NOTE: Charges are merely an accusation. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Police reports • FARMINGTON – According to Farmington Police Chief Chris Darsham, there is a surge in unemployment scams right now. He said, “There are a ton in Farmington and Peoria is getting a bunch, too.” If you receive a letter saying that someone filed for unemployment in your name and you haven’t filled out any forms, contact law enforcement and the unemployment office. • PRINCEVILLE – Dustin E. Weller, 30, of Princeville was charged on Nov. 19 with domestic battery….

By Jeff Lampe Rambling through central Illinois, pondering which sniffle is a symptom and which is not. As a resident of a flyover state dominated by a major metropolis, it’s hard not to have a chip on your shoulder. Reasons are numerous, including the handling of COVID-19. Back in March and April, when the coasts and Chicago were grappling with the pandemic, it was frustrating to be lumped into the same group for requirements and mitigations. The COVID wave was not here then. Yet we were shut down. Well, the wave is here now. And I’m betting we’d be more…

Only Elmwood teams opened basketball practice Monday By JEFF LAMPE Weekly Post Staff Writer High school basketball practice started Monday at some Illinois schools. Sort of. “I guess you could call it that,” said Gregg Meyers, Elmwood girls coach. “It seemed more like a skills camp with no scrimmaging.” Elmwood was the only local school that hit the gym Monday, which was the opening date mandated months ago by the Illinois High School Association – before COVID-19 cases began to soar and led to new sports guidelines. Since then, in addition to delaying the start of games, the Illinois Department…

By John A. Ballentine TOULON – County auditor Ron Hilton presented the proposed budget for the upcoming year to the Stark County Board of Supervisors and reported that the budget is balanced. Hilton briefly went over the highlights of the new budget. Total estimated revenues are $1,583,000 and that is a $23,000 increase over last year. Estimated property tax revenue is $560,000. Expenditures are estimated to be equal to revenue, which explains the balanced budget, with a $36,000 increase over last year. The largest expenditure for the county are salaries at $1,006,000 up approximately $44,000. County engineer Judd Giffin explained…

NOTE: Charges are merely an accusation. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Police reports • ELMWOOD – A Peoria County Sheriff deputy responded to a car fire in the 8500 block of Pulsifer Road on Nov. 5. The vehicle was not occupied. • ELMWOOD – Police Chief Aaron Bean reported for October that the Elmwood Police Department had no arrests, 17 stops, five citations, 16 warnings, 14 reports, one notice to appear issued, no open doors and one ordinance violation. • EDWARDS – Jacinto C. Tolentino of Edwards was arrested on Nov. 4…

Traffic citations & Ordinance violations 11-4-20 – Matthew T. Hooks – Driving 15-20 mph above limit. 11-4-20 – Jerry L. Walton – Driving 15-20 mph above limit. 10-29-20 – David E. Newell – Driving 15-20 mph above limit. 11-4-20 – Noah Allen Bielema – Driving 15-20 mph above limit. 11-4-20 – Kimberly Perkins – Driving 15-20 mph above limit. 10-30-20 – David P. Hicke – Driving 21-25 mph above limit. Felonies & Misdemeanors 10-31-20 – Criminal misdemeanor – Phillip Daniel Adams – Resisting a peace officer. 10-24-20 – Criminal misdemeanor – Rodriguez Demetrio Gobellan – Criminal trespass to land. 10-29-20…

By Jeff Lampe WILLIAMSFIELD – The Mid-County sports cooperative agreement may be expanding. That was the word Monday at the Williamsfield School Board meeting. Currently, ROWVA, Williamsfield and Galva coop together in football. But other sports are a mixed bag of different school combinations. Farquer said athletic directors are working on a framework to be presented to all three school boards in December. “If there is interest to move forward, we should know by then. This gives us one month to collect feedback and to talk to folks,” Farquer said. “For us, the main shift would be from a philosophy…

By HERB STUFFLEBEAM For The Weekly Post FARMINGTON – The Farmington Historical Society and Museum, in cooperation with the Farmington American Legion, has started a project to place a flag holder medallion on each veteran’s grave in eight local cemeteries. This is part of a six-year project to digitize listings for these cemeteries. While digitizing and visiting these cemeteries, it became apparent that most veterans were not identified. Digitized information is available at the Farmington Historical Society and Museum and at the Farmington Area Public Library. The cemeteries are: Oak Ridge, Hill, Pleasant Hill Chapin, Providence Chapel, Coal Creek Dunkard,…

Design meeting to be scheduled By John A. Ballentine The location of Toulon’s proposed sanitary sewer lift station will be at the southeast corner of Prairie and Whitaker Streets. That is the lowest site of the area where the lift station will become part of Toulon’s extended sanitary system. The problem that exists now is raw sewage is being deposited into a waterway at that location, which feeds west in to Indian Creek. According to city engineer Justin Reeise, of the Farnsworth Group, the lift station installation cost will be between $200,000 and $240,000. Reeise said that he will be…

By BILL KNIGHT For The Weekly Post Besides affecting the nation’s health and economy, the ongoing pandemic changed much of schools’ assessment data offered in the 2020 Illinois Report Card, released Oct. 30. But other details offer glimpses of the state’s students and school districts. Starting last spring, the pandemic disturbed schools’ instruction and operations, interfering with methods to measure changes since 2019. For the first time, there’s very little assessment on academics. “COVID-19 impacted most student data, limiting year-to-year comparisons,” said Jackie Matthews, spokeswoman for the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). Due to COVID-19’s impact, Illinois this year…