GREENE PRAIRIE PRESS
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-8/< – Vol. 152, No. 29 – &DUUROOWRQ ,OOLQRLV
INSIDE NEWS
Learning about art. See page B2
Stabbing incident in White Hall By CARMEN ENSINGER Greene Prairie Press A Granite City man has been charged in an alleged stabbing incident that took place in White Hall on July 11 that sent a man to a Springfield Hospital with life-threatening injuries. Tyler D. Lockhart, 26, has been charged with stabbing 31-year-old Brandon L. Brown. Brown was transported to Passavant Area Hospital with life-threatening injuries and then transferred to Springfield Memorial Hospital. According to a press release from White Hall Police Chief Luke Coultas, at approximately 10:58 p.m., officers were called to a report of a fight in
progress in the 500 block of West Bridgeport Street at the intersection of Bruce Drive. “Upon arrival, the officer found an unresponsive 31-year-old male in his car with what appeared to be two stab wounds on his back which were received during an altercation with another male and a female known to the victim,” Coultas said. “The male and female suspects fled the scene at a high rate of speed in a white SUV with a five-year-old child of the female also in the vehicle.” The Greene County Sheriff’s Department was called in to assist and located a vehicle matching the description of the suspect vehicle just north of Carrollton still traveling at
a high rate of speed. The deputy was able to stop and detain them without incident. Tyler D. Lockhart, 26, of Granite City, was arrested and charged with Aggravated Battery with a Deadly Weapon and Unlawful Use of a Weapon. Tiffany A. Syrcle, 39, of White Hall, was arrested on a charge of Aggravated battery for allegedly punching the girlfriend of the male stab victim who was also present during the altercation. The following day, July 12, the following charges were filed in Greene County Circuit Court against the two individuals. Lockhart was charged with two counts of Aggravated Battery, a Class 3 felony, for stabbing
Brown for stabbing Brown and cutting Brown with a knife. Syrcle was charged with Aggravated Battery, a Class 3 felony, for striking Hailey Weimer in the face with her fish and Battery, a Class A misdemeanor, for striking Weimer about the body. The White Hall Police Department was assisted with the incident by the Roodhouse Police Department, Greene County Sheriff’s Department, White Hall First Responders and Boyd Emergency Services. The investigation is ongoing with the possibility of additional charges being brought by the Greene County States Attorney at the completion of the investigation.
White Hall to upgrade tennis courts Bland wins Best of Show at Jersey Fair. See page B2
SPORTS Midwest Adrenaline takes home USA Softball State Title. See page A6
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Greene Prairie Press
By CARMEN ENSINGER Greene Prairie Press White Hall’s tennis courts will be getting a revamping very soon after the White Hall City Council approved purchasing two new nets and painting the surface of the court with a special paint at the July 15 council meeting. The subject was brought up at the June meeting, but City Attorney Bill Strang brought up the fact that the court was not regulation and since most tennis players use the back portion of the court the city might want to look into extending the courts before spending the money to apply the special paint to the surface. Alderman Derek Gilmore, who had proposed the upgrade and was not present at the June meeting, had an update for the council at this meeting. “We checked into the possibility of extending the courts and there is brush on one end of the courts and a hill on the other side,” Gilmore said. “Those courts have been that way since they were built in the 1960’s and it is not like they are used 24/7. I’m just trying to get it fixed back up so the kids using it right now can have some place nice to play tennis or pickle ball, which is the big thing now.” The special paint is made by Sherwin Williams and is very thick and must be applied with a squeegee. It will take approximately 36 five-gallon buckets to complete the project at a cost of approximately $2,700. (See, TENNIS, A2)
Submitted photo
You wash…I’ll rinse Jenna Barnard and Taylor Gilmore tag team on this car Saturday morning during the Class of 2022 car wash held at the North Greene High School. The carwash was held both Saturday and Sunday with the upcoming seniors trying to earn money for their upcoming senior trip.
White Hall Council discusses rising police officers wages By CARMEN ENSINGER Greene Prairie Press The loss of one-third of their police force in just a little more than a month has prompted the city of White Hall to take a look at why their officers are jumping at the chance to join other police departments when the opportunity arises. At the July 13 City Council meeting, on the agenda for acceptance
by the council were the resignation of two of the city’s police officer’s, one of which the city had just paid to put through the Police Academy and been with the city since March. Officer Greg Williams took a position with the Greene County Sheriff’s Department and Officer Jerrett Smith took a position with the Carrollton Police Department. The city also lost one of their fulltime dispatchers to the county.
“As it stands right now, this is not a retention issue – it is a retention crisis,” Alderman David Meldrum said. “We have lost one-third of our department – two of our six officers have left and at least one more is looking at leaving or at least open to it which puts us at a 50 percent loss.” Meldrum said there are two basic ways to get an officer. “We either get new hires or we get
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lateral transfers,” he said. “Lateral transfers have already been trained in the academy and already have on the job experience. They have been paid while getting experience by other departments.” Meldrum said new hires, such as Smith, are what the department keeps losing and it is a loss to the city. (See, WAGES, A3)
COVID cases on the rise in Greene County By CARMEN ENSINGER Greene Prairie Press
G
reene County Public Health Administrator Molly Peters informed the Greene County Board at the July 14 board meeting that the county is seeing a rise in COVID cases in the last couple of weeks.
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Carmen Ensinger/Greene Prairie Press
Hometown Pride Award The second Carrollton Lions Club Hometown Pride Award for the month of July was awarded to Mark and Corie Gillingham. The Gillingham’s constructed a new 3 bedroom, 2 bath home on a vacant lot located in on Sixth Street. It is the perfect location for the young couple as Mark Gillingham is a partner with his father in the Gillingham Law Office, which is located directly across the street from his home. Gillingham is a graduate of Carrollton High School and came back to join his father in his law practice after law school. The couple have one daughter, Collins, who is two-and-a-half years old. Left to right: Lions Club President Jason Young, Collins and Mark Gillingham, Corie Gillingham and Lions Club Member John Quandt.
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“We had been sitting at zero cases for quite awhile and maybe we would see one or two cases ever so often, but nothing major,” Peters said. “But from Thursday to Tuesday of last week, we had 14 cases, so we are seeing an increase in cases in the county.” Peters said people are asking of the cases being confirmed are of the Delta variant. “Our message about COVID is that COVID is still COVID and there will be other variants other than the Delta variant,” she said. “We don’t want to focus in on any specific variant because COVID in general is what we want to prevent. That will still be our message going out to the public.” Another message that needs to go out to the public is the fact that Greene, along with the counties of Scott and Pike, have the lowest vaccination rates in the region. Of the 102 counties, Greene has the 11th lowest vaccination rate in the county. Among individuals in the 16 to 64 age range, only 29.60 percent are fully vaccinated. That rate goes up considerably for those over the age of 65 to 63.07 percent. (See, COVID, A2)
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