GREENE PRAIRIE PRESS MARCH 5, 2014 – Vol. 145, No. 10 – Carrollton, Illinois 62016
INSIDE LOCALS
Board member running for sheriff charged in jury tampering case By CarmeN eNSiNger Greene Prairie Press
Roodhouse royalty at angus show. See page a4
NEWS
The county board member and candidate for sheriff who found himself in hot water a couple weeks ago for making vulgar and homosexual slurs against a White Hall police officer after a routine traffic stop is once again in the hot seat. Felony charges were filed on March 3 in Greene County Circuit Court against Lucas A. Lamb alleging he had Unlawful Communication with a Juror. According to the allegations in court documents, Lamb “with the intent to influence a person whom
he knew had been selected as a juror, communicated by way of Facebook to that juror that he should nullify any verdict of guilt in that particular case and vote not guilty or ‘hang the jury if necessary.’” Charges were filed by Ed Parkinson, special prosecutor with the State’s Attorney’s Appellate Prosecutor’s office in Springfield. When contacted Tuesday afternoon, Lamb said he didn’t know anything about the charges. Later Tuesday afternoon, Lamb’s St. Louis-based attorney, Patrick Watts, released a statement calling the charges against his client “baseless and wholly uninves-
LADY HAWKS
tigated,” claiming the charges are backlash for Lamb’s “advocacy for individual liberties.” Two jury trials were held in Greene County Circuit Court on Jan. 13 – the date court records state Lamb’s alleged offense occurred – and only one of which came back with a verdict (the other trial was a civil matter). Roberta Lockhart was found not guilty of Exceeding Speed in School Zone by a 12-0 vote. Lamb’s attorney asserts the unanimous decision illustrates his client did not influence the outcome, even though Lamb commented to the juror that the juror should hang the jury “if neces-
sary.” The lawyer claims Lamb’s comments were “clearly political speech, the highest category of protected speech.” Watts’ letter further states, “This case reeks of small town political retribution in an apparent attempt to remove Mr. Lamb from the ballot and retaliate for the prosecution’s failure to prove the simple elements of a speeding in a school zone case.” It was a speeding ticket which brought Lamb into the headlines last month. Lamb was issued a ticket by a White Hall police officer for going 11 miles over the speed limit. Lamb, himself, recorded the traffic stop.
BRING HOME SECOND PLACE TROPHY
NEWS
Lady Hawks’ fans out in force at state. See page C1
NEWS
Carmen Ensinger/Greene Prairie Press
Carrollton high School juniors Jessica Lake, maddie Struble and mckenzie ruyle carry the Class 1a state runner-up trophy off the redbird arena court Saturday in Normal . The Lady hawks (25-7) reached the state championship game for the fourth time in school history, but were bested 59-23 by an annawan (30-4) squad which never won by fewer than 19 points this postseason . for more sports coverage, see section B .
SPORTS
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Obituaries in this issue: bauer, Cahal, Miller, MurgatrOyd, Weber
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Missing woman found alive A woman missing from rural Greene County was found unharmed. On Thursday evening, Feb. 27, at approximately 7:10 p.m. the Greene County Sheriff’s Department received a call from the husband of a 58-year-old female resident of rural Greene County, four miles west of Carrollton, who reported he had returned home from work and discovered that his wife was missing from the residence. According to a report from the Illinois State Police, who aided in the search using a plane equipped with a forward-looking infrared camera, the woman is suffering from the early stages of dementia. It was feared the woman had walked off from the rural residence and may have gotten lost in heavily wooded areas surrounding the residence. The sheriff’s department was dispatched to respond along with members of the Carrollton Fire Department and the fire department substations located in Eldred and Kane. Also, the sheriff’s department requested the Greene County Ambulance Service to send out an ambulance crew. “Emergency personnel arrived on the scene within minutes of the call, and after obtaining further information from the family of the missing woman, it was determined that more manpower and resources were needed to begin the search,” Greene County Sheriff Rob McMillen said. Carrollton Fire Chief Tim Thaxton assumed command of the search and rescue ground search operation plan for the missing woman and requested assistance from the White Hall, Greenfield and Rockbridge fire departments. The sheriff’s department requested assistance from the on-duty and off-duty officers of (See, missing woman, A2)
Greenfield to perform Counselor saves student from choking high school musical By CarmeN eNSiNger Greene Prairie Press
North Greene wins regional title. See page B1-4
Lamb was heard making vulgar remarks to the officer. Lamb said he never intended for the recording to be posted. After initially pleading not guilty to the speeding charge Lamb eventually pleaded guilty to an amended charge of defective equipment. Lamb, of Greenfield, was elected to the Greene County Board in November 2012 and is currently running for the office of Greene County Sheriff. Lamb will make his first appearance on April 9 at 2 p.m. in Greene County Circuit Court with Scott County Judge David Cherry presiding.
By CarmeN eNSiNger Greene Prairie Press
Greenfield names 2014 sweethearts. See page D4
SPriNg fOrwarD ThiS weekeND
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It’s been many, many years since Greenfield High School has put on a school play, but that will be changing this year as students are set to perform the musical, “I Love You Because,” with three performances scheduled for March 7-9 in the high school auditorium. Music teacher Jacob Bollman, who is in his second year with the district, said he has been involved with musical productions for most of his life. “I have performed in and been a part of plays and musicals since I was a little kid,” Bollman said. “I knew that when I became a teacher that I wanted to give students the opportunity to have many of the same experiences that I had.” Bollman said the only reason he didn’t put on a play last year was because he was still getting settled into the district. But that’s not to say he didn’t have it in mind for the future. “When I first mentioned last year that we were planning on putting on a show this year, the students were very excited,” he said. “They would not stop imagining and guessing what show we would be performing. Their enthusiasm confirmed and fueled my want to give them this opportunity.” “I Love You Because” is a modern day love story comedy set in New York City. The story focuses around a guy, Austin, and a girl, Marcy, who recently have been dumped by their exes. Through their best friends, Marcy and Austin get set up on a date and because they are opposites it does not go well. They end up hanging out because Marcy is trying to help Austin get back together with the girl who dumped him. Through this process, Austin starts to fall for Marcy, but
Marcy turns him down. No longer friends, Marcy realizes that she misses Austin and decides to try to win his heart. She succeeds and the show ends with them falling in love. Tyler Gruen and Shelby Bayless are set to play the lead roles of Austin and Marcy, while their best friends, Jeff and Diana, are played by Kyle Phillips and Kearsta Ornellas. Rounding out the cast are Nikki Bergschneider who plays the waitress, Hailey Phillips as the landlord and Sarah Bailey as the neighbor. Auditions for the production were held in December with rehearsals taking place when school resumed after winter break on Jan. 6. The school district is funding the play and expenses have been kept to a minimum. “Because the show is set in the modern day, many of the costumes used have come from the students themselves,” Bollman said. “Anything they did not have we have gone out and bought for them, but almost everything the cast members have supplied.” Same with the props. “Tracy Phillips, parent of some of the cast members, has supplied and/or built all of the props for the production,” Bollman said. “I cannot thank her enough for the contributions and time she has given to the show.” Show times are at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday. Tickets are $2 for students and $5 for adults and can be purchased at the door, which will open 30 minutes before show time. “The kids could not be more excited about this musical,” Bollman added. “There are many things they love about the show but at the top of the list has to be the opportunity to perform the beautiful music and to tell a wonderful story to their friends and family.”
By CarmeN eNSiNger Greene Prairie Press
A Greenfield district employee is being hailed as a hero by her district after she saved the life of a first grader during the lunch period after he started choking on a chicken nugget. Missy Struif, guidance counselor for the district, said she just happened to be in the right place at the
“i yelled for someone to go get the nurse and then just gave him the heimlich and up it came .”
Missy Struif
Guidance Counselor Submitted photo
right time. “I don’t normally do lunch duty for the kindergarten through second grades, but on this day I was asked by the principal if I could cover it,” Struif said. “About 10 minutes into the lunch period, the other teacher on duty started yelling for me.” The other teacher on duty in the lunch room was two tables over when she saw the young child obviously in distress. “She began yelling my name and I happened to be standing right behind the child as it was happening, but he had his back to me,” Struif said. “It’s funny because when I heard the panic in her voice as she was calling out my name, I just knew someone was choking.” By this time, the child had stood up and was grasping at his throat. “I yelled for someone to go get the nurse and then just gave him the Heimlich and up it came,” Struif said. “He was coughing pretty hard so I wasn’t sure if it was me or him that dislodged it.”
greenfield School Board Chairman Dr . howard Phillips presents guidance counselor missy Struif with a Certificate of recognition after Struif performed the heimlich maneuver on a first grade student who was choking in the cafeteria recently .
Struif said she first learned how to perform CPR and the Heimlich Maneuver while she was working as a nanny for a nanny service while in college. “At the time I was learning it, I was thinking to myself I would probably never in my lifetime have to actually perform it on someone,” Struif said. “All teachers are required to be certified every other year in both CPR and Heimlich, but you never really think you will one day be using it.” The child suffered no ill effects from the close call, but Struif said she couldn’t say the same about herself. “A few minutes after it happened, here I am still very emotional and scared over the ordeal, and the little boy raised his hand and asked if he could get seconds on the chicken nuggets,” Struif said. “I got a real kick C
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out of that because he had already moved on with his day and I was still sitting there feeling quite panicked for quite awhile, just thinking about what could have happened.” Struif, who has children of her own, said younger children tend to choke more often. “These little ones – I think they have been in class all morning and they are having a good time talking to their friends and they just get hurried and choke,” she said. “There have been a couple of times with my own children when they start coughing while eating and I wonder if they are going to choke. Thankfully, that has never happened.” Greenfield Board of Education presented Struif with a Certificate of Recognition for her life-saving efforts in the cafeteria during their Feb. 25 board meeting.