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PAID Jerseyville, IL PERMIT NO. 204
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P.O. Box 407 Jerseyville, IL 62052
JERSEY COUNTY
JERSEYVILLE, IL 62052
INSIDE
AUGUST 4, 2021
JOURNAL VOL. 19, NO. 31 - $1.00
Free Rent for a year at Jerseyville Mall
NEWS
By CYNTHIA HAGGITT Jersey County Journal Attempted The Jerseyville Mall is a collection kidnapping did not of independent retail stores, restauoccur in Kampsville rants and a parking area conceived, last week. constructed, which is maintained by See page A3 a management firm as a unit. The mall, located at 911 S. State St., currently has a two big box spaces that have sat empty for at least 15 years. The total space is approximately 96,000 square feet and the two spaces have been bought by Brookwood Capital Advisors (BCA). The sale of the mall was handled by the brokerage company, BarberMurphy, and the company’s principal for the sale is Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCMI), Free program Collin Fischer. Fischer has been recdeveloped by the ognized as a leading expert in comJerseyville Police mercial investment real estate and works for the BarberMurphy Group. Department. See page B5 The company is widely recognized for its expertise dealing with different property types such as industrial, office, retail and land. The group is located on 1173 Fortune Blvd in Jerseyville County O’Fallon, Ill. High School Girls “Because of my CCMI designation Tennis starts. that I have, it was kind of a referSee page B2 ral through that network. I had a relationship tied to one of their principles, in the management office of Correction Walters, who had the mall,” Fischer In last week’s edition said. “So they had asked us to get on of the Jersey County board and see if we could do anyJournal, it was reportthing with the property.” ed that Peggy O’Neill, Eric Spanton and Nick Hutchens donated their salary to the City of Grafton. They instead donated their pay raisBy CONNOR ASHLOCK es to the city so that Jersey County Journal employees in their A post emerged on Facebook last respective departments could enjoy those rais- Thursday regarding alleged gang es. The Journal regrets activity passing through Jerseyville that is based in Jacksonville and St. the error. Louis. The post might allude to the reader that this activity is immediately occurring in the vicinity of Jerseyville, but Jersey County SherFRIDAY, AUG. 6 iff Mike Ringhausen has provided some context to the post that resi87 67 dents will want to be aware of. High Low An incident allegedly occurred in SATURDAY, AUG. 7 Jacksonville on July 27 involving
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Brookwood Capital Advisors purchased the shopping spaces where Wal-mart and Shop-in Save used to be. The company is offering free rent to tenants to bring them into the area for local business.
Fischer said his company originally tried to sell the lease of that Walmart space and it was about four or five years ago. “We had a lot of good responses, but there’s a lot of challenges with
Sheriff provides context to July 28 incident
WEEKEND WEATHER
gunshots fired in a residential area. Very early on Wednesday morning (July 28), a Greene County sheriff’s deputy made a traffic stop that would turn into a vehicular pursuit along the far eastern section of Jersey County, although this particular pursuit did not come through Jerseyville. The chase continued through Brighton and into Madison County, although for that portion of the chase that occurred through Jersey County, it was so far alongside the fringe of the county that Jersey County deputies weren’t able to respond in time. (See, SHERIFF, A2)
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TOP STORIES ONLINE Week of Apr. 7 - 13 1. Cases of COVID have doubled since previous months 2. Library wraps up summer reading program 3. Delhi road work discussed at meeting 4. New supplement store opens in Jerseyville
INDEX Court . . . . . . . . . B3, B5 News . . . . . . . . . A2-3, B5 Obituaries. . . . . . . . . . A3 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . .A4 Our Town. . . . . . . . . .A5 Public Notice . . . . . .B3 School . . . . . . . . B2, B5 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . .B2
OBITUARIES: GETTINGS, KANALLAKAN, REED, WERTS
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RESIDENTS
ALARMED BY GARAGE FIRE IN J ERSEYVILLE On Monday night, at 8:32 pm, Jerseyville firefighters were dispatched to handle a garage fire that broke out at a residence on West Pine St. “When we arrived on the scene, it was fully engulfed. It was already self venting out the windows,” Keith Norman, Assistant Fire Chief said. “Because it was an unattached garage, the residents did not know it was on fire. They were actually notified by a passerby that their garage was on fire.” No one was hurt in the fire. The cause of the fire and any further damage is still yet to be determined.
and those who teach and work with them in schools, safe. Masks, along with other mitigation, such as ventilation, testing, appropriate cleaning and protective gear, are proven tactics. The number one key to controlling the spread of the virus is vaccination. We encourage all who are able to get
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it. The cost of it all is a problem because the type of tenant we’re looking at just can’t afford to pay the rent to make up for those costs, like day to day costs such as utilities. (See, MALL, A2)
Summer may be winding down but the action at the Jerseyville Public Library is revving up Comics and Con Lovers get ready for the first ever free Comic Book Day Fest at the Jerseyville Public Library (JPL). It will be held on Saturday, Aug 14, from 12 noon to 3 p.m. The event will be a great last blow out fun day before school starts. This event is for all ages from kids to teens to adults. Come for all the events, come for some or just come to watch the fun. There will be several stations to take part in and the main attraction is the free comic books from Diamond Publishing, creators of Free Comic Book Day. The first 50 people to register by calling JPL, (618) 498-9514, will receive a free comic book at the event. Stations throughout the library will include face painting, superhero cookie decorating, cubeecrafts (3D paper folding that becomes a beloved superhero or comic figure), There will be a photo booth with fun superhero props, of the Smash Bros. The library will have a tournament with prizes (including a brand new videogame) and con lovers, here is your chance to dress up as your favorite comic, anime, literary or superhero character and enter the cosplay contest for valuable prizes. Winners of the contest will receive a gift card from the Jersey County Business Association. $40 for first prize and $20 for second prize (Jersey County Business Association Gift Cards are good at over 45 local restaurants, stores, businesses and even Walmart). Costumes are not required to attend the event. You definitely will not want to miss this inaugural event that could become a yearly staple in Jerseyville. Kids! Be sure to look for Lego Club which is back on the first Saturday of each month, beginning Aug. 7 at 10 a.m. for K-Grade 5. JPL provides the Lego. Children can make the theme for
the month or whatever they like! The StoryWalk Book Out at Wock Lake has a fun, interactive component this month. The book is entitled “Wild Symphony” by Dan Brown and you will want to bring your smartphone with you to download the free app using the QR code at the first station. Then when you are walking and reading the book, you can hover your camera over the pages and listen to the beautiful music that goes along with each page. Non-fiction book lovers will be thrilled to attend the Non-Fiction Buythe-Bag Book sale on Aug. 19, from 3-7 p.m., Aug. 20 and 21, from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. to fill up a bag of books for only $3 (the Library provides the bags). All items will be sorted by subject. The books in the regular book sale rooms are regular price and not included in the Buy-the-Bag Sale. The Aug. activities culminate with a celebration of the Historic Jerseyville City Center Week on Monday, Aug. 23 with an Ice Cream Social co-sponsored by the Jersey County Historical Society. JPL will be hosting Juggling Jeff (the all-time favorite act of our children’s librarian) who will provide a family friendly interactive comedy juggling show from 6 p.m. – 7 p.m. The Historical Society will be hosting Carl and Jim Mager who will provide music from 7 p.m. – 8 p.m. Ice cream will be donated by Sinclair Foods. The City Center Week Ice Cream Social will take place on the Jersey County Courthouse Lawn. The library is also participating in the JCBA Open Late event on Tuesday, Aug. 24, and if you stop by while you are shopping downtown between the hours of 5 and 8 p.m., you’ll get a free book from the Book Sale room. We hope you are able to attend some or all of these events at your local public library. As always, we are here for you!
Illinois Education Association reacts to Gov. Pritzker’s mask requirement in schools The Illinois Education Association is thankful that Gov. JB Pritzker put into effect a “mask required” order for schools starting this fall. The pandemic is not over. The numbers in Illinois are going in the wrong direction. We need to keep our students in the classroom and keep them,
JERSEY COUNTY
trying to sell a large space like that and the biggest challenge is people might want 20 or 30,000 square feet, and you’ve got nearly 70,000 ft in that big box,” Fischer said. “It just doesn’t make a lot of sense to divide
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the vaccine to do so. It is the clearest path back to “normal” that exists and only about half of those eligible to receive the vaccine in Illinois have done so. “We all want to get back to normal. Let’s pull together and take care of one another. Vax up and mask up.
We owe it to our students and we owe it to each other,” said Kathi Griffin, president of the Illinois Education Association. “We’re so thankful to have leadership in this state that won’t let the virus fester and grow. But, it us up to all of us to bring COVID-19 to its knees.”
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