jason Musselman of Toulon entered a plea of not guilty to seven charges at a hearing in Peoria’s U.S. Courthouse on Tuesday. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Hawley released Musselman, 34, without bond into the supervision of his father, Ron Musselman, who will act as third-party custodian. According to Jason Musselman’s attorney, Kevin F. Sullivan of Peoria, the decision to release his client came despite “vigorous objection” by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Holst Schryer, who is representing the…

By JEFF LAMPE For The Weekly Post A successful local golfer, a winning baseball coach with area ties and a memorable local football team will be honored today with induction to the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame. Brimfield golfer Rick LeHew, former Princeville High School baseball coach Jerry Rashid and the 1975 Princeville football team will all be honored tonight during a 6 p.m. dinner at the Peoria Civic Center. Here’s a look at each of the inductees. Princeville 1975 football Depth was a key for this 12-1 Princes team that reached the Class 1A state title game. So was…

By JEFF LAMPE For The Weekly Post WILLIAMSFIELD – The Williamsfield School Board voted Monday to expand its athletic coop with ROWVA. That R-W Cougars sports coop will now expand to middle school boys and girls basketball and will add high school wrestling and expand high school cheerleading to include competitive cheer. The board also approved expansion of the district’s solar array to include storage and electric vehicle charging. New rooftop solar panels will be installed on the roof over the gym and the Fine Arts classroom. Funding will come from a $50,000 state grant. Tabled was the purchase of an…

By JEFF LAMPE For The Weekly Post WILLIAMSFIELD – The Williamsfield Village Board revised a draft budget at its March 7 meeting in anticipation of approving a final budget that should include “substantial” infrastructure work, according to Village President Matt Tonkin. The board is expected to vote at its April meeting on a Fiscal Year 2022-23 budget that should fund continued repairs to existing sidewalks, ongoing repairs at KP Hall, repairs or reconstruction of road margins that are slipping into adjacent ditches and implementation of stormwater management improvements. The latter is in response to a village survey that’s still in-process. Trustees also…

By JEFF LAMPE For The Weekly Post FARMINGTON – The Farmington School Board voted unanimously to hire Clint Mathewson as elementary principal for next school year. Mathewson is currently the assistant principal and will replace Missy Ryba, whose is resigning at the end of this school year. Mathewson is a former social studies teacher within the district who has coached scholastic bowl, track and basketball in the past. The past two years he has served as assistant principal and technology integration specialist. “The district is excited to see his career continue to grow with us and look forward to him advancing…