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OPINION: Jersey County Motors' legacy a piece of history: Page A4 NEWS: Daddy & Daughter Dance coming up: Page A5

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JERSEY COUNTY

JERSEYVILLE, IL 62052

INSIDE NEWS

Tree of LIghts Campaign short $1,000 of goal. See page C6

NEWS

Lady Birds action. See page C1

FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS

Arthur turns 2. See page A5

SPORTS

JOURNAL VOL. 13, NO. 1 - 75¢

JANUARY 7, 2015

Cancila to take over Jerseyville dealership By ROBERT LYONS Jersey County Journal The local Chrysler dealership ended its run as a locally owned, family business just shy of its 71st anniversary. Jersey County Motors has been sold to Florissant, Mo., Chrysler dealer Marty Cancila, and is expected to change hands later this week. The deal requires final corporate approval from Chrysler. In the meantime, the transition has moved forward with new inventory being moved in, employee training and computer upgrades. General Manager Tony Cancila is hoping to be in position to start selling cars in Jerseyville on Day 1 of official ownership. Joe Ritter, co-owner and manager of Jersey County Motors, said he and his family were just ready to move on from the automobile sales industry.

“We just decided to sell. We’ve got a good buyer, a good person…it was just time to move on,” Ritter said. “My dad is 84. John and I have been here 30 years, and we just maybe want to try something different.” The deal between Ritter and Cancila has been in the works the better part of a year, with both saying they began talks in Spring 2014. It took a few months for Cancila to determine if he had the means to make taking over the out-of-state dealership feasible, he said. He also spent time at the dealership and in the community. Talks with Jersey County Business Association CEO Mary Heitzig, Cancila said, helped him realize Jerseyville was the right location for expansion. “It was after my meeting with Mary that I said to myself, ‘I really like how that feels,’” Cancila said. “All the (See, cAncilA, A2)

Robert Lyons/Jersey County Journal

COLD

Ralph Weiskopf blows snow from parking spaces Wednesday morning outside the KC Hall in Jerseyville. With temperatures dipping down to single digits, accompanied by heavy wind gusts, schools and activities in the area were canceled.

Council faces concerns about demolition project By BOB CROSSEN Jersey County Journal The Jerseyville City Council heard complaints regarding the demolition of a home on Stryker Street, as well as the bidding process for that work. Penni Livingston explained the position of her client, Anna Summers, and ways the city can be proactive about the issues brought up during the meeting. Summers, who identified herself as the sister-in-law of Jerseyville Mayor Richard Perdun, owns AMS Contracting, a company which entered bids for demolition work on a number of condemned houses in November. AMS did not receive bid contracts at that time as the lowest bidder was Long Paving. Two

other companies’ bids were opened during the Nov. 10 meeting for work on 404 Linden and 804 Stryker. However, their bids stated addresses for the demolition of different properties, and as such were not considered by the council. Livingston said the differing addresses were the result of a faulty bidding process, making it unfair for those putting in bids for the work. The bigger problem, she said, was found during the demolition of the building by Long Paving. “It has come to our attention that there has been open dumping taking place by the person who got the bid,” Livingston said. Presenting the council with photographs she said were taken by Summers, Livingston said Long Paving was taking the demolition debris from the demolition site to another area for

dumping. That area, she said, was not a licensed sanitary landfill through the state of Illinois. Dumping on private property is illegal, Livingston added. “If you don’t do due diligence to discover what’s going on with your independent contractor, you can become liable for that independent contractor. … This is your property that you’re sending out to be demolished, so this waste is generated by the city. So the city can be liable for the generation of the waste,” Livingston said, providing case law examples to back her position. Livingston said another concern was with the potential for asbestos containing material being located inside the homes to be demolished. Although the removal of that material from 804

Stryker Street in particular does not violate any laws, she said the demolition of homes with asbestos has to be approached in a different way. Dean Long, Long Paving owner, said the items removed from the home at 804 Stryker Street are old furniture taken through a hole he knocked through the wall. Demolition has been paused as he awaits emergency demolition permits from the EPA, he added. “We do have reports that there is no asbestos in 804 Stryker Street whatsoever,” Long said, adding he is taking the waste to a landfill. “The house was full of furniture, diplomas on the wall, clothes in the closet. We didn’t want to (See, council, A2)

Dean extradited to Missouri By BOB CROSSEN Jersey County Journal A man indicted by a grand jury in Calhoun County for attempted aggravated criminal sexual abuse was extradited from the Jersey County jail Monday to Dunklin County, Mo., to face charges for kidnapping and forcible sodomy. Michael F. Dean was indicted by the Calhoun County Grand Jury Dec. 24, 2014 for attempted aggravated criminal sexual abuse and the warrant for his arrest was served Dec. 26. According to documents filed with the Calhoun County Circuit Clerk, Dean allegedly “performed a substantial step toward the commission of [attempted aggravated criminal sexual abuse] in that he delivered to [the victim] a controlled substance by deception for other than medical purposes and thereafter attempted to remove the pants of [the victim]” on or about Dec. 27, 2011. According to those documents, Dean is forbidden from entering any establishment that primarily sells alcohol, nor may he have contact with the victim. He was released after paying $8,000 in

Kimble headed to Eastern Illinois. See page C1

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TOP STORIES ONLINE

Week of Dec. 31 - Jan. 6

1- Hawkins expands acting skills in Russia 2- Kallal, Goetten to host Community Strong forums 3- Year in review, part 1 4- Year in review, part 2 5- City establishes second TIF district

INDEX Court. . . . . . . . . . . . . D4 News . . . . . . . . . . A2,A3,B3 Obituaries . . . . . . . . B4 Editorial . . . . . . . . . . A4 Our Town . . . . . . . . . B2 Public Notice . . . . . . D4 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . C1 OBITUARIES: BURCH, CROWE, DARR, GRADY, HUGHES, MURPHY, ONITS, POHLMAN, RIDENBARK, SCOGGINS, STORY, TAYLOR

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Michael Weaver/Jersey County Journal

RINGING

IN A

NEW YEAR

Jon Davis, right, receives a kiss at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve during a celebration at Westlake Country Club in Jerseyville.

bond for the charge in Calhoun, but was arrested on a separate warrant from Dunklin County in Missouri. There, Dean faces counts for kidnapping and forcible sodomy for three separate victims on three separate occasions, according to court documents, with some incidents dating back to 2011. According to information in court documents, none of the victims were underage – the youngest victim was 19 – at the time of the alleged offense. Calhoun Deputy P.J. Parker, who led the investigation, said the stories from the victims were all similar. The victims would allegedly ride with Dean to Dunklin County, Mo., where they would purchase produce to bring back for resale at Dean’s produce store in Kampsville. “It was all pretty much the same MO all the way through,” Parker said. “They were going down there to get produce. He goes down there to get watermelons and stuff for his produce stand up in Kampsville during the summer time.” He said Dean and the victims would get some drinks. According to court documents (See, DeAn, A2)

2014: Year in review, part 2 JulY Board offers support to medical marijuana growers The Jersey County Board approved a letter of support for Scientific Growers Incorporated, a company vying for an Illinois medical marijuana cultivation license, in a 9-to-1 vote during a regular board meeting Tuesday. All board members present voted in favor of the letter of support except Roger Newberry, who voted No. Chairman Jerry Wittman and Mary Kirbach were not present to vote. The cultivation center would grow the marijuana plants, but would not sell to the public. Instead it would sell the plants at wholesale to distribution centers, which would then sell the medical marijuana to patients with doctor’s authorization. Training simulates real school shooter Simulating a real life school shooter situation, local educators recently furthered their training to minimize devastation should their worst fears be realized. In the final week of June, the chief of police from Columbia led a two-day seminar at Jersey Community High School. Officers put the approximately 25 volunteer participants into situations they could face should an intruder enter a school with ill intentions. Blank rounds were fired from guns, making the situation even more realistic. “It was probably the most surreal training that I’ve experienced in a school setting,”

Superintendent Dr. Lori Hopkins said. “It appeared to be real. It provided those in attendance to really assess the situation, and to even know what the sound of a firearm going off is like in a school building.”

Robert Lyons/Jersey County Journal

FAIR

FULL OF THRILLS

PJ Curl is thrown off his bull Thursday, July 10 during the bull riding and barrel racing event at the Jersey County Fair. The rodeo event made its return to the fair's grandstand lineup after years of absence.

Jersey crowns lifeguard as fair queen The Jersey County Fair Queen broke a precedence this year by being among the youngest queens crowned and also by being sponsored by a company outside the agriculture industry. Lauren Kight, 18, graduated from Jersey Community High School May 18, and shortly after, she began her research for the fair pageant. Sponsored by Raging Rivers in Grafton where she is a lifeguard, Kight said she spent hours researching the agriculture industry in Jersey County and talking to former queens throughout the area. Killer of woman found near bridge faces 65 years An Alton man pleaded guilty to first degree murder and dismembering a body, and was sentenced to 65 years in prison Monday in Madison County Court. Patrick A. Chase was one of two men accused in the November 2013 killing of 30-year-old Courtney Coats. Coats’ dismembered body was found Dec. 19, 2013 near Hardin’s Joe Page Bridge. Chase, who was Coats’ boyfriend, pleaded guilty to the crimes and was sentenced to 45 years for the murder and 20 years for the dismemberment. Deer permit quotas drop regionally There will be fewer opportunities for deer hunters throughout the area this year as the Illinois Department of Natural Resources has M

K

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Robert Lyons/Jersey County Journal

A-MAIZ-ING

EARS OF CORN

From right, Josie Hudson, Rebekah Hannah, Kate Hudson and Sally Hudson flag down passersby in July with ears of corn. The four girls were selling sweet corn along North State Street in Jerseyville for $3 per dozen. Sara Hudson, the mother of three of the girls, said selling corn each year has been a family tradition since she was a young girl.

reduced the number of firearm permits for certain counties. Tim Schweizer, IDNR spokesman, said the reductions are due to IDNR’s desire to control the (See, YeAr in review, A2)


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