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GREENE PRAIRIE PRESS FEBRUARY 12, 2014 – Vol. 145, No. 7 – Carrollton, Illinois 62016

INSIDE LOCALS

Prough sentenced to 30 years for first degree murder STAff rePOrT Greene Prairie Press

Birthdays, births and more. See page A9

NEWS

Carrollton Hawks visit Jerseyville Manor. See page A7

Mark Prough was sentenced Thursday to 30 years in prison for the first degree murder of his father, Dennis Prough, in 2009. Prough was accused of killing his father with a shotgun and then setting fire to the Kane residence where the crime took place. He then led police on a three-day manhunt before being taken into custody armed with a loaded 12-gauge shotgun northwest of Kane. Though Prough pleaded guilty in September 2013, he fell short of taking full responsibility. His plea was guilty but mentally ill, and was also an Alford plea, which concedes the prosecution has enough evidence for a conviction.

Carrollton FFA takes 2nd place at development event. See page A5

SPORTS

ONLINE greeneprairiepress .com

Greene Prairie Press Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A6 Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1 Local . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . A3 Our Town . . . . . . . . . . . . D4 Public Notice . . . . . . D1,D4 News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1

Obituaries in this issue: benner, King, seatOn, stanberry

© 2014 Greene Praire Press All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

DAIRY BAR

Carmen Ensinger/Greene Prairie Press

The Gray family of Carrollton are proud to be the new owners of the Dairy Bar in Carrollton . They plan on trying for a March 1 opening . Left to right, Ken, Lauren, Jenna, Kaitlyn and Shaana Gray . for more on their story, see A2 .

Board member makes vulgar remarks to officer during traffic stop What could have been a simple speeding ticket turned into a much larger ordeal for current Greene County Board member and sheriff candidate Luke Lamb. Lamb, of Greenfield, was issued a speeding ticket by a White Hall Police officer on Feb. 8 for going 46 miles per hour in a 35 mile per hour speed zone. The ticket itself is not at issue, but the conduct of Lamb, which he himself recorded, has turned a few heads in the county after it was posted on the social media network Facebook. A post made by Lamb about the incident garnered more than 300 comments. During the 57-second audio clip, White Hall officer Josh Burton explains to Lamb the reason he is giving him the ticket – for going more than 10 miles over the posted speed limit. Lamb then named a specific person and asked Burton if

he (Burton) had engaged in oral sex with that male. During the time of the recording, Burton appeared to remain professional, discussing only the details of the traffic stop. Burton told Lamb that Lamb’s license would be at courthouse and would be returned to him when he paid the ticket. Lamb then called Burton a derogatory name related to sexual orientation. Lamb admits to making the recording, but said he was not the one who posted it online. “I sent this recording to two people – one was my girlfriend and the other one was her friend,” Lamb said. “I’m really not sure, but I think someone’s phone might have gotten picked up after someone fell asleep. It was never to be released out in the public, but it is there now, so.” Lamb said in his Facebook post he intended to post the recording once the ticket had gotten to the State’s Attorney’s office. When asked why he would use

vulgar language when speaking to an officer of the law, Lamb said it was personal. “I really have a problem with him (Burton),” Lamb said. “The guy’s attitude was crap – I mean from the very beginning.” A copy of the police report was obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request, which further details the exchange. Burton’s report states: “As I began to explain what the copies of the ticket were, Lucas (Lamb) then advised me to just give him the ‘[expletive] ticket,’” the report said. “Lucas then looked at my name tag and started making ridiculously false claims.” The report continues: “Be advised while he was making his remarks to me I continued trying to explain the details of his ticket. After realizing Lucas wasn’t going to listen, I then advised him to slow down and I proceeded back to my squad car. As I was walking back he yelled out the window – ‘see ya,

Vietnam documentary features local resident By CArMeN eNSiNGer Greene Prairie Press

Girls basketball regionals tip off. See page B10

OWNERS TAKE OVER

COUNTY NEWS

By CArMeN eNSiNGer Greene Prairie Press

SCHOOL

After his arrest, he began a series of mental evaluations. He was found fit to stand trial at one point in 2010, but a few months later the decision was reversed. In August 2013, he was again found fit to stand trial. He pleaded guilty shortly after. While undergoing mental evaluations Prough was confined at Springfield’s McFarland Mental Health Center, which State’s Attorney Ben Goetten described as a jail-like setting. The 30-year sentence will be followed by a mandatory threeyear supervised release. The 48-year-old Prough was given credit for four-and-a-half years served for the time he has been in custody. Sentencing of Prough was originally scheduled for Feb. 10, but was moved up to Feb. 6.

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Greenfield resident and city councilman Steve Hopper will be featured in a new documentary on the Vietnam War premiering on the National Geographic channel on March 26. The documentary, entitled “Brothers in War” is based on the book “Boys of 67 – Charlie Company’s War in Vietnam” written by Dr. Andrew Wiest, a professor at the University of Mississippi at Hattiesburg. Hopper was a member of Charlie Company, and both the book and documentary tell the story of their experiences patrolling the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War.

Wiest interviewed around 80 members of Charlie Company and spent the next six years writing the book. Charlie Company was unique in that the entire company spent almost two years together, not only training, but the entire battalion went over on a ship together and fought together as a single unit. It was this closeness which ultimately decided the title of the documentary, “Brothers in Arms.” “After the book was written, National Geographic picked up on our story and thought it would make a good documentary because we had kept in contact with each other through reunions all these years,” Hopper said. “So, they hired a production company to interview some (See, documentary, A2)

U.S. Farm Bill fuels crop insurance program By BOB CrOSSeN Greene Prairie Press A new farm bill signed by President Barack Obama enhances crop insurance for farmers while cutting direct payments to save approximately $16.6 billion over 10 years. Local farmers and Farm Bureau managers are glad to see the five-year bill enacted after years of struggles held up by arguments surrounding cuts to food stamps. But federal crop insurance is on the forefront of local farmers’ minds. Stephanie Knittel, Jersey and Greene Farm Bureau manager, said her offices are still reading through the lengthy bill to get a deeper understanding of its impacts. “I don’t know if the public necessarily will see a lot of change. It’s basically the agriculture sector and producers having to re-evaluate their decisions on what’s going to best serve them,” Knittel said. The five-year bill has been a focus of the agriculture industry for several years. Several

drafts have failed, but the most recent iteration – coming from the Farm Bill Conference Committee of which U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) was the only Illinois representation – gained bipartisan approval. Though grain farmers will feel the bill the most, if it had not passed, dairy farmers warned the country about massive spikes in prices for milk and cheese. Subsidies for milk were set to expire if the bill were not passed, and milk producers also worried about regulations limiting their subsidies if they produced an excess of milk. Instead, the legislation limits subsidized insurance for those who cause prices to drop because too much milk is produced. Doris Egelhoff, Jersey County dairy farmer for 40 years, said the dairy business has gotten much more difficult for small operations, especially during this freezing winter. “This cold is ruining a lot of cows for me. That’s for sure,” Egelhoff said. (See, farm bill, A2)

fag’ and drove off.” The ticket was processed on Monday and Lamb appeared in the Circuit Clerk’s office, where he pleaded not guilty to the ticket and requested a jury trial. He later withdrew his not guilty plea and, instead, pleaded guilty to an amended charge of defective equipment. Greene County State’s Attorney Caleb Briscoe said it is not unusual to allow drivers who possess a CDL license, such as Lamb, to plead guilty to an amended charge and pay the stiffer fine. He said his decision had nothing to do with Lamb’s status as a member of the Greene County Board. “This is something that is standard to offer people with CDL licenses so it won’t hurt their license,” Briscoe said. “We offered it to him because we didn’t want to treat him any different than we would anyone else.” Lamb was elected to the Greene County Board in November 2012. Board members are paid $35 per

day of meetings and according to Greene County Clerk Deb Banghart, board members attend an average of two meetings per month. Lamb, as do several other board members, does not take the compensation for these meetings. Lamb said he would begin taking the payments if he is found guilty and must pay the fine for the speeding ticket. “I’m not sure which route I’m going to go but if I do pay the ticket, I will start collecting a check from the county for my duties as a county board member,” he said. “I work 100 percent for free for the county – I donate my time to the county board.” The speeding ticket carries a $125 fine, while the amended charge is a $350 fine. Lamb is running on the Republican ticket for the office of Greene County sheriff in November against Democrat Rob McMillen. Both candidates are unopposed in the March 18 primary.

Greenfield residents form campaign to save town park By CArMeN eNSiNGer Greene Prairie Press A full house is expected at this month’s Greenfield City Council meeting on Feb. 13 as residents plan on expressing their opinions on the location of the city’s new municipal building. Some citizens of Greenfield are upset after learning the city council was considering erecting a new municipal building on the site of the current park located across from the Post Office. Christie Bowman, a resident of Greenfield with two small children who utilize the park, started a Facebook page in order to inform the residents of what is going on and to garner support to save the park. “My biggest concern is that they never asked for the public’s opinion on this,” Bowman said. “With a small town like this, we should have been informed about what they were planning. No one had any idea of this until I started the Facebook page.” Back in September, the city council began discussions with the fire department about pooling their resources to construct a municipal building on the lot across from United Community Bank, which is owned by the fire district. The fire district purchased the lot from the city and plans were to construct a building to accommodate the police department, fire department, and act as city hall. But recently, Bowman learned the city had eschewed those plans and was considering constructing the building where the park now sits. “I don’t see why they have to put it there,” Bowman said. “There is a lot right on the square where they could put it without taking away the one thing we have for our kids in this town.” Bowman said the city does have Lions Park, but it is located on the north end of town and is not as accessible as this park is. “Yes, we have the other park and it’s OK C

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for the younger kids whose parents take them out there to play,” Bowman said. “But what about the older kids who walk or ride their bikes to the park – there is no safe route to get to Lions Park. If the city would take the money and put in sidewalks, then yeah, that would be a good park, but right now if you don’t have a driver’s license, it’s not safe for kids to get there on their own because of the highway.” According to City Clerk Sherry White, the issue is not on the agenda for Thursday’s meeting; however, the concerned citizens are scheduled to speak before the council. If the municipal building were constructed where the park is, the lot on the square that was the former site of the Masonic Hall would be turned into a park for the children. “They talk about making that into a park, but my thing is unless you get that in writing I don’t see them caring about putting the park somewhere else once they get the new building up and going,” Bowman said. “It costs a lot of money to get all the new equipment and everything needed for a park.” Bowman has a simple solution – put the municipal building on the square and leave the park where it is. “They are saying they don’t want the building up there because they can’t get out onto the highway quick enough,” Bowman said. “That’s really not a valid reason because Carrollton doesn’t have their fire station located on the highway and they do fine. I could see this excuse if it was a busy highway, but we don’t have that much traffic coming through town so I don’t see where there would be a big difference in response time.” A petition is being circulated around town with signatures of those who want to keep the town park where it currently is. “I really don’t know how much good it is going to do because we have heard that they have already made up their mind,” Bowman said. “But we do need to voice our opinion and let them see what this park means to us.”


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