A structure and farm equipment were lost in a fire yesterday afternoon in Edwards County. Officials say a large barn at the Rotramel Farm southeast of Browns caught fire, and the Browns, Albion, Little Wabash, and Belmont fire departments were called to battle the blaze. A combine inside the barn was destroyed, as well as other equipment, but no injuries were reported. 41-year-old Ray E. Tate appeared by Zoom in Wayne County Circuit Court Tuesday for a status hearing. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole in April after pleading guilty to the murder of Wayne County Deputy Sean Riley, and he filed a motion to withdraw that plea and vacate the sentence in May. No action was taken at the status hearing, as the court reporter asked for another 30 days to prepare transcripts from previous court appearances, as required by law, for the State and defense to review. Judge Michael Molt noted the request was reasonable, given the length of the sentencing hearing, and another hearing
The Illinois State Bar Association judicial evaluations released Monday held a few surprises: Fifth District appellate court candidates Mike McHaney, Republican, and Brian Roberts, Democrat, were not recommended, nor was Democrat Ebony Huddleston, seeking a circuit court seat in Madison County.
Union Pacific Railroad was denied a fair trial in St. Clair County Circuit Judge Heinz Rudolf's court because of plaintiff counsel's "inflammatory and improper" closing argument, the Fifth District Appellate Court ruled April 28.
The latest numbers from the Illinois Department of Public Health show the state has had a total of 2,957,563 cases of the coronavirus and 31,296 total deaths. The IDPH did not provide some updates this week because of the winter weather in the state. According to numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 75 percent of Illinois' population has received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, 66 percent of Illinois' population is fully vaccinated and over 47 percent have received a booster dose. Clay County Sheriff Andy Myers reports several arrests by his department over the past several days. Among them, 53-year-old Roger D. Smith of Fairfield was arrested on an outstanding Clay County warrant for Failure to Appear on the original charge of Operation of an Uninsured Vehicle. Bond was set at $3000, and he appeared in Clay County Court and was released. The arrest was reported on January 26th. Hamilton Memorial Hospital in McLeansboro is welcoming a new